Let’s make this simple. Our ready-to-use informational report writing videos make teaching writing as easy as pushing play. This incredible done-for-you writing resource for grades 2-5 includes 40 pre-recorded video mini-lessons taught by an experienced elementary school teacher.
Writing: Informational Report VIDEO Unit
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How the Writing Videos are Aligned with the Science of Reading:
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Structured writing routine: Our informational report writing unit is carefully structured, beginning with foundational skills before moving into more advanced skills. Students are taught a systematic approach to writing: including brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.
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Explicit instruction: Daily lessons begin with explicit instruction including access to examples via mentor texts, modeling, and directed practice. Each skill is broken down into bite-size pieces so that students can learn one skill at a time. Students practice skills independently, working on one sentence or paragraph at a time.
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Differentiation: Differentiation is built into writing assignments both by the amount and complexity of what students write. Writing can also be differentiated through small group instruction that provides reteaching, additional practice, and support at appropriate levels.
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Daily opportunities to write: The majority of the writing lesson is reserved for independent writing time, providing students with large blocks of time to write every day.
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Demonstrates the connection between reading and writing: Mentor texts provide concrete examples of writing skills and allow children to experiment with and apply sophisticated skills and language in their own writing. In addition, constructing their own writing pieces helps students recognize and understand these strategies when reading.
What’s Inside:
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Writing Lessons PDF for teachers with clickable links
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40+ Informational Report Video Writing Lessons (average length 8-12 minutes each) easily accessible via QR code
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13 Mentor texts passages
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Student notebook covers and dividers
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Student printables & digital student notebooks
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48 Printable and digital Task cards (can be assigned through Google Forms)
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Rubrics
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Publishing paper
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Student Success Path
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Conferencing materials
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Detailed teacher directions
Skills covered:
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Setting goals
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What is an informational report?
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Generating report ideas
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Narrowing your report idea to a seed
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Research and note taking
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Paraphrasing
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Table of contents
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Subtopics
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Drafting
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Writing a lead
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Topic and concluding sentences
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Word choice-adding vocabulary and definitions
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Adding details
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Transitions
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Writing a conclusion
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Text features
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Editing
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Publishing
❤️❤️ Why You Will LOVE This Resource ❤️❤️
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Makes teaching writing simple.
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Save hours of planning and prep time. All writing lessons are pre-recorded–just play and watch. The video walks students through every step of the writing lesson.
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No hunting down mentor texts. All required passages are read to students on the video (optional copies of the mentor texts are provided).
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Pre-printed student anchor charts make it easy for students to follow along without having to write every word and draw complicated diagrams.
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Save time prepping and grading. Digital student notebooks and task cards that can be completed via Google Forms save time.
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Direct writing instruction provides a solid foundation of writing skills that leads to increased test scores.
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These lessons work for all students, even students below grade level.
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Aligned to the Science of Reading
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A brief overview of the lesson and needed supplies
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A mentor text reading that shows students examples of the skills they are learning (most days)
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Shows student how to prepare their writing notebooks for the day’s lesson (she explicitly models how to cut and paste)
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Modeling new skills using an anchor chart on the video
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Pause for independent writing time to practice new skills
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Brief wrap up, encouragement, and a preview of the next day’s lesson
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Total time: 10-15 minutes
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Students will apply the skill they just learned in their writing each day. The included writing tasks make it crystal-clear what to do during independent writing time–for you and your students. By the end of the unit, they will have completed two full masterpieces and many other independent writings.
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Total time: 20 minutes
How to use this resource:
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Watch/assign the videos in order. The Writing Lesson PDF makes it simple.
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Use as a whole group activity. Play the video on your whiteboard and pause for student writing tasks.
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In classrooms with 1:1 devices, students can watch the writing videos individually during centers or for at-home work and pause to complete writing tasks. You can assign videos through Google Classroom or students can use QR codes on the video task cards to easily access videos.
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Print and laminate video task cards for long-term use. Set out a new card each day for the new lesson. Teach your students to scan the QR code on their classroom electronic devices to begin watching.
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Most videos are 8-12 minutes long.
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Writing lessons will require about 30 minutes to complete including watching the video and completing the writing task.
Differentiation:
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Allow students additional time to complete writing tasks.
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Pre-recorded videos make it easy for students to rewatch lessons they find challenging.
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Consider completing more complicated lessons as a whole class or in small groups.
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Conferencing materials make it easy to tailor small group lessons to meet individual student needs.