As you probably know by now from all of my writing-related postings of late, I’m obsessively thinking about writing. It is a topic that I used to tiptoe around because I didn’t have a clue as to how to teach it. But now I’ve constructed the skill of writing, and I feel so much more confident in talking about it – phew!
One of the things that’s in the front of my new book is a roadmap (Side note: The graphic is so cool – and I love looking at it!) that shows the questions that a writer asks along the path to completing a writing project. It’s simple, but I believe that is boils the informational text teaching down to exactly what kids need to know how to do – without fluff.
Here are the questions and the relating skills that students need to know how to ask and do as they write informational text. This chart simulates the steps in the thinking of successful writers and links it to the skills that help “answer” that question.
| Step 1 | What do I want to tell the reader? | Teach students how to Brainstorm and Content Map |
| Step 2 | How do I approach my writing so that I can have the biggest impact on my reader? | Teacher students how to Setting a Formal Tone |
| Step 3 | How do I logically order my ideas so my most important points are obvious to the reader? | Teach students to Organize Their Writing and Outline |
| Step 4 | How do I grab the reader’s attention? | Teach students to Write a Thesis |
| Step 5 | How do I format my writing in a way that highlights my most important information? | Teach students to Format Text |
| Step 6 | How do I create a natural flow of ideas so that my writing is easy to read? | Teach students to Develop a Topic and Create Transitions |
| Step 7 | How do I make an impact on the reader and compel him to do something after he’s done reading? | Teach students to Write a Conclusion |
| Step 8 | How do edit my writing for ideas, connections and mechanics? | Teach students to Revise, Edit and Proofread |
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If you found this remotely helpful, then you’ll find this infinitely helpful!