Mental Lanscapes, Miniature Teachers

The writing unit we are working on presently is information writing, and the framing is that you are writing to teach somebody about something.  Here are some of the amazing, self-selected topics children have chosen to write about:

• snakes
• kinds of fire trucks
• poisonous things
• healthy foods
• what you can do with a flower
• igloos
• all the children in 2nd grade
• color blending
• exercises
• cheese
• leprechauns
• babies

 Which all reminds me on a daily basis that the mental lives of children are fantastic, alluring, and strange.  It's also rather inspiring; I currently have a nine-page demo book for the next series of minilessons on ant queens.