First Grade Writing Lessons: Fixer Upper Activity

There are so many “Fixer Upper” type shows focusing on taking something in poor condition and making it look a million times better. We love to compare the before and after and watch the changes happen right before our eyes. 

Fix up a House – Fix up Kid’s Writing   

Chances are, you’ve discussed some of these shows with your young learners and may have been surprised to find out that they actually watch shows like:

• Fixer Upper
• Home Town
• Love It or List It
• Good Bones
• House Hunters
• Flip or Flop
• Property Brothers
• Renovation Island

One evening while I watched one of my favorite house flipping shows, I thought about how kids’ writing could be a “fixer upper” and that they could relate to fixing up their writing, like the pros fix up the houses.

So I got busy and created this First Grade Writing Fix It Up packet with ideas for editing Punctuation, Capitalization, Spelling, Sentence Structure and Penmanship.

Fixer Upper Writing – Getting Started

Discuss it: Start by having a discussion with your students about fixer upper type shows on TV. Get them to raise their hands if they have seen a show like, Fixer Upper, Home Town, or Property Brothers, etc. Take a quick poll to see what the favorite is. Show a YouTube clip in case there is someone who hasn’t seen the program.

 HGTV Home Town – 4:31

Next: Tell them that you’ve been thinking about their writing. Thinking about some challenges that they’ve been having with Capitalization, Punctuation, Sentence Form, Spelling and Handwriting. Ask them to raise their hand if they think their writing could use some “Fixin’ Up.”

Introduce it: Hold up a Fixer Upper Writing Folder and tell them that you’ve come up with a fun way for them to “Flip” their writing. Discuss each poster along with your personal writing expectations.

The Fixer Upper Checklist

This checklist was made especially for First Grade Students. It targets Punctuation, Capitalization, Spelling, Sentence Structure and Penmanship on a 1st Grade Level. If you laminate it, they can use a visa vis marker to check it off, and it can be glued to the front of their “Fixer Upper” Writing folder..

The Fixer Upper Writing Assignment

Assign your students their writing work and choose the topic / type. Give them their folders with paper for writing and encourage them to write their best essay.

When they are done the student will:

• edit the work using the “Fixer Upper” Editing Sheet
• check off the boxes upon completion
• Continue to confer with the teacher as they work

Complete the Assignment

Once your students have made all of the edits, they will rewrite the piece and place it in “The Flip” folder to be turned in and graded if desired.

Writing Struggles

Teaching any form of writing to young learners can be a challenge! Sometimes they just aren’t ready to write, so you let them do the best that they can. Poetry is another area that is a struggle. Check out this post on Poetry Writing. I created this resource especially for teachers who struggle with teaching poetry to first graders.

 

I’d love to hear your feedback on this activity! Please drop me a note below in the comments if you’ve found this exercise useful in the classroom.

Don’t forget to pin the image below to your Teaching Resources board on Pinterest to save for future use.

Thanks for stopping by!
-Carrie