Informational Writing in the Content Areas for Third, Fourth and Fifth Grades

This month many students in third, fourth and fifth grades are working on writing informational books or essays to go along with current content areas. They might be working on things for social studies or science. These pieces will be used to further teach classmates about the subjects.  This is a new concept in many classrooms. As I went through all the information that we have on this unit of study, I drew some connections to things students have done in the past in writing a feature article, which also was a nonfiction piece. 

Looking at all this information, I went through and made a day-by-day lesson series to help teachers have a place to start as they work with this unit.  I am including on this blog the day-by-day outline.  In this piece, I have noted that there is attached a lesson.  I did  not include those lessons due to the room on this blog. The lessons are usually things that teachers have taught while doing the feature article unit of study and can draw from that.

Here is my outline!

Day One: Informational Writers Know How to Take Notes without Just Copying (See attached lesson)
Day Two: Informational Writers choose a (sub) Topic   (See attached lesson)
Day Three: Informational Writers choose an angle for their topic (See attached lesson)
Day Four: Informational Writers Communicate Their Ideas through Sketching Using Detailed Labels and Captions
          Students will take their research and sketch their ideas. They will not just recopy what they
           have read. They will put in as much detail as possible and then add labels and captions to their
            work.
Day Five: Informational Writers Communicate Their Ideas through Observational Writing
           Students will use sentence starters like: “I notice”, “I see”, “This reminds me of”
Day Six: Informational Writers Use Questions and Wonders to Clarify Their Writing
            In the notebook, students will read over what they have collected and then write their own
            questions about what they are thinking at this point. They will also write what they are
           wondering about now, too.
Day Seven: Informational Writers Think about Their Observations
             Students will look back over the writing they have collected and write about what they are
             realizing. These entries may start like: “One thing I know,” “Another thing I know,” “This
             made me realize that, “ “This helps me understand,” “I used to think…….but now I know,”
Day Eight: Informational Writers Choose the Best Structure to Teach the Information They Present by Drafting a Table of Contents (3^rd)  
Day Eight: Informational Writers Prioritize the Research They Gather (4^th & 5^th)
            Students will learn how to decide what is important to include in their essay. They will use
            words like “most” or “least”. Phrases they might use are: “most influential” or “least
            effective” help them to decide which points to refer to in the essay.
Day Nine: Informational Writers Cite Research Correctly (4^th & 5^th)
           Students will take a card and write a research fact on one side of the index card and then
            rewrite it on the other side of the card from memory. (Paraphrasing)
Day Nine: Informational Writers Use Linking Words Like: Also, Another, And, More, But, to Connect Ideas and Information (3^rd)
Day Ten: informational Writers Use Their Notebooks as a Valuable Resource
             Students will look at their notebooks for detailed drawings to write more on a page. They will
             use their notes to give more details in the writing by adding more specific vocabulary,
             captions or labels.
Day Eleven: Informational Writers Add an Introduction and Conclusion to Their Essay      (See attached lesson)
Day Twelve: Informational Writers Revise by Thinking about Their Audience
Day Thirteen: Informational Writers Edit Their Work by Rereading to Be Sure it Makes Sense and for Conventions
Day Fourteen: Informational Writers Edit Their Work Looking at Conventions
Day Fifteen: Informational Writers Present Their Books and Teach All They Have Learned to Others (3^rd)
Day Fifteen: Informational Writers Publish Their Essays by Using a Variety of Strategies (4^th & 5^th)