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5th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 12 of 17

Write for Your Reader

Match your words to who is reading

What your child practices

Writing to inform, persuade or entertain; formal and informal voice; and picking details, openings and word choices that suit the reader.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 5W1; 5W2 · writing for a purpose and reader: persuasive openings and closings, informative details and formal or informal words

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Know your purpose: to inform, explain, persuade or entertain.
  2. Use a formal voice for people you don’t know well, like a council. Use an informal voice for family and friends.
  3. Choose openings, details and words that suit your reader.

Example: You’re writing a thank-you note to your grandmother. Which greeting fits: “To whom it may concern,” or “Dear Grandma,”? Grandma is family, so an informal, warm voice fits. The first greeting is for strangers. Answer: Dear Grandma,

Write for Your Reader in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 12 of 17 in 5th grade English Language Arts, after Spelling Smarts and before Talking Together.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which is the best purpose for a recipe card?

    • to describe a feeling
    • to make people laugh
    • to tell a made-up story
    • to explain how to do something

  2. Question 2

    Which is an example of informal writing?

    • Hi Sam! Can't wait for the sleepover. See you soon!
    • Report on the water cycle, Section 2.
    • Minutes of the student council meeting.
    • Dear Mayor Lopez, I respectfully request a meeting.

  3. Question 3

    What should a writer do first before starting a piece of writing?

    • Hand it in
    • Choose the font
    • Add the title page
    • Think about the purpose and who will read it

  4. Question 4

    Which text is written to entertain?

    • The rules of a board game
    • A science report on rainfall
    • A list of bus times
    • A funny story about a moose who learns to skateboard

  5. Question 5

    Which pair of words shows the writer's purpose is to persuade?

    • once and then
    • red and blue
    • should and must
    • bark and meow

  6. Question 6

    Which sentence best matches the voice of a friendly e-mail to a classmate?

    • Whales are mammals (see Table 4).
    • I found a cool book about whales you might like.
    • Whales: A Study in Marine Biology, Third Edition.
    • The undersigned has located a volume of cetacean interest.

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