Subtopic: Informative Writing

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Resource	Grade Level	Media Type
Agony of Defeat Students are asked to explain how forces and motion affect the skier in the film.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Analyzing and Comparing Perspectives on Issues - Gorillas Students compare and contrast their perspectives on raising gorillas in captivity with their peers and with scientists. They summarize their perspectives and the perspectives of others.	5-12	Lesson Plan
Analyzing an Issue From Three Perspectives - Smoking in Public Places Students note various perspectives on the debate about smoking in public places in NYC and create an interview to research the perspectives of peers and community members. They write a report to present their findings and opinion on the issue.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Cats - Yesterday and Today In this video segment from Nature, discover the various roles the cat has played in our history.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Character Development: Cancer - A New Treatment Students will answer questions about what motivated chemical engineer Mark Davis to search for a better treatment for his wife's cancer. They then complete a journal entry in which they compare his motivations and goals to those they’ve established for themselves.	6-12	Lesson Plan
Collecting and Organizing Facts From Multiple Sources - Flowering Plants Students take notes on two videos about flowering plants and organize the information to write a cohesive essay about the topic.	6-8	Lesson Plan
A Different Kind of Fuel In this segment from Curious, learn about creating energy from solar rays to meet the growing energy needs of the world.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Domesticated Pigeons This video segment from WILD TV features a man who raises pigeons as a hobby.	3-8	QuickTime Video
Drawing Conclusions - Miss Navajo Students watch a video documenting the Navajo language portion of the Miss Navajo Nation beauty contest, determine the main responsibilities of the winner of Miss Navajo Nation and complete graphic organizers to write paragraphs that highlight these details and explain their inferences.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Following Directions - Ndakinna Wilderness Project Students create a diagram with captions and a drawing to communicate information about camouflaging.	5-8	Lesson Plan
Forming an Opinion with Organizational Elements - Cats, Yesterday and Today Students use a graphic organizer to list facts about the role of cats throughout history. They then write a paragraph stating an informed opinion about cats' most important role.	5-12	Lesson Plan
Gorillas Learn about the lives of gorillas born in captivity in this video segment from Nature.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Identify Cultural Influences - Hiawatha Students identify aspects of Native American life represented in the poem Hiawatha.	5-8	Lesson Plan
Identifying Important and Unimportant Details - An Ornithologist's Job Students distinguish between important and unimportant details and, acting as news reporters, write an article about the job of an ornithologist.	4-8	Lesson Plan
Identifying Social, Cultural, and Historical Perspectives - Dogs That Changed the World Students identify social, cultural, and historical perspectives regarding the importance of dogs in the past and present. They write and illustrate list poems that incorporate each perspective.	5-8	Lesson Plan
Identifying the Social and Cultural Context of a Period - The New Negro and the Harlem Renaissance Students write an essay summarizing the social and cultural changes in African American life and attitudes during the Harlem Renaissance.	6-8	Lesson Plan
The Importance of Setting to a Story - Pesky Critters Students take notes on a video segment and write an essay detailing how setting (time, place and environment) influence a story.	4-6	Lesson Plan
Ken This video segment from Wide Angle features Ken, a third grade student in Japan.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Kids Care In this video segment from Zoom, students in the Kids Care Club prepare “Bags of Love” for mothers and children.	2-6	QuickTime Video
Nanavi 2006 This Wide Angle video segment features Nanavi, a 12-year old girl who struggles to stay in school.	3-12	QuickTime Video
The Negro Speaks of Rivers This video segment from A Walk Through Harlem features the poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes.	4-12	QuickTime Video
Perspectives of the Gullah Geechee People - Sapelo Island Students use information they record on a Speaker Graphic Organizer to write a paragraph about the perspectives of the Gullah Geechee People.	5-8	Lesson Plan
Pigs as Pets In this video segment from Nature, animal lovers talk about their experiences having pigs as pets.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Point of View - Sharing a Perspective on Music Students share their opinions on music and write two critiques of a band playing the “St. Louis Blues,” one from their own point of view and one from that of a music critic. They reflect upon how their point of view influenced their opinion.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Producing Clear Directions - Trackers Students write directions for how to make and use a tracking stick. Peers test and assess the clarity of the directions.	4-7	Lesson Plan
Public Speaking and Persuasion - Improve Your School! Students will then describe ways in which they would like to improve their school by making an oral presentation to persuade the audience to agree with their ideas. Students are evaluated on their public speaking skills and their ability to be persuasive.	6-12	Lesson Plan
Recording Information to Write a Report - Kids Who Volunteer in Their Communities Students write a report on kids’ volunteer activities.	3-6	Lesson Plan
Ronald Johnson of Sapelo Island In this video segment from EGG: The Arts Show, resident Ronald Johnson explains that Sapelo Island is a unique place, preserving the last examples of Gullah/Geechee culture.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Squatter's Rights Protecting their farms from elephants is a daily fight for African farmers in the Sahel. In this video segment from Africa, learn about the relationship between the African farmers and elephants in the Sahel.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Squirrel Rehabilitation This video segment from WILD TV features a family that rescues and releases squirrels to their natural habitat.	3-8	QuickTime Video
Studying Elephants A photographer trails elephants in Kenya in this video segment from Africa.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Summary, Symbolism and Levels of Meaning - The Healing Totem Students write a summary of a video segment and then rewrite it after a discussion of the video’s symbolism. They reflect on how an understanding of the symbolism influenced their ability to summarize and comprehend the segment.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Supporting Opinions - Ken from Japan Students write an essay that expresses and supports their opinions about how their schooling compares to a Japanese student’s.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Trackers In this video segment from WILD TV, meet a group of trackers and learn how they track animals.	3-8	QuickTime Video

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Subtopic: Informative Writing