Information Unit Resources

Information Unit Overview

Introduction/Mini Lesson

For an Information unit, it is important to introduce how Information writing is different than Narrative writing. While Narrative writing tells a story, Information writing informs readers about a topic. Mentor texts can help model how authors write to about inform about a topic, rather than tell a story. During the mini-lesson, the teacher will name the teaching point and link it to the students’ work for the day (Calkins, 2013). An anchor chart with the main points of Information writing is a great way to begin a mini-lesson and allow students to refer to the current and past teaching points during work time.

Work Time

Work time for Information writing follows the same routine. Students will begin their writing during work time and teacher will circulate around the room, recording data and observations on the small group planning sheet. Through observations, the teacher will plan what skills and strategies to address during the small group and one on one conferencing. To keep track of students’ progress and suggestions for next steps, the teacher will keep records on an information writing checklist. These records, in addition to the Learning Progression and Rubric for Information Writing, will guide future mini-lessons and conferences.