ideas as a class. This might need to be done even when they aren’t having trouble if time is passing between the time you introduce this genre and the time the children begin work on it. Lesson 5: Let me float the idea of taking a step backward. Not just in this unit, but along the way, you might find that there is a little group of sweethearts who are having trouble either getting moving or staying moving or understanding the new formats as they are introduced. That is why, here on lesson 5, not at the outset, I would like to address these darlings. I believe in letting the highest thinking in the classroom drive the curriculum. I start each unit with examples and teaching that raise the writing expectation for the children. Sometimes, someone doesn’t get it! My philosophy is after, and only after I have taught to the highest level, do I circle back and present a modified idea. With that explanation, here’s what happened with Question and Answer books: Some doll babies had trouble with the format. I suggested this modification to everyone: Try your family. It was a bingo idea. Easy as pie for the kiddos to write, “What is my mother’s name? My mother’s name is Alicia.” “What is my brother’s name? My brother’s name is Ethan.” This led easily to dogs and cousins and friends. Lots of kids wrote family question and answer books and then were better able to move onto a more sophisticated topic. Lesson 6: Take the time or an extra time to model how to use the organizer that goes with this format. Notice that there is a cover sheet and a blank sheet. Some of the children like to include dedication pages or title pages and this blank can serve this purpose. These organizers should be easily accessible to the children, so you don’t have to keep track of getting them what they need. Lesson 7: Question and Answer books provide the opportunity to review or re-teach capitals, periods and question marks. As with the All About Posters helping to focus on the idea of a complete thought, the Question and Answer books effectively illuminate the idea of a question. If the audience you are going to present to during Author’s Chair doesn’t feel like answering, you’ve probably not asked a question.
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