Title – Writing Process for Informative Writing

By – Molly Bendorf

Primary Subject – Language Arts

Secondary Subjects – Science, Social Studies

Grade Level – 3-4

Content Area:

Writing non-fiction research papers

Duration:

• Introduction = 5 minutes
  
• Activity = 20 min.
• Closure = 10 minutes

Colorado Standards:

• Reading/Writing Standard 2: Students write and speak for a variety of purposes and audiences.
  
• Reading/Writing Standard 4: Students apply thinking skills to their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing.
  
• Reading/Writing Standard 5: Students read to locate, select, and make use of relevant information from a variety of media, reference, and technological sources.
  
• Reading/Writing Standard 6: Students read and recognize literature as a record of human experience.

Objectives:

At the end of this lesson, students will be able to glean information from text to write an informative paper.

Resources and Materials:

• Non-fiction books, newspapers, magazines, encyclopedias
  
• Two column notes sheet for each student
  
• Index cards for each student
  
• Numerous informative texts for examples

Differentiation:

• Allow shared writing

Teaching the Lesson:

• Step One: Planning
  • Discuss different ways a non-fiction book is written.
    • Share the two column notes and the index cards to be used in planning.
    • Discuss the planning process.
    • Which plan will be used?
    • How do we plan?
  • Have students help you create a plan. Allow think/pair/share during this time.
    
  • Have students write their plan based on their topic.

• Step Two: Drafting
  • With the whole group write the text from the two column notes.
    
  • Show students how to take their information from their plan to create an informative text. Also, make sure students understand the topic sentence and conclusion.
    
  • Practice writing information in your own words, not just regurgitation from the text.
    
  • Have students write their draft. If needed for differentiation, work with a group of students and do writing together.

• Step Three: Editing
  • Show students how you edit your writing.
  • Have students work in groups to edit each other’s writing.

• Step Four: Publishing
  • After edits are complete, model the publishing technique with students.
  • Allow students to write final copy in ink or on the computer.
  • Have copies of other published works available in the classroom. If none are available, start a collection of published pieces. Students love to see their work.
    

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Molly Bendorf

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