A Simple Guide To Writing A 5th Grade Expository Essay

An expository essay a great writing assignment for 5th graders learning how to thoroughly investigate an interesting idea, evaluate information and evidence surrounding that idea, developing the idea further, and ultimately presenting an argument concerning that idea in a clear and concise essay. The skills learned will be applied in several future writing assignments, so it’s essential that 5th graders learn the correct way to do this assignment from the start. Here is a simple guide to follow:

1. Spend some time beforehand pre-writing your paper

This is the perfect opportunity to brainstorm several ideas, think of key terms or phrases, and start writing out a few thoughts to develop into an argument. There are no rules when it comes to pre-writing your paper assignment. Just be sure that you think creatively and don’t inhibit yourself or risk missing out some really good ideas for a great expository essay.

2. Write a first draft with all your ideas and information

After you do a little background reading you should have enough content to start writing your first draft. The most effective approach in doing this is to try to get down all your ideas, arguments, and evidence in a single sitting. Don’t break your momentum by stopping every few minutes to make corrections to your text. Write quickly and efficiently.

3. Come back to your assignment for a complete revision

You should learn early on in your writing career that you should never submit a draft assignment that hasn’t yet been revised. Revision is your chance to take the entire paper and look for ways in which you can express your central argument and evidence in more effective and logical ways. Consider removing paragraphs if they don’t work, rearranging content if it makes for a better argument, or adding new content if you haven’t quite accomplished what you wanted.

4. Take a look at your paper and find ways to edit language

After you revise your paper set it aside for a few hours before coming back to it for editing. This is a skill that will take some to develop, but even as a 5th grader you should do a pretty good job of finding ways to express your thoughts more clearly and effectively. Use direct and simple English instead of long words you may not be using appropriately. Also keep your sentence structures simple until you’ve mastered the stylistic elements of more complicated structures.

5. Proofread your entire work and make all corrections

The last step in writing a great expository paper is proofreading your work as you check for mistakes in grammar, spelling and punctuation. Any one of these mistakes, no matter how small, can lower your grade. So be diligent in your approach and read your content several times to ensure you’ve made all the corrections you need to submit an immaculate paper.