Curated OER
Informational Writing: Business Letter
Fifth graders write business letters. In this business letter lesson, 5th graders discuss the format and reasons for writing a business letter. They pick who they want to write to and create their own letter.
Curated OER
Summarizing
Fifth graders write summaries. In this summarizing lesson students decide which events of a chapter in a book are important to summarizing. Students also create a title for the chapter based upon the contents of the chapter. Students...
Curated OER
Informational Writing
Fifth graders study Paul Revere. For this writing lesson, 5th graders discuss the elements of writing that help a reader be engage. They read about Paul Revere's life, taking notes about what made his life seem heroic, and write about...
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Papa Interviews
Through this lesson, students can examine the life and interests of Ernest Hemingway. They will research, write and perform a mock interview between Hemingway and a TV news anchor. Although this lesson was created to be used with the PBS...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Types of Writing: Expository and Persuasive
This lesson introduces two types of writing: expository and persuasive. It defines and provides examples of each kind. It offers links to MLA Formatting and Style Guide and sample papers of opinion and exository essays.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Come Along Daisy
Students will engage in discussions about story details and write an informational piece about the events in the story "Come Along Daisy".
University of Sydney (Australia)
University of Sydney: The Write Site: Evaluating Your Evidence
This essay resource teaches students how to select the type of evidence that best lends weight and credibility to their topics and how to organize the evidence effectively. A chart is provided as a quick reference. Click on pages 2-4 at...
Other
Grade 1 Informative Writing Lessons
Authored by the Tsehai Russell and Della Wright, CLR fellows, this resource provides a 5-day unit of informative writing lessons. Focus lessons related to facts and opinions and paragraph writing. This series is supported by the Academic...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Audience, Tone, and Style in Informative Text
Students will read samples of informative writing and highlight examples of how tone and style are used by the authors. Students will then apply this knowledge by writing their own informative text. Multiple examples of student work and...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Mice Squeak, We Speak
In this lesson students will write an informative sentence in response to listening to the story; "Mice squeak, We speak". Included in this lesson are examples of student work, videos of oral presentations, and puzzle pieces for new...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too?
Learners will write an informative sentence in response to listening to the story "Does A Kangaroo Have a Mother Too?". Included in this lesson are videos of mother and baby animals, pictures of the lesson in action, and a video of...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: I Learned It Online
Preparing the new generations for college and career readiness absolutely requires us to ensure our children are competent and comfortable in the use of a variety of digital tools. Young scholars will be learning about a topic online and...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Writing a Topic & Concluding Paragraph for the Essay
This lesson is a final step towards supporting young scholars to practice writing an informative/explanatory paragraph conveying complex ideas and presenting information clearly and accurately. Second-grade students can usually write a...
CPALMS
Cpalms: Home Is Where the Heart Is: Researching Habitats
[Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson plan, students will learn about different types of habitats as they gather information based on provided research questions. Students will summarize the information from their research in...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: A Storm of Ideas
The first step in writing an informational text on the topic of students' choice is helping the student choose a topic of interest. Students will brainstorm ideas that will be possible final topics.
Thinkport Education
Thinkport: Democratic Processes
In this activity, students write informative/explanatory texts describing various aspects of the political process in the United States. This self-paced module is aligned to College and Career Ready Standards for Literacy in Social...
ArtsNow
Arts Now Learning: Self Portraits With the Touch of a Finger [Pdf]
In this lesson, students will explore self-portraiture by looking at classical portrait paintings, such as Diego Velazquez's La Infanta Margarita or Raphael's Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione. A close look at these works reveals...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Alma's Way: Neighborhood Notebook
As Alma explores, she appreciates all the great things about her neighborhood. How can we make observations and celebrate our communities? Students will use a printable Alma's Way My Neighborhood Notebook to observe the people, places,...
University of Sydney (Australia)
The Write Site: Constructing a Working Thesis
Students will find a thorough definition of a thesis. Non-examples of thesis statements are also provided.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Modeling Academic Writing
Students prepare an already published scholarly article for presentation, with an emphasis on identification of the author's thesis and argument structure.
US Geological Survey
Usgs: Guidelines for Writing Hydrologic Reports [Pdf]
A very informative site, which is provided for by the U.S. Geological Survey, on how to write hydrologicic reports.
Other
Samples of Informative Writing Prompts
The Mississippi Department of Education offers a sample of informative writing prompts. Great ideas for teachers and students.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Question and Answer Books
Beginning writers work through a Writing Workshop format to create Question and Answer books. A series of mini-lessons, graphic organizers, possible texts, and samples of student work are all provided.
ACT360 Media
Writing Den: Essay Writing Tips
All you want to know about writing essays, from prewriting to editing. Click on the tip-o-matic and find tips on anything dealing with grammar or writing.