Our lesson came from the idea of helping students understand the writing trait:  word choice.  How do you get 40 squirmy 4^th Graders to think about adding vibrant verbs, and descriptive adjectives to their drafts?  And then we found the book:  Chicks and Salsa by Aaron Reynolds.   It’s a hilarious tale of barnyard animals who get tired of the same boring food everyday.  The rooster decides to matters into his own hands and one day discovers the farmer’s wife watching a cooking show on TV.  The next thing we know, the rooster is making salsa – although no one is certain where the rooster got the chips!  As the story continues, the peppers get pilfered, the limes get lifted, and the ducks make guacamole – although no one is certain where the ducks got the avocados!

An idea was born:  let’s invite students to taste test a plain tortilla – it represents their drafts before we start revising.  A plain old tortilla is okay – but we know that with a little help we can turn a tortilla into a crispy chip that’s just begging for salsa!  Our writing can get spicy when we add sensory descriptors and substitute bland words for bold verbs and adjectives.   The next part of the writing lesson is the fun part:  eating chips and homemade salsa.  Our 4^th graders love spicing up their writing!  Great job!