Get your students excited about informational writing! This complete informational writing unit includes daily lesson plans, notebook charts, mentor texts and more. This unit takes your students through the whole writing process. Students will begin with getting ideas and end with a published piece of informational writing. The informational writing lessons included can be used in two ways:
✋ This unit is also part of the Writing Units Bundle which includes Narrative, Opinion, & Informational Writing Units.
🛑 Are you a member of the TLL Membership? These materials are already included. If you are not a member, click here to learn more. The TLL Membership gives you an all-access pass to hundreds of ELA resources for teachers in Grades 3-5.
What is included in the informational writing unit?
✏️Writing Minilessons:
There are a total of 24 minilessons. The lessons can be skipped, moved around, modified as needed based on your students' needs.
Study a Mentor Text
Writers are teachers.
Getting Ideas
Prepare for research
Writers research
Look for Big Ideas (Main Ideas for Text)
Sort Information
Plan with Boxes & Bullets
Draft Paragraphs
Paragraphs with Purpose
Use Text Evidence
Balance Facts with Voice
Using a Teaching Tone
Elaboration: Using Mini Stories
Using Figurative Language
Craft Moves & Elaboration Strategies
Expert Words (Domain-Specific Vocabulary)
Transitional Words & Phrases
Introductions
Conclusions
Revise: Add Text Features
Revise: Eliminate Unnecessary Words
Edit
Polish & Publish!
✏️PowerPoint:
For each lesson above, PowerPoint slides are included that can be used to model and teach the lesson.
✏️Notebook Charts/Binder Charts for Students (see full list below):
For each lesson, a notebook chart is included to support student learning.
"My school adopted a curriculum which was just had guidelines as to what should be taught but was lacking resources. I purchased this writing unit and was so pleased with how comprehensive the lessons and graphic organizers are! I will definitely purchase the other units! Thank you!" - Jessica M.
"Your units are amazing and my students have benefited greatly. Before this, I used to hate teaching writing. But this is honestly now one of my favorite subjects to teach." - Brittney B.
"Excellent resource. This is jam packed with information and is everything you promise and more. Thank you for a thorough product." - Ms. Duffy's Dream
📹 Click play on the video to see the complete unit.
Personal Narrative Writing Unit {My Life is a Story}
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This Personal Narrative Unit is perfect for kicking off Writer’s Workshop at the beginning of the year, while also providing enough content to support the Narrative Writing Common Core Standard at any other point in the school year. The lessons in this unit will build excitement for writing and set foundations for the rest of your academic year. This unit also contains lifelong tools which could supplement other writing units and the overall writing process.
*Writing Unit Calendar with Teaching Points *Blank Planning Calendar *Mentor Text Suggestions and Links *20 Lesson Ideas for the Unit
(The lessons in this unit are NOT always in a specific lesson template or written to precisely tell you what to do. However, there are detailed descriptions and ideas for each teaching point, including how the teacher can model, how students will practice, and what students will do independently. This unit will look different in every classroom as your own personal teaching style, experience, and perspective filters through. I have included a brief explanation for each teaching point and how it would/could look in the classroom. I have also noted when to use the anchor charts for each day as well as included pictures of notebook work that may help also. This unit of resources will hopefully “fill your fist” as Katie Wood Ray would say, with writing strategies to help your writers build a love for writing! You can check out my blog for anchor chart ideas and information on teaching writing.
*20+ Writing Notebook Anchor Charts for the Writer’s Notebook to help support applying the writing strategies into their work by providing anchor charts at your students’ fingertips.
*20 Anchor Charts to be used for: teaching the lesson, laminated as posters, put in sheet protectors and on a binder ring as part of your writing center or any other creative way you find use for them!
*Narrative Writing Checklist and Grading Rubric
*Standards for 3rd-5th grades (to glue in notebook)
*Publishing Paper
Whether you are using this in your classroom to start off the year or as a way to improve your students’ writing process, I hope you and your students enjoy this unit as much as we did! If you have any further questions or needs I would love to hear from you!
🛑 Are you a member of the TLL Membership? These materials are already included. If you are not a member, click here to learn more. The TLL Membership gives you an all-access pass to hundreds of ELA resources for teachers in Grades 3-5.
Get your students excited about opinion writing! This complete opinion writing unit includes daily lesson plans, notebook charts, mentor texts and more. This unit takes your students through the whole writing process. Students will begin with getting ideas and end with a published piece of opinion writing. The opinion writing lessons included can be used in two ways:
This opinion essay unit provides basic opinion writing teaching points and resources based on the Common Core Writing Standards for Grades 3-5. The lesson plans are divided into three parts:
1. Basic Teaching Points: Lessons that can be carried from writing a self-selected opinion piece to writing in response to text. These begin with generating ideas and end with a published piece of opinion writing.
2. Bonus (mini) Mini Lessons: Lessons to be used in small group, conferring, or whole group depending on the needs of your students.
3. Writing in Response to Text: Lessons to be used when writing in response to text or a prompt
This unit provides topic ideas and resources for any opinion piece. You could use a text as a basis for the opinion piece or use this unit to simply kick off opinion writing in your classroom. The writing lessons do not need to be taught in the exact order. Also, some of the teaching points you could use as small group lessons if you find that only some of your students need the lesson.
✏️Writing Minilessons:
The minilessons can be skipped, moved around, modified as needed based on your students' needs.
Study a Mentor Text
Getting Ideas
Collect Entries
Writers rehearse
Reasons and Evidence
Structure of Opinion Writing
Make a Plan Using Boxes & Bullets
Using Transition Words
Hook the Reader (Opinion Statement)
Reason Paragraph (Planner to Paragraph)
Precise Word Choice
Expert Words (Domain-Specific Vocabulary)
Elaboration
Craft a Conclusion
Revise: Eliminate Unnecessary Words
Edit
Polish & Publish
Bonus Minilessons
18. Strong, Bold Thesis Statements
19. Addressing the Audience's Concerns
20. Address Counterclaims
21. When, Why, How to Use Transitional Words and Phrases
22. Choosing Convincing Reasons
23. Endings: Restate Opinion + Call to Action
24. Strong Evidence
25. Color Code the Text to Identify the parts of an essay
26. Using repetition
Writing in Response to Text
27. Unpack the Prompt
28. Close Read a Text to Collect Evidence
29. Use Charts and Text Features as Evidence
30. What Makes Strong Evidence?
31. Citing Text Evidence
✏️ PowerPoint:
For each lesson above, PowerPoint slides are included that can be used to model and teach the lesson.
✏️Notebook Charts/Binder Charts for Students (see full list below):
For each lesson, a notebook chart is included to support student learning.
✏️ More Writing Resources Included:
Rubrics & Checklists
Graphic Organizers
Mini Word Wall
Reasons + Evidence Sort
Teacher Example Essay + Planning
Mentor Text Recommendations
Publishing Paper
✏️ Writing Notebook Anchor Charts
The anchor charts included in this product are meant for students to have anchor charts at their fingertips in their Writer’s Notebooks. I don’t know about you, but wall space is always an issue in my classroom. Not only that but storing and keeping track of large chart paper can sometimes stretch our organizational skills to the limits! I have found one of the best ways to support my students is to treat their notebooks like a tool in which they can find the strategies and skills taught whenever they need it. In this way, what we teach our students is not just a one-day occurrence, but they have a “forever tool.”
Characteristics of Opinion Writing
Writing an Opinion Essay
Topic Ideas for an Opinion Essay
Getting Ideas for an Opinion Essay
Debatable Topics
Opinion Vocabulary
Reasons vs. Evidence Sort
Opinion Writing Structure (2 Reasons)
Opinion Writing Structure (3 Reasons)
Transition Words for Opinion Writing
Transition Words from Pig Parade Mentor Text
The Hook
Paragraphs with Purpose
Color Code Your Text
Word Choice
Opinion Sentence Stems
Writers Use Expert Words
Transitional Phrases for Evidence & Elaboration
Crafting a Conclusion
Instead of Says
Using Text Evidence
Quoting or Paraphrasing the Text
Using Quotations from a Text
Opinion Writers Checklist
Peer Editing
Thesis Statement for an Opinion Essay
Planning a Thesis Statement
Rebuttal, Response, & Counterclaims
Repeat Your Opinion
Close Reading Strategies
Writers Choose Strong Evidence
Consider Your Audience
Language & Tone to Validate Your Argument
Opinion Writing Editing Checklist
Solving Your Spelling Problems
Opinion Writer's Checklist
Sorting My Evidence
4 Square Graphic Organizer
Writers Celebrate 3-2-1 Style
Do you need opinion writing prompts and text sets to go with this unit?
🛑 Are you a member of the TLL Membership? These materials are already included. If you are not a member, click here to learn more. The TLL Membership gives you an all-access pass to hundreds of ELA resources for teachers in Grades 3-5.
