Subject: ELA (English Language Arts)
Lesson Length: 1 - 2 class sessions
Topic: Text Types and Purposes
Grade Level: 1, 2, 3, 4
Standards / Framework:
- CC.1.W.2
- CC.2.W.2
- CC.3.W.2
- CC.4.W.2
Brief Description: Students will be able to use a combination of drawing and writing to create an informative comic in which they restate facts.
Know Before You Start: Students should be familiar with the difference between fact and opinion.
Hook:
- Ask students:
- “What is the difference between a fact and an opinion?
- ”What is an informational text?”
Activity:
- Class Session 1:
- Read a variety of statements to the class.
- Have students walk to one side of the room if they believe it is a fact and the other side if they believe it is an opinion.
- After each round, have one student from the correct side explain their thinking behind why they selected a fact or opinion. The purpose of this warm up is to review what facts are.
- Have students read articles or books about a science or social studies topic the teacher selects. For example: life cycles, the rock cycle, the water cycle, forms of government, US symbols, etc.
- Have students record facts about the topic on a graphic organizer such as a Main Idea Web.
- Class Session 2:
- Have students continue recording facts and researching the non-fiction topic.
- Have students create an informative comic that includes the facts they researched.
Closure:
- Have students share their comics with the class or in small groups.
- Remind students that they completed writing an informational text. Their comics give factual information to the reader about _______. It is important to read and write informational texts because it helps students learn about the world around them!
Differentiation:
- Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.
- Allow students to work in pairs or groups as needed.
- Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.
- Consider adjusting the research topic to align with specific grade level science or social studies standards.
- For K-1 students, consider reading a text aloud to the class instead of having students research topics independently. Record the facts on an anchor chart as a shared writing and reading activity.
Resources:
- Comic to print or display: Comic.
- Videos:
- Fact or Opinion for Kids by Teaching Without Frills
- Informational Writing for Kids by Teaching Without Frills
- Books:
- Penguins: Amazing Pictures & Fun Facts on Animals in Nature by Kay de Silva
- From Tadpole to Frog by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
- TIME For Kids Informational Text: Take Off! All About Airplanes by Jennifer Prior
- Main Idea Web
Suggested Content Packs:
Rock Cycle
Presidents' Day
Black History
Martin Luther King Jr.
Caves
Energy
