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Engage students with how-to writing

november 1, 2011

Engage students with how-to writing

As readers, we encounter how-to writing all the time. Whether it’s trying a new recipe or driving to an unfamiliar destination, we value instructions that are clear and concise. Tackling this genre in the writing classroom is time well spent.

Melissa Lepley from West Vigo High School (Terre Haute, IN) engages her students in a how-to writing exercise that is both purposeful and funny. She puts on a pair of pantyhose according to the directions given–but over the pants she’s already wearing. (The directions never say to take off your clothes first or to be bare down to your underwear.) Putting the hose on over your pants makes it bumpy, droopy, and funny, and it gets the point across: How-to writing requires exact and careful word choice. What a great trigger to introduce this genre!

As a spin-off to this activity, Melissa has small groups work to write directions for a “secret” action. She assigns each group a different action (e.g., jumping jack, skipping, shooting a basket, etc.). Groups must keep their topic a secret. Each group writes the steps for their secret action and gives the directions to another group to act it out. Without adding a title (the action), the groups attempt to follow the directions with hilarious results! When you don’t know what you’re supposed to be doing, that’s when it becomes clear what word choice is vague or what steps are missing or what confusions are present.

Then she asks the students to revise their directions with an emphasis on action verbs and concrete nouns. She also encourages them to add tips, tricks, and cautions. With these guidelines, students can write more specific directions with the hope of achieving expected results.

The Pumpkin Book, by Gail Gibbons

For elementary grades, consider using a mentor text to show how instructions are often written. Many directions include a sequential format with either numbers, letters, or steps. In The Pumpkin Book, page 24, Gail Gibbons outlines six steps for carving a pumpkin.

For elementary grades, consider using a mentor text to show how instructions are often written. Many directions include a sequential format with either numbers, letters, or steps. In The Pumpkin Book, page 24, Gail Gibbons outlines six steps for carving a pumpkin.

How to Carve a Pumpkin - from The Pumpkin Book, by Gail Gibbons

How-to Writing Skills

Whether you’re 5 or 15, how-to writing involves some trait-specific skills beyond good word choice and organization. Here are some key skills to target within your mini-lesson instruction:

Trait of Ideas

  • Writer needs to be knowledgeable about topic/process.
  • Subject is narrowed to a small/manageable topic.
  • Writer clearly introduces subject and purpose.
  • Each step is clearly explained and broken into simple actions.
  • Unfamiliar words or concepts are defined.
  • There are no gaps or missing information in the steps.

Trait of Organization

Trait of Voice

Trait of Word Choice

Trait of Sentence Fluency

  • Sentence beginnings vary.
  • Sentences are written in a parallel format to make it easy for the reader.

Trait of Conventions

  • Common punctuation marks utilized in process writing are commas in a series, colons, and bullets.
  • Each step in the process often begins a new paragraph.

Consider ways to incorporate list writing in the primary grades to start the process for how-to writing.

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