Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
Common Core State Standards, Grade 2, Writing · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What W.2.2 Means in Plain English
Second graders write a short report that teaches the reader something. It opens by naming the topic, builds each point with facts, explains the new words a reader may not know, and ends with a closing sentence instead of just stopping after the last fact.
First grade (W.1.2) asks for a topic and some facts. Definitions are the new part in 2nd grade: “To molt means to shed a hard outer skin.” Third grade (W.3.2) groups related facts together, adds pictures when they help and links ideas with words like another.
W.2.2 I Can Statements
I can name my topic in my first sentence.
I can use facts and tell what new words mean.
I can end my report with a closing sentence.
W.2.2 Worked Example
One topic, two 2nd-grade reports, and only one of them teaches the reader a word they did not know.
Prompt
We have been learning about hermit crabs. Write a report that teaches a 1st grader about them. Use facts from our books and explain one new word.
Not YetHermit crabs are cool. We have one in our class. His name is Pinchy and he is my favorite.It names the topic, but everything after that is about the class crab and the writer’s feelings. There is no fact a reader could learn, no word is explained, and there is no closing.
Meets the StandardHermit crabs are small crabs that carry their homes on their backs. A hermit crab has a soft belly, so it tucks it inside an empty shell, like an old snail shell. When the crab grows, the shell gets too tight and it moves into a bigger one. Hermit crabs also molt. To molt means to shed your hard outside skin so your body can grow. Now you know how a hermit crab stays safe while it grows.The first sentence introduces the topic. Each point is built with a fact, the new word molt gets its own definition, and the last sentence sums up what the reader learned instead of adding one more fact.
Moves to Use
Tell what your report is about in the first sentence.Give one point at a time and add a fact to it.Find a word a 1st grader might not know and explain it.End with a sentence about what the reader learned.
Common Mistakes with W.2.2
Feelings and stories instead of facts
“Hermit crabs are cool. Ours is named Pinchy.”
Try this: Have students star each sentence a reader could check in a book, and add facts until most sentences have a star.
A hard word with no definition
“Hermit crabs molt.” and the report moves on
Try this: Teach a definition frame, like “Molt means,” and have students define each word they had to learn before they could write about it.
A list of facts with no ending
The report stops after “They live near the ocean.”
Try this: Model a closing that starts with Now you know, so the last sentence tells the reader what they learned.
Writing Prompt GeneratorFree ToolA fresh informative prompt from the K to 2 bank, on screen for the class or printed for each writer.InformativeGrades K to 2Printed