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Informational Writing: Lesson 1 of 5

Lesson Plan

Informational Writing: Lesson 1 of 5

Grade Levels

4th Grade

Course, Subject

English Language Arts

Vocabulary

Narrative Writing

Persuasive Writing

Informational Writing

Objectives

The student will

*recognize a narrative text (stories, poems, plays)

*recognize a multi-paragraph persuasive piece including a clearly stated opinion or position (speech, editorial, advertisements, pamphlets)

*identify an informational piece (descriptions, letters, reports and instructions)

Lesson Essential Question(s)

How do texts differ?

Why does a writer choose a particular form of writing?

How does reading a wide variety of texts expand our knowledge of the world?

Duration

90 minutes or 2 45 minute class periods.

Materials

Suggested Instructional Strategies

W: Students will be introduced to 3 different types of writing.  Show students examples of narrative, persuasive and informational writing. Have students make observations of the various types of writing and the category they fall into.They will be (in a later lesson) asked to demonstrate their knowledge of informational writing.

H: Students will be demonstrating their knowledge of informational writing by designing their own informational brochure, power point or photo story or television commercial in Part 5 of this lesson.

E:  Students will be given the opportunity to learn about the 3 different types of writing through powerpoint instruction, teacher directed and hands on learning.

R: Students will share their thoughts on writing and their upcoming projects.

E: Students will demonstrate their understanding by answering questions by the teacher through conversations, active engagements on the white board and the opportunity to blog on questions related to the lesson.

T: Instruction will be tailored by providing students the opportunity to use other means to express their understanding of the lesson. Tape recorders, small group discussion and guided reading in small groups.

O: Lesson will be large group sharing, powerpoint instructions, and independent work with newspapers and computers.

Instructional Procedures

Explain to students that there are many different types of writing.Tell students that as writers you want them to know the differences between  types of texts. We will be focusing on three different types in this lesson plan. (Please note that the actual writing portion of this lesson will come in a later lesson in this unit).

 Narrative Writing 

We will begin by introducing narrative writing. Narrative writing tells a story.  Narrative writing appears in novels, short stories, biographies, autobiographies, historical accounts, poems, essays, and plays. Narrative writing allows the writer a chance to think and write about themselves. When we write a narrative essay, we are telling a story.  The story is often the authors' point of view.  Narrative writing relies on a personal experience.  It is often filled with details that explain the story.  The details must relate to the main idea.

Provide examples of narrative writing to the students.  Resources may be obtained through your school library.  Students will be given the opportunity to see what a biography, autobiography, historical account (from a social studies textbook), poem, and a play look like. You will find websites below that give great examples of different types of narrative writing.  You will need to have a computer and projector available for the following links.

 (biographies):

http://www.biography.com/

(autobiographies):

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/autobiography-examples.html

(poetry):

http://www.types-of-poetry.org.uk/

(plays):

http://www.sampost.com/ten-minute-plays 

Other resources

 Powerpoint on narrative writing:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=powerpoint+on+narrative+writing&start=10&sa=N

 

A powerpoint on narrative, persuasive and informational writing with the above mentioned links is available on a powerpoint.  It can be located under materials and related materials and resources.

  

 Persuasive Writing

Persuasive writing will be the second type of writing that students will explore with  their teacher. Persuasive  writing intends to convince the reader of an opinion or position on something. Persuasive writing is usually a multi-paragraph piece and includes along with the clearly stated opinion, supporting details, citing sources when needed.  We usually think of persuasive writing when we talk about speeches, editorials, letter to the editor, advertisements, pamphlets and opinion pieces. We need to develop reader interest in our subject area. The goal of persuasive writing is to get people to agree with you.  It is heavily weighted in facts, not opinion.

The teacher will introduce some of the different forms of persuasive writing.These are some suggested links with examples of the types of persuasive writing mentioned above:

(speech):

https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=36

(advertisements):

http://adage.com/century/slogans.html

(pamphlets):

http://www.toucaned.com/Products/PublicHealth/pamphletSeries/yourHands01.jpg

 

Other resources

A newspaper would provide a number of examples of persuasive writing. As a follow-up to this part of the lesson, students can use a newspaper to locate either an advertisement or editorial in the paper.  Students may work in small groups to share what they found.  During this part of the lesson the teacher will be making informal observations and using questioning strategies with the students as the teacher circulates around the room. If available, the teacher may provide laptops or take students to the computer lab for the students to pull up the local newspaper to locate additional examples of persuasive writing.

In order to further explore persuasive writing a link with a writing workshop may be used at:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/writing/index.asp?topic=Women

Informational Writing
The next four lessons in this unit will explore in great detail informational writing. During this lesson the teacher will provide a base for the follow-up lessons.
Informational texts are very important in students lives.  They give answers to questions and build upon their knowledge.  They locate facts that answer the reader's questions.
Informational writings are usually pieces that use descriptions, letters, reports , feature articles, non-fiction books and instructions.  They may use illustrations when relevant. An informational text provides facts and ideas.  It explains or conveys information.  Informational writing involves the engagement of the reader with aspects of the real world. We will be developing and completing a project in a later lesson which will result in the completion of a brochure, power point or photo story or television commercial.
An article on six reasons to use an informational text may be located at:
 
 
 
The link below is an excellent resource to use on a projector or whiteboard to share with students.  It gives many examples of informational texts.  There is an opportunity to use text of different grade levels, depending on the level of the students in your classroom.
A powerpoint lesson on informational writing to show to students:
 
A powerpoint on narrative, persuasive and informational writing with the above mentioned links is available on a powerpoint.  It can be located under materials and related materials and resources.
 
 At the end of this lesson (after the three types of writing have been introduced) it would be time to summarize what has been introduced to the students thus far.
 If available, students can blog  using laptops or  computers in a computer lab, on the different types of writing discussed in this lesson. The teacher can post a question for the class and students would have the opportunity to share their thoughts.
 
This lesson is being taught to introduce and give examples of narrative, persuasive and informational writing. Students should be made aware that the focus of their writing in lessons 2-5 in this unit will be on informational writing.
 

Formative Assessment

Teacher will provide students with the following document to assess their knowledge and understanding of the 3 types of writing covered in this lesson.

T:\formative assessment.doc

 

Teacher will complete formative assessments in the following ways:

* Informal Observation - teacher will continually assess the students on their level of understanding the differences between narrative text, persuasive text, and informational text

 

* Conversations - as the teacher circulates among the students, conversations with students will be on a continuous basis

 

* Questioning Strategies - the teacher will ask questions regarding the different types of writing covered in this lesson

 

* Active Engagement with the students by using think,pair, share; popsicle sticks;  white boards

 

*Computers in the Classroom - students will be asked to blog with their classmates on the question posted regarding the different types of writing.  Laptop computers will be used (if available) or a visit to the schools computer room

 

 

 

 

 

Related Materials & Resources

 *http://www.biographycom. "Biography Resource Site". Bio.True Story, an affiliate of A & E Telivision Networks. Web.  10 Mar. 2010. <http://www.biography.com>.

 

*http://www.buzzle.com/articles/autobiography-examples.html ."Autobiography Resource site." Buzzle.com an affiliate of Really Simple Syndication. Web.10 March. 2010.< http://www.buzzle.com/articles/autobiography-examples.html>.

 

* http://www.types-of-poetry.org.uk/ . "Poetry Resource Site." Types of Poetry, an affiliate of Webmaster@types of poetry. Web. 10 March. 2010.

 

"Examples of Short Plays."  Ten Minute Plays, an affiliate of Tate Publishing. Web. 11 March 2010. <http://www.sampost .com/ten-minute-plays>.

 

*https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=36. "Famous Speeches." Our Documents.gov, an affiliate of National Archives and Records Administration. Web. 12 March 2010. <https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=36>.

 

*http://adage.com/century/slogans/html.  "Top Ads for the Year."  Adage.com, an affiliate of Advertising Age Crain Communications, Inc. Web. 12 March 2010. <http://adage.com/century/slogans/html>.

 

*http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4483. "6 Reasons to Use Informational Text in Primary Grade." Scholastic, an affiliate of Scholastic, Inc. Web. 14 March 2010.< http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4483>.

 

*http://beyondpenguins.nsdl.org/information.php?topic=stories. "Example of an Informational Text." Beyond Penguins,  an affiliate of Creative Commons License. Web. 15 March 2010. <http://beyondpenguins.nsdl.org/infomation.php?topic=stories>.

 

*http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=powerpoint+on+narrative+writing&start=10&sa=N. "Powerpoint on Narrative Writing, Primary Grades." Narrative Writing and Language at pppst.com. Web. 28 March 2010. http://www.google.com/search?<hl=en&q=powerpoint+on+narrative+writing&start=10&sa=N>.

 

C:\Documents and Settings\deleom\My Documents\Resources Narrative, Persuasive, Informational.ppt

Author

Date Published

March 01, 2010
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