writing an informative essay grade 7

EL Education Curriculum

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• ELA 2019 G7:M2:U2:L8

Write an Informative Essay: Analyze a Model

In this lesson, daily learning targets, ongoing assessment.

• Technology and Multimedia

Supporting English Language Learners

Materials from previous lessons, new materials, closing & assessments, you are here:.

• ELA 2019 Grade 7
• ELA 2019 G7:M2
• ELA 2019 G7:M2:U2

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Focus Standards:  These are the standards the instruction addresses.

• W.7.2, W.7.4, W.7.5

Supporting Standards:  These are the standards that are incidental—no direct instruction in this lesson, but practice of these standards occurs as a result of addressing the focus standards.

• RI.7.1, RI.7.2
• I can explore a model and determine criteria of an informative essay. ( W.7.2 )
• I can use the Painted Essay® structure to analyze a model. ( W.7.2, W.7.4 )
• I can plan an informative essay, focusing on task, purpose, and audience. ( W.7.4, W.7.5 )
• Opening A: Entrance Ticket, Unit 2, Lesson 8 ( W.7.2 )
• Work Time A: Annotated, color-coded model informative essay ( W.7.2, W.7.4 )
• Closing and Assessment A: Informative Writing Plan graphic organizer ( W.7.2, W.7.4, W.7.5 )
• Ensure there is a copy of Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 8 at each student's workspace.
• Read the Paint an Essay lesson plan to become familiar with the color-coding and the purpose of each choice of color.
• Post the learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see Materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

• Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout previous modules to create anchor charts to share with families; to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 7.I.A.1, 7.I.C.10, and 7.II.C.6.

Important Points in the Lesson Itself

• To support ELLs, this lesson includes a whole-class, teacher-led review of a model essay as well as collaboration and color-coding to paint and plan an essay.  
• ELLs may find it challenging to generate language for planning their essay. Encourage students to use their home language and sketches to assist them in planning their essay. Also use strategic pairings for the peer essay either by home language, level, or heterogeneous for support.  
• analyze, context, criteria, informative, structure (A)
• Painted Essay® (DS)

(A): Academic Vocabulary

(DS): Domain-Specific Vocabulary

• Criteria of an Effective Informative Essay anchor chart (one for display; from Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 7, Work Time B)
• Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart (one for display; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 4, Opening A)
• Academic word wall (one for display; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Opening A)
• Domain-specific word wall (one for display; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time B)
• Paint an Essay lesson plan (for teacher reference) (from Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 7, Closing and Assessment A)
• Homework: Read “Crime-Solving Strategies” (one per student; from Module 2, Unit 2, Lessons 6–7, Homework B)
• Vocabulary log (one per student; from Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 2, Opening A)
• Painted Essay® template (one per student and one for display; from Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 7, Closing and Assessment A)
• Patient Zero by Marilee Peters (text; one per student; from Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time C)
• Independent reading journal (one per student; begun in Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 6, Work Time B)
• Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 8 (answers for teacher reference)
• Model Informative Essay: "Computer Programs and Animal Behavior" (for teacher reference)
• Model Pair Informative Essay (example for teacher reference)
• Informative Writing Plan graphic organizer (for teacher reference)
• Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 8 (one per student)
• Model Informative Essay: “Computer Programs and Animal Behavior” (one per student and one for display)
• Colored pencils (red, yellow, blue, light green, dark green; one of each per student)
• Directions for Pair Informative Essay (one per student and one for display)
• Online or print dictionaries (including ELL and home language dictionaries)
• Informative Writing Plan graphic organizer (one per student and one for display)
• Informative Writing Plan graphic organizer ▲

Each unit in the 6-8 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize students' understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

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Writing Prompts for 7th Grade

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By seventh grade, students should be refining the core writing skills of brainstorming , researching, outlining, drafting, and revising. In order to hone these skills, seventh-grade students need regular practice writing a variety of essay styles, including narrative, persuasive, expository , and creative essays. The following essay prompts offer age-appropriate starting points to help seventh graders flex their writing muscles.

Narrative Essay Writing Prompts

Narrative essays share a personal experience to tell a story, usually to make a point rather than merely to entertain. These narrative essay prompts encourage students to describe and reflect on a story that's meaningful to them.

• Embarrassing Pasts - As people get older, they are sometimes embarrassed by things they used to like, such as toys, television shows, or nicknames. Describe something that you used to enjoy that you now find embarrassing. Why is it embarrassing now?
• Bonds of Hardship - Sometimes difficulties draw families closer. Describe something that your family endured together that strengthened your relationships.
• There’s No Place Like Home - What makes your hometown special? Explain this special quality.
• New Kid in Town - Being new to a town or school can be challenging because you don’t know anyone, or exciting because no one knows you and your past. Describe a time when you were the new kid.
• Finders Keepers -  Write about a time when you lost (or found) something of value. How did that experience affect your opinion of the saying, “Finders keepers; losers weepers?"
• Follow the Leader -  Describe a time when you were in a leadership role. How did it make you feel? What did you learn from the experience?
• April Fools -  Write about the best prank you’ve ever played on someone (or had played on you). What made it so clever or funny?
• Bon Appetit - Special meals can be powerful memory-makers. Write about a specific meal that stands out in your memory. What made it so unforgettable?
• Bon Voyage - Family trips and vacations also create lasting memories. Write an essay detailing your favorite family vacation memory.
• Batter Up -  Write about a valuable lesson that you learned while playing your favorite sport.
• Best Friends Forever -  Describe your friendship with your BFF and what makes it so important to you.
• The Real Me -  What is one thing you wish your parents, teachers, or coaches really understood or knew about you?
• TV -  Explain what makes your favorite television show so enjoyable or relatable to you.

Persuasive Essay Writing Prompts

Persuasive essays use facts and reasoning to convince the reader to embrace the writer’s opinion or take a course of action. These essay prompts empower seventh graders to write persuasively about an issue they genuinely care about. 

• Outdated Laws - What is one law or family or school rule that you think needs to be changed? Convince lawmakers, your parents, or school leaders to make the change.
• Bad Ads - Advertising can have a powerful impact on consumers. What is a product that you’ve seen advertised that you don’t think should be? Explain why the media should quit showing these ads.
• Puppy Love - You want a pet, but your parents don’t think you need one. What would you say to change their minds?
• Lights, Camera - What is your favorite book of all time? Write an essay convincing a producer to make a movie about it.
• Snooze Button - Studies have shown that tweens and teens need more sleep. Write a proposal for a later school start time.
• Body Shop - Magazines can negatively impact their readers’ body image by using edited images of models. Convince a teen magazine publisher that they should not use heavily-edited model images in their publication.
• It Can’t Be Over - The network is canceling your favorite television show. Write a paper convincing the station that they’re making a mistake.
• Curfews -  Some malls have policies forbidding kids under 18 to be at the mall without adult supervision during certain times. Do you think this is fair or unfair? Defend your position.
• Team Spirit - Should homeschooled students be allowed to play sports on public or private school teams? Why or why not?
• Smartphones - All of your friends have the latest smartphone, but you only have a “dumb phone.” Should your parents upgrade your phone, or are smartphones for middle school kids a bad idea?
• Bullies - Some dogs, such as pit bulls or Dobermans, are labeled “bully breeds.” Is this label deserved or undeserved?
• Money Can’t Buy You Love - People say that money can’t buy happiness, but some studies have shown that people with higher incomes may be happier . Do you think this is true? Why or why not?
• Ratings -  There are age restrictions on movies and video games, ratings on television shows, and warning labels on music. Computers and smartphones offer parental controls. Do adults have too much control over what kids watch and listen to or do these restrictions serve a valuable purpose?

Expository Essay Writing Prompts

Expository essays describe a process or provide factual information. These prompts can serve as jumping-off points for the explanatory process. 

• School’s in Session - Would you rather attend public school, private school, or be homeschooled. Explain the benefits of your choice.
• Admiration -  Who do you admire from your life or history? Write an essay describing how their character or contributions to their community have earned your respect.
• Global Community -  If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? Write about your dream hometown and why you want to live there.
• Peer Problems - Peer pressure and bullying can make life as a middle school student difficult. Describe a time you were pressured or bullied and how it affected you.
• Order Up -  A friend wants to learn how to make your favorite food. Detail the process, step-by-step, so your friend can recreate the dish.
• Addictions - Many people are impacted by drug or alcohol addictions. Share facts about how the use of these substances negatively affects families or communities. 
• Serve Others - Community service is a valuable experience. Describe a time you volunteered. What did you do and how did it make you feel?
• City or Country Mouse - Do you live in a big city or a small town? Explain why you do or don’t like living there.
• Aspirations - What do you want to be when you’re an adult? Explain why you’d choose that career  or what you’ll do to prepare for it.
• Point in Time - Sometimes people bury time capsules so future generations can learn about the past. What would you include to give an accurate snapshot of life in the current time?
• Hobbyist -  You’re friend wants to take up your favorite hobby. Explain it to him.
• SOS - A natural disaster has destroyed homes and businesses in a nearby city. Describe what you can do to help.
• Wonder Twin Power - Some superheroes can fly or become invisible. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

Creative Essay Writing Prompts

Creative essays are fictional stories. They use plot, character, and dialog to engage and entertain the reader. These prompts will get the creative juices flowing. 

• Fan Fic -  Write a story about your favorite characters from a book, film, or television show.
• Cats vs. Dogs - You have two pets of different species. Write a story from their point of view about a day at home alone.
• Time Travel - You find a time machine in your backyard. What happens when you step inside?
• Dream State - Think about a time when you woke in the middle of a vivid dream. What would have happened if the dream hadn’t been interrupted?
• New Door -  You’ve just discovered a door that you’ve never seen before. What happens when you walk through it?
• Secret Keeper - You find out your best friend has kept a secret from you. What is the secret and why didn’t your friend tell you?
• Fridge Fun - Write a story from the perspective of an item in your refrigerator.
• Desert Island - You’ve just discovered an uncharted island. What happens next?
• Fly on the Wall - You see two people talking excitedly, but you can’t hear what they’re saying. Write a story about what they might be saying.
• Special Delivery - You receive a battered package in the mail. Write a story about its journey from the sender to you.
• A Mile in My Shoes - You find a pair of shoes in the thrift store and put them on. Suddenly you find yourself transported into someone else’s life. Describe what happens.
• Mission to Mars - Imagine that you’re a pioneer to start a colony on Mars. Write about a typical day on your new planet.
• Snow Days - You find yourself snowed in for a week with your family. There is no electricity or phone service. What do you do for fun?
• Fun March Writing Prompts for Journaling
• 24 Journal Prompts for Creative Writing in the Elementary Classroom
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Free Printable Informative Essay Structure Worksheets for 7th Grade

Informative Essay Structure: Discover a collection of free printable worksheets for Grade 7 Reading & Writing teachers, designed to enhance students' understanding and skills in crafting well-structured informative essays.

Explore Informative Essay Structure Worksheets by Grades

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Explore printable Informative Essay Structure worksheets for 7th Grade

Informative Essay Structure worksheets for Grade 7 are essential tools for teachers who want to help their students excel in Reading & Writing. These worksheets provide a clear and concise framework for students to follow when organizing their thoughts and ideas in a coherent manner. By using these worksheets, teachers can guide their students through the process of writing an informative essay, ensuring that they understand the importance of proper Writing Organization and Structure. With these resources, Grade 7 students will be well-equipped to create well-structured and engaging essays that demonstrate their understanding of the topic at hand.

Quizizz is an excellent platform for teachers to incorporate Informative Essay Structure worksheets for Grade 7 students, along with other valuable resources for Reading & Writing. This interactive platform allows teachers to create engaging quizzes and activities that help students practice their writing skills and reinforce their understanding of Writing Organization and Structure. In addition to the worksheets, Quizizz offers a variety of other tools and resources that can be tailored to the specific needs of Grade 7 students. By utilizing Quizizz in conjunction with Informative Essay Structure worksheets, teachers can create a comprehensive and dynamic learning experience that will empower their students to excel in Reading & Writing.

How to Teach Informative Writing

n this post, I share 5 tips for How to Teach Informative Writing and provide details about my Informational Writing Unit resources for for Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade students. Be sure to download 3 FREE Informational Writing Graphic Organizers!

We write for a variety of purposes. The most popular are to inform, entertain, explain, or persuade. While we teach our students to write for each of these different purposes, the ability to effectively write an informative piece of writing is a highly important skill for students to learn. It is one of the most common types of writing we use in our everyday lives.

Today I’m excited to share 5 tips for teaching informational writing, as well as a valuable resource that has everything you need to teach informative writing to your kindergarten , first grade , or second grade students! 

1.  Read Informative Writing Mentor Texts 

As a teacher, you may “Start with the end in mind”  when you plan out your units of study, but it also applies to students learning about different genres of writing.  Before you can ask your students to write in a genre that is new to them, you must first immerse them in it.  

So to begin your informational writing unit, you’ll want to share lots of quality informational texts with your students.  These mentor texts provide students with excellent examples of informational writing. As you read them aloud, highlight the way the author structures their writing and the features they include to help make their writing more clear for the reader.  All of these things will help students better understand what type of writing we are asking them to do.    

When you’re picking informative mentor texts to share with your students there are a few things to consider .  First, do you (the educator) think it is excellent?  Second, is it easy for your students to understand?  And finally, is it relevant to the type of writing you are teaching?  If you answer “Yes!” to all three, then you’re good to go!

To help you out I’ve created a list of excellent mentor texts you can use when teaching Informative Writing to kindergarten, first, or second grade students.  

A List of Informative Writing Mentor Texts:

Gail Gibbons

• The Moon Book
• The Pumpkin Book

Nicola Davies

• One Tiny Turtle
• Big Blue Whale
• Bat Loves the Night
• Surprising Sharks

Jim Arnosky

• Slither and Crawl
• Frozen Wild
• Beachcombing: Exploring the Seashore

Diana Aston

• An Egg is Quiet
• A Beetle is Shy
• A Seed is Sleepy
• A Rock is Lively

I’ve saved all these titles on one board so you can easily take a closer look at these mentor texts. Click here to see this list on Amazon .  

2.   Model Your Own Informational Writing

Never underestimate the importance of modeling!  It’s the most powerful tool in your arsenal.  

When teaching informative writing first model how to choose a topic.  Picking a topic is fun and easy because you get to choose something you already know a lot about!

Remind students that they are already experts in so many areas!!  This can be a big confidence booster for kids who might normally struggle to come up with ideas to write about.  Use think alouds to show them how you brainstorm a list of topics you already know a lot about and show them how you narrow it down to one.  

Next, model how you gather information and organize your ideas.  For informative writing you can show them how you use your prior knowledge, as well as pull important information from outside resources like books and websites. 

Finally, reread your work aloud and show students how you catch silly mistakes such as spelling, capitalization or punctuation errors.  You can also show how you add more details to make your piece more informative for your reader.  

3.  Use Anchor Charts

You want your students to know that when they write an informative piece they are sharing facts, or true information, with their reader. They are not sharing their opinion. It is important to take time to review fact vs. opinion with your students. You can create an anchor chart that clearly defines fact vs. opinion and then practice determining if different statements are facts or opinions.

You will also want to create an anchor chart using the writing you model. This will serve as another example of excellent informative writing. As a class, add labels to identify the topic sentence, supporting facts/details and the closing sentence in your shared writing. 

Post these anchor charts in your writing center so your students can refer back to them and use them as support as they write their own pieces.

4.  Allow students to edit and share their writing

Provide a good writers checklist at your writing center.  For informative writing you’ll want the checklist to include items such,  “Does my writing have a topic sentence?”  “Did I include enough facts?” and “Do I have a closing sentence?”, as well reminders to check for spelling, capitalization, and punctuation errors.  

Give students the opportunity to share their writing with others!  Pair students with partners and let them read their pieces to each other. 

You can teach them to provide each other with a bit of feedback by encouraging them to use sentence starters such as, “I like the way you….:” ,  “I learned that….” or “Your writing made me wonder….”.  Of course, this is also something you’d first want to model. Posting these sentence starters in your writing center provides support and helps to keep students focused and on-task.  

 5. Provide Daily Opportunities for Students to Write

As with all things, writing takes PRACTICE!  Informative writing requires students to do a lot of hard work. It requires that they think carefully about their purpose for writing. Then they must plan what they’ll say and how they’ll say it.

Finally, they’ve got to get it down on the paper in a way that is clear for the reader.   That’s a lot for a young child! 

Students need dedicated instructional time to learn the skills and strategies necessary to become effective writers, as well as time to practice what they learn. When you think about your daily instructional schedule, make sure you are giving your students ample opportunities to practice their informational writing through whole group instruction, small groups and/or through independent practice in writing centers. 

Informative Writing Unit For Kindergarten, First, and Second Grade Students

We know informational writing requires a lot from students, but planning these informative writing units is also A LOT of work for you as the teacher!

To help you out I created informative writing units that have the essential resources you need to teach and students to independently practice informational writing!  These units are a perfect addition to your literacy work in writing centers.

Today I’m excited to share with you the details about my Kindergarten Informative , 1st Grade Informative, and my 2nd grade Informative writing units!

These units were developed with standards-based research specific to each grade. They have EVERYTHING you need to give your students ample amounts of practice writing informational pieces. You can use them within whole class or small group lessons, or as a literacy center where students can practice independently!  

What’s Included in these Informative Writing Resources?

The kindergarten , first grade, and the second grade resources all include information to help you teach the unit, as well as mini-lesson to provide your students a review of informative writing.  You’ll get a list of suggested mentor texts and online resources, academic vocabulary posters, a printable fact vs. opinion anchor chart, and graphic organizers appropriate for each grade level.

The kindergarten resource also includes the materials needed for students to create seasonal writing mini-books . Each mini-book comes with traceable sentence stems and a picture supported vocabulary word bank. This helps your young writers brainstorm ideas for what to write about and support their spelling.

You’ll also get an editing checklist that is specific to informative writing but also appropriate for the kindergarten level.

Instead of a seasonal mini-book, the first grade and second grade resource comes with seasonal writing prompts . You’ll get 5 informative writing prompts for each season, so you can practice informative writing all throughout the year. 

The prompts are both PRINTABLE & DIGITAL.  The digital version has been  PRELOADED  for you,  with 1 click add them  to your Google Drive or upload them to SeeSaw.

Each seasonal prompt also comes with publishing paper that includes a story specific vocabulary bank to provide spelling support and help students get ideas for what to write about.  

Finally, you’ll also get a self-editing checklist and rubric that have both been made specifically for informative writing.  This rubric can be used to help guide students as they work on their pieces, and/or as a self-assessment tool.     

I love these resources because they can be used in so many different ways.  They offer opportunities for students to practice informative writing as a whole class, in small groups, as a literacy center activity, for homework, or as a meaningful activity for when you have a substitute teacher!  They provide k-2 students with all the practice they need to master informative writing! 

FREE Informational Writing Graphic Organizers

Are you ready to begin teaching informative writing in your classroom? To help get your students started, I am happy to offer you 3 FREE informational writing graphic organizers! Download them here!

Helping your students to develop their ability to explain their ideas and share information with others is a valuable academic and life skill they will use well beyond the walls of your classroom.  I hope the information and resources I’ve shared today will help to bring stronger informative writing instruction and more meaningful practice to your kindergarten, first and second grade classrooms!

Be on the lookout for my next post that will focus on another genre… Opinion Writing ! I’ll share information and tips for teaching opinion writing, as well as give you details about my Opinion Writing Units for Kindergarten , First and Second grade students!

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