Grades 1-2 Four Square Writing
Step 1: Brainstorming
Writing Situation: Everyone has a favorite food.
Think about this for a moment! What is your favorite
food? Why do you like it?
Directions for Writing: We are going to write a story
about our favorite food. We will use exciting details,
and colorful words in our make our story interesting.
Step 2: Think about it.
Think about your favorite food.
Why do you like it?
What does it taste like?
When do you get to eat your
favorite food?
How does it make you feel when
you eat your favorite food?
Step 3: Prepare the graphic
organizer.
Now we will
fold our
paper into 4
squares.
Step 4: Complete the center box.
Unfold the paper and draw a box in the center. In
the center box. Let’s write a sentence to begin
our story.
My favorite food
is macaroni.
Step 5: Build a word bank.
Let’s think of some words that we might use when
we talk about macaroni.
cheese
yummy
warm
gooey
My favorite food
is macaroni.
Step 5: Build a word bank.
Can you think of more words that we might need
to use when we talk about macaroni?
My favorite food
is macaroni.
Step 6: Complete the graphic
organizer.
Think of something you could tell about macaroni
using a word from the word bank. Write that
sentence in the first box.
My favorite food
is macaroni.
Step 3: Complete the graphic
Write a
organizer.
sentence to
tell about
macaroni.
My favorite food is macaroni.
Step 3: Complete the graphic
organizer.
It is so warm
it
melts in my
mouth.
My favorite food is macaroni.
Step 3: Complete the graphic
Write another
organizer.
It is so warm it
melts in my
mouth.
sentence to
tell about
macaroni.
My favorite food is macaroni.
Step 3: Complete the graphic
I like it with
organizer.
It is so warm it
melts in my
mouth.
lots of thick
cheese.
My favorite food is macaroni.
Step 3: Complete the graphic
I like it with
organizer.
It is so warm it
melts in my
mouth.
lots of thick
cheese.
My favorite food is macaroni.
Write another
sentence to
tell about
macaroni.
Step 3: Complete the graphic
I like it with
organizer.
It is so warm it
melts in my
mouth.
lots of thick
cheese.
My favorite food is macaroni.
My
grandmother
makes the
best gooey
macaroni.
Step 3: Complete the graphic
I like it with
organizer.
It is so warm it
melts in my
mouth.
lots of thick
cheese.
My favorite food is macaroni.
My
grandmother
makes the
best gooey
macaroni.
Write a feeling
sentence
about
macaroni.
Step 3: Complete the graphic
I like it with
organizer.
It is so warm it
melts in my
mouth.
lots of thick
cheese.
My favorite food is macaroni.
My
grandmother
makes the
best gooey
macaroni.
Eating macaroni
makes my
tummy feel
yummy.
Step 7: From the Four Square to paper
Step 7: From the graphic
organizer to the paper.
My favorite food is
macaroni. It is so warm it
melts in my mouth. I like
it with lots of thick
cheese. My grandmother
makes the best gooey
macaroni. Eating
macaroni makes my
tummy feel yummy.
Step 8: Sparkle Words
Reread the story
Can you add sparkle words
to make it more interesting?
Sparkle Words
Step 8: Sparkle Words
BEFORE:
My favorite food is macaroni.
AFTER:
My favorite food is
Macaroni.
tasty
Step 8: Sparkle Words
BEFORE:
I like it with lots of thick cheese.
AFTER:
I like it with
thick cheese.
tons
of
Step 8:
Sparkle
words
Remember: Sparkle words make
your story more interesting.
happy
delighted
Step 8:
Sparkle
words
Remember: Sparkle words make
your story more interesting.
big
enormous
Step 9: Rewrite Your Story.
My favorite food is
tasty macaroni. It is so
warm it melts in my
mouth. I like it with tons
of thick cheese. My
grandmother makes the
best gooey macaroni.
Eating macaroni makes
my tummy feel yummy.
Step 10: Edit Your Story
REREAD your work to make sure you have:
Stayed on the idea
Given your reasons
Used complete sentence
Begin each sentence with a capital letter
Include sparkle words
End each sentence with punctuation.
Have an ending sentence that tells how your
feel.
Next Steps:
Take students through this lesson
again, asking them to write about
their own favorite food.