One of my pursuits this summer, when I wasn’t as active on this blog, was writing step-by-step articles on instructables.com. Projects included everything from a camp shower enclosure to a 35-cent book weight.

This type of writing, the how-to essay, is great for students to practice order words (first, next, then, finally), as well as to understand how to organize their work so it makes sense. See an example of a second-grade student’s how-to essay here.