I have been writing professionally for years, and often I think about the connections between that and what I teach. Expository writing is very much like what we want the kids to do, but that's only if we break it down for kids and teach it that way.
Many times I focus on writing content to put on people's business web pages. The focus could be articles, blogs, product pages, press releases, and other kinds of writing. Have you ever thought about using primarily relevant web pages to help students analyze examples of good writing?
It's really simple. Pick a topic such as Woodchucks. You do a Google or Bing search and bookmark a list of websites. Optional: Paste top choice links into a PowerPoint or Word file. Take your students one at a time to the websites you've selected and find/review different facts on the topic. These can be recorded by a student scribe or by yourself on a computer file or large chart paper.
While you are exploring websites, help students critique the examples of writing. I would look for teachers, experts in the field, and students of different ages. Students need to see how different levels of writers write about that same topic.
Help students feel writing about woodchucks or another topic is possible. They can relate to web pages more easily than printed articles and see how good writing really makes or breaks a web page. Good expository writing is either going to support or hurt the images and other artwork on a page. Happy summer!
Many times I focus on writing content to put on people's business web pages. The focus could be articles, blogs, product pages, press releases, and other kinds of writing. Have you ever thought about using primarily relevant web pages to help students analyze examples of good writing?
It's really simple. Pick a topic such as Woodchucks. You do a Google or Bing search and bookmark a list of websites. Optional: Paste top choice links into a PowerPoint or Word file. Take your students one at a time to the websites you've selected and find/review different facts on the topic. These can be recorded by a student scribe or by yourself on a computer file or large chart paper.
While you are exploring websites, help students critique the examples of writing. I would look for teachers, experts in the field, and students of different ages. Students need to see how different levels of writers write about that same topic.
Help students feel writing about woodchucks or another topic is possible. They can relate to web pages more easily than printed articles and see how good writing really makes or breaks a web page. Good expository writing is either going to support or hurt the images and other artwork on a page. Happy summer!