Teaching Writing: Children II

Lesson 1: Review of Writing Basics and Teaching Expository Writing

What is Exposition?

Have you ever written a letter, kept a diary, or told someone how to make your favorite chocolate cake? If so, then you are using the genre of expository writing. Sometimes called Authentic Writing, expostion is all of that "real writing" that you, and your students do. It is a skill we all use every day.

Exposition can include writing essays, letters, reports, news articles, interviews, and content area writing. It is the well organized, logical kind of writing used to convey information to the reader. This type of writing can be used to inform, clarify, explain, define, or instruct by giving information, explaining why or how. It can also be used to explain a process, or define a concept.

Since expository writing can be used for so many purposes, the ways to teach it will vary, depending upon the concept you are teaching. Letter writing can be as simple as a note to Grandma, or as detailed at writing a formal business letter. Writing a news story will involve the "5W and H" rule (Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How) and writing instructions always includes the use of transition words. Of course, teaching report writing could be a course in itself!

In this section, I will focus on general practice and some ideas that can be used to teach the newspaper article, the instructional essay, and the interview. The resources for this course include many other great suggestions for teaching this important writing genre.

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