Paper Airplane Fun

In second grade we are working on writing “How-To”  papers in writing and understanding the connection in steps within procedural texts for reading. Part of this is understanding why the order of the steps is important and why it is important that all steps are there and detailed enough. 

Students watched a video of a person making a paper airplane and followed along. After finishing making the airplane we talked with partners about why it was important that each of the steps were in the correct order. Students also came to the conclusion that if any of the steps were missing then they would probably make their airplanes incorrectly and/or get very frustrated. 

We connected this activity back to writing by having a conversation about what we want to make sure is included in our own how-to writing pieces. Students said that transition words, correct sequencing, and details were all important. 

At the end of the activity, students had a chance to practice flying their paper airplane and then we had a contest to see who could throw theirs the furthest! They had a lot of fun with this activity!