SQ1 Writing Informational Text

For this activity, separate Worksheets, Resources, and Sample Student Responses have been provided for grade 3, grades 4–5, middle school, and high school.

Overview

The writing prompts on the worksheets for this activity give students an opportunity to organize information, share their ideas, and reflect on their understanding. We encourage you to adapt these worksheets to meet your students’ needs and your teaching style. Prompts can easily be modified by providing alternative instructions. For example, you might instruct lower-grade students to draw and describe their answers, and higher-grade students to provide more analysis in their responses.

Guiding the Inquiry

  • Have students read the prompts on their worksheets carefully.
  • Make available to students resources from the lists provided so that they can gather information needed to respond to the prompt.
  • Invite them to ask questions if they find anything that needs to be clarified.
  • Tell students to use the space on the worksheet or a separate piece of paper to draw pictures (grade 3) and write answers to the prompts.
  • Decide how to accommodate students who wish to type their responses.

Worksheets Listed by Grade

SQ1 Writing Informational Text: Grade 3

Worksheet, Resources, and Sample Student Responses Worksheet Prompt: How would living near mountains, valleys, woodlands or water affect Abenaki family life? Draw and describe some landforms and natural resources they would look for. WS 4 – Draw and Describe Resources and Landforms Resources Abenaki Cultural Practices, Lifeways, and Natural Resources Card Game [Deck of Cards]…

Continue Reading SQ1 Writing Informational Text: Grade 3

SQ1 Writing Informational Text: Grades 4 – 5

Worksheets, Resources, and Sample Student Responses There are two worksheets for Grade 4 and 5, WS 5 and WS 6. Worksheet WS 5 Prompt: What are some of the geographic features and natural resources an Abenaki family would look for when choosing a place to camp or live? Consider what different members of the family…

Continue Reading SQ1 Writing Informational Text: Grades 4 – 5

SQ1 Writing Informational Text: Middle School

Worksheet, Resources, and Sample Student Responses Worksheet Prompt: Sustainable practices assume that natural resources are limited and that people should act to ensure that resources will be available for people in the future. Discuss how knowledge of geography guided Abenaki natural resource utilization and conservation. How did their geographical awareness contribute to their sustainable practices?…

Continue Reading SQ1 Writing Informational Text: Middle School

SQ1 Writing Informational Text: High School

Worksheet, Resources, and Sample Student Responses Worksheet Prompt: Analyze how the Abenaki people’s familiarity with the region’s geography gave them advantages or challenges when dealing with neighboring tribes and colonial settlers WS 8 – Familiarity with Geography Resources [Resource coming soon] Famous Abenaki [Online reading] (Elnu Abenaki Tribe, 2023) Native Land Digital [Digital interactive] (Banaszak,…

Continue Reading SQ1 Writing Informational Text: High School

Standards Alignment

Click + to view Standards Alignment guidance. Click to close the box when done.

Potential Alignment: English Language Arts Standards

The Writing Informational Text activity can support the following sampling of standards and serve as a starting point for integrating the American Abenaki Curriculum with language arts instruction and assessment.

Grades 3–5

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.2.b. Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.2.d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.2.b. Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic.

Grades 6–8

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.1.a. Introduce claim(s) and organize the reasons and evidence clearly.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.2.d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.2.b. Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.

Grades 9–12

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2.e. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2.b. Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.