ELA.3.C.1.4

Write expository texts about a topic, using one or more sources, providing an introduction, facts and details, some elaboration, transitions, and a conclusion.

Clarifications

Clarification 1: See Writing Types and Elaborative Techniques.
General Information
Subject Area: English Language Arts (B.E.S.T.)
Grade: 3
Strand: Communication
Date Adopted or Revised: 08/20
Status: State Board Approved

Related Courses

This benchmark is part of these courses.
5010030: Functional Basic Skills in Communications-Elementary (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 - 2024, 2024 and beyond (current))
5010044: Language Arts - Grade Three (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 - 2024, 2024 and beyond (current))
7710014: Access Language Arts - Grade 3 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2018, 2018 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
5011030: Library Skills/Information Literacy Grade 3 (Specifically in versions: 2016 - 2022, 2022 - 2023, 2023 - 2024, 2024 and beyond (current))
5010103: Introduction to Debate Grade 3 (Specifically in versions: 2020 - 2022, 2022 - 2024, 2024 and beyond (current))
5010014: English for Speakers of Other Languages Grade 3 (Specifically in versions: 2022 and beyond (current))

Related Access Points

Alternate version of this benchmark for students with significant cognitive disabilities.
ELA.3.C.1.AP.4: Write an expository text about a topic, using a source, providing an introduction, facts and a conclusion.

Related Resources

Vetted resources educators can use to teach the concepts and skills in this benchmark.

Lesson Plans

Post-Hurricane Power Line Inspections:

Students will solve real-world problems involving elapsed time to develop a plan for drone inspectors to survey power lines after a hurricane.

This is an open-ended engineering design lesson where students will develop a model to help them solve a problem. There are no “right” answers as the lesson is focused on the process of developing a solution and the skills and reasoning behind the process. Students should be given the freedom to interpret the problem and parameters in unique ways to pursue their own lines of thinking in producing a solution.

Type: Lesson Plan

Vote: Lesson 9 Writing to Explain Why Voting is Important:

This is the final lesson #9 in the text unit series for Vote! Students will be able to illustrate and explain the importance of voting in a republic and why every citizen is responsible for voting. At the end of this lesson, students will be able to explain that voting is a civic duty which allows them to make decisions that involve civic initiatives. By creating an illustration, similar to a social media post, students will explain and depict the importance of voting in an election.

This unit will explain voting in the United States. Unit lessons include duties of responsible citizens for voting, the voting process, responsibilities of candidates, and voting outcomes. Teacher will utilize a read aloud over several lessons incorporating text structure, text features, figurative language, and the use of multimedia in presentations. Teachers will facilitate research to help students create a presentation.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

Abraham Lincoln: Life of Honesty: Who's the Better President?:

This is lesson #9 in the text unit series for Abraham Lincoln: A Life of Honesty by Tonya Leslie. Students will research Abraham Lincoln and another United States President using the computer or books. They will then write an expository essay comparing and contrasting the two presidents.

This unit will help students explain why the United States Constitution is an important document that protects the rights of American citizens, the responsibilities of the United States government, and how Abraham Lincoln is an important symbol of the United States Government.

Students will engage in a read aloud spread out over several lessons emphasizing vocabulary, central idea, research, expository and opinion writing, and collaboration in groups.

The teacher will facilitate vocabulary instruction, student research, determination of central ideas, student presentation, expository and opinion writing, and group collaboration to help students demonstrate why the United States Constitution is an important document.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

Abraham Lincoln: Life of Honesty: Who is Abraham Lincoln?:

This is lesson #8 in the text unit series for Abraham Lincoln: A Life of Honesty by Tonya Leslie. Students will be applying what they learned about Abraham Lincoln’s character as a United States citizen to respond to an expository prompt. Students will complete a planning sheet and write an expository paragraph based on the text. This will be done after reading the text Abraham Lincoln: A Life of Honesty to apply their knowledge.

This unit will help students explain why the United States Constitution is an important document that protects the rights of American citizens, the responsibilities of the United States government, and how Abraham Lincoln is an important symbol of the United States Government.

Students will engage in a read aloud spread out over several lessons emphasizing vocabulary, central idea, research, expository and opinion writing, and collaboration in groups.

The teacher will facilitate vocabulary instruction, student research, determination of central ideas, student presentation, expository and opinion writing, and group collaboration to help students demonstrate why the United States Constitution is an important document.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

Vote: Lesson 8 The Winner Is...:

This is lesson # 8 in the text unit series for Vote! After reading pages 34-42, students will write a written response to the prompt, "Describe how and why voting in a republic is important.” Students will collaborate with a partner to brainstorm ideas and then write an essay to support their answer, including details from the text.

This unit will explain voting in the United States. Unit lessons include duties of responsible citizens for voting, the voting process, responsibilities of candidates, and voting outcomes. Teacher will utilize a read aloud over several lessons incorporating text structure, text features, figurative language, and the use of multimedia in presentations. Teachers will facilitate research to help students create a presentation.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

Shape Up Your Civility:

Students will be able to listen and cooperate with one another in replicating geometric designs without seeing them and relate this to how citizens demonstrate civility and cooperation to accomplish a common goal.

Type: Lesson Plan

Amazing Dolphins:

In this lesson, students will explore vocabulary, answer questions about the text, and identify the details and the central idea of an informational text about dolphins. Students will demonstrate their new knowledge about this amazing animal by completing an expository paragraph.

Type: Lesson Plan

Comparing and Contrasting Washington and Lincoln:

In this lesson, students will identify the relevant details and central idea of two informational texts about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. They will then compare and contrast the two presidents using a graphic organizer and write an expository essay to explain the presidents' similarities and differences.

Type: Lesson Plan

Point of View: Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg:

During these lessons, students will delve deep into the text Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg. After identifying the point of view in the story, they will answer comprehension questions about the story by playing a small group game. Students will have the opportunity to rewrite the story from a completely different point of view.

Type: Lesson Plan

A Journey with Aesop: The Lion and the Mouse:

Students will listen to the teacher read aloud Aesop's fable "The Lion and the Mouse." They will define vocabulary words and discuss the causes and effects of events in the story. These lessons will culuminte with students writing an expository text about how the lion changes throughout the story by providing details and other required components.

Type: Lesson Plan

Character Traits with 14 Cows for America:

The following lesson centers around the book 14 Cows for America. This story is a recount of the events on September 11 told through the eyes of a young man in his village in Kenya. Students will think deeply about the main character and his character traits in the story. A series of discussion questions are provided along with an expository writing prompt.

Type: Lesson Plan

The Ballad of Mulan: A Close Reading Activity:

In this lesson, students will read and reread a classic Chinese folktale, The Ballad of Mulan. They will ask and answer text-dependent questions and will recount the events in the story using a story map. Students will determine the theme of the story and analyze Mulan's character development through her actions, thoughts, and feelings along with their contribution to the sequence of events and, ultimately, the theme of the story.

Type: Lesson Plan

The Journey of a Tiny Turtle:

In this lesson, students will read texts about the life cycle of sea turtles. They will gather facts and research sea turtles from various texts in order to write an expository essay and create a brochure about sea turtles.

Type: Lesson Plan

Finding the Central Idea and Details Using Informational Texts:

In this lesson, students read informational texts to determine the text’s central idea and the relevant details that support the central idea. Students use a graphic organizer to record a central idea and details and then write a paragraph summary. This lesson is written in a generalized way so that any type of informational text can be used.

Type: Lesson Plan

Going Batty! Using Informational Text about Bats to find the Central Idea and Details:

Students will find the central idea and relevant details in informational texts about bats. To support students finding the central idea and details, students will use a fact gathering sheet. Students will write a central idea and details paragraph that includes appropriate content-area vocabulary and grade-level conventions.

Type: Lesson Plan

Cause and Effect Relationships in Historical Fiction:

In this lesson, students will identify multiple causes and effects in a work of historical fiction. The lesson features the text Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco.

Type: Lesson Plan

Who's Who?:

Students will collect evidence from informational texts and the internet to show the importance of a historical figure. Students will conduct research, write an expository paragraph, and provide and receive peer feedback on their writing.

Type: Lesson Plan

Model Eliciting Activity (MEA) STEM Lesson

Physical Science Unit: Water Beach Vacation Lesson 17 Beat the Heat MEA Part 4: Ranking Procedure:

In this MEA, students will have the opportunity to apply what they learned about describing
the changes water undergoes when it changes state through heating and cooling. This MEA
is divided into four parts. In part 1, students will develop their hypothesis and receive
information on how to set up the cooler experiment. In part 2, students will be asked to use
ice to test the coolers they designed in Beat the Heat Engineering Design Lessons.
Students will take measurements and collect data on their cooler. In part 3, students will
analyze the data they collected. Finally, in part 4 they will develop a procedure for selecting
the best cooler to keep water frozen the longest at the beach. They will communicate their
findings and procedure via a letter to next year’s class. In the optional twist, students will
need to take the mass of the cooler into account.

This is a lesson in the Grade 3 Physical Science Unit on Water. This is a themed unit of SaM-1's adventures while on a Beach Vacation.  To see all the lessons in the unit please visit https://www.cpalms.org/page818.aspx.

Type: Model Eliciting Activity (MEA) STEM Lesson

Original Student Tutorial

Diving into Expository Writing:

Learn how to write a topic sentence to introduce a topic, group related information together, develop a topic by adding details, and add an image to support the text with this ocean-themed, interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Original Student Tutorials for Language Arts - Grades K-5

Diving into Expository Writing:

Learn how to write a topic sentence to introduce a topic, group related information together, develop a topic by adding details, and add an image to support the text with this ocean-themed, interactive tutorial.

Student Resources

Vetted resources students can use to learn the concepts and skills in this benchmark.

Original Student Tutorial

Diving into Expository Writing:

Learn how to write a topic sentence to introduce a topic, group related information together, develop a topic by adding details, and add an image to support the text with this ocean-themed, interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Parent Resources

Vetted resources caregivers can use to help students learn the concepts and skills in this benchmark.