How I Teach Informational Writing in Second Grade (Step-by-Step Process)

How do you teach expository writing in your classroom? I wish I could do it throughout the year thematically as we approach different content.

We can do that occasionally, but in reality, our district gives a writing assessment on a certain date, and I need to prepare students for that writing assessment.  So we do a whole unit on Expository & Informational Writing.

This post shares the overall structure I use to teach informational writing in second grade, including the step-by-step process we follow each week, with links to more detailed examples and lesson-specific posts.

Why I Use Familiar Content to Teach Informational Writing

In second grade, we focus on writing about animals during our expository writing unit. Animals are familiar, concrete, and easy for students to visualize. They have clear attributes, behaviors, and life processes, which make them an accessible topic for young writers.

When students are learning a new writing structure, I want the content itself to feel manageable. If the topic is too complex, students spend their energy decoding vocabulary and facts instead of forming strong sentences and using academic language. I think of this balance as a see-saw: when the content becomes too heavy, writing skills suffer.

Using animals keeps the focus on writing. Students may learn new facts, but the topic itself is familiar enough that it doesn’t interfere with learning how to organize ideas and write clear informational paragraphs. This choice also aligns with our district writing assessment, which is based on informational writing about an animal.

Each informational paragraph typically takes about a week to complete, with fewer days needed as students become more comfortable with the routine. The same structure repeats each week, so students can focus on improving their writing rather than learning a new process. Links to specific weekly examples are included later in this post.

The Weekly Structure of Our Informational Writing Unit

Day 1: Gather Information

Day one focuses on gathering information about the animal. I elicit input from students and guide them through a short research routine.

Find out what students know

We begin with a whole-class brainstorm using a circle map to record what students already know about the animal.

Research the Topic

Next, students build background knowledge by reading an informational article and watching one or two short videos about the animal.

Take notes as we go

As we read and watch, we record notes on the circle map together.

I facilitate this note-taking to lower the cognitive load for students. My goal is not for students to collect large amounts of information or worry about spelling and mechanics. Instead, I want them to focus on learning how to write clear, organized expository paragraphs using academic language.

Detailed examples of how this looks in the classroom are shared in the weekly lesson posts linked below.

Day 2: Work with the Information

On Day 2, students work with the information they gathered by sorting facts into related categories. We often group facts by attributes, actions, or environment, adjusting categories when needed based on the focus of the text.

This step helps students organize related facts before writing. I continue to support students closely so they can focus on academic language and paragraph structure.

This organizational step supports clearer topic sentences and smoother sentence flow in informational writing.

Day 3, 4, 5: Draft, Revise, Publish

During the remaining days of the week, students draft, revise, and publish their informational paragraphs. At the start of this phase, I highlight one specific writing focus for the week, such as writing a clear topic sentence, using transition words, or expanding ideas with details.

Students apply that focus as they draft their paragraphs, using the organized facts from Day 2. Drafting typically happens on Day 3.

Next, I review student drafts and provide feedback. Students use that feedback to revise and write a final version on publishing paper. Illustrations are added once the writing is complete, often on Day 4 or 5. As students become familiar with the routine, they move through this process more efficiently and with greater independence.

This repeated drafting and revision process helps students internalize expectations for informational writing.

How This Structure Prepares Students for Writing Assessments

This structure closely mirrors the format students encounter on our informational writing assessments. Students practice gathering information from both print and video sources. By regularly working with articles and short videos, my students learn how to extract key facts from different types of media without feeling overwhelmed.

My second-grade students also practice writing one focused informational paragraph at a time. Instead of trying to manage multiple paragraphs or extended reports, they concentrate on writing a clear introduction, developing ideas with related facts, and bringing their writing to a close. This helps them understand what a strong informational paragraph looks like and sounds like before they are asked to do it independently.

Repeating the same routine each week builds confidence and independence. Students know what to expect at each stage of the process, which frees up their attention for the writing itself. By the time assessment day arrives, the structure feels familiar, and students can focus on communicating their ideas clearly rather than figuring out what to do next.

Weekly Lesson Examples

During our Informational Writing Unit, we write about one animal a week, generally, over a seven or eight-week period.

Each of the posts below shows how one specific writing skill fits into the overall informational writing process. These posts are classroom examples, not step-by-step lesson plans.

• Informational Writing Overview – Unit structure and instructional routine
• Week 1: Building the Informational Writing Routine (Sea Turtles)
• Week 2: Introducing the Topic (Spade-Foot Toad)
• Week 3: Finding and Ordering Related Facts (Wolves)
• Week 4: Using a Checklist to Revise Writing (Ladybugs)
• Week 5: Organizing Facts Around a Concept (Bird Migration)
• Week 6: Applying the Full Informational Writing Process (Lionfish)
• Other tools: Genius Paragraph and Bats

Seasonal Informational Writing Examples

• Reindeer
• Genius Paragraphs: Polar Bears
• Bats: Nonfiction Writing

Informational Writing Resources I Use

These resources support the same gather–organize–write routine described above.

Informational Writing Tools

The Informational Writing Tools {All About Animals} includes all of the sorts that you have seen in the above blog posts as well as a publishing page, graphic organizers, checklists, and weekly lessons. It’s basically all of the information from the blog posts above in one succinct product.

In the product, I go in-depth on some of the Day 3 lessons I do with students to help them create topic sentences or organize their paragraphs. This product does not include any informational articles, but it does include links to articles and videos where applicable.

Also available is a BUNDLED Elementary Writing Tools product that has the Informational Writing Tools, Narrative Writing Tools, and Opinion Unit.

Animal Articles

Animal Articles are the articles that we use to gather information about each of the animals. I have packets for African Animals, Rainforest Animals, and Life Cycles. Coming soon are Coral Reef and Antarctic Animals.

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Is this all the expository writing we do all year? No. I like to do bits of expository writing as we respond to reading or around different seasons and holidays. This is how we approach our main informational writing unit each year.