Lesson Plan for Year 2 - Language Arts - Writing Narratives and Information Texts

**Lesson Plan: Writing Narratives and Information Texts** **Grade Level**: Year 2 **Lesson Title**: Writing Narratives and Information Texts **Duration**: 60 minutes **Lesson Objectives**: 1. Students will understand the difference between narrative and informational texts. 2. Students will be able to write a simple narrative with a beginning, middle, and end. 3. Students will be able to write a basic informational text with clear facts about a given topic. **Materials Needed**: - Whiteboard and markers - Chart paper - Colourful markers - Storybooks and informational books for examples - Writing paper - Pencils - Graphic organisers (narrative writing and informational writing templates) - Picture cards for narrative prompts - Fact cards for informational text prompts **Lesson Outline**: **Introduction (10 minutes)**: 1. **Warm-Up Activity**: - Begin with a brief discussion about the stories they have read recently. Ask them to share whether those stories told about something real or pretend (introduce the concepts of fiction and non-fiction). 2. **Set the Scene**: - Show the class a chart with the basic definitions of narrative texts (stories with characters and events) and informational texts (texts that provide facts and information about a topic). - Read a short narrative story (e.g., "The Very Hungry Caterpillar") and a brief informational text (e.g., a simple book about caterpillars). **Direct Instruction (15 minutes)**: 1. **Explaining Narratives**: - Use the whiteboard to outline the elements of a narrative (beginning, middle, end, characters, setting, problem, solution). - Discuss a familiar story and identify these elements together as a class. 2. **Explaining Informational Texts**: - Use chart paper to list the features of informational texts (headings, facts, photographs/illustrations, labels). - Discuss how informational texts help us learn about real things. **Guided Practice (20 minutes)**: 1. **Narrative Writing**: - Present picture cards with simple, engaging prompts (e.g., a picture of a dragon and a castle). - Distribute narrative graphic organisers. Help them plan their story by filling out sections for the beginning, middle, and end. - Encourage students to start writing their narratives based on their organiser. 2. **Informational Writing**: - Introduce fact cards about a simple, familiar topic (e.g., facts about dogs). - Distribute informational writing templates with sections for a title, a few facts, and a simple illustration. - Assist students in filling out their informational text by writing down the facts in their own words. **Independent Practice (10 minutes)**: - Allow students to continue writing their narratives and informational texts independently. - Walk around the classroom to provide support and encouragement as needed. **Conclusion (5 minutes)**: 1. **Sharing**: - Invite a few students to share their narrative or informational text with the class. - Give positive feedback and highlight some good examples of writing elements discussed. 2. **Reflection**: - Ask students to think about one thing they learned about writing narratives and one thing they learned about writing informational texts. Share these reflections with a partner or write them down. **Assessment**: - Formative assessment will be done through observation during the guided and independent practice stages. - Collect students' work after the lesson to give individual feedback. Use a simple checklist to ensure the presence of elements of narrative and informational texts. **Differentiation**: - For struggling writers, provide additional support by working in small groups or one-on-one during independent practice. - Offer extra challenges for advanced students, such as adding more details to their narratives or additional facts to their informational texts. **Extension Activities**: - Create a class book: Compile all the narratives and informational texts written by students into a class book that can be shared with parents or read during storytime. - Research Project: For further practice, assign a small research project where students can gather more facts from books or safe websites and write an extended informational text. This structured lesson plan will help young students learn to distinguish between narrative and informational texts while practising their writing skills in an engaging, supportive environment.