Landform Reports

Overview

Students examine how an information report is organised, then use notes and a planning organiser to prepare a short report about a landform. The lesson builds on prior learning about gathering key information and writing clear sentences.

Learning intentions

• WALT identify the purpose and structure of an information report.
• WALT organise landform information under useful headings.
• WALT reduce information to key words and phrases.
• WALT select precise, factual language for an audience.

Success criteria

• I can explain that an information report gives factual information about a topic.
• I can identify an introduction, grouped sections, headings and a concluding statement.
• I can record key words and phrases rather than copying whole sentences.
• I can plan a landform report with accurate facts and clear sections.

Curriculum links

• English — Writing Processes: using organisers to organise and plan writing.
• English — Writing Processes: different writing tasks suit different organisers because purposes and structures vary.
• English — Writing Processes: making notes reduces information into key words and phrases.
• English — Oral Language and Writing: using language, symbols and texts to communicate ideas clearly.
• Key competencies: thinking; managing self; participating and contributing.

Lesson structure (40 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook and purpose. Teacher opens the landform hook slide showing a striking aerial image of a volcano, asks “How could we teach someone about this place without taking them there?”, and gathers responses. Students identify the difference between a fact and an opinion, then share what they already know about landforms.

2. 5–13 min · Notice the structure. Teacher displays the information report example slides and reads a short model report about a volcano, thinking aloud: “This introduction tells the topic; these headings group related facts.” Students help locate the title, introduction, headings, factual details and conclusion. Teacher records the structure on the board:

• title and opening classification
• grouped sections with headings
• factual details and subject vocabulary
• concluding statement

3. 13–19 min · Choose the right organiser. Teacher shows the text structure anchor chart and explains that an information report commonly uses a descriptive structure because it tells what something is like. Model changing a full sentence into notes: “Mountains can form when tectonic plates push together” becomes “mountains — plates push together”. Students suggest key words and phrases from two further sentences. Emphasise that notes help writers remember the important ideas without copying.

4. 19–30 min · Guided planning. Teacher distributes the landform information-report planning worksheet and revisits the planning instructions slides. Students choose one landform from the worksheet, such as a mountain, river, beach, canyon, volcano or waterfall. They read the short information, underline important words, and complete a plan with:

• title and topic
• what it is
• where it is found
• how it forms or changes
• special features
• concluding idea Teacher conferences with students, checking that notes are brief and grouped under headings rather than copied as paragraphs.

5. 30–36 min · Partner check and improve. Teacher displays the partner-check slides and models giving specific feedback: “Your notes tell what it is, but you still need a fact about where it is found.” Students swap worksheets with a partner and check whether the plan has at least three headings, factual notes under each heading, and suitable landform vocabulary. Students return plans and make one improvement.

6. 36–40 min · Share and exit check. Teacher displays the plenary slides and asks, “Why is a plan useful before writing an information report?” Students share one planning decision and complete the final section of the landform planning worksheet: write one possible heading and two key-word notes for it. Collect worksheets to identify next steps for the next writing session.

Resources

• the landform information-report slide deck
• the landform information-report planning worksheet
• the text structure anchor chart
• Board or large display
• Class set of pencils and highlighters
• Optional landform photographs or books for early finishers

Assessment

• During modelling, ask students to identify the purpose of an information report and justify why a descriptive structure is suitable.
• Check planning sheets for brief notes, accurate grouping under headings and evidence of factual language. Confer with students who copy whole sentences or leave sections blank.
• Use the final heading-and-notes response to decide whether students are ready to draft independently or need another shared model.

Differentiation

• Support students with a reduced choice of three landforms, a word bank, labelled examples and oral rehearsal before writing. Allow students to work with a partner or dictate ideas before recording them.
• Provide sentence starters such as “A ___ is…”, “It is found…”, “It forms when…” and “One special feature is…”.
• For EAL learners, pre-teach and display words such as landform, surface, steep, flow, erupt, formed and feature; pair each word with a photograph or simple explanation.
• Extend confident writers by asking them to combine related notes under a precise heading and add a comparison with another landform, while still maintaining factual, non-opinion writing.