Fun with Character: Instructions

Divide the class into groups of 4 – 6 per group. Each group will need to write step-by-step instructions on how to do a simple task such as brushing their teeth or making a sandwich. Explain that the person who is reading this has been raised by apes living in the jungle and they have never done this before. After each group writes their instructions you can then demonstrate each set of instructions being careful to do only what is instructed so as to point out anything they may have missed. Be very literal so that you can spot if they say to rinse without saying to turn on the water and pour some in the cup. An alternate ending would be to have the groups exchange lists and act them out to look for missing details. If you have all of the groups do the same activity you can then do a group activity that compares each list of instructions and see if there are instructions that are in one but not the other. Are there any instructions that were left out of all of them? Then work as a group to combine all of the sets into one single thorough set of instructions.

When finished, process the activity with these or similar questions:

• Was it easy or hard to write detailed instructions?

• If you were writing this for a classmate, would you have needed to be this detailed?

• How do you decide how much detail you need to write?

• Will you remember this exercise the next time you need to write detail?