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by Barbara Mariconda |
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As teachers, we are asked to teach our students to write in a variety of genres. Of course, it is critically important to teach the specific characteristics and organizational strategies of each genre. How is narrative writing different from expository writing? And what do students need to know about persuasive writing? Often, teaching these specific differences and nuances between a variety of genres becomes the primary job of the language arts or English teacher, basically because of the amount of time it takes to teach this thoroughly.
But, what role does the content area teacher play in the instruction of writing – especially when time and the demands of the social studies, math, or science curriculum itself present challenges? The purpose of this article is to discuss the common characteristics of good writing that all teachers can stress. What kind of helpful feedback can be offered, regardless of the genre? Providing this kind of reinforcement will not only build a level of consistency in writing expectations, but will reinforce the work of the language arts teacher, and improve writing across the curriculum.
Sharing is, of course, the best way to implement consistent expectations and consistent instruction across all disciplines. This is often challenging at the secondary level, where teachers and subjects are departmentalized and there exist few opportunities for cross-discipline collegial sharing. In the ideal world, all teachers at the secondary level would participate together in professional development that outlines and presents strategies and consistent practice guidelines for the instruction and application of strong writing skills.
Whether or not this kind of collegial sharing and professional development takes place, there are a number of general guidelines that can be followed in order to promote strong writing, in whatever genre you may be exploring.
| 1. | Before beginning a writing task, the author MUST clearly understand the characteristics of the genre, particularly the author’s purpose (Why am I writing this and what am I trying to accomplish?) and the organizational strategy. (See archived articles on narrative, expository, and persuasive writing for specific suggestions on organizational strategy.) |
| 2. | You must immediately grab the reader’s attention. In narrative writing this involves beginning as close to the main event as possible, in an entertaining, intriguing way. In expository and persuasive writing it involves crafting an attention-grabbing lead and topic sentence or issue statement. In general, the author needs to compel the reader to read on. |
| 3. | When providing details and description, SPECIFIC detail is always morepowerful than GENERAL detail. Ex. The island is inhabited by lots of birds. vs. The island is inhabited by a variety of species of parrots and gulls. |
| 4. | Always SHOW rather than TELL: Ex. The dress was pretty. vs. The short, sleeveless dress was pale blue chiffon with velvet trim. |
| 5. | Authors must ask themselves specific, productive questions in order to generate powerful writing. The questions will vary according to genre, but the specific questioning is critical. The quality of the questions asked determines the quality of responses. (See our Comprehensive Writing Guides to access the productive questions most helpful for each genre.) |
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Sentence variety is important. Students must have, at their disposal, a variety of techniques and strategies for varying sentence structure. Avoid the “broken record” – beginning a series of sentences the same way: There are.... There are...There are... Instead, provide students with some alternatives in the form of You can also teach them to “flip the sentence subject”: Most importantly, modeling is a powerful tool for introducing students to vivid language and sentence variety. |
| 7. | The use of “word referents” to build powerful, vivid word choice. Using synonymous words or phrases for key characters, topics or main ideas builds interest and provides a broader context. Ex. in narrative writing, we could call a leprechaun a “wee Irish sprite” which helps the reader understand the cultural, mythical context. In expository writing, instead of repeating the topic word incessantly – ex. “bears” – the author can vary this, providing even more information:“these hibernating creatures”. In persuasive writing, word referents are used to spin or slant ideas – ex. instead of saying: “Sports figures earn big salaries” the author might say: “These overpaid, underworked celebrities earn at least 20 times what the average worker earns.” |
| 8. | Correct grammar, mechanics, spelling, and conventions enable the reader to better understand and enjoy the writing. These skills need to be intentionally taught in developmentally- appropriate ways and applied consistently in student writing. Students must be held accountable for the application of these crucial skills. |
| 9. | Voice and tone invite the reader to connect with the writing. In narrative writing, the“voice” should belong to the main character, portraying the character in a unique, authentic, consistent, believable way. It is not the author’s voice we need to hear in narrative writing, but the character’s voice – in fact, the author’s voice can actually intrude on the character in narrative writing. In expository and persuasive writing the author’s authentic voice is what brings humanity to the writing and connects the reader with the author, person to person. It also helps avoid deadly boring “encyclopedia voice”. The tone of a piece guides word choice. In narrative writing the authorchooses words to set a mood — scary, cheery, mysterious, etc. In expository and persuasive writing the tone relates to style: conversational, friendly, academic, humorous, authoritative, etc. |
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The ending of a piece must leave an impression on the reader. In narrative writing the extended ending shows the ways in which a character has grown, changed, or learned. In expository writing the author uses the final paragraph to reiterate key points and main ideas. Persuasive writers use the conclusion paragraph to reiterate their arguments and call the reader to some desired action. * TIPS: Common pitfalls to AVOID in any genre:
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Nurturing empowered student writers involves providing powerful exemplars of each genre. Students need to be led through a developmentally appropriate analysis of a piece of writing in terms of purpose, salient characteristics, and organization. Once students have an awareness of these characteristics they can begin to learn the specific skills that are genre specific, as well as those which can be applied to any genre. In order to write effectively it is critical that we teach not only the general qualities of good writing, but the specific skills related to each genre.
Barbara Mariconda is the author of over 20 children’s books and numerous professional books for teachers. Her middle grade novel, “Turn the Cup Around” published by Delacorte Press was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award by the Mystery Writers of America for best children’s mystery. Her latest, a picture book titled “Sort it Out,” was published by Sylvan Dell Publishing in the fall of 2008. She has presented programs on writing to thousands of teachers at workshops and conferences across North America.
