Informative Writing Lesson

Content Area: Writing (whole-class) Subject Matter: Informative Writing Topic: Butterflies (Lifecycle) Anticipatory Set (5 mins): Discuss facts vs opinions. Review the meaning of what a fact is and what an opinion is and students will give a few examples. Reiterate the carpet expectations and how to be a 5star listener (eyes that are watching, ears that are listening, a mouth that is quiet, hands and feet that are still). Objective: Students will use a graphic organizer to write 3 facts about what they have learned about butterflies and their lifecyle. They will use appropriate spacing between words, capital letters at the start of each sentence, and punctuation at the end their sentence. Students will use phonemic awareness to spell unfamiliar words and they will utilize the word wall for high frequency words. Students will use the facts they wrote on their graphic organizer to produce an informative writing piece. They will provide an introduction about what they will be talking about, three facts about butterflies, a sense of closure, and a drawing that goes along with their writing. Introduction of new material: Tell students that today we will be using a graphic organizer to organize the facts we have learned about butterflies. Remind students that when we are doing informative writing, we are talking about all the things that are true and factual, not our opinion about it. Tell students that writing is like talking on paper. We think about the topic, we decide what we are going to write, and then we put our thoughts on the paper Guided Practice: We will be writing about butterflies and their lifecycle. On chart paper, I will have Fact 1, Fact 2, and Fact 3 listed. We will brainstorm and discuss the different facts we have learned. Students will also think-pair-share. I will call on students to tell us some facts that they have learned about butterflies. I will write the first fact on the chart paper, with students guiding me with spelling. For Fact 2, I will have different students come up to the chart paper to assist with the writing of the sentence. I will remind students to use chunky monkey and stretchy snake when writing an unfamiliar word. They will also be encouraged to use the word wall to spell words we have previously learned. We will sound out parts of words together in order to gain confidence with spelling unfamiliar words. Independent Practice: After we finish coming up with a couple of facts as a class on the carpet, students will go back to their seats and write 3 facts independently using the graphic organizer provided. I will be walking around the classroom to monitor students, to make sure they are staying on task, and to assist those that need extra support. During their independent practice, I will make sure students are: using phonemic awareness to spell unfamiliar words, utilizing the word wall, using spacing between their words, capital letters and punctuation, and sticking to the topic. ELL and Student with Special Needs: These particular students are unable to do any writing. Instead, they will draw pictures of the different stages of the butterfly and verbally tell me about their picture.

Closure: I will call on two students to share their facts with the entire class. The class will be reminded to be respectful, and to be five star listeners: Eyes that are watching, ears that are listening, hands and feet that are still, and a mouth that is closed. Standards: CCSS W 1.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure. SL 1.1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. a. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion). b. Build on others’ talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others through multiple exchanges. c. Ask questions to clear up any confusion