This lesson plan teaches students to find the characteristics of how-to writing by annotating a how-to/explanatory piece. There are 5 different explanatory/how-to pieces provided that meet the needs of readers that are on a 1st grade level to a 4th grade level. One text is to be used as a teacher model. This lesson is an effective introduction to explanatory/how-to writing that will provide students with mentor text that can be referred to throughout their entire writing process.