Informative and Opinion Writing Prompts with Passages/Articles - Essay Writing

This 3rd, 4th, 5th grade writing prompt bundle is a year's worth of writing prompts that come with paired passages/articles. No more searching for informational texts to go with your opinion/argumentative or informative/explanatory writing prompts! Each writing prompt comes with at least two informational texts, 5-paragraph essay graphic organizers, a sample essay, a rubric, and more! Click the preview button to see all that is included in this bundle.

Many standardized tests, such as RISE in Utah, AzMERIT in Arizona, PARCC in New Jersey, and FSA in Florida, require the students to read/listen to multiple texts and then use information from those passages in their writing.

To prepare them for the test, it is not enough to just give the students a writing prompt. If you want your students to be successful on the state test, you need to give them prompts that come with passages/articles. The RISE rubric expects students to write essays that are well-organized (this includes writing strong introductions and conclusions), incorporate & cite text evidence, elaborate on their details (this includes using domain-specific vocabulary), and use proper grammar/spelling. Everything in this bundle is designed to help students write such essays.

This test prep bundle includes the following (SAVE 40%!!):

Opinion writing prompts:

1.Which is a Better Pet, a Cat or a Dog?

2.Are Teens too old to go Trick-or-Treating?

3.Should Fidget Spinners be banned from Schools?

4.Why should the leprechaun give you his gold?

5.Should bugs be added to the school cafeteria menu?

Informative writing prompts:

1.Explain how Caribou Survive the Cold Weather

2.Explain the three Types of Rocks

3.Explain three major things that Abraham Lincoln did during his lifetime.

4.Explain how Water Changes the Earth's Surface

5.Mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and fish are all vertebrates. Write an essay explaining one of these animal groups

And a research project:

Career Research Project (Write an essay describing a career of your choice.)

Every single prompt comes with the following (please click the preview to see many of the pages from these products):

• Day-to-day instructions that explain what I do with the students for 14 days
• Essay writing rubrics. (I’ve taken information from the RISE rubric and turned it into one that is more student-friendly and teacher friendly.) The opinion writing prompts come with an opinion writing rubrics and the informative writing prompts come with informative writing rubrics. (There are 4 to choose from)
• Brief descriptions of each rubric so that you can know which one you want to use.
• A schedule that outlines what the students will be doing for 3 weeks (the rubric and schedule are things I show the students before we begin writing our essays so they know what is expected of them, how long it will take, and how to be successful).
• A checklist that the students can use while they write their essays to make sure they are including everything that their essay needs
• Two different graphic organizers/outlines to choose from (one is completely blank, while the other one has fill in the blanks to help those who struggle with writing). The opinion prompts come with opinion writing graphic organizers and the informative prompts come with informative writing graphic organizers.
• •Alternative graphic organizers/outlines that are decorative (the Cat or a Dog prompt does NOT come with alternative graphic organizers that are decorative)
• •Many different types of rough draft paper that you can choose from. (My favorite rough draft paper is the one that has an ARMS checklist at the bottom. Many teachers like to use the acronym ARMS when revising with their students.)
• Peer Editing Sheets (I love using these! Instead of having students write all over each others’ papers with red pens, they look for certain criteria, fill in the form, and give feedback)
• A sample graphic organizer that has been filled in (if it's an opinion prompt, then I provide examples for both sides)
• A writing sample that meets all the requirements to get a really good score on the SAGE test (if it is a debate between two sides, then I provide sample 5-paragraph essays for both sides).
• Decorative publishing paper/lined paper that the students can write their final drafts on
• Decorative cover pages (the students can use these as a cover for their final drafts.)
• A note that can be sent home to parents to announce the completion of their essays and the sharing party that will take place in class

THE STANDARDS

This product is aligned with the following 3rd grade writing standards:

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.3.1Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.3.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.3.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.3.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as need by planning, revising, and editing.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.3.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.3.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.3.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision.) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

This product is aligned with the following 4th grade writing standards:

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.4.1Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.4.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.4.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.4.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as need by planning, revising, and editing.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.4.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.4.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.4.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision.) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.4 Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4-5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

This product is aligned with the following 5th grade writing standards:

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.5.1Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.5.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.5.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.5.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as need by planning, revising, and editing.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.5.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.5.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

CCSS.ELA-LIT.W.5.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision.) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

You might be interested in the following writing products:

Hamburger Writing Paragraph lesson plan and PowerPoint

Writing Process posters and PowerPoint

Or the following science products:

A HUGE Rocks and Minerals Unit. A complete unit that has everything you would need to teach 3 weeks-worth of material.

Cloud Readers’ Theater. I love using these scripts every time I teach weather! They help the students remember how a cloud is formed and the four main types of clouds (cirrus, cumulus, stratus, and cumulonimbus.)

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