Spring Launch — Expert Inventory, Informer's Workshop, and the Term of Informing

Welcome-back-from-winter-break share: each child holds their fall-published personal narrative and names one craft move they are proud of. Teacher names the bridge: 'You wrote the story of what HAPPENED to you. Now you tell readers ABOUT a topic — what you KNOW.'

• Affirm specific narrative-craft moves by name (sensory detail, Tier-2 verb, subordinating conjunction)
• Bridge explicitly: 'Narrative told what you LIVED. Informational tells what you KNOW — and what you can find out.'
• Show MG-1 unit-opener poster and read it aloud as a guided tour of the spring term

M-3-S-WR-01-C Chart

Photo-quality reproduction of MG-10 wall chart at 18x24: 6-column grid RESEARCH | ORGANIZE | DRAFT | REVISE | PEER-EDIT | PUBLISH (note: RESEARCH replaces PLAN and ORGANIZE replaces REHEARSE from fall), with each column header in dyslexic-friendly font, a 1-sentence definition below, and a small icon (question-mark / folder / pencil / green-pencil / two-children / book). Each child's name printed on a magnetic tile placed in the RESEARCH column. Print-ready.

MG-10 Chart

Researcher's-workshop status-of-the-class wall chart (spring): a 6-column grid RESEARCH | ORGANIZE | DRAFT | REVISE | PEER-EDIT | PUBLISH. Each child has a magnetic name-tile that they move into the column matching their current stage at the start of each workshop block. RESEARCH replaces fall's PLAN; ORGANIZE replaces fall's REHEARSE — reflecting the shift to informational. Each column has a 1-sentence definition and a tiny icon. Print-ready 18x24.

This spring you become an INFORMER — a writer whose job is to tell readers ABOUT a topic clearly. We don't tell every topic; we pick ones we ALREADY KNOW WELL or want to KNOW WELL. An informational essay has FIVE PARTS (point at MG-2). PART 1 — INTRODUCTION (blue): a hook to pull the reader in, a topic statement, and a roadmap of the three body-paragraph focuses. PARTS 2-4 — THREE BODY PARAGRAPHS (yellow, orange, red): each one names a different focus and follows the TDET routine (which we meet in lesson 3). PART 5 — CONCLUSION (green): restate the big idea and add a SO-WHAT for the reader. To find topics we use the EXPERT INVENTORY — a 2-page spread in your notebook listing 5 to 8 topics you ALREADY consider yourself an expert on. Not 'animals' — 'the four jellyfish species at the New England Aquarium.' Not 'baking' — 'how to braid challah dough.' Specific. Yours. Real. Pick a Sharpie name on the back. Inside, list 5 to 8 expert topics. For each: write the topic + one line of WHY you know it (because you do it, watched it, lived near it, read about it).

• Notice each entry has a TOPIC + a WHY-I-KNOW. Not 'animals.' Not 'sports.' A specific expert topic and the experience that makes it yours.

  model Inventory entry 1: 'How to braid challah dough — because I help Grandma every Friday.' Entry 2: 'The four types of jellyfish at the New England Aquarium — because I have visited 6 times.' Entry 3: 'The rules of double-Dutch jump rope — because my cousin and I practice every weekend.' Entry 4: 'How a honeybee waggle dance works — because I read 3 books about bees.' Specific. Specific. Specific.

  prompt Teacher models a sample expert inventory on the board.

• What makes an EXPERT TOPIC different from a category like 'sports'?
• Point to one of the 5 boxes on MG-2 and say what goes there.

M-3-S-WR-01-A Chart

Reproduction of MG-2 at 11x17: horizontal row of five color-coded boxes — INTRODUCTION (blue, with hook+topic+roadmap icon), BODY 1 (yellow, topic-sentence icon), BODY 2 (orange, topic-sentence icon), BODY 3 (red, topic-sentence icon), CONCLUSION (green, restate+so-what icon). Below each box: the matching sentence-frame in dyslexic-friendly font. Used by teacher to point during the informational-essay tour. Print-ready, primary colors only.

MG-2 Chart Physical / non-image

Informational-essay 5-box anchor poster: five labeled boxes in a horizontal row — INTRODUCTION (blue, with hook + topic + roadmap icon), BODY 1 (yellow, with topic-sentence icon), BODY 2 (orange, with topic-sentence icon), BODY 3 (red, with topic-sentence icon), CONCLUSION (green, with restate + so-what icon). Below each box: a sentence-frame ('Did you know ___? ___ is ___.' / 'One important fact about ___ is ___.' / 'Another thing to know is ___.' / 'A third detail is ___.' / 'In conclusion, ___. So next time you ___.'). Print-ready 11x17, dyslexic-friendly font.

• Each child builds their own expert inventory. Begin with 3 entries; add more if time. Use the prompt-prime cards only if stuck.

  scaffold 2-page spread at 1.5x; prompt-prime cards (hobbies, pets, places, crafts, foods, sports, books, family-traditions)
• Share one entry with a partner. Partner asks: 'What is ONE FACT you already know about that topic?'

  scaffold Sentence frame: 'I am an expert on ___ because I ___.'

M-3-S-WR-01-B Illustration

Reference image of a completed Grade-3 expert inventory: a 2-page notebook spread with 6 entries handwritten in pencil, each on its own line with topic + dash + why-I-know phrase (e.g., 'how to braid challah dough — because I help Grandma every Friday', 'four jellyfish at the New England Aquarium — because I have visited 6 times'). Print-ready 8.5x11 spread, classroom annotation style, dyslexic-friendly font.

• Pick ONE entry. Write one sentence stating what your essay would be ABOUT and one fact you already know.
• Place your name-tile on MG-10 status-of-class chart in the RESEARCH column.

• Hold up your expert inventory.
• Predict: tomorrow we pick ONE topic and meet the INTRODUCTION.

• At dinner tonight, share ONE expert topic with a family member. Ask them: 'What is one thing you would WANT TO KNOW about my topic?' Bring back that question on a sticky note — it may shape your essay.