Informational Text- Reading & Writing Climbing texts for information- Mrs. Sutherland’s notes for students

How does an author use language? The success of any writing depends on the writer’s choice of words/language. Words not only communicate ideas, but also help describe events, characters, settings, and so on. Words can make a writer’s work sound formal or informal, serious or humorous.

Word Choice/Diction A writer must choose words carefully depending on the goal of the piece of writing. For example, a writer working on a science article would probably use technical, formal words; a writer trying to establish the setting in a short story would probably use more descriptive words. Word choice is sometimes referred to as diction.

How does an author use elaboration techniques? Elaboration is the process of developing an idea by providing specific supporting details that are relevant and appropriate to the purpose (persuade, inform, explain, entertain, express thoughts/ideas) and form (news article, feature article, textbook, biography, autobiography, journal, diary, etc.) of writing.

Elaboration techniques (Lit. book-pgs. R33-R34) There are five elaboration techniques used by authors: 1) Facts and Statistics 2) Sensory Details 3) Incidents 4) Examples 5) Quotations

Fact and Statistics- A fact is a statement that can be verified, and a statistic is a fact expressed as a number. Make sure the facts and statistics you supply are from a reliable, up- to-date source such as USA Today, current research article/journal, government/educational websites. Model: Women have aided U.S. military efforts for more than a century. Today, more than 200,000 women are on active military duty.

Sensory Details- Details that show how something looks, sounds, tastes, smells, or feels can make readers feel they are actually experiencing what you are describing. Model: Anna Hawk got off her bike and sat beside the muddy road. The rain on her poncho made the only sound, and nothing on the prairie moved. Anna took a sip of warm, sweet cocoa from her thermos bottle.

Incidents- From our earliest years, we are interested in hearing “stories.” One way to illustrate a point powerfully is to relate an incident or tell a story. Model: Some of our most valuable sources of historical knowledge come from tragic events. The eruption of the volcano Vesuvius in A.D. 79 was a nightmare for the people of Pompeii. About 2000 inhabitants may have died, and their homes were buried under tons of volcanic ash.

Examples- An example can help make an abstract idea concrete or can serve to clarify a complex point for your readers. Model: Realistic fiction is imaginative writing set in the real, modern world. For example, the short story “Tuesday of the Other June” is set in a realistic city, and its characters deal with ordinary human problems.

Quotations- Choose quotations that clearly support your points, and be sure that you copy each quotation word for word. Always remember to credit the source! Model: In Avi’s short story “Scout’s Honor,” one of the characters tries to come up with an excuse for not crossing a scary-looking bridge. “I’m not so sure we should go,” he says. “Maybe it doesn’t have another side.”

How does an author use text structure to organize writing? (Lit. book-pgs. R8-R13) There are specific patterns of organization for writing. For informational text, these include: 1) Main Idea and Supporting Details 2) Chronological Order 3) Cause-Effect Organization 4) Compare-and-Contrast Organization 5) Problem-Solution Order

Main Idea and Supporting Details A basic pattern of organization in which a central idea about a topic is supported by details. The main idea is the most important idea about a topic that a particular text or paragraph conveys. Supporting details are words, phrases, or sentences that tell more about the main idea. The main idea may be directly stated at the beginning and then followed by supporting details, or it may merely be implied by supporting details.

Chronological Order The arrangement of events in the order in which they happen. This type of organization is used in short stories and novels, historical writing, biographies, and autobiographies. To show the order of events, writers use words such as before, after, next, and later, and time specific words and phrases that identify specific times of day, days of week, and dates.

Cause-Effect Organization A pattern of organization that shows the relationships between events, ideas, and trends. Cause-effect relationships may be directly stated or merely implied by the order in which the information is presented. Writers often use the cause- effect pattern in historical and scientific writing.

Compare-and-Contrast Organization A pattern of organization that provides a way to look at similarities and differences in two or more subjects/topics. A writer may use this pattern to compare the important points or characteristics of two or more subjects/topics. There are two ways to develop compare-contrast organization: 1) Point-by-point: Discusses one point of comparison for both subjects, then goes on to the next. 2) Subject-by-subject: Covers all points of comparison for one subject and then all points of comparison for the next subject.

Problem-Solution Order A pattern of organization in which a problem is stated and analyzed and then one or more solutions are proposed and examined. This pattern of organization is often used in persuasive writing, where an author expresses a specific viewpoint, such as editorials or proposals.