Informational Writing: 5 Informative Essays w/Guided Writing Templates 6-8

Writing informational essays will be exciting with this complete resource that breaks the process down into manageable steps! Easy-to-follow writing templates guide students in drafting their introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.

Five original mentor texts are included for modeling, along with topic suggestions, pre-writing organizers, and rubrics. And with five different types of essays, you’ll have everything you need to teach informative writing with differentiation. Perfect for writing workshop!

The 5 types of essays in this resource:

---- Research-Based Essay (5 paragraphs)

---- Compare / Contrast Essay (4 paragraphs)

---- Problem / Solution Essay (4 paragraphs)

---- Descriptive Essay (4 paragraphs)

---- How-To (Process) Essay (5 paragraphs)

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More from teachers who have used this resource:

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**“This is all you need to teach informative essay writing. My kids were completely engaged.”

**“Hands down the best purchase I’ve made on TPT. I used this with my 5th graders and it really helped to give structure to their informational writing. This was incredible!”

**“I love this! I’m using it to teach my middle school students the essay-writing process, and it is easy for them to follow.”

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NOTE: This is a PRINT resource. For the DIGITAL, paperless version, click on this title: Informational Writing DIGITAL: 5 Informative Essays

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Here's what you'll receive:

1. ESSAY TITLE PAGE- These assignment pages include basic directions and a diagram depicting each essay’s structure.

2. CHOOSING A TOPIC – Students are offered some suggested topics, and an area is provided for students to brainstorm their own meaningful topics as well.

3. PRE-WRITING ORGANIZER - Clear and attractive organizers for students to plan out their essays with key details and examples

4. WRITING AN ATTENTION GRABBER – This page demonstrates 4 types of attention grabbers and provides examples and an area for students to draft their own.

5. DRAFTING THE INTRODUCTION, DRAFTING THE BODY PARAGRAPHS, DRAFING THE CONCLUSION – These writing pages serve as templates to guide students, sentence by sentence, as they draft each paragraph.

6. USE TRANSITIONS – Students use this categorized list of transitions as a reference when drafting their essays.

7. REVISING AND EDITING CHECKLIST – As students revise, edit, and engage in a peer exchange, they work with this ten-item checklist.

8. ORIGINAL MENTOR TEXT – 5 sample essays demonstrate format, content, and overall writing expectations as models for student writing.

9. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE? PEER DISCUSSION SLIPS – Half-page slips to use as partners or small groups examine the Sample Essay.

10. PEER FEEDBACK – Students exchange their finished essays and respond to another’s writing.

11. INFORMATIONAL ESSAY GRADING RUBRIC - A 4 pt. summative grading tool

12. TEACHER GUIDELINES, COMMON CORE STANDARDS, and DIFFERENTIATION

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Also Included for the Research-Based Essay:

12. NOTES SHEET - A lined handout for note-taking with sourcing information area at the top (to be copied back-to-back)

13. CREATING SUB-TOPICS – A guide (with examples) where students organize their notes to form subtopics for their 3 body paragraphs

14. WRITING THE WORKS CITED – This attractive reference shows students the most current formats for citing their sources, with sample entries provided.

15. RESEARCH-BASED ESSAY GRADING RUBRIC - A 4 pt. summative grading tool specific to research-based writing

If you’re looking for a practical, time-saving resource that is standards-aligned and will motivate your students, here it is! The essay assignments can also be used over and over! Use for pre-assessment early in the year and then again with different topics later in the year.

Please open the PREVIEW to get a closer look.

Thanks! ---Joy

You might also like these writing resources:

Research: Writing an Informational Article

Argumentative Essay

Narrative Writing - Personal Narrative Unit Grades 5 - 8

Theme Essay – Literary Essay Writing for ANY Novel, Story, or Drama

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