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Supporting Informational Writing in the Elementary Grades
Author(s) -
Donovan Carol A.,
Smolkin Laura B.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the reading teacher
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.642
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1936-2714
pISSN - 0034-0561
DOI - 10.1598/rt.64.6.2
Subject(s) - psychology , emphasis (telecommunications) , mathematics education , primary education , developmental psychology , pedagogy , computer science , telecommunications
The greater emphasis on information books in elementary schools has led to an increased emphasis on informational writing as well. Although some have suggested utilizing mentor texts to engage children in informational writing, there has been little information about the developmental progression of children's ability to compose in this genre. What has been missing is advice on how to support children's approximations of the information report genre. This article aims to do precisely that by presenting a developmental framework of informational writing derived from a study of K–5 children's writing. We share the framework, provide examples of children's compositions at each developmental level, and demonstrate how teachers can use this continuum to support increasingly more mature forms of information text.