Procedural Writing Activities for Grade Two

Procedural writing is a form of writing that provides a step-by-step walk-through of how to accomplish a task. Teaching procedural writing to children as early as elementary school is essential for them to learn how to follow directions to accomplish tasks with which they may not yet be familiar. Keep the lessons fun by relating to what they know and encouraging working as a class or in small groups.

Introduce procedural writing to grade two students by reading and discussing procedural writing texts as a class. Procedural writing texts can include books that explain games or exercises as well as posters and charts that explain processes such as the water cycle or how to play a simple game such as hopscotch.

Use problem-solving activities to allow grade two students to arrange their own structure according to the procedure. Reconstruct a procedural writing text by printing each step on its own index card or strip of paper. Arrange students in groups or work as a class to structure the index cards or strips of paper in the order of the original procedural writing text.

Use an existing procedural writing text as a template for students to use in their own writing by explaining the structure through the processes of pre-writing, drafting, revision and rewriting. Ask the students about the text to help them understand its beginning, middle and end. Discuss the logical flow of the text. The teacher can also elaborate on their own writing process to act as a model for students to follow.

Allow grade two students to work either with a partner or as part of a group to structure and write a procedural text with the teacher’s instructions. Teach students how to play a game and have them recite the steps back to you. Work as a class to create a procedural writing text about how to play the game. Arrange students in pairs and have one teach discuss a process while the other arranges the steps as a procedural text.

Progress to independent writing once students display their understanding of the procedural writing process. Allow them to write a procedural text about an activity with which they are familiar as well as testing them on procedural writing principles.