Essential Lessons to
Accelerate Student Writing
SECRET SITE
ORGANIZE BY GENRE
Organize information 3 ways
Change the purpose to fit the text structure.
PROMPT | Explain a school day from beginning to end.
PROMPT | Describe the facets of a typical school day.
PROMPT | Compare student tasks to those of a teacher.
Decode the prompt to determine the text structure.
Teach genre characteristics
Visualize the body paragraphs per genre.
Practice 2-step pre-writes.
STEP 1 | List all relevant details. STEP 2 | Organize similar details into groups or categories.
PDF | Word | Google | Poster
SmartBoard | Promethean
Anchor Chart
Great Plains v. Woodlands
Reveal single-step graphic organizers.
Introduce consistent and flexible graphic organizers to use in all grade levels and all content areas.
Web | PDF
Dissected Web | PDF
Jamboard | Example | Google Slide
Craft strong introductions & conclusions
“Piece” together information.
Dry-erase puzzle pieces demonstrate how different types of information can comprise introductions and conclusions.
Download student writing samples with strong beginnings and endings.
K-1
Informative
- Get Ready for School (Procedural/How-to)
- How to Make a PBJ (Procedural/How-to)
- Frogs (Explanatory)
- Spain (Research)
- My Room (Descriptive)
- My Dad at Work (Explanatory)
- Parrots (Research)
- Chalk v. Journey (Literature Compare-Contrast)
2-4
Informative
- Family (Descriptive)
- Apple Picking (Question & Answer)
- How to Make a PBJ (Procedural/How-to)
- Horses (Research)
- My Sister (Descriptive)
- Baseball Cap (Descriptive)
- A Day as a Rain Drop (Procedural)
- Deer Don’t Need to Flee (Research)
- Paleontologist (Essay)
5-6
Informative
- Author Study: Roald Dahl (Literature Response)
- There’s No Place Like Home (Research, American Revolution)
- Ann Sullivan (Biography)
- Unique Wolves (Research)
- Cheating in America (Research)
- Stealth (Explanatory)
7-8
Informative
- The Stuffed Iguana (Explanatory)
- Dear Miss Mitochondria (Science, Letter)
- A Good Teacher (Descriptive)
- Football (Explanatory)
- The Old Man and the Sea (Literary Essay)
9-10
Informative
- Kindness (Explanatory)
- Civil Disobedience (Brief Constructed Response)
- A Family’s Bees Nest (Literary Essay)
- Lives on Mango, Rides the Whale (Literary Essay)
- Persepolis (Literary Essay)
11-12
Informative
- Animal Farm (Literary Essay)
- Marching to His Own Beat (Literary Essay)
- MRI (Research)
- McValues (Advertisement Analysis)
- What Confuses Me (Reflective Essay)