Sample Report (Continued)

Remind students that reports depend on strong information, which depends on reliable sources. Help them understand how to paraphrase information but also credit sources.

After discussing the sample report, tell your students that they will now learn a process for creating their own reports. 

Prewriting: Gathering and Organizing Information

Now that your students have selected a topic, they will need to gather information about it. To focus their research, have students list details they already know about their topic and things they still need to learn. For a more organized list, students can fill in a KWL chart. (A KWL template download is available below.)

Recommend that students research their specific questions using library and Internet resources. This also might be a good time to review tips for using search engines. Additionally, remind students to keep notes of any information they find as well as where they find it. 

After students finish their research, have them create a writing plan by answering the PAST questions: 

• Purpose: Why am I writing? (To inform)
• Audience: Who are my readers? (Teacher and classmates)
• Subject: What will I write about?
• Type: What form will my writing take? (Report)

Writing (Continued)

Introduce the remaining starting strategies. Then have your students try out some of the strategies with their topics. If time permits, have students exchange their different beginnings with partners for feedback. 

Next, introduce the different text structures used in the sample report. Your students can organize their middle parts similarly, but only if this pattern makes sense for their topics. Just make sure to remind students that each middle paragraph needs a strong topic sentence and interesting details to support it.