Informative Writing

1. Students will begin the lesson on the carpet. The teacher will begin the lesson by reviewing what kind of writing they have been looking at. (Students should already be introduced to how to write informative pieces of writing.) Teacher should remind students that their writing should be informative, give lots of details, and tell the reader of their writing how to do something or about something where they will know all about it!
2. The teacher will then express to students that they will be revising and editing a piece of their writing and looking at a partner’s piece of writing too.
3. The teacher will put one of their own writing pieces under the document camera, or choose a student's work that models how an informative piece of writing should look like. Read through the writing with the students all the way through. After reading it once through, read it again, this time stopping and discussing with students things you could add or things you could change. Do this to your writing piece so that students can see how to do this with their own writing.
4. After modeling how to make revisions and edit a piece of writing, give students the opportunity to go back to their tables and look at their own piece of writing. Make sure to walk around and coach/assist students who are struggling. Give students about 10 minutes to do this. Have students come back to the carpet with their writing piece.
5. Give students the opportunity to share some of the things they edited/revised in their writing.
6. After a few students have shared, the teacher will then partner students up to read each other's writing. Before allowing students to do this, the teacher should go over how partners should work together. (Partners should be sitting side by side, be good listeners, give positive feedback, work as a team, etc.) After reviewing partner rules with students, have them get with their partners and take turns reading their own writing. The partner should give feedback after they read their writing by asking questions to find out more, and give suggestions that could enhance the partner's writing. Give students about 10 minutes to do this. The teacher should coach/assist partnerships that are struggling.
7. Have students come back together and share some of the things they discussed in their partnerships, just like when they shared about their own writing. Make sure after the share time, that students are given the opportunity to make changes/add things that their partners gave them feedback on.

Students will be assessed through questioning. They will also be assessed during the time that they revise and edit their own writing, and when they are working with their partners. The teacher should make a note of whether or not students are able to give quality feedback to their partners and relate to revising and editing their writing to make it better than before.