The Eight Wonders of Writing: Expository/ Informational Pieces

 

    It seems as though most if not all aspects of writing contain steps or follow a process template. At this point, I have grown to appreciate this as it provides a sense of control for both the teacher and students. I think it is important to follow the writing process as it allows the students to divide their writing pieces into manageable portions and concentrate on delivering high-quality content. The task is tedious in my opinion, however, I see the many benefits it will reap where my students are concerned. For this lesson, we were given the opportunity to draft an expository piece using an 8-STEP WRITING PROCESS (Informational Writing). The first step in this process focused on Ideas. This is where writers derive the subject of their piece and also have an appropriate reason for wanting to write on the subject. Once the writer has a distinct idea in mind, they should be able to continue with the writing process. This sets the course for writing the piece as the content has a purpose. I find this to be the hardest part of writing as there are so many topics to choose from. I will however try my best to limit the number of times I provide my students with a structured topic unless the curriculum specifies. I believe if students are granted the opportunity to write/create their own topic, it would heighten their interests and inspire them to complete the assignment in its entirety. At this point, my classmates began suggesting topics that we could write on. I was grateful for this as I was already struggling to curate a topic myself. 

I decided to focus on the ‘balance between school and leisure time.’ The upcoming pieces will be geared towards primary-level students, so I decided to narrow in on an audience of Grade 6 students. The second step highlighted thinking. Here, the author carefully considers their readers and how to best serve them. The idea should be successfully implemented and brought to life. The author must make sure the concept fulfills the reader's needs and/or wants. An informational piece should aim to educate the reader by describing or elaborating on a subject. As a result, the information should be accurate and also relevant to the reader. The question was asked, “ how would this piece benefit the targeted reader?”.
The transition from primary school to high school can be strenuous for students if not educated on the necessary requisites. The primary aspect students struggle with is balancing their school and leisure time. This piece will benefit grade six students by informing them on how to prepare for high school, proper time management skills, how to schedule time for extracurricular activities, and overall how to create a schedule that suits their lifestyle. Academically, the students will benefit as they can visualize the structure of an expository writing piece, how the author formulated the paragraphs and organized details, the correlation between the topic sentence and supporting details, and the grammar used alongside sentence structures. The third step, connecting the Idea and Reader, was highlighted. By creating a notion, a more narrowly defined subject, or an idea condensed into a constrained and narrower topic, the author should take an additional step and create a piece specifically targeting the readers. I analyzed my previous topic and narrowed it down to “How to balance your school and social life.” In my opinion, this somewhat widened the audience. I believe if the piece is structured effectively, more students (even in high school) may be able to benefit from the content. Gathering information was the emphasis of step four. From here, the author would start reporting, investigating, observing, taking notes on experiences, and conducting interviews. The more carefully and completely the information is acquired, the more valuable it will be when making a decision.  This makes it possible to provide the reader with a better, richer, and more comprehensive piece. Where my topic is concerned I found six key points that I may highlight. Setting up a schedule, breaking down large tasks, focusing on mental health, limiting stress levels, if-then-planning habits, and to-do lists. Upon further research, my points may change as I may stumble upon facts that are more relevant than the ones on my list. This brings me to step five, where the other has to study and analyze their list to determine what information they are going to use and how. They must then decide whether the information is engaging and significant to advance the objectives of the piece. Then, they will have to discard everything that does not suit the requirements or isn’t vital.

Step six concentrates on the piece's design. It needs to have structure, architecture, and form. Working toward direction and information flow is the overall aim. Finally, step seven is where the author begins writing. Making use of the previous steps provides a template/framework for the author to work with. The majority of the details are already available to the writer, it is just a means of curating everything together. Editing is the eighth step which is done before the final submission. Here, the author assesses their work for accuracy, communication comfort, clarity, coherence, concision, and completeness. Reading out loud or silently can be used for evaluation and scrutiny. Reading the piece out loud can help the author identify any errors or sections where extra work needs to be done.

How long do you think this process would take in a physical classroom setting? I am hoping that we will continue this writing process within the next session and I am also eager to see what our lecturer has up her sleeves. 👌

I found a step-by-step YouTube playlist that is somewhat similar to the writing process. Check it out. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLanQSo_Ld7IUKDeeZikmi7J185T8JYE0s

I also attempted to create a worksheet that the students can use. Let me know what you think and if there are any additions or changes I can make.
Cheers!