An Unit of Study in Informational Writing
Introduction to the Unit: The Impetus for Changes and Qualities of Good Information Writing
This document shares a plan for a unit of study on informational writing that was initially conceptualized during the 2011 Summer Writing Institutes by Lucy Calkins’ and Colleen Cruz’s Advanced Sections on Information Writing. It reflects the projects most up-to-date thinking about this important genre.
This document begins with summarizing the most important new insights informing this unit plan.
Hattie, Petty and others have synthesized 500,000+ research studies that illuminate the factors that support increased student achievement (which is not the only important goal but certainly is important) and produced a finding that seems rather obvious, once one reads it, and that illuminates our work on informational writing. Their research shows that students progress more quickly when they are given a crystal clear, ambitious but reachable goal, once they can fix their eyes upon and work towards for a while—presumably, for weeks, not minutes. That goal must then change, becoming yet more rigorous. Students also profit if they receive informational feedback that helps them understand the concrete, specific steps they have already taken towards that goal—what they have done that is working and should be continued—and if they are shown the concrete, specific next steps they can take.
When one thinks about it, this research finding can explain the considerable success that teachers linked to the TCRWP have had in supporting students’ progress as narrative writers—and it can help us have equal success supporting their progress as informational writers. When teaching narrative writing, the TCRWP found and created a sense of the essential characteristics of strong narrative writing. We announced that in order to write a story, it helps to zoom in on small scenes/moments, to show not tell, to start the scene with dialogue or a small action, to show what the character says, does, thinks, writing those almost in a braid; to think about character’s traits, motivations, problems, resolutions, and so forth. Now the truth is that narrative writing is far more varied and more complex than this. In essence, we created a more rigid, prescribed template for narrative writing so as to help students move towards a crystal clear goal, and to help teachers teach in ways that convey a clear, consistent message. We helped teachers sort through all the zillions of narratives out there in the world to find a few that ‘work’ as clear mentor texts. And we have proceeded to collect student work, to develop curriculum, towards this image of narrative writing. As writers progress, of course, we teach them that there are actually many ways that a story might go.
Turning towards information writing, we are coming to believe that what is called for is for our community of practice to construct an image of good information writing which, like our image of good narrative writing, can provide teachers and children with a crystal clear goal to work towards, and can allow us to support student achievement in this genre. It requires some audacity to create that image of information writing, because the genre is staggeringly wide-open. The field has less agreed-upon language describing effective information writing, partly because information writing exists to carry information that is, itself, constrained by the disciplines to which that information belongs. That is, information writing written by a field biologist takes on some of the traditions of that person’s discipline, as does information writing written by a physicist. Still, when one looks at what students often produce under the guise of information writing, it’s not hard to begin to establish a few clear guidelines for what information writing is not, versus what it is. Then, too, the Common Core State Standards go a long way towards helping to guide any process of creating a shared and agreed upon image of strong information writing.
The community of practice that gathered in last summer’s advanced section began by tackling the definition of information writing. Just as the TCRWP community has found that a term like memoir means very different things to different people, so, too, information writing can be thought of as a tent-like term that covers a wide collection of forms of writing. Even if the decision is somewhat arbitrary, it is important to decide whether to include, within the tent called information writing, narrative nonfiction such as biography. Because there is a thin line between biography and autobiography, between autobiography and personal narrative, we decided to exclude all of this, settling on a definition of information writing that is expository, not narrative, in design. This doesn’t mean an information text won’t contain stories—it will—but there will be an infrastructure (an outline, almost) into which a story is set and the entire text will not be a single story. There is also the question of whether persuasive letters, speeches, reviews and petitions will be regarded as information writing, and whether literary and historical essays will qualify as information writing. Because the Common Core State Standards name three ‘kinds’ of writing and do so by separating argument/opinion writing and information writing (with narrative being the third), we decided that thesis-driven texts that advance a claim will not be information writing. Of course, an information book can contain a chapter that is an essay, but the text itself will not all advance a single over-arching thesis. We also acknowledged that at the highest levels, some information will resemble argument writing. But, then, some information writing will resemble poetry as well!
The ‘big tent’ of expository information writing includes what can be thought of as a hierarchy of texts:
Fact sheets
Brochures
Articles
Field Guides
Reports
Information Books
Many, but not all, qualities of good information writing pertain to text forms up and down this list. This is worth exploring. It could be that some of these forms might wisely be relegated to particular grades or to cross-disciplinary work.
The members of the advanced section decided to work with one of the ‘highest’ forms of information writing—information books, imagining this work as informing the November/December unit of study in which students are writing information texts on topics of personal expertise. We hoped that these topics would also be ones around which students could engage in some further research, but that research would be to clarify questions, pin down information, not to acquaint themselves with the topic in the first place.
We selected two mentor texts, a book called Deadly Animals (National Geographic) and another called Cats vs. Dogs (National Geographic). You could alter this choice, of course, but be careful to choose a text that illustrates the specific image of information writing that you’re teaching towards. We also suggest you write an information text to use as a mentor text, and also work on a new information text alongside your students, as the unit progresses.
At the end of this document you will find a still-incomplete description of the qualities of good information writing, which you will likely find helpful to study before beginning this unit.
Getting Ready: Assessing Your Writers, Immersing them in the Genre, and Supporting them in Topic Choice
Teachers, it is important to note the kind of work we recommend you do before the unit even begins, as you wrap up your previous writing unit. First, you will conduct an on-demand writing assessment to get a sense of what your students already know about information writing and what they do not yet know. You will also want to help students develop a sense of the genre by reading aloud a mentor text or two. Finally, you will encourage students to begin thinking about topics on which they are experts. Ask them to think about the topics they could teach others. For those of you who have been workshop teachers for a while, this is a departure from the way our units typically go, with students spending a couple of days writing about a range of topics before settling on one.
“Choosing a topic” can happen before the month begins because settling on a subject requires lifework more than desk work. The writer walks through his or her day, thinking, ‘What do I know about that I might teach to others?’ The writer fixes a bouquet of flowers and thinks, ‘Might I write about flower arrangements?’ The writer checks in on the progress of a favorite sports team and thinks, ‘Might I write about this team?’
We have found that this unit works best when students are writing about topics they know in their bones, which is much easier to do when a writer doesn’t over-think topic choice. The best topics are often pretty obvious. The writer who is obsessed with the Red Sox chooses… guess! The Red Sox.
Once a writer settles on a topic, he or she can spend a bit of time collecting ‘stuff’ related to the chosen topic. That is, if the writer decides to write about snakes, the writer can collect information, materials, stories, ideas on the topic, and more. This enables the writer to decide on a more specific focus/angle and plan for the way in which the overall book will be structured.
We realize that this unit may contain more sessions than you are able to fit into your calendar. We strongly suggest that you hold tight to Bend One of this unit, and if time is tight, consolidate or remove lessons from the revision bend. Of course, you’ll need to study your writers’ work as they draft to decide on your specific plan.
Pre-Unit Day One: Assessing Informational Writing
Teachers, before you begin this unit, we recommend that you spend one class period conducting an on-demand informational writing assessment before launching this unit. Ideally, you will use the same prompt and same conditions as other Reading and Writing Project teachers have used so that you will be in a position to analyze the writing your students produce under the same conditions, referring to the Continuum for Assessing Informational Writing ( as well as the qualities of good information writing enumerated above. On the day before the assessment, say to your students, “Think of a topic that you’ve studied or know. Tomorrow, you will have an hour to write an informational (or All-about) text that teaches others interesting and important information and ideas about that topic. If you want to find and use information from a book or another outside source, you may bring that with you tomorrow. Please keep in mind that you’ll have an hour to complete this.” Then, the following day, provide them with sixty minutes, or one writing workshop, to show what they know about informational writing.
Many teachers find that after students do this informational writing and they copy what students have done and note where the work falls along the continuum, it can be helpful to give students a fast course on the topic and then allow them to spend a single day rewriting what they have written, from top to bottom, as this can allow teachers to assess what students know how to do without any instruction, and what is easily within their grasp with just a brief amount of reminders.
This on-demand writing will help you know where your students fall in a trajectory of writing development and help you set your sights on very clear next steps. It will also help students realize that informational writing is well within their grasp, and not something that requires days and weeks of preparation. Most classrooms of students who have done the on-demand assessment have been pleasantly surprised by how much students bring into this unit of study, and by the volume of writing students are able to produce in just one day’s writing workshop. The work that students produce in the on-demand situation becomes the baseline, and you can increase expectations as the unit progresses.
Other Pre-Unit Work to Tuck into the Preceding Week: Generating Ideas for Expert Topics in Order to Prepare for Informational Writing
In the week or so before the unit begins, channel your writers to live like authors of information texts, carefully studying the details of their lives for possible topics. You can distribute small notebooks, telling students to keep them in their pockets and to use them not only to keep lists of possible topics but also to try on those topics with some rehearsal. Teach kids a few different generating strategies, such as naming topics on which they feel expert, topics they could teach to others, and topics they really care about. You could also add strategies from previous units, angling students toward generating ideas for information writing. For example, you could teach your writers to think about information books they wish existed in the world. These will be quick, mini activities tucked into your day and not entire writing workshops.
Just before the unit begins, you might find some time to hold mini share sessions in which you give your writers the opportunity to talk about the topics they are mulling over with others. You might even set your writers up to brainstorm topics in partnerships. “What am I expert on that I could teach others?” one might ask another, perhaps prompting a partner to offer a reminder such as, “You know more about snowboarding than anyone else I know!”
Some teachers might find that another way to scaffold students’ understanding of the genre, and to open up other possible topics, is to do a little shared writing. If you are familiar with shared writing and feel like this would be a good support for your students, you might consider doing some quick shared writing that could turn out to be a class book on something the class is an expert on (your school, your grade, gym class, reading buddies, etc.). Students can glean a general understanding before the unit even begins of how informational books can go. If you launch a shared text on a shared topic (i.e. the grade level) then this could become an exercise text to use with the class.
Read Aloud Work to Set Up the Unit:Studying a Mentor Text to Help Writers Strengthen Their Understanding of the Genre
Most teachers find that mentor texts can be powerful co-teachers in any writing unit. This is especially true in informational writing when clear examples of structure, elaboration and other hallmarks of the genre will be key.
When choosing mentor texts for this unit, you will want to choose texts that highlight the things you plan to teach, are accessible to your students and are examples of quality writing. While there is no magic text that will be able to encompass everything you (or we) might want to teach, we have found that many of the books in the DK Reader series are great, including Shark Attack! We are also especially fond of the National Geographic Kids series. One standout title in this series is Cats and Dogs, a text we will be referring to throughout this write-up. We also love Ugly Animals, a Scholastic book, and Deadliest Animals (National Geographic).
No matter what text (or texts) you ultimately decide upon, most teachers find it helpful to introduce the text first to the students a few days before the unit begins in a read aloud, and to allow the students to respond to the text first as readers. Allow them to talk over fascinating facts with their partners, argue points that seem worth arguing, and in general respond as readers to the text. This is important because students will want to hold on to the effect a strongly written text can have on readers and we also want students to feel so familiar with the text they can focus on the writing, not the content.
Then return to the text and guide the students in exploring it as writers. You might say something like, “As you all know, we are going to start creating our own informational books soon. I thought it would be helpful for us to study what makes up a strong informational book.”
Then, depending on how experienced you and your students are with mentor texts and/or informational writing, you might choose to study the text as a whole class, or else to have the students break up into small groups and study it that way.
Bend One: Information Writers Learn How To Teach While Exploring Structure and Purpose
Teachers, the next two sessions draw on the understanding that good information writing is designed to teach others about a topic. In these sessions, you will channel your writers to first harness their own expertise by writing fast and furious about a topic. Next, they will become teachers themselves, giving seminars on their chosen topics of expertise. As they teach others, either their classmates in small groups or perhaps even younger students, they can study themselves to identify moves that help make teaching more powerful – moves that will apply whether teaching is done aloud or on the written page.