Writing prompt Grade 6 English Language Arts
Explaining Presswick's Rain Gardens: A Grade 6 Writing Prompt
A grade 6 explanatory writing prompt in which students explain how rain gardens help a fictional town soak up stormwater and protect its creek.
Objectives
- Students will write an explanatory essay that introduces a topic and groups related facts in order.
- Students will use transitions and precise words to explain how a rain garden manages stormwater.
Vocabulary
- Stormwater
- Stormwater is rain or melted snow that flows off roofs, streets, and parking lots. In most towns it goes into storm drains and flows to a stream without being treated, carrying whatever it picked up.
- Rain garden
- A rain garden is a shallow planted dip in the ground that catches rain running off a roof or driveway and lets it soak slowly into the soil. Its deep-rooted plants help clean the water.
Also: runoff, explanatory, transition
Teacher overview
This prompt asks students to explain, not argue, how rain gardens help a town handle stormwater. The fictional town of Presswick wants to add rain gardens and needs a clear explanation for residents. The background material gives students the facts they need, so they can focus on the explanatory writing skills of organizing ideas, using transitions, and choosing precise words. It pairs well with the water-cycle explanatory worksheet as a longer follow-up.
Prompt
Background: When rain falls on a town, it has to go somewhere. In Presswick, a fictional town, much of the ground is covered by hard surfaces such as roofs, roads, and parking lots. Rain cannot soak into these surfaces, so it runs off quickly. This fast-moving water is called stormwater runoff. As it flows across streets, it picks up oil, litter, and dirt. Many storm drains carry this water straight to Presswick Creek without cleaning it first.
A rain garden is one way to slow the runoff. A rain garden is a shallow dip in the ground planted with grasses and flowers that do well in wet soil. Rain from a roof or driveway is guided into the garden. There, the water collects and slowly soaks into the soil instead of rushing to the storm drain. The plants and soil trap some of the dirt before it moves on. Rain gardens also give water time to soak down and refill the ground below.
Writing task: Presswick wants to add rain gardens along its streets and has asked students to help explain the idea to residents. Write an explanatory essay that explains what stormwater runoff is, how a rain garden helps manage it, and why that matters for Presswick Creek. Use facts from the background material, put your ideas in a clear order, and use transitions to connect them. Your essay should inform readers, not argue for a side.
Planning Organizer
| Part of my essay | My notes |
|---|---|
| Introduction: the topic I will explain | |
| Fact 1: what stormwater runoff is | |
| Fact 2: how a rain garden works | |
| Fact 3: why it helps Presswick Creek | |
| Transitions I will use | |
| Conclusion: a sentence that wraps up the explanation |
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Exemplar & Rubric
Exemplar response:
Presswick is planning to add rain gardens along its streets, and this essay explains how they help the town handle rain. When a storm passes over Presswick, rain falls on roofs, roads, and parking lots. These hard surfaces do not let water soak in, so the rain runs off quickly. This fast-moving water is called stormwater runoff, and as it crosses streets it picks up oil, litter, and dirt.
A rain garden gives that runoff a better place to go. A rain garden is a shallow dip in the ground planted with grasses and flowers that grow well in wet soil. Rain from a nearby roof or driveway is guided into the garden. There, instead of rushing toward a storm drain, the water collects and slowly soaks into the soil. As it soaks in, the plants and soil trap some of the dirt so it does not travel any farther.
This matters for Presswick Creek. Many of the town's storm drains carry runoff straight to the creek without cleaning it. When rain gardens soak up runoff first, less dirty water reaches the creek, and the water that does arrive is cleaner. Rain gardens also let water sink down to refill the ground below. For these reasons, adding rain gardens is a simple way for Presswick to protect its creek and make better use of the rain that falls on the town.
Rubric:
| Criterion | Emerging | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction & topic | No clear topic is introduced | Names the topic but vaguely | Clearly introduces what the essay will explain | Clearly introduces the topic and previews the main ideas |
| Facts & organization | Few facts, or facts in no clear order | Some facts, loosely ordered | Uses the background facts in a clear order | Uses well-chosen facts grouped in a logical, easy-to-follow order |
| Transitions & word choice | No transitions; vague words | A few transitions; some precise words | Uses transitions and precise terms like runoff and rain garden | Uses smooth transitions and precise vocabulary throughout |
| Conclusion & conventions | No conclusion; many errors block meaning | Weak conclusion; errors are noticeable | Clear concluding sentence; few errors | Strong conclusion that wraps up the explanation; nearly error-free |
Differentiation
Support
Provide sentence starters for each organizer row ("Stormwater runoff is ___" and "A rain garden works by ___") and a short transition word bank. Allow students to write two solid paragraphs instead of three.
Extension
Ask students to add a labeled diagram of a rain garden beside their essay and a short caption that explains, in one or two sentences, how the diagram matches the essay, tying the visual to the text.
ELL supports
Pre-teach "stormwater," "runoff," "rain garden," "explanatory," and "transition" with a simple before-and-after picture of a street with and without a rain garden. Allow students to complete the planning organizer in phrases before drafting full sentences.