Expository Text: Grade 5

Goals or Objectives:
1. Students will identify tools for navigating nonfiction and apply tools to nonfiction texts.
2. Students will be introduced to different kinds of expository texts that will play a role in their
daily lives.
Grade Level Guide: Content Standards
Content Curriculum Focal Points
http://www.ncte.org/standards/ncte-ira
NCTE & ILA Standards:

Interdisciplinary Connections

Standard 3- Students apply a wide range

of strategies to comprehend, interpret,
evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw
on their prior experience, their interactions
with other readers and writers, their
knowledge of word meaning and of other
texts, their word identification strategies,
and their understanding of textual features
(e.g., sound-letter correspondence,
sentence structure, context, graphics).
ISTE Standards:
http://www.iste.org/standards/standards
2.a- Design or adapt relevant learning
Wonderopolis is a digital tool that allows students
experiences that incorporate digital tools
to connect the skills they are learning about
and resources to promote student learning expository text to their daily life.
and creativity.
Pre-K-12 Proficiency Standards:
http://www.tesol.org/docs/books/bk_prek12elpstandards_framework_318.pdf?
sfvrsn=2
Standard 5- English language learners
communicate information, ideas, and
concepts necessary for academic success
in the area of social studies.

Common Core State Standards:

This lesson includes two texts related to fifth

grade social studies: an expository text about the
Leaning Tower of Pisa that includes a graphic
organizer for better comprehension for ELL
students, as well as an example text about Apollo
11.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.7Integrate information presented in

different media or formats (e.g., visually,
quantitatively) as well as in words to
develop a coherent understanding of a
topic or issue.

Academic Language: Students will be introduced to academic vocabulary relevant to the

lesson, such as: expository, nonfiction, heading, text structures, signal words/phrases.
Students Needs: Students have studied fiction texts of different genres, have become familiar
with the aspects and purposes of each type of writing, and are able to tell the difference
between fiction and nonfiction writing.
English Language Learners

Special Needs
Students with visual
impairments will be included in
the group interacting with
Wonderopolis, which has an
audio feature. They will also
be provided with large font
print outs of all text examples
and important information
from presentation.

Materials:
a. Teacher needs: Prezi, printouts of text examples, three stations in the classroom, The
Hat, graphic organizers, printouts for student with visual impairment, link to whole group
assessment, and laptops.
b. Student needs: Writing utensil, highlighter, laptops/smart phones

Language Function:
We will not only be describing what expository text is during class discussion, but we will have
students explain how to pull out certain characteristics of expository text by analyzing a variety
of expository texts. Lastly, we will have students exploring expository text in small groups where
they can synthesize the information that they learned during class discussion.

Lesson Plan
Before
Bell ringer (5-6 mins): Write a paragraph telling your reader how to make a peanut
butter and jelly sandwich.
Have two students share their paragraphs.
Ask students: Why is this type of writing different than the stories you wrote last
week?
Define expository writing.
During
Begin Prezi with whole group (15 mins)- discuss differences between fiction and
nonfiction texts.
Present 5 expository text structures to students, with example of corresponding
graphic organizer for each.
For each example structure, pull signal words from the passage and explain that
expository text contains different signal words for different structures. These signal
words can be used to figure out what kind of text we are reading.
Show three more examples of expository text (different structures) and call on
students to identify signal words/phrases from the text.
Show list of student groups for each teacher and direct students to their
designated group area- bring all materials.
Three teachers simultaneously conduct their own small group activities with their
designated group of five students each. (Groups for 15 mins)
Katelin: Students will read an expository text about seasons in the prairie, noting
the important details on a graphic organizer as they read together. Students will
then answer questions, and mark in the text where they found the answers to the
questions. Students will discuss their answers as a group. Students will be able to
see how backing up their answers is important, and be introduced to the practice
of siting text within their answers and in future writing.
Serra: students will work on wonderopolis.org with the wonder of the day of their
choosing and complete the graphic organizer that fits their wonder. Students will
also pick out a highlighted vocabulary word, define it and share with their peer.
Cathleen: Students will look at Stopping the Toppling Tower and its visual aids.
Students will see that visual aids can help readers predict what the text is going to
be about.
Each small group includes activity and assessment.
After
Students come back together as whole group, and students from the different
small groups are called on to teach briefly what they learned. (5 mins)
Students are given link to online assessment and participate in assessment as
whole group. (5 mins)

Assessment:
Type of
assessment:

Description of
assessment:

Modifications to
the assessment:

Evaluation Criteria:

Formal:

Graphic
organizers from
small groups and
online whole group
assessment.

Texts, vocabulary,
and graphic
organizer prompts
provided in large
font for students
with visual
impairments.
Online assessment
shown on big
screen, questions
read aloud.

Students use appropriate

graphic organizers to
display their knowledge of
each text structure and the
tools used to navigate
expository texts.
Students use online
assessment to display
knowledge gained from
their interactions with
various models of
expository texts (online,
visual, print).

Informal:

Class discussion
on vocabulary,
signal phrases,
and oral summary
of material learned
in small groups.

Oral summary of
materials learned
allows diverse
learners in the
classroom to
provide evidence of
their learning in
ways other than
writing/reading.

Students use class

discussion/oral summation
of material learned to
display their knowledge of
relevant vocabulary
regarding the various
expository texts
encountered in this
lesson/small groups.

Resources:
a. http://www.readingrockets.org/article/how-teach-expository-text-structure-facilitatereading-comprehension
b. http://patternbasedwriting.com/elementary_writing_success/paragraph-examples/
c. http://prezi.com/glyoeverymz2/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
d. join.quizizz.com