Identify Expository Writing Goals- Choose Goals, Steps, & Then Reflect

The editable 19-page, differentiated, editable lesson, Identifying Expository Writing Goals- Choose Your Goals and Steps, Then Reflect, helps students become better writers because it makes goal-setting accessible for your students. Because they are given choice in their goal selection, they will be more invested in their writing. The low-prep, standards-based, comprehensive lesson plan guides teachers and students through the process of selecting goals and action steps, followed by a pre-writing and post-writing reflection. The lesson plan is very interactive with opportunities for students to discuss. Your ELL, RSP, GATE, and General Ed students will gain confidence and be positively challenged in their writing because they have their goals as guideposts.

Here's how it works:

Students choose one goal from each of 6 categories- Introduction, Thesis Statement, Body Paragraphs, Evidence and Analysis, Conclusion, Organization, and Structure. Each category has two Foundational Goals (goals needed to achieve proficiency) and two Extended Goals (goals for more advanced writers). Students get to decide whether the goal they choose is Foundational or Extended based on where their skill level is. After they choose their goal for each category, they then choose one step to take to make progress on their goal. In total, they have identified six goals and steps, but that is probably too many for them to focus on in one essay. So they decide on the two or three most important goals and steps they want to focus on for their essay.

The lesson includes the following:

• a hyperlinked Table of Contents

• About this Resource- a guide that orients you to everything you need to prepare for your class, including links to the 4 student handouts

• standards- aligned, detailed lesson plan

• An essential question: How can setting and reflecting on specific writing goals improve my expository essay writing skills?

• 6 guiding questions:

  • Why is it important to set specific goals for my writing?

  • How can I identify my strengths and areas for improvement in expository essay writing?

  • What strategies can I use to achieve my writing goals?

  • How does reflecting on my progress help me become a better writer?

  • How can feedback from peers and teachers help me refine my writing goals and strategies?

  • How can setting writing goals make my expository essay more engaging and effective?

• Objectives and learning targets

• The following student worksheets:

  • Expository Essay- Choose Your Goals

  • Expository Essay- What Steps Will You Take to Achieve Your Goal?

  • Expository Essay- Goals and Steps- Putting Them Together

  • Expository Essay-Goals and Writing Reflection