Virginia Department of Education
Deciding the Mode
Are your young writers having difficulty distinguishing between expository and persuasive writing? Discuss the difference between the two, and how some prompts can be responded to in either fashion. Included here is a simple lesson plan...
Curated OER
Publish Your Daily Dilemma Results
Young scholars fill out an outline and write an expository text on a dilemma that they read about. They brainstorm how they can solve the dilemma, write about it, then submit their suggestions to the Wilderness Classroom Expedition Team.
Curated OER
How To Grow Red Seaweed
Students explore ocean biology by participating in a plant growing activity. In this seaweed lesson, students identify the importance and uses of seaweed in the ocean and examine different seaweed samples. Students utilize an aquarium,...
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension
Using either online worksheets or print outs, 12th graders practice expository text comprehension skills by answering multiple choice questions, completing a vocabulary matching activity, and completing a crossword puzzle. This is...
Curated OER
Outlining
Pupils read and evaluate a piece of expository writing. They participate in a class discussion of the outlining process and individually outline a piece of expository writing. Finally, the students create an outline for the purpose of...
Curated OER
Point of You
Sixth graders study point of view by rewriting an existing narrative paragraph (using a different point-of-view). They expand this knowledge by writing an expository paragraph, then rewriting it to reflect a different point-of-view.
Curated OER
Theocracy, Then and Now
Students search the Web for resources to use in preparing the project, make and defend judgments as to the authority and appropriateness of resources they include or exclude from their projects, and write clearly in the expository mode.
Curated OER
Studying Anchor Papers
Students examine the Florida Writes! Rubric and discuss the basic elements of the scoring system. In small groups, they use the rubric to discuss and score several student essays.
Curated OER
Performance Event
Students examine the media by writing a compare/contrast paragraph. In this mass communications lesson, students identify and discuss the main sources of information for Americans in today's age. Students analyze pictures of people...
Curated OER
Summarizing
Pupils summarize articles, editorials, and news programs. In this writing skills instructional activity, students take notes on news stories about one issue from more than one source and then write summaries of the issue using rule-based...
Curated OER
Blending Fiction and Nonfiction to Improve Comprehension and Writing Skills
Young scholars explore a content area by reading both fiction and nonfiction texts on the topic. They do more research online about the topic. After comparing the texts, they create their own written original work, using both narrative...
Curated OER
Toulmin Argument Essay
After viewing a Prezi presentation on Toulmin’s argument, (claim, reason, warrant, backing, grounds, qualifiers, rebuttals), groups re-examine the format, and then individuals craft an argument essay in response to Lord Chesterfields...
Scholastic
Outlining Main Ideas and Details
Practice outlining and evaluating expository writing in this lesson. After discussing main ideas and seeing examples, young writers go through a sample outline and discuss the way to properly format a piece of writing. They then create...
Curated OER
Keywords: A Memorization Strategy
Here is a fabulous, five-page lesson plan on how keywords can help a reader with his/her reading comprehension. After a teacher-led discussion, pupils pair off with each other and work together to identify the main idea in a passage of...
Museum of Tolerance
And Justice for All? Slavery Not Just in the Past
Slavery in India, Sudan, and Mauritania? What about in the United States? Groups research modern slavery in these four countries, collecting factual evidence (What), determine their feelings about this evidence (So what),...
Curated OER
Lifestyles of Civil War
Eighth graders, after viewing a website on Civil War Time, explore and analyze the lifestyles of Civil War times as well as those of the soldiers through the writing of a composition of a narrative letter and story through the eyes of a...
San Francisco Symphony
Music Reflects History
Exploring the baroque era can be exciting and fun when it's done thorugh the arts. Middle schoolers examine the music and art history of the baroque era through research. They use their findings and class notes to create an expository...
Curated OER
Immigration
Second graders read about immigration from their text. They select one culture and identify characteristics of the group. Students complete a graphic organizer (included with the lesson plan). They recall and list various aspects of...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Revelations
They say art often imitates life. Learners research and write an expository paper on modern dance choreographer, Alvin Ailey. They focus on describing how his life and background has influenced his dance creations. This is a great...
Curated OER
Poetic Justice: Understanding the Life of a Tethered Dog
The Humane Society provides a instructional activity in which class members explore the issue of tethering dogs. Through the resources used -- a comic, a poem, and narrative and expository writings -- class members realize that messages...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2
Identifying the theme or central idea of a text is a skill many young readers struggle with. It is also the second standard for reading literature in the Common Core. This resource, one from a series of Common Core lessons, can provide...
Curated OER
Evalating Expressions
Seventh graders investigate the concepts realted to using the Order of Operations. They write an expository paragraph to prepare for the direct instruction of the order or sequence to simplify numerical expressions.
Curated OER
Paraphrasing
Sixth graders practice paraphrasing. In this paraphrasing lesson, 6th graders read a paragraph and highlight the important words. They write a summary sentence of the paragraph making sure not to copy any sentences.