4.3.W.2

​Students will compose informative essays that:

• introduce and develop a topic

• Incorporate evidence (e.g., specific facts, examples)

• maintain an organized structure with transitional words and phrases

• use sentence variety and word choice to create interest

• model literary devices from mentor texts

• Students choose a subject and decide what they want their audience to learn about their subject.

• Students use organizational tools (e.g., graphic organizers, fact sheets, index cards, etc.) to gather evidence and organize their composition.

• Students write an introductory paragraph about their topic that includes a hook and tells the reader what they will be writing about.

• Students develop their topic by writing paragraphs about their subtopics. Students develop topic sentences  for each of their paragraphs and include evidence to support their topic sentences.  

• Students maintain an organized structure by adding transitional words and phrases to their writing.

• Students revise their essays for sentence variety and word choice to create interest in their writing.

• Students take risks with writing by including literary devices in their essays.

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• Teachers describe the elements of a strong informative essay.

• Teachers share mentor texts to show how authors 

• introduce and develop a topic

• incorporate evidence into their writing

• organize their writing using transitional words and phrases

• use sentence variety and word choice to create interest 

• use literary devices in their writing

• Teachers model developing a topic.  For example, teachers may ask questions such as:

• What subjects interest me?

• What do I know a lot about that I can teach to others?

• What do I want to learn more about?

• Who is my audience?

• What do I want my reader to learn about my topic?

• What subtopics can I focus on in my writing?

• For example, if a student is writing about dolphins his or her subtopics might be the dolphin’s diet, features, and habitat.

• Teachers model gathering evidence about a topic.

• Teachers chunk the task of writing an informative piece by focusing on composing one paragraph at a time.

• Teachers provide organizational tools and model how to use them to organize their composition.

• Teachers demonstrate how to introduce a topic by using a hook to gain the reader’s attention and explaining what their essay will be about.  For example, writers can hook the reader’s attention by:

• beginning with an unusual fact

• asking a question

• including a vivid description (teachers can model how to incorporate literary devices such as similes and metaphors into their description)

• telling a brief story

• Teachers will model writing an informative essay that includes an introduction, topic sentences with evidence that supports them(i.e., specific facts or examples), and transition words and phrases that add clarity and organization. 

• Teachers allow time for students to practice composing informative texts.

• Teachers model revising their writing for sentence variety and word choice.  For example:

• Do all of the sentences begin the same way?

• Can I change a simple sentence to a compound sentence?

• What details can I add to my sentences to make them more interesting?

• Are there words that repeat or are overused?

• Can I add interest by using vivid adjectives?

• Would using synonyms for certain words add interest or make my writing clearer?

• Teachers model using a literary device studied previously in a mentor text to describe the subject, add interest, or make comparisons in their own writing. 

• Teachers monitor and provide opportunities for students to receive feedback throughout the writing process.

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When students have difficulty choosing or developing a topic, teachers can...

• provide interest surveys to the students.

• brainstorm a list of topics with the class.

• brainstorm a list of common subtopics with the class.

When students have difficulty writing an introductory paragraph, teachers can...

• conference with the student.

• provide anchor charts describing ways to introduce a topic.

• provide a frame as a scaffold for students to use when writing their paragraphs.

• write with a partner.

When students have difficulty adding sentence variety and word choice to their writing, teachers can…

• model how to combine sentences or add details to the essay.

• provide highlighters or colored pencils and have students hunt for specific types of sentences, repeated words, or words that can be replaced with more precise synonyms.

• have students focus on one type of revision at a time.

• conference with the student.

• Informative Writing: writing that shares facts and details in order to explain.

• Topic: the subject of an entire paragraph or text selection. 

• 4.2.W.1: Prewrite and organize drafts

• 4.2.W.2: Revise drafts  

• 4.3.R.4: Literary devices

• 4.3.R.7: Text structures

• 4.2.W.2: Revise drafts