It's a bird, it's a plane, it's SUPERWRITING! and a giveaway:)

Some bloggy friends and I got together and did a product swap so we could try them out on our kids and then share our results.  Well I got a SUPER one!!

I had the pleasure of using a writing packet that was created by my friend Martha
 over at Primary Paradise,
and I cannot even tell you how great it is.

It's called 15 Writing Lessons for Primary Grades.
It's a 186 page packet that includes 15 week long writing lessons.
There are so many creative and interesting topics such as....
My Robot, Locked in School, and Teacher For the Day
(topics my kids could really get excited about).

My FAVORITE was lesson 11... Superheroes!

Here is how it worked in our classroom.

Since we spent the last couple of weeks before our Spring Break exploring the rain forest,

I knew I wanted my kids to write about a superhero that saved the rain forest.

Day 1

We read several non-fiction books about the rain forest 

and emphasized the destruction that takes place there. 

My kids were appalled that people would cut down trees and leave the animals homeless.

By the end of our reading, they were READY to fight for the rain forests:)

I threw out the topic of a Super Hero, one that could save the rain forest.

What would he/she do if he saw someone destroying the rain forest?

What would he/she look like?

Would it be a person or an animal?

What super powers would they have that would help them?

Day one was strictly reading and discussing the possibilities.
(They have some SUPER imaginations.)

Day 2

To emphasize the topic of superheroes we read 2 great books by Tedd Arnold.

I know I will sound like I've been living under a rock, but I had NEVER read these.

I had no idea who Fly Guy was. I have been missing out!

Hi! Fly Guy is an introduction to their friendship, so I felt that I needed to read it.

(Turns out I didn't need to, they ALL knew about him:)

We then read Buzz Boy and Fly Guy. This book is PRECIOUS and was perfect for our lesson.

The 2 friends get kidnapped by YEP, PIRATES! I love that!

The duo then have to use their super powers to get away.

After reading the books we discussed their super powers and went back to our discussion about a super hero who saves the rain forest. We discussed all the powers we could think of. We made this chart to help us organize our thoughts.

We next spent a little time talking about what kind of character their super hero would be. 

Most of them chose animals or 1/2 person/1/2 animal. They were then ready to go draw their super hero and commit to a super power. Here are a few.

Day 3

Next we started on our writing plans.

Since they had already chosen their characters and we were all using the same setting and problem for our story, they just needed to start thinking of a few details about their villains and an ending for their story. They came up with some great ideas.

Day 4 

On Day 4 we were ready to write our rough drafts. The pre-writing activity from the packet really helped with this step. Their story was almost all thought out by this point.

As they finished, we worked on editing on day 4 and day 5.

Day 5

And that just left us with the final copies of our stories.

I LOVE how they turned out.

My kids and I really loved this writing activity!
Thank you Martha for sharing your SUPER writing packet.

And in case you hadn't heard, she has already written the sequel:)

Be sure to check out both of them at Primary Paradise or her TpT store!
(Click any of the pictures to make your way over to see her.)

And now for the exciting news......Martha has generously agreed to give away her
writing packet to 1 of you. Enter the rafflecopter below for your chance to win.
I know you will LOVE it as much as I do!
The winner will be announced next Sunday, April 14, 2013.
a Rafflecopter giveaway