1st Grade: W.1.

writing
Informative

Created by Jessica Tobin

 Using This Lesson
This freebie comes from the 1st Grade
Informative/Explanatory Writing Unit.
In that unit, there are ten lessons. This
specific free lesson focuses on writing
strong introductions for informative pieces.
The lesson activities may take between
3 and 4 days to complete. There are
whole group, partner, team, and
independent activities in each lesson to
help the students break down each part
of the standard. Combined with the
other lessons in the unit and the culminating
writing pieces, this unit will take
between 3 and 5 weeks.

In the Full Unit:

• 10 other lessons
• Writing prompts
• Graphic organizers
• Writing papers
• Assessments
 1st Grade W.1.2
Writing
Lesson I can write informative and explanatory
texts.

Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a

topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some
sense of closure.

Focus:
Strong Introductions

LESSON 4 Materials:
Activities to Teach

Step 1- Now that students have worked on creating strong

facts, we will work backwards and work on introductions.
First, you will create an anchor chart with your students
about strong introductions or display the mini poster given
and discuss.

Step 2- Students will work with partners to read sentences

and decide if they are strong facts from the body of the
text or introductions. They will draw one sentence card at a
time and read them aloud to their partners. Then, they will
set the cards under the correct category of strong fact
or topic introduction.

Step 3- Start by modeling topic introduction sentences.

Students will stand up and spread around the room to
start a game of Mix-Pair-Share. The teacher will give one
topic at a time by showing a picture card on the board
under a document camera. After the topic is given, the
students will mix up around the room, pair up with a
©Tobin, Dec. 2017
 W.1.2 Lesson 4 Continued
Materials:

partner, and share their answers. They must create an

introduction sentence and share with their partner. For
example, the first could be “Many families have pet dogs in
their house”. Don’t forget to model and show the students
how to simply introduce their topic.

Step 4- Students will work with a partner to match three

cards together. One would be a picture card, then the two
others would be a strong introduction to the topic, followed
by an example of a strong fact. Students will see first hand
examples of types of introduction statements.

Step 5- Gather a collection of Informative mentor texts

from the local library or your classroom library. Teacher
reads the first three pages from each of the stories aloud
to the class. Students will turn and talk to the partners
nearest to them about how the author or narrator
introduces the topic that they’re going to talk about.
Teacher will facilitate the discussion about how the topic is
introduced to the reader.

Step 6- Students will work independently on a printable

writing sheet. They will practice writing introduction
sentences about given topics. When they have completed
writing their topic introduction sentences, they will pair up
with a partner and share their sentences to compare.

©Tobin, Dec. 2017

 Introductions
In informative writing, introductions
are very important.

They can:
-introduce reader to topic
-introduce reader to text

This sentence comes before you

begin to give facts.

Strong Ways to Begin:

-Ask a Question
-Use Onomatopoeia
-Use a Comparison
-Relate to Reader
-Quotation
-Fun Fact or Statement

Weak Ways to Begin:

-Saying “I am going to tell you…”
©Tobin, Dec. 2017
Introduction
Strong Fact

©Tobin, Dec. 2017

 Drip, drop, drip, drop. The
sound of rain can be quiet or
very loud.

Bats sleep upside down by

hanging by their feet.

Have you ever watched a

chef make a pizza?

A cheetah can run as fast as

a car, but only for short
bursts.

Look at that skyscraper! It’s

way bigger than your house.
©Tobin, Dec. 2017
 There are seven continents
on Earth.

A wild lion is very different

from your normal house cat.

There are hairs on a bees

body that help them collect
pollen.

If you’ve ever seen a

giraffe, then you know how
tall they can get!

When volcanoes erupt, hot

ash and magma come out.
©Tobin, Dec. 2017
 Kid Readerz Magazine says,
“White fur is one adaptation
polar bears have made”.

The first step to baking a

cupcake is to mix the cake
mix, oil, water, and eggs.

Did you know there are many

different holidays celebrated
in December?

An ant can carry up to fifty

times it’s body weight.

Crunch, crunch, crunch. That’s

the sound of you crunching
on some orange carrots.
©Tobin, Dec. 2017
©Tobin, Dec. 2017
 Some dogs are
allowed in
Woof, woof!
public places
There’s a dog
because they
in the library!
are working
dogs.

Zzzzzzz… That Chipmunks

chipmunk is hibernate in
snoozing in it’s the winter
den. time.

A
A t-rex was
tyrannosaurus
one of the
rex is quite
largest meat-
different
eating
from reptiles
dinosaurs.
today.

Farmers have
Life on a farm
many tasks
is not always
every single
easy.
day.

©Tobin, Dec. 2017

 Did you just A dog that
see that dog in works for the
the backseat police
of the police department is
car? called a K9.

Zoos are a
collection of
Have you ever habitats for
been to a zoo? certain
animals of the
world.

A pufferfish
Poof! There
can inflate in
goes that
order to keep
pufferfish
predators
again.
away.

Building a First, you will

snowman can roll one large
have many snowball for
steps. the bottom.

©Tobin, Dec. 2017

 Name: _______________________________ W.1.2
Write an introduction for each picture shown.

Writing Introductions

©Tobin, Dec. 2017

 Want the full unit?
This freebie is part of the 1st
Grade Informative Writing Unit.
It’s also included in a Writing
Bundle for 1st Grade.
 Thank you for your purchase!
This product is included
in a year-long ELA
bundle that includes all 6
domains for Common
Core.

Check out the full-year

curriculum here.

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