1. Give students engaging, relevant texts. 2. Have students prewrite and discuss. 3. Provide feedback and an opportunity to revise.
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ThinkCERCA has been nominated for "Best Social Impact Startup" by the Moxie Awards, a competition which recognizes Chicago-based entrepreneurship. If ThinkCERCA has made an impact on your classroom, please consider voting for us! Recognition like this helps our team reach more teachers, students, and classrooms across the country.
One week until poems for CERCA Slam are due! Students and teachers may submit individual poems online, or teachers can email contests@thinkcerca.com with student submissions.
Writing a clear and accurate informative text is a foundational skill in writing. People in all walks of life constantly need to write to explain ideas and information to others. These skills aren’t only important for success on state and college entrance assessments; they will also serve students well throughout their education, careers, and civic life. Here are three best practices to try with your students as you work with them on their informative writing skills.
1. Give students engaging, relevant texts. Students will be more successful when writing in response to a text on a topic that they care about and that is meaningful to them. Choose texts that are at an appropriate level of complexity for your students, that are on topics relevant to their lives and their concerns, and that are from reliable and respected sources, such as National Geographic, PBS, the Library of Congress, or NASA.
2. Have students prewrite and discuss. Planning is key! Give students a graphic organizer (such as ThinkCERCA’s interactive graphic organizer or the PDF organizer below) to help them plan a clear main idea statement about which they’ll be writing, and the most significant and relevant details they’ll include to support that idea. After working independently, pairs or small groups of students can share their plans and hear the questions and thoughts of their partners to activate the power of peer discourse.
3. Provide feedback and an opportunity to revise. With timely and specific feedback, students will grow and develop their writing skills. Point out both their strengths and opportunities to improve; for example, show them places where they could organize their information more effectively, add more relevant supporting details, or revise transitions to make the whole piece more cohesive.
To support your students in planning their piece of informative writing, check out our free graphic organizers that help them plan their main idea and supporting details.
These lessons are great...
If your students are fascinated with planes, drones, and anything that flies:
Air Travel Takes Off
Grades 3-5 | CCSS.CCRA.R.8
Writing prompt: How were the Wright Brothers able to change the world?
If your students frequently trade food at lunchtime:
Congress Takes Up Food-Labeling Fight
Grades 9-10 | CCSS.CCRA.R.6
Writing prompt:Should the federal government regulate which details food manufacturers include on their labels, such as whether the food contains genetically modified organisms or its country of origin?
If your class has discussed the story about bacteria and disease lying dormant in ice and frozen soil:
Geo-Medicine
Grades 6-8 | CCSS.CCRA.R.6
Writing prompt:Is geoengineering a promising way of combating climate change, or should people take responsibility and stop burning fossil fuels and creating garbage?
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
–Benjamin Franklin
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