In plain English: W.6.2 is the Common Core grade 6 ELA standard that asks students to write informative/explanatory texts that examine a topic by selecting, organizing and analyzing relevant information. Students introduce the topic, organize it with strategies such as definition and cause/effect, develop it with facts and examples, use transitions and precise vocabulary, and end with a conclusion.
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
a.Introduce a topic; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
b.Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
c.Use appropriate transitions to clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
d.Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
e.Establish and maintain a formal style.
f.Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from the information or explanation presented.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy · Domain: Writing Standards · Cluster: Text Types and Purposes · Official standard
Students learn to write an informative/explanatory text: writing that examines a topic and explains it to readers. The lesson centers on one science topic that sixth graders find surprising, how bats find food in the dark with echolocation. Students start from a page of 13 research notes, some useful and some off the topic, and see how a writer selects the relevant ones, organizes them under headings, and explains them with definitions, examples, a quotation, a table and a diagram.
The lesson covers every part of W.6.2: introducing and organizing a topic with strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast and cause/effect, with headings and graphics where they help (a); developing it with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations and examples (b); transitions (c); precise, domain-specific words (d); formal style (e); and a concluding section (f). Students map a model text, revise a weak draft, and then write their own text about beavers for homework.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Introduce a topic and tell readers what the text will explain
Select relevant facts from notes and organize them with definition, classification, comparison/contrast or cause/effect
Develop a topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations and examples, adding headings and a graphic when they help readers
Use transitions and precise, domain-specific words, defining the terms readers may not know
Keep a formal style and write a concluding section that follows from the information
Prior Knowledge Required
Students should already be comfortable with:
Writing informative texts that group related information in paragraphs and sections W.5.2
Taking notes from a source and sorting them by topic W.5.8
Using a glossary or context clues to find the meaning of a science word L.5.4
Writing a paragraph with a topic sentence and supporting details
"During a storm, you see lightning and hear the thunder a few seconds later. How would you explain to a younger student why the thunder comes after the flash?"
Take a few answers and write the useful words on the board (light, sound, travels, faster, seconds). Point out that a good explanation starts by saying what it will explain, goes step by step, and uses exact words. Then introduce today's topic: how bats find food in the dark by using sound. Read the research notes aloud. Students number the 13 notes and put a check next to each one that helps explain how bats use sound, and an X next to any note that is true but off the topic.
1Note 1. Echolocation: finding objects by making sounds and listening for the echoes that bounce back.
2Note 2. There are more than 1,400 species of bats. Most of them use echolocation, and most of them eat insects.
3Note 3. Sound travels through air at about 343 meters per second and through seawater at about 1,500 meters per second.
4Note 4. People can hear sounds up to about 20,000 hertz. Many bat calls are between 20,000 and 120,000 hertz.
5Note 5. When a bat closes in on an insect, it calls faster, up to about 200 calls per second (a "feeding buzz").
6Note 6. Bats are not blind. All bats can see, and many fruit bats rely mostly on their eyes and noses.
7Note 7. Most of the large fruit bats of Africa, Asia and Australia (flying foxes) do not echolocate.
8Note 8. Dolphins and other toothed whales use clicks to echolocate underwater.
9Note 9. Oilbirds and some swiftlets echolocate in dark caves with clicks that people can hear.
10Note 10. Some moths can hear bat calls and dive out of the way. Tiger moths can answer with clicks of their own.
11Note 11. The biggest flying foxes have wings that stretch about 1.5 meters from tip to tip.
12Note 12. Bat droppings, called guano, have been collected from caves and used as fertilizer on farms.
13Note 13. Interview with a park ranger who leads evening bat walks (invented for this lesson): "You can stand at the cave mouth at sunset and hear almost nothing, yet the air is full of calls. We carry a bat detector, which changes the calls into clicks that people can hear."
SVHS lesson authors, Research notes: Bats and Echolocation (notes written for this page; the ranger interview is invented). Original passage written for this page.
Direct Instruction15-20 minutes
Teach the words of the standard and leave them on the board:
Informative/explanatory text: writing that teaches readers about a topic or explains how or why something happens. It does not try to convince readers of an opinion.
Topic: the subject the text examines. The introduction names it and says what readers will learn.
Organizing strategies: ways to arrange information. Definition explains what a term means. Classification sorts things into groups by what they share. Comparison/contrast shows how things are alike and different. Cause/effect shows why something happens and what it leads to.
Relevant: connected to the topic. Writers select only relevant facts and leave out the rest, even when the rest is interesting.
Concrete detail: a specific fact, number or example that readers can picture.
Heading: a short title over a section. Graphic: a chart, table, diagram or picture that shows information.
Transition: a word or phrase that shows how ideas connect.
Domain-specific vocabulary: the exact words of a subject, such as echo or hertz in science. Writers define them for readers who may not know them.
Formal style: careful, clear school language with no slang and no opinions.
Concluding section: the ending, which pulls the information together.
Work through the five examples below. Each one uses the research notes.
Introducing the topic
First try: This report is about bats. It names a subject but gives readers no reason to keep reading and no idea what they will learn.
Result: Revision: Bats hunt insects in total darkness by listening to the echoes of their own calls. The sentence opens with a surprising fact and points to what the text will explain.
Organizing by definition
Note 1 defines echolocation. How can a writer build a section around a definition?
Result: State the term and its meaning first, then break it into parts: "Echolocation has two parts: the call a bat sends out and the echo that comes back." Each later sentence explains one part.
Comparison and contrast
Notes 6 and 7 describe two kinds of bats. How can a writer show how they are alike and different?
Result: Most insect-eating bats hunt by listening to echoes, while most flying foxes find fruit with their eyes and noses. Both kinds of bats can see. The words while and both signal the contrast and the likeness.
Selecting relevant content
A section explains how echolocation works. Which note belongs there: Note 5 (the feeding buzz) or Note 11 (the size of flying foxes)?
Result: Note 5 belongs, because it describes what a bat does with its calls as it closes in on prey. Note 11 is true, but wing size has nothing to do with how echolocation works, so the writer leaves it out.
Precise words and formal style
Draft sentence: Bats make a bunch of fast noises right before they grab a bug.
Result: Revision: As a bat closes in on an insect, it calls faster, up to about 200 calls per second, in what scientists call a feeding buzz. The revision replaces vague words with exact ones and adds a number from Note 5.
Hand out the model text, which comes with Table 1 and Diagram 1. Read it once for meaning. On the second reading, students highlight each heading in one color and every domain-specific word in a second color. Ask: Which notes did the writer use? Which did the writer leave out, and why? Why does the writer point readers to Diagram 1 and Table 1?
1On a summer evening, a bat can swoop through the dark and snatch a moth out of the air without bumping into a single branch. It does not need light to do this. Most bats find their food with echolocation, a way of locating objects by making sounds and listening for the echoes that bounce back. This report explains what echolocation is, how it works, and how bats compare with other animals that use it.
2What Echolocation Is An echo is a sound that bounces off a surface and returns to the listener. Echolocation turns echoes into information. A bat makes a short, high-pitched call through its mouth or nose. When the sound hits an object, part of it bounces back to the bat's large ears. The echo tells the bat that something is there.
3How It Works Echolocation works because sound travels at a steady speed. In air, sound moves about 343 meters per second. As a result, an echo from a nearby moth returns quickly, and an echo from a distant moth takes longer. For example, if a moth is about 3.4 meters away, the call and its echo make a round trip of about 6.8 meters, so the echo returns in about two hundredths of a second. The bat's brain uses this tiny delay to judge the distance. As the bat closes in, it calls faster and faster, up to about 200 calls per second. Scientists call this burst of sound a feeding buzz. Diagram 1 shows the path of a call and its echo.
4Calls Too High to Hear Most bat calls are ultrasound, which means their frequency is too high for people to hear. Frequency is the number of times a sound wave vibrates each second, and it is measured in hertz. People can hear sounds up to about 20,000 hertz, but many bat calls are between 20,000 and 120,000 hertz. A park ranger who leads evening bat walks put it this way: "You can stand at the cave mouth at sunset and hear almost nothing, yet the air is full of calls." To listen in, rangers carry a bat detector, a small device that changes the calls into clicks that people can hear.
5Other Animals That Echolocate Bats are not the only animals that use echolocation. Dolphins and other toothed whales make rapid clicks and listen for the echoes to find fish. Unlike bat calls, these clicks travel through water, where sound moves more than four times as fast as it does in air. Oilbirds and some swiftlets also echolocate, but they use clicks that people can hear, mainly to find their way through dark caves. Table 1 compares these animals. Not every bat echolocates, either. Most of the large fruit bats of Africa, Asia and Australia, often called flying foxes, find food with their eyes and noses instead.
6Echolocation shows how an animal can use sound in place of light. By calling, listening, and measuring the delay of each echo, a bat builds a picture of its surroundings in complete darkness. Although the evening sky seems quiet to people, for a hunting bat it is full of sound.
SVHS lesson authors, Model informative text: How Bats See with Sound. Original passage written for this page.
Table 1 (part of the model text): Animals that use echolocation
Animal
Where it echolocates
What its sounds are like
What it uses echoes for
Most bats
In the air, at night
Calls, mostly too high for people to hear
Finding insects and avoiding obstacles
Dolphins and other toothed whales
Underwater
Rapid clicks
Finding fish
Oilbirds and some swiftlets
In dark caves
Clicks that people can hear
Finding their way
Guided Practice15 minutes
Pairs complete the map of the model text below, using their own words. Then they check which organizing strategy each body section mainly uses, choosing from the four in the word list. Circulate and ask each pair to point to the words that helped them decide.
Map of the model text (students fill in the last two columns)
Paragraph
Heading
What this part explains
Main organizing strategy
1
(introduction)
2
What Echolocation Is
3
How It Works
4
Calls Too High to Hear
5
Other Animals That Echolocate
6
(conclusion)
Next, pairs read the weak draft below on the same topic. They list its problems with the introduction, the facts chosen, the words, the transitions, the style and the ending. They do not rewrite it yet; that happens in Activity 3.
Bats are really cool animals and they do lots of stuff with sounds. They make sounds and the sounds come back. Then they know where things are. Bat poop is used for farms which is interesting. Dolphins do it too I think. Some bats are huge!!! So thats why bats are awesome and everyone should like them.
SVHS lesson authors, Weak draft for revision. Original passage written for this page.
Independent Practice15 minutes
Each student writes a new section for the model text titled Seeing and Smelling, about bats that rely on their eyes and noses. Use Notes 6 and 7 and at least one other note. The section needs the heading, a first sentence that says what the section explains, one comparison between two kinds of bats, at least two transitions, and one domain-specific word with its meaning. Students then decide where the section fits best in the model text and explain their choice in one sentence. Collect the sections to check that every fact is relevant and accurate.
Closure5 minutes
Exit ticket: (1) Name one note you left out of your section and say why. (2) Write one sentence that defines a domain-specific word from today. (3) Name one heading or graphic in the model text and say how it helps readers.
Hand out the homework fact sheet below. It gives 13 facts about beavers for students to select from, organize and explain. Students also use it for questions 7 and 20 of the quiz.
1Fact 1. Beavers are large rodents, the group of mammals with front teeth that never stop growing. An adult North American beaver usually weighs 35 to 60 pounds.
2Fact 2. A beaver's front teeth are orange because the enamel contains iron, which makes the teeth hard enough to cut through wood.
3Fact 3. Beavers build dams across streams with sticks, logs, mud and stones.
4Fact 4. The sound of running water leads beavers to pile more sticks and mud on a dam, so leaks are patched quickly.
5Fact 5. A dam holds back water and forms a pond. In or beside the pond, beavers build a lodge, a dome-shaped home made of sticks and mud.
6Fact 6. The entrances to a lodge are underwater, which helps keep out predators such as coyotes and wolves.
7Fact 7. Beavers can stay underwater for up to about 15 minutes.
8Fact 8. A beaver pond creates a wetland, an area where the soil is soaked with water. Wetlands give homes to frogs, ducks, fish and insects.
9Fact 9. Beavers eat bark, twigs, leaves and water plants. They do not eat fish.
10Fact 10. Beaver dams sometimes flood roads, farm fields and yards.
11Fact 11. The longest known beaver dam, in Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada, is about 850 meters long.
12Fact 12. A beaver appears on the back of Canada's five-cent coin.
13Fact 13. Comment from a park naturalist (invented for this lesson): "People think of beavers as pests that flood roads, but a beaver pond can hold water through a dry summer for every animal nearby."
SVHS lesson authors, Homework fact sheet: How Beavers Change a Stream (facts gathered for this page; the naturalist's comment is invented). Original passage written for this page.
Differentiation Strategies
For Struggling Students
Give sentence frames: "___ is ___ ." (definition), "Because ___ , ___ ." (cause/effect), "While ___ , ___ ." (contrast)
Provide the research notes already sorted into three piles, one for each body section, with the off-topic notes crossed out
Let students write two body sections instead of three, with one heading each
For Advanced Students
Ask students to add a section on how some moths defend themselves against bats, using Note 10, and to explain where it fits in the model
Have students design a second graphic for the model text and write a caption that tells readers what to notice
Ask students to rewrite the introduction for a class of third graders and explain which words they changed and why
Assessment Guidance
What to Look For
Check that the introduction names the topic and tells readers what they will learn. Every fact should be accurate and relevant, and off-topic notes should be left out. Each section should use a clear organizing strategy and, where it helps, a heading or graphic that fits the information. Look for definitions of domain-specific words, at least one concrete detail or example in each section, and transitions that show how ideas connect. The style should stay formal, with no opinions about the topic, and the conclusion should pull the information together instead of adding new facts.
02
Classroom Activities
3 Activities
1
Strategy Card Sort
15 minPairs
Pairs sort eight science sentences by the organizing strategy each one uses, then write their own bat sentence for each strategy. The activity builds standard a: organizing ideas with definition, classification, comparison/contrast and cause/effect.
The 8 Cards
1. A food chain is the path that energy takes as one living thing eats another.
2. Erosion is the wearing away of rock and soil by water, wind or ice.
3. Scientists sort the planets of our solar system into two groups: the rocky inner planets and the giant outer planets.
4. There are three main kinds of volcanoes: shield volcanoes, cinder cones and composite volcanoes.
5. Unlike frogs, most toads have dry, bumpy skin and shorter back legs.
6. Alligators and crocodiles are both reptiles, but a crocodile's snout is narrower and more pointed.
7. When heavy rain falls on bare hillsides, soil washes into streams and makes the water muddy.
8. Because the moon's gravity pulls on the oceans, the tide rises and falls about twice a day.
Procedure
Pairs sort the cards into four piles, one per strategy, and circle the words that gave each strategy away
Teacher key: definition, cards 1 and 2; classification, cards 3 and 4; comparison/contrast, cards 5 and 6; cause/effect, cards 7 and 8
Pairs write one sentence about bats for each strategy, using the research notes
Two pairs share, and the class names the strategy of each sentence without being told
Discussion Questions
Which words signal a definition? A comparison? A cause?
Could one paragraph use two strategies? Give an example from the model text.
Which strategy would you choose to explain why leaves change color, and why?
2
Headings and Graphics Workshop
20 minGroups of 3
Groups receive the model text with its headings removed. They write their own headings, compare them with the real ones, and design a graphic for one section. The activity builds the formatting and graphics part of standard a.
Procedure
Groups read the four body paragraphs of the unheaded copy and write a heading of two to six words for each one
Groups compare their headings with the model's and decide which heading in each pair tells readers more about the section
Each group chooses one section and sketches a graphic for it on grid paper: a table, a labeled drawing, or a simple chart
Groups write a one-sentence caption that tells readers what to notice, then post the graphic next to the section
Gallery walk: each group leaves a sticky note on another group's graphic that says whether it makes the section clearer, and why
Discussion Questions
When does a graphic help readers more than a paragraph does? When does it not help?
What makes a heading useful: its length, its words, or what it tells readers to expect?
If the model text were posted online, when would multimedia, such as a short recording of bat calls slowed down so people can hear them, help readers more than a table? When would it only distract them?
Which of the notes the model leaves out could become a graphic of its own?
Modification for Distance Learning
Share the unheaded copy as a document. Groups type headings into comments, then build a table or insert a drawing in a shared slide.
3
Draft Rescue
20 minPairs
Pairs rebuild the weak draft from Guided Practice into a formal informative paragraph with precise words, relevant facts, transitions and a concluding statement. The activity builds standards b through f.
Transition Bank
To add information: also, another, in addition
To give an example: for example, for instance, such as
To show cause and effect: because, so, as a result
To compare or contrast: both, similarly, however, while
To conclude: in all, overall, in the end
Procedure
Write a first sentence that names the topic and says what the paragraph will explain
Cross out every fact that is off the topic of how bats use sound, and every sentence that gives an opinion
Replace each vague word (stuff, sounds, things, it) with an exact word from the notes, and define one domain-specific word
Add one concrete detail with a number from the notes, and connect the sentences with at least three transitions from the bank
Replace the last sentence with a concluding statement that follows from the information and gives no opinion
Trade with another pair, who circle every domain-specific word and check that each fact matches the notes
Younger Readers Variation
Pairs rewrite their paragraph for a second-grade class. They keep every fact accurate, shorten the sentences, and explain each science word with an everyday comparison.
03
Diagrams & Visual Aids
2 diagrams
Diagram 1: How Echolocation Works
The graphic that goes with the model text. The bat's call (solid arcs) travels to a moth 3.4 meters away, and the echo (dashed arcs) returns. The scale shows meters. At 343 meters per second, the round trip of about 6.8 meters takes about 0.02 second, and the bat's brain uses that delay to judge distance.
Diagram 2: Why People Cannot Hear Most Bat Calls
A range chart drawn to scale, the kind of graphic a writer can add when numbers are easier to compare in a picture. The dashed line marks about 20,000 hertz, the top of human hearing. Many bat calls fall above that line, which is why they are called ultrasound.
04
Homework Assignment
~30 min
W.6.2 Homework: How Beavers Change a Stream
Directions: Use the homework fact sheet in the Closure section of the lesson plan. You will write an informative text of 4-5 paragraphs, one step at a time, that answers this question: How do beavers change a stream? Use only facts from the fact sheet, keep a formal style, and do not give your opinion of beavers.
Part 1: Select and Organize (Problems 1-2)
Read all 13 facts. Mark each one R (relevant to how beavers change a stream) or N (not relevant). For two facts you marked N, write one sentence each explaining why you left them out.
Plan two or three body sections. Give each a heading, list the facts it will use, and name its main organizing strategy (definition, classification, comparison/contrast or cause/effect). Use at least two different strategies.
Part 2: Introduce and Develop (Problems 3-4)
Write an introduction of two to four sentences that names the topic, catches the reader's interest with a fact, and tells readers what the text will explain.
Write your body sections under their headings. Include at least one definition, one concrete detail with a number, and the naturalist's quotation (Fact 13) with the speaker named. Use at least three domain-specific words, such as rodent, lodge or wetland, and define any word a classmate might not know.
Part 3: Graphic, Transitions and Conclusion (Problems 5-6)
Add one graphic, such as a labeled sketch of a dam, pond and lodge or a small table, with a caption. Then underline at least four transitions in your text and label the relationship each one shows.
Write a concluding section that follows from the information in your text, without adding new facts. Then reread for formal style, remove any slang or opinions, and list two changes you made.
Rubric
Criterion
Full Credit (2 pts)
Partial Credit (1 pt)
No Credit (0 pts)
Introduction and Organization
Topic clearly introduced; sections with headings, each using a clear strategy; graphic helps readers
Topic named, but sections unclear or headings missing
No clear topic or organization
Development and Selection
Relevant, accurate facts, a definition, a concrete detail and the quotation; off-topic facts left out
Some development, or some off-topic facts
Few or inaccurate facts
Language and Transitions
Precise, domain-specific words defined; transitions show how ideas connect
Some vague words or few transitions
Vague words and no transitions
Style and Conclusion
Formal throughout; conclusion follows from the information
Some informal words, or conclusion only repeats
Informal, or no conclusion
05
Quiz: 20 Questions
Interactive, with answers
Instructions
The questions use the research notes, the model text and the weak draft in the lesson plan, and questions 7 and 20 use the homework fact sheet in the Closure section. Your score updates as you answer, and Reset quiz clears everything so you or your students can try again.
Multiple choice: pick an option to check it. Short answer: write your answer, then reveal the model answer.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which sentence best introduces the topic of an informative text about how honeybees make honey?
Answer: C
C names the topic, how honeybees make honey, and hints at what the text will explain. A gives an opinion and argues for it, which belongs in an argument. B is about honey as food, not how bees make it. D announces the essay instead of introducing the topic, and "stuff" is vague and informal.
Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In paragraph 1 of the model text, which sentence tells readers what the text will explain?
Answer: D
D previews what the report will cover: what echolocation is, how it works, and how bats compare with other animals, which match the headings of paragraphs 2, 3 and 5. A is a hook that catches the reader's interest. B adds a surprising detail to the hook. C names the topic and defines it, but it does not say what the report will cover.
Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which organizing strategy does the section "How It Works" (paragraph 3) mainly use?
Answer: B
Paragraph 3 explains a cause and its effect: because sound travels at a steady speed, "As a result," a distant echo takes longer to return, and the bat uses the delay to judge distance. A is wrong because no section sorts bats by food; paragraph 5 comes closest when it separates bats that echolocate from flying foxes that do not. C also belongs to paragraph 5. D describes paragraph 2.
Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In paragraph 5, which words signal a contrast between bats and dolphins?
Answer: A
"Unlike bat calls, these clicks travel through water" shows a difference between the two animals. B introduces the section but shows no difference. C points readers to the table rather than stating a contrast. D is part of a list of what dolphins do.
Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Why does the model text use headings such as "How It Works" and "Calls Too High to Hear"?
Answer: C
Each heading names the section's main idea, which helps readers follow the text and return to a part they need. A confuses formatting with length. B is wrong because headings in informative writing do not give opinions. D is wrong because the text still has an introduction in paragraph 1.
Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A writer wants to help readers compare the speed of sound in air and in seawater. Which graphic would help most?
Answer: A
A table puts the two speeds side by side, so readers can compare the numbers at a glance. B, C and D are all related to animals in the lesson, but none of them shows the speed of sound, so they would not aid comprehension of this point.
Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice
You are writing the section of your beaver text that explains how beavers keep their homes safe. Which fact from the homework fact sheet is most relevant?
Answer: D
Fact 6 explains that underwater entrances help keep out predators, which is how beavers keep their homes safe (paragraph 6). A and B are true facts about beavers, but they are about teeth and food. C is about a coin, which has nothing to do with how beavers live.
Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice
The writer of the model text left out Note 12, about bat droppings used as fertilizer. What is the best reason?
Answer: B
Selecting relevant content means keeping facts that explain the topic, how bats find food with sound, and leaving out facts that do not, even true ones. A is wrong because the note is accurate. C is wrong because the note is one short sentence. D is wrong on two counts: Note 12 is not a quotation, and the model itself uses one in paragraph 4.
Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In paragraph 3, the writer describes a moth about 3.4 meters away. What does this example add to the text?
Answer: A
The example turns the general idea into numbers readers can picture: the echo "returns in about two hundredths of a second." B is wrong because the conclusion does not discuss the moth. C describes paragraph 4, which quotes the ranger. D describes paragraph 1, where echolocation is defined.
Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Why does the writer include the park ranger's words in paragraph 4?
Answer: C
The ranger says a person can "hear almost nothing, yet the air is full of calls," which supports the section's point about ultrasound. A invents a claim about cost that is not in the text. B is wrong because the paragraph stays on bat calls. D is wrong because the quotation is the ranger's experience, not the writer's opinion.
Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Choose the transition that best fills the blank: Many bat calls are above 20,000 hertz. ____, people cannot hear them without a bat detector.
Answer: D
The second sentence is the effect of the first, so "because of this" shows cause and effect. "For example" would introduce an example of the first idea. "On the other hand" signals a contrast, and "similarly" signals a matching idea, and neither relationship is there.
Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which sentence uses the most precise, domain-specific vocabulary?
Answer: B
B uses the exact science words echolocation, echoes, calls and prey. A uses vague words (noises, stuff). C says "a special thing" instead of naming it. D uses slang ("really cool") and the vague "bugs" instead of "insects" or "prey."
Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice
How does the writer help readers understand the word ultrasound in paragraph 4?
Answer: A
The writer uses the word and then explains it: "which means their frequency is too high for people to hear." The next sentence also defines frequency. B and D describe features the model does not have. C is wrong because the writer does explain the word.
Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which revision of the weak draft's first sentence keeps a formal style?
Answer: C
C states a fact in clear, careful words with no slang and no opinion. A keeps the slang and adds an exclamation point. B is built around the writer's feelings and speaks to the reader as "you." D gives an opinion and tells readers what to think, which does not belong in informative writing.
Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer
Paragraph 6 is the model text's concluding section. Explain in two or three sentences how it follows from the information presented. Name at least two ideas from earlier sections that it pulls together.
Model answer: The conclusion sums up the steps from "How It Works": "By calling, listening, and measuring the delay of each echo," a bat learns about its surroundings. It also returns to "Calls Too High to Hear" when it says the sky "seems quiet to people" but is "full of sound" for a bat. It adds no new facts, so it follows from what the text already explained. Rubric line: 2 points for two ideas correctly linked to earlier sections; 1 point for one idea, or two ideas without links to the sections.
Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer
You are writing an informative text about the three main kinds of rock: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. Name the organizing strategy that fits best and explain why. Then write a heading for each of the three sections.
Model answer: Classification fits best, because the text sorts rocks into groups by how they form. Headings: "Igneous Rock: Made from Cooled Magma," "Sedimentary Rock: Layers Pressed Together," and "Metamorphic Rock: Changed by Heat and Pressure." Rubric line: 2 points for naming classification with a reason and three accurate headings; 1 point for the strategy without a reason, or for headings that do not name the groups.
Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer
Join these two sentences into one sentence that shows how they connect. Use a transition, and name the relationship it shows: A bat's call hits a tree trunk. The echo warns the bat to turn before it crashes.
Model answer: "When a bat's call hits a tree trunk, the echo warns the bat to turn before it crashes." The word when shows cause and effect in time order: the call hits the tree, and as a result the echo warns the bat. (Also acceptable: "A bat's call hits a tree trunk, so the echo warns the bat to turn.") Rubric line: 2 points for a correct sentence with a fitting transition and a correct label; 1 point if the label is missing or wrong.
Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer
Revise these sentences from the weak draft so that they use precise, domain-specific words and a formal style: "They make sounds and the sounds come back. Then they know where things are."
Model answer: "Bats make short, high-pitched calls and listen for the echoes that bounce back. The echoes tell a bat where objects are and how far away they are." Rubric line: 2 points for replacing the vague words (they, sounds, things) with exact ones such as bats, calls, echoes and objects, in formal sentences; 1 point if some vague words remain.
Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer
An informative text about clouds has three sections: "What Clouds Are Made Of," "Three Main Kinds of Clouds" and "What Clouds Tell Us About the Weather." Write a concluding statement of one or two sentences that follows from these sections.
Model answer: "Clouds are made of tiny drops of water or bits of ice, and they come in several main kinds. By learning to read their shapes, anyone can make a better guess about the weather to come." Rubric line: 2 points for pulling together at least two sections without adding a new topic; 1 point for repeating one section only; 0 for a new topic or an opinion.
Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer
Use the homework fact sheet. Explain in two or three sentences how a beaver dam leads to a wetland. Use at least one domain-specific word and one transition that shows cause and effect.
Model answer: "A beaver dam holds back the water of a stream, so a pond forms behind it. As a result, the ground around the pond becomes a wetland, an area where the soil is soaked with water. Frogs, ducks, fish and insects then move in." (Facts 5 and 8.) Rubric line: 2 points for an accurate cause-and-effect explanation with a defined domain-specific word and a fitting transition; 1 point if the word is not defined or the transition is missing.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
06
Frequently Asked Questions
10 Questions
What does W.6.2 mean?
W.6.2 means that sixth graders can write informative/explanatory texts: writing that examines a topic and explains ideas and information to readers.
Its six parts ask students to introduce and organize the topic, with headings, graphics and multimedia when they help (a); develop it with facts, definitions, details, quotations and examples (b); use transitions (c); use precise, domain-specific words (d); keep a formal style (e); and write a conclusion that follows (f).
What is the difference between W.6.1 and W.6.2?
W.6.1 is argument writing, which tries to convince readers of a claim; W.6.2 is informative writing, which explains a topic without taking a side.
Both use evidence and formal style. A quick test: if the main sentence says what someone should do or believe, the piece is an argument. If it says what something is, how it works or why it happens, the piece is informative.
What organizing strategies does W.6.2 name?
The standard names definition, classification, comparison/contrast and cause/effect, and "strategies such as" means others are allowed.
Many texts use more than one: a report might define a term in one section, compare two examples in the next, and explain causes in a third. Time order and problem-solution are other common choices.
Do students have to include headings and graphics?
Only when they help: the standard says to include formatting, graphics and multimedia "when useful to aiding comprehension."
Headings help in longer texts with several sections. A table or chart helps when numbers are easier to compare side by side. A graphic that only decorates the page does not meet the standard's purpose.
What does it mean to "develop the topic"?
Developing the topic means backing up each main idea with specific information.
W.6.2b lists relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, and other information and examples. A well-developed section in grade 6 usually has a main idea plus at least two of these, such as a definition and a number.
What is domain-specific vocabulary in W.6.2?
Domain-specific vocabulary is the exact words of a subject, such as echo and hertz in science or tariff in history.
W.6.2d asks students to use these words to inform and explain. A strong writer uses the exact term and then defines it for readers who may not know it.
Can sixth graders use "I" or "you" in informative writing?
Usually not: formal style in informative writing keeps the focus on the topic, not on the writer or the reader.
Phrases such as "I think" and "you will learn" can be replaced with statements of fact. Some teachers allow "you" in a how-to text; check the directions for the task.
How does W.6.2 change from grade 5 to grade 7?
Each grade asks for a little more organization and precision.
In grade 5 (W.5.2), students group related information and link ideas with words such as in contrast and especially. Grade 6 adds named organizing strategies, graphics such as charts and tables, and a formal style. Grade 7 (W.7.2) makes previewing what is to follow a stated part of the introduction and asks for transitions that create cohesion. This lesson has sixth graders tell readers what the text will explain as a simple way to introduce the topic.
How is W.6.2 usually assessed?
W.6.2 is usually assessed with an informative essay written from a few short sources and scored on a rubric.
Rubrics often score organization, development with evidence, language and vocabulary, and conventions. Check your state's released practice tasks and scoring guides for the exact format.
How can parents help with informative writing at home?
Ask your child to explain how something works, such as a recipe or a video game rule, in steps, using the exact words.
Then ask: "What would someone who has never seen this need to know first?" and "Which word might they not understand?" These questions build the same habits as the standard.
07
Related Standards
5 standards
These standards connect to W.6.2: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.
Before this lesson
W.5.2Prerequisite
Write informative texts that examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly
Lesson coming soon
Alongside
RI.6.5Parallel
Analyze how a sentence, paragraph or section fits into a text's structure
Lesson coming soon
L.6.6Parallel
Acquire and use grade-appropriate academic and domain-specific words
Lesson coming soon
WHST.6-8.2Parallel
Write informative texts in history, science and technical subjects
Lesson coming soon
After this lesson
W.7.2Next step
Write informative texts that preview what follows and use transitions for cohesion
