Hello - I'd be interested in examples of how people are teaching informational writing skills in adult basic education, high school equivalency and/ or English language classes. Examples would relate to cause and effect, description, compare and contrast, chronological sequence and other types of informational writing. Many thanks, Dolores Perin
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Hi Delores, thanks for submitting this excellent question!
I attached a handout packet HERE that I used for professional development with North Carolina adult educators during the time I worked at Appalachian State University. During this six-hour workshop, participants learned about methods for teaching the following types of informational writing: cause and effect, descriptive, compare and contrast, narrative writing, and problem/solution.
My sense from working with adult educators is that after their students mastered putting paragraphs together that most instructional time was spent on argumentative writing since that's what most high school equivalency tests demand.
Community, please weigh in with examples of the type of informational writing you teach.
Many thanks,
Steve Schmidt, Moderator
LINCS Reading and Writing Community
Thanks very much for these great resources, Steve.
I'm a believer in asking students to 'write what they know' when they are first learning and gaining confidence as writers. For this reason, we often choose a popular Disney movie or a local restaurant as our topic, and then we work collaboratively to create an outline for an argumentative essay (Lion King is the most emotionally satisfying Disney movie, or Los Rancheros is the best quality dining in town, etc.).
I also believe in the value of choosing one topic and having students write paragraphs or short essays demonstrating each text structure, rather than jumping from topic to topic when you teach a different structure. It can be easier for students to see the purpose of descriptive writing or compare/contrast writing when they can set 2 paragraphs on the same topic next to each other and see the differences in what those writings achieve.
I always prefer to start writing with a familiar topic, so students can see that they do this kind of thinking all the time - they argue with friends about the quality of a movie, they describe clearly when telling a friend about a movie's main idea/theme, they make a chronological sequence when they recount a movie's main plot points, and they compare/contrast when they analyze one movie against another. For them to transfer this everyday thinking skill to paper becomes a more achievable task when we frame it as a familiar skill they already do all the time!
I love talking about teaching writing. :) I look forward to hearing from others in our community!
Anita, I agree about focusing on one text structure at a time. I also understand the use of using familiar topics. Then, later, the students can be helped to make the transition to less familiar topics, for example when they have to write a summary of informational text if/ when they are in college classrooms. Thanks so much for your experience and insights.
-Dolores