Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
Common Core State Standards, Grade 4, Writing · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What W.4.2 Means in Plain English
Fourth graders teach a topic in paragraphs or sections, often under headings, adding a diagram or video when it helps. They develop it with facts, definitions, quotations and examples, link ideas with another or because, use exact topic words like magma or erosion, and finish with a closing.
Third graders (W.3.2) group facts together and may add a drawing. Fourth grade puts the groups into paragraphs and sections with headings, adds quotations and multimedia, and asks for domain-specific vocabulary. Fifth grade (W.5.2) opens with a clear focus and links ideas across categories, with words like in contrast.
W.4.2 I Can Statements
I can group related facts into paragraphs with headings.
I can develop my topic with facts, definitions, quotations and examples.
I can use exact topic words and end with a concluding statement.
W.4.2 Worked Example
Both students wrote the same section of the class report. One told the reader geysers are cool; the other taught how one works.
Prompt
Our class report on Earth’s hot spots has a section headed “How a Geyser Erupts.” Write that section for a classmate who has never seen a geyser. Use the science words from our reading, one quotation from it, and point to the diagram if it helps.
Not YetGeysers are really cool. Water shoots up out of the ground really high. It happens because of heat.Every sentence is true, but there is no definition and no science word, “because of heat” skips the whole process the heading promises, and the section stops without a closing.
Meets the StandardA geyser is a hot spring that shoots water and steam into the air again and again. It starts when rainwater seeps down through cracks until it reaches rock heated by magma, which is melted rock deep underground. Because the water is trapped in narrow tubes, the pressure keeps it from boiling, so it becomes superheated, hotter than boiling but still liquid. Our science reading explains, “When a little of that water finally flashes into steam, it pushes the water above it out of the vent.” Another thing the diagram shows is that the tubes then refill, so the cycle starts over, which is why Old Faithful erupts about every 90 minutes. Heat, water and narrow tubes all have to work together, or there is no geyser at all.It stays under its heading. Magma and superheated are defined where they appear, the quotation comes from the reading with a lead-in, “because” and “another” link the steps, the diagram is put to work, and the last sentence closes the explanation.
Moves to Use
Write only what belongs under the section’s heading.Define each science word, like magma, where it first appears.Add one quotation from the reading, with a lead-in that names it.Point to the diagram where a picture explains better than words.Close with a sentence that pulls the steps together.
Common Mistakes with W.4.2
One long block with no sections
Where geysers are, how they erupt and how hot they get, all in one paragraph
Try this: Have students sort their facts into piles first, give each pile a heading, then write one paragraph per heading.
Everyday words instead of science words
“The hot stuff underground makes the water go up.”
Try this: Post the unit’s word wall beside the draft and have students replace every vague phrase with the exact term from it.
A quotation with no lead-in
A sentence in quotation marks dropped between two facts, with no hint of where it came from
Try this: Teach a lead-in like “Our science reading explains,” so the reader always knows where a quotation comes from.
Writing Prompt GeneratorFree ToolA fresh informative prompt for grades 3 to 5. Students plan two or three sections with headings before they draft.Informative3-5