1. Informative Essays

2. Explain it to me-
How do you explain something to someone who has no knowledge of a topic?
Topic- Tie a shoe
Explain the task for a partner and have him or her try to complete it

3. The Power of Information
When giving information, think carefully about the following items:
Know who your audience is!
Choice of ideas- which ideas are most important to include in writing?
What evidence will you use to support your ideas?
How will you organize the information?
Are there any unfamiliar terms that you will need to define for your audience? (you have to assume they don’t know anything about your topic)

4. Key traits for informative writing
Recognizing Key traits of any informative text can help you evaluate both others’ writing and your own.

5. Key Traits Controlling Idea- Also known as your thesis
This is a statement where the writer states the main idea of what he/she wants the audience to learn about the topic

6. Key Traits Clear Organization- An effective informational text has-
A concise introduction
Logical presentation of ideas
Transition words
Strong concluding section

7. Key traits – “TEDS” In each body paragraph: 1. Topic sentence
2. Evidence-
You must use evidence to support your thesis.
Evidence can be facts, statistics, concrete details, quotations, graphs, etc..
3. Defense- For every piece of evidence, you must be able to explain how it supports your thesis
**You must explain/defend your evidence!!
4. Summary sentence

8. Key traits Precise Language-
Choose your words carefully. You must be able to deliver accurate, helpful information to your readers- Use precise nouns, vivid verbs, and specific modifiers to clearly communicate ideas and engage readers.

9. Key traits Precise Language Examples Nouns- dog, smell, flower,
Instead, use- Poodle, burnt toast, daffodil
Adjectives- cold, fast, big,
Instead, use- frigid, speedy, enormous,
Verbs- walk, talk, wait, laugh
Instead, use- saunter, blabber, linger, chuckle