CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.2

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

Strategy: Procedural Writings (Ramsey)

Detailed Description: Students will write procedures on how to do certain tasks. They will list detailed steps on how to do it. This will teach them to clearly explain, organize, and analyze the steps required to do a certain task.

Practical Application: The students will be given instructions to clearly write step by step procedures for how to do something. The thing is not the focus of the assignment – the goal is to get students to break down tasks and clearly convey the tasks to others. It will create deeper thinking and figuring out why things are done the way they are rather than simply accepting things as how they are. It will also enable students to break down and convey other directions more clearly.

TRAP: The Professional Development Service for Teachers has provided a list of several example assignments for procedural writings. These examples will help teachers implement procedural writings into their classrooms to meet this standard.

“Samples of Procedural Writing” in Professional Development Service for Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.pdst.ie/node/589.

Strategy: Inquiry Charts (Chiles)

Detailed Description:  This is a critical thinking chart for students to complete to organize their thoughts and information on a topic or subject. The chart is split into 4 columns and 5 rows. In each column, there is a space for specific questions that need to be answered to go. In the first row is what the student’s think the answer to each question is. In the following 3 rows, are spaces for evidence from sources that support or answer the question provided.  In the last row, there is a space for a summary from each source that answers the question. This is a great tool to organize the thoughts of the students, encourage them to use credible sources along with their beliefs to answer questions, summarize all sources together, and provide them with an ingrained format for their paper. Students are basically writing their informational/explanatory papers as they complete this chart.

Practical Application: In a 6th-grade science class students are required to write an informational text about rocks, but it has to be in the format of a newspaper article. They only have two columns to tell readers the most important information they need to know about rocks and they must cite their sources. Students can use the inquiry chart to write this newspaper article. They start by developing 3 questions that will allow them to incorporate the most important,yet interesting information. After they develop their questions, they will answer their questions and then find source material that answer their questions as well. After they’ve gathered all evidence-based answers, they’ll proceed to summarize each column. Once they’ve finished with their inquiry chart, they’ll begin to transfer their knowledge from the chart into their article with a coherent and fascinating beginning, middle, and end.

TRAP: This strategy came from an informational text strategy list from the Cambium Learning Group. This group provides and designs instructional technology for students, teachers, and adults. This group merged with Voyager Learning Company and together they are over Learning A-Z.com: a site that provides researched-based differentiation instruction.