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Week Two
Inverted Triangle to find a specific writing topic
Why use the Inverted Triangle?
The inverted triangle method is used to help students specify the topic of their writing. It has them start with a common broad theme and then slowly narrow it so something specific to their lives.
How to create one:
First you have your students create triangle shape. Next you draw four horizontal lines. The top line is where you write the topic, next you go a little more specific, and then even more. The last little bit of the triangle will end up being a specific topic.
How to connect these books:
In order to help our students grow in their writing, we need to help them specify their stories. Happy Like Soccer and Mango, Abuela, and Me are both wonderful stories that are so specific and special to the author. Students will enjoy writing more if they are writing a story personal to their lives. Each student has so many important stories to share and it is important to encourage them to write in specific detail.
Your Turn:
A great tool to help your students narrow down a topic and write about something specific and special to them is the inverted triangle. You are able to read a model text and then come up with one theme. For example, if we want to focus on Happy Like Soccer then our theme might be hobbies for everyone. My example is below. The idea is to support your students to think deeper and more specific. You want your students to write about a special time to them.
Check my instagram to see how I incorporated it in the classroom:
In third grade we are studying spiders after reading Charlotte's Web. We began discussing what they know and wonder about spiders. Below I am adding their answers. The next step is to use the Inverted Triangle Method to choose a "research question". The topics are preselected based off of the article. An example is below.
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