Informational Writing/Explanatory Writing
publishing
5th stage of the writing process- making the text ready to share with an audience.
Citation
A note, inserted into the text of an essay that refers the reader to a cited source.
Writer's Notebook
A notebook writers use for writing their first drafts.
Thesis statement
A sentence in the introduction of an essay that states the topic of the essay. It's like a road map directing the reader what he/she will read about.
Prior Knowledge
All the information the writer has stored in his/her brain about a selected topic. Writing down this information increases writer confidence as a student begins a writing task, as well as readies the mind to accept and retain new information about the topic, thus helping the writer to make connections between prior knowledge and new knowledge.
How-to essay
An essay that tells how to do something (like "How to Cook Japanese Cuisine," or "How to Learn to Play the Guitar")
Informational Text Structures
Description, Sequence, Cause & Effect, Problem & Solution, Compare & Contrast, How-To
5 paragraph essay
Essay that consists of an introduction, 3 body paragraph , and a conclusion
Supporting Details
Facts, statistics, quotations, and examples that support the central idea of a paragraph.
Publishing
Fifth & final step of the writing process. Purpose: Create a clean & final copy. Share with others.
Editing
Fourth step of the writing process. Purpose: Look for mistakes & fix them.
Pre-Writing/Brainstorming
Gathering ideas to write about. First step in the writing process.
Citing Sources
Giving credit to someone or something when what you use is not your own original work.
Sequence or Timeline
Informational writing structure to convey events or steps that must be presented in order using signal words such as: first, second, then, finally, specific dates, etc.
Problem and Solution
Informational writing structure to describe a problem, the desired solution, and the steps taken to solve it. It uses signal words such as: because, one part, as a result, one step of the solution is, etc.
Description
Informational writing structure to describe using signal words such as: to begin with, for example, most important, etc.
Cause and Effect
Informational writing structure to explain evidence relationships using signal words such as: do, therefore, consequently, this led to, as a result, etc.
Compare and Contrast
Informational writing structure to present likenesses or differences using signal words such as: like, unlike, in contrast, on the other hand, etc.
Informational/Explanatory Writing
Nonfiction writing that conveys information accurately and is organized around a central idea with a specific focus, answering a question that addresses WHAT, HOW or WHY? It DOES NOT include opinions.
Textual Evidence
Quoting using the exact words of a text. Must be in quotation marks and cite author.
Drafting
Second step of the writing process.Purpose- getting ideas down on paper quickly.
Plagiarism
Taking credit for someone else's writing or ideas or not citing text evidence.
Central (Main) Idea
The overarching idea behind an informational essay that answers a research question. The term central idea can also be used in relation to a paragraph, where the central idea should sit in the topic sentence.
Concluding Paragraph
The paragraph(s) that ends the piece and discusses probable long-term outcomes
Easy bib.com
The website used for creating a works cited page.
Revising
Third step of the writing process. Purpose: Read through rough draft and make sure ideas are clear.
Summarizing
briefly focus on the central idea
Compare and Contrast signal words
like, unlike, different, the same, similarly, opposed to
Biography
story of a person's life written by another person
subheadings
subtitles, usually set in a smaller font than the title; can be used to break up body copy
Generating questions about a topic
thinking deeply about a topic and wondering what other may want to know.