Standard 3: Critical Reading and Writing

Students will apply critical thinking skills to reading and writing.

 For more specific genre information, please refer to Genre Guidance (page 4 of the Support Documents.).

Student Actions 

Teacher Actions 

to keep in mind the writing process (3.2.W), word choice (3.4.W), language (3.5.W) and research (3.6.W). 

• Students will select a subject and determine the main idea that they will communicate in writing.

• Students will write supporting details and facts about their chosen subject.

• Students will use transitional and signal words for smoothness.

• Teachers describe the elements of a strong informative writing piece.

• Teachers share mentor texts to show how authors

• Establish a main idea

• Include supporting details

• Include facts

• Use transitional and signal words

• Teachers model how to write an informative piece  by thinking aloud through a piece of their own writing.

• Teachers allow time for students to practice composing informative texts while realizing not every piece needs to be taken completely through the writing process.

• Teachers  monitor and provide opportunities for students to receive feedback on their writing regarding main idea, supporting details, inclusion of facts, and use of transitional and signal words.

• Teachers explain that all types of writing are very personal and ensure students that they will be respectful of the fact that their writing is a piece of themselves. Teachers will ensure students their writing will not be read out loud without the student’s permission.

• Teachers model and guide students to underline the items on the list in different colors or highlight where they see evidence of these items. Teachers model using a rubric to evaluate writing in the revising stage.

Supporting Resources

Teacher Insights

Transitional Words (PDF)

• Informative writing is factual writing about a nonfiction topic.

• The main goal of informational writing is to increase knowledge by providing straightforward information on a topic.

• Writers  establish the main idea with a strong introduction that captures the reader’s attention.

• Ideas for Strong Introductions: include an unusual fact, ask a question, include vivid description, tell a brief story

• Writers restate the main idea with a strong conclusion.

• Ideas for Strong Conclusions: summarize key points, make a prediction, offer an opinion or a suggestion, explain the topic importance

• Transitional words and phrases  guide the reader easily and clearly from one idea to the next.

• Introduce students to simple rubrics or checklists. It is helpful to use the OSDE rubric for 5th grade writing and adapt for age appropriateness.

• Teachers  choose 1-3 skills to focus on for a piece of writing and not overwhelm students with a long list at this beginning stage.

• Example prompt: Write a paragraph that describes your favorite animal.

Due to recursive nature of the standards, it is essential that teachers are aware of how all objectives within and between strands work together for optimal instruction.