Sheri Bashlor READ 7140 Interdisciplinary Writing Unit Informational 4th Grade Sheri M Bashlor READ 7140 Valdosta State University May 2006 1 Sheri Bashlor READ 7140 2 Genre Mode of Writing Students will write an informational report about the water cycle explaining evaporation condensation precipitation and collection The informational report should be five paragraphs in length providing information about the water cycle and the main components The report should have an introductory paragraph three body paragraphs and a conclusion paragraph A further explanation of the genre is in the prewriting stage lesson plan Content Area Integration Content Area Science Content Area GPS S4E3 Students will differentiate between the states of water and how they relate to the water cycle and weather a Demonstrate how water changes from solid ice to water liquid to gas water vapor steam and changes from gas to liquid to solid b Identify the temperatures at which water becomes a solid and at which water becomes a gas c Investigate how clouds are formed d Explain the water cycle evaporation condensation and precipitation e Investigate different forms of precipitation and sky conditions rain snow hail clouds and fog Prior Knowledge The students have completed a science unit on water changes water temperatures cloud formation and different forms of precipitation They all have thoroughly been tested on the subject and completed a data collection sheet of their findings Sheri Bashlor READ 7140 3 Explanation of Terms The Writing Process The writing process is a way of looking at writing instruction in which the emphasis is shifted from students finished products to what students think and do as they write The stages are prewriting drafting revising editing and publishing Tompkins 2004 p 10 Prewriting Prewriting is the getting ready to write stage During the prewriting stage the activities are choosing a topic considering purpose audience and form and generating and organizing ideas for writing Tompkins 2004 p 10 Drafting During the drafting stage they focus on getting their ideas down on paper The activities in this stage are writing a rough draft and writing leads Tompkins 2004 p 17 Revising Writers clarify and refine ideas in their compositions during the revising stage The activities in the revising stage are rereading the rough draft sharing the rough draft in a writing group and revising on the basis of feedback received from the writing group Tompkins 2004 p 18 Editing Editing is putting the piece of writing into its final form Children move through three activities during the editing stage getting distance from the composition proofreading to locate errors and correcting errors Tompkins 2004 p 22 Publishing In the final stage of the writing process children publish their writing and share it with an appropriate audience Tompkins 2004 p 25 Modeled Writing Teachers demonstrate or model how expert writers write while children observe and this is the level of the greatest support Tompkins 2004 p 29 Shared Writing In shared writing the teacher and children work together to compose a text and the teacher serves as the scribe to record the text for children Tompkins 2004 p 31 Interactive Writing Teachers and children create a text and share the pen to write the text on chart paper The text is composed by the group and the teacher guides the children as they write the text word by word on chart paper Tompkins 2004 p 34 Guided Writing Teachers scaffold or support children s writing during guided writing but children do the actual writing themselves Teachers plan structured writing activities and then supervise as children do the writing Tompkins 2004 p 36 Proofreading Children proofread their compositions to locate and mark possible errors Proofreading is a unique form of reading in which children read word by word and hunt for errors rather than read for meaning Tompkins 2004 p 22 Narrative Writing Students use narrative writing to create both fictitious and true stories that entertain readers A fully developed story involves a problem which is introduces in the beginning becomes more complicated in the middle and is resolved at the end Students retell Sheri Bashlor READ 7140 familiar stories write sequels and new episodes for favorite characters and compose original stories Tompkins 2004 p 339 Expository Writing Students use expository writing to learn and to share information Tompkins 2004 p 303 Graphic Organizer A graphic organizer helps students to organize their thoughts and ideas A graphic organizer is a great tool to use during prewriting Scoring Guide A scoring guide helps guide a teacher and students in assessing students achievement on different writing assignments Checklist A checklist is often used for students to check off different areas of completion when going through each stage of the writing process Tompkins G E 2004 Teaching writing Balancing process and product 4th ed Upper Saddle River NJ Merrill Prentice Hall 4 Sheri Bashlor READ 7140 5 Informational Writing Pre Assessment Writing Prompts Directions The teacher will write the following prompts on the board Each child will pick one topic to write an informational essay on which should include an introductory paragraph three body paragraphs and a conclusion paragraph The purpose of the essay will be to inform Prompt 1 Write an essay about three major rules at the school you attend explain each rule and why you like or dislike the rule Prompt 2 Write an essay about the life of a butterfly previously taught Bashlor S 2006 Informational writing pre assessment Unpublished manuscript Valdosta State University GA Sheri Bashlor READ 7140 6 Lesson Plan 1 Prewriting Grade Level 4th Grade Content Area Integration Content Area Science Content Area GPS S4E3 Students will differentiate between the states of water and how they relate to the water cycle and weather a Demonstrate how water changes from solid ice to water liquid to gas water vapor steam and changes from gas to liquid to solid b Identify the temperatures at which water becomes a solid and at which water becomes a gas c Investigate how clouds are formed d Explain the water cycle evaporation condensation and precipitation e Investigate different forms of precipitation and sky conditions rain snow hail clouds and fog Prior Knowledge The students have completed a science unit on water changes water temperatures cloud formation and different forms of precipitation They all have