Unit Plan 17 (Grade 2 ELA): Explanatory Writing with Text Features

Second graders learn to organize informational writing using clear headings, labels, and captions. This week’s unit teaches how to group facts into sections, write closings, and create visuals that help readers learn and understand topics more effectively.

Unit Plan 17 (Grade 2 ELA): Explanatory Writing with Text Features

Focus: Sections with headings; labels/captions that teach

Grade Level: 2

Subject Area: English Language Arts (Writing • Reading Informational • Speaking/Listening)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session


I. Introduction

Informational writers teach readers by organizing ideas into sections with headings and adding labels/captions that make pictures and diagrams meaningful. This week, students study how headings help them locate information (RI.2.5), draft a short all-about page with two sections (W.2.2), and present their writing with a helpful visual (SL.2.5).


II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to…

  1. Use headings to locate key facts or sections in informational texts and explain how each heading helps (RI.2.5).
  2. Plan and write an explanatory piece introducing a topic, supplying facts/definitions in two headed sections, and providing a conclusion (W.2.2).
  3. Create labels/captions that accurately teach something about a picture or diagram and include them in a brief share (SL.2.5).

Standards Alignment — CCSS Grade 2

  • W.2.2, RI.2.5, SL.2.5

Success Criteria — student language

  • I can name what each heading is mostly about and use it to find facts.
  • I can write two sections with headings, 3–4 facts total, and a closing.
  • I can add labels/captions so my picture helps the reader learn.
  • I can present my page and show how my visual teaches.