Q&A: What are some different (authentic) options for informational writing?
Five genres of informational writing with three mentor texts each to help you and your department grow!
Q: What are some different kinds of informational writing I could do with my students that exist in the real world? I’m required to teach it, but I don’t know what it should look like. -Participant in my teacher workshop this week
A:
Standards and pacing guides dictate the modes of writing students need to do in a given school year: informational writing, persuasive writing, argumentative writing, narrative writing. But these documents aren’t as good at sharing what that should actually look like. That — what modes of writing look like in the wild — is genre.
The fact that standards and pacing guides don’t suggest genres leaves teachers at an impasse, and, more often than not, teachers just kind of invent something they think might fit the bill:
“Okay, kids, we are going to write a persuasive essay about … dress code.”
“Alright, it’s time for our informational writing which is a research paper!”
We teachers are rarely inspired by these assignments. And, of course, neither are students.
It takes a lot (a lot) of reading to start to see where these kinds of writing live in the wild, and, of course, it’s rarely pure. A persuasive open letter probably also incorporates elements of narrative and some information. Even a personal essay pulls in research.
So, this is a great question. And it made me start to wonder: would it be helpful to share real world genres and mentor text stacks so that teachers see the options they have and so that departments can differentiate year to year?
I’m depending on you, dear community members, to tell me if this is helpful. And if so, I’m going to do this again and again for you with all the modes. (And, if it’s not, that’s okay, too!)
I’ve made you an 8-page guide that includes a five-step continuum of informational writing, a description of each, recommendations for when to use each, and three mentor texts for the genre.
Let’s look at this guide and how you can use it individually, as a grade-level team, and as a department!
A Guide to Genres of Informational Writing
When you look at the continuum inside the guide, you’ll see five different genres of informational writing. Here’s how you might use them:
In Your Classroom…
Pick from the continuum which genre will best fit your students this year
Differentiate within your class by giving students a couple choices from the continuum. (For example, “You can write a how-to piece or a guide to a topic.”)
With Your Grade-Level Team…
Decide which genre on the continuum will work best for your students in that grade
Use the continuum to differentiate writing products within a mode for leveled classes (Ex: English 9 writes How-Tos while English 9 Honors writes Guides).
With Your Department…
Use the continuum to move students from infographics through feature articles by the time they leave your building.
Once you’ve decided which genre of informational writing you want your students to create, you can use the mentor texts provided to get you started with lesson-planning and teaching!
Alright. Here’s the guide: