LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Expository / Procedural Text
Garden Maintenance
ENGAGE (5 min.)
 Ask students what kinds of tasks are necessary to maintain the
garden (watering, pulling weeds, planting, composting, etc.).
Record student responses.
 Ask students to describe the steps required to complete one of
those tasks. What do you do first, second, next, after that,
finally?
EXPLORE (15 min.)

Review the expectations of working in the outdoor classroom.

Ask each student to select a familiar garden maintenance task he
or she would like to perform. Instruct students to pay close
attention to the steps, or the order they follow while performing
the task. They will be writing instructions for performing the task.
Grade
2nd
Timeframe
45 minutes
Materials
 Journals and pencils
 Student journals/pencils
 Whiteboard or chart paper
 Garden trowels, rakes,
shovels, etc.
 Water key
 Watering cans
 Compost thermometer
 Any other tools you typically
use with your class to keep
up the garden
EXPLAIN (15 min.)
 Tell students that when one is explaining how to perform a task
or procedure it is important to include transition words that
explain the order of the steps to the reader.
 Provide students with a simple “First, Next, Finally” structure and
model how to write instructions for performing a simple task such as raking leaves: “First, unlock the
shed. Next, take your favorite rake out of they shed. Finally, rake leaves into a pile.”
 Underline the transition words. Point out the use of commas after transition words.
ELABORATE (10 min.)
 Instruct students to use the “First, Next, Finally” structure to write an explanation for another student
on how to perform the garden task chosen during “Explore”.
EVALUATE
 Allow students to write instructions for other procedures, such as those you follow in the classroom, at
home, or other garden maintenance tasks. Collect writing samples and assess student progress.
OBJECTIVES
Language Arts
2.19 A write brief compositions about topics of interest to the student
2.21 A understand and use the following parts of speech in the context of reading, writing, and
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