Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Get the Gist: A Summarizing Strategy for Any Content Area

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
A five-part standards-based lesson in which students learn to write a 20 word summary of an informational text by focusing on answering the questions who, what, when, where, why, and how. This strategy can be applied to any content area,...
Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Expository Escapade: Detective's Handbook

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Working on higher-level thinking skills with your readers is made easier with this lesson. You will have your students connect with and analyze a mystery story at their grade-appropriate level. Lesson plan, printable worksheets, and...
Website
Joe Landsberger

Study Guides & Strategies: How to Read an Essay

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Use this guide when reading an expository text or any type of essay, as it provides important questions you should ask yourself while you read. You can access this page in multiple languages from the English homepage.
Unit Plan
TES Global

Blendspace: Expository Essay

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
A six-part learning module with links to videos, websites, and texts on writing expository essays.
Unit Plan
TES Global

Blendspace: Expository Writing Using Transitions

For Students 4th - 8th Standards
A seven-part learning module on using transitions in expository writing. Lessons include text, images, a video, and a writing prompt.
Professional Doc
Texas Education Agency

Texas Gateway: Teaching Persuasive Text: Writing Persuasive Essays

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
This resource explores instructional practices for persuasive essay writing in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies classes. It uses original content from the Texas Adolescent Literacy Academies: Focus on...
Unit Plan
Texas Education Agency

Texas Gateway: Relevant Information and Valid Inferences

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, you will learn how to make the information in your expository essays relevant and your inferences valid.
Handout
Other

Kid Bibs: Effective Use of Textbook Features

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Here, parents and teachers can find tips for helping young readers understand the expository writing found in textbooks.
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Everglades

For Students 3rd - 8th
In this video segment from WILD TV, a scientist in the Florida Everglades talks about her research on the pig frog. [6:25]
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Fire Cloud

For Students 9th - 10th
Firefighters fight a raging fire on a wild horse range in Montana in this video segment from Nature.
Unit Plan
Texas Education Agency

Texas Gateway: Explain the Controlling Idea, Purpose, and Distinguish Details

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, students will learn how to pinpoint the controlling idea, which not only identifies the main idea, but also answers questions about the author's goal or...
Unit Plan
Thinkport Education

Thinkport: Democratic Processes

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
In this activity, students write informative/explanatory texts describing various aspects of the political process in the United States. This self-paced module is aligned to College and Career Ready Standards for Literacy in Social...
Unit Plan
Texas Education Agency

Texas Gateway: How to Read and Analyze an Essay (English Iii Reading)

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson's activities, you will determine the purpose of description, narration, and exposition essays, analyze their literary devices, and examine text features. You...
Lesson Plan
CPALMS

Cpalms: What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, learners will use What Do You Do With A Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page to identify the main topic and key details using the illustrations and text. Students will work to...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: How Disruptions Affect Animal Populations

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students explore the effects that ecosystem disruptions can have on animal populations. They learn about the disruptions that have driven three species-the Madagascar fish eagle, the Iberian lynx, and the rowi kiwi, to the brink of...
Lesson Plan
Better Lesson

Better Lesson: Unit: Informational Text: Writing

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
This unit is designed to teach learners about research writing. The lessons follow the format of Writer's Workshop. Many of the lessons provide a formula for students to follow while constructing their essays to ensure struggling readers...
Lesson Plan
Michigan State University

Michigan State University: Intervention for Reading: K W L Strategy

For Teachers 9th - 10th
The K-W-L strategy stands for what I Know, what I Want to learn, and what I did Learn. By activating students' background knowledge, it improves comprehension of expository text.
Lesson Plan
A to Z Teacher Stuff

Ato Zteacherstuff: Report Writing in Primary Grades

For Teachers K - 1st Standards
This is a fun, hands-on lesson from AtoZteacherstuff! Students go through a study of frogs while learning how to interpret and restate factual information.
Lesson Plan
Better Lesson

Better Lesson: Introduction to the Research Process

For Teachers 1st Standards
In this scaffolded instructional activity, 1st graders will independently gather information about elephants and then compile this information with their peers. This instructional activity is part of a unit that will culminate with an...
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: New Leadership [Pdf]

For Teachers 8th
"New Leadership" is Harold Washington's Acceptance Speech as Mayor of Chicago on April 12, 1983. It is followed by an assignment which requires students to provide evidence from the text; it includes comparing Washington's election as...
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Why Is Community Service Important? [Pdf]

For Teachers 8th
"Why is Community Service Important?" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage is part of a report that the Obama-Biden campaign prepared about service and volunteering. It is followed by questions which require students to provide...
Article
Harvard University

Harvard College Writing Center: How to Do a Close Reading

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A brief explanation of the tasks involved in doing a close reading in preparation for writing. This writer breaks the process into three steps which involve annotating the text, looking for patterns, and asking questions of the text.
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Chicago Changes [Pdf]

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd Standards
"Chicago Changes" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about how Chicago changed from a small town to a large city. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes: determining...
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Changing the Ecosystem: Q & a [Pdf]

For Teachers 4th
"Changing the Ecosystem: Q & A" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about how the loss of the prairie to farming and population growth impacts the ecosystem. It is followed by questions which require students to provide...

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