Lesson plan includes...
Lesson Plan
Lesson 6: Constructing a Paragraph – Modelled Writing
60 minutes | Suitable for Grades: 5 - 6A 60 minute lesson in which students will correctly construct an informative paragraph.
This lesson plan includes the following resources:
Lesson Plan
Tuning In
- Watch the Informational Writing for Kids video on YouTube. After watching, ask the students:
- What is another word that could be used instead of ‘sections’?
- Why are headings so helpful in informative texts?
- Why are paragraphs so important when writing informative texts?
- Project the Paragraphs in Informative Writing Poster on the board. Remind the students of the four guidelines for writing informative paragraphs.
Teacher Instruction
- Choose a card from the Informative Paragraph Starters – Topic Sentence Cards which best suits the focus content of the unit e.g. phenomena. Read the topic sentence and ask the students to identify the topic of the paragraph e.g. the destruction that can be caused by earthquakes. As a class, brainstorm additional facts that could be included in the paragraph and list these on the board.
- After the brainstorm, select the three most relevant facts from the list on the board. Students could vote on which facts they feel are the most important.
Guided/Independent Learning
- Using the topic sentence on the card and the facts from the class brainstorm, jointly construct an informative paragraph about the topic. Encourage the students to include appropriate language features, such as subject-specific vocabulary. Once the paragraph is finished, allow the students time to write the jointly constructed text into their workbooks.
- Provide the students with a copy of the Informative Paragraph – Planning Template. Using a different topic sentence card from the same category, allow the students to work in pairs to write an informative paragraph about the topic. Encourage the students to follow the same process as the one used for the joint construction.
Wrapping Up
- Encourage each pair to share their informative paragraphs. Allow the class to provide positive feedback, as well as suggesting helpful ideas for improvement.
Differentiation
Extending Students
- Encourage more confident writers to work individually on their informative paragraph, rather than in pairs.
Supporting Students
- Allow students who find writing challenging to work with a teacher or teacher aide during the pair activity.
Assessment Strategies
Suggested Assessment Strategies
- used strategic whole class or individual questioning
- observed student participation during learning activities
- recorded student progress on a checklist
- annotated student work samples
- collected and reviewed student work samples
- facilitated whole class or peer feedback sessions
- encouraged student self-reflection
- administered formal assessment tasks.
NSW Curriculum alignment
- EN3-2A
Composes, edits and presents well-structured and coherent texts
Victorian Curriculum alignment
- VCELY329
Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing text structures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience
- VCELY358
Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, choosing and experimenting with text structures, language features, images and digital resources appropriate to purpose and audience
Australian Curriculum alignment
- ACELY1704
Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing text structures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audienceElaborationsusing research from print and digital resources t...
- ACELY1714
Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, choosing and experimenting with text structures, language features, images and digital resources appropriate to purpose and audienceElaborationscreating informative texts for two ...
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Hi. We watched this youtube video as a a class and we felt that the paragraph example contained alot of opinions which lead us to think that it was more suited for an exposition. The overall idea is great, but the example they use is not for an informative report.
Jessica Mills · Sep 6th, 2017
Hi Jessica,
Thank you for your comment. I rewatched the video and I think your comment is a valid one. I have updated the lesson plan with a link to a new, more appropriate video.
Thank you again for your feedback.
Kind regards,
Steph
Stephanie (Teach Starter) · Sep 11th, 2017