Welcome to “Writing Practice to Mastery!” Since you can use this packet over and over again for different informative/ explanatory writing pieces, it is truly “A Year’s Worth of Informative/Explanatory Writing Practice!”
I can write an informative/explanatory text in which I clearly:
--introduce a topic, grouping related info and including illustrations when helpful
--develop the topic with facts, definitions and details
--use linking words and phrases to connect ideas within
categories
--and provide a concluding statement or section.
No extra resources needed! Everything you need is included in this unit!“Writing Practice to Mastery!” can be used with students for short time frames or over extended time frames to produce an informative/explanatory paper that meets all of the requirements of Common Core W.3.2a-b. It also allows for research to support information and includes an Informative/Explanatory Writing Scoring Guide that includes student self-scoring, peer scoring and teacher scoring. Students reflect on their scores and then make a plan for improvement on the next Informative/Explanatory Writing assignment. All of these features, used with the following plan, allow you to cover W.3.2a-b, W.3.4, W.3.5, W.3.6, W.3.7, W.3.8 and W.3.10!
Step 1: Topic Brainstorming
Step 2: Hooking Your Reader!
Step 3: Important Categories of Info or Steps in a Process
Step 4: Just the Facts, Man! (Facts & Definitions as Support)
Step 5: Powerful Paragraph(s) & Linking Your Support
Step 6: Hmmm...Leave ‘em With Something to Think About (Concluding Remarks)
Share Your Information With the World!
(Template for putting it all together.) Revision and editing happen from this copy. Digital publishing (or using the template again to publish in the students’ best handwriting) is the final step. Also included: Informative/Explanatory Writing Scoring Guide & plan for improvement!