The Practice of Effective Writing

The writing strand is described on page 12 and 13 of the Ontario Curriculum.  Described in the curriculum is the need for students to keep in mind the purpose for which they are writing and the audience they are writing for.  An overall expectation of the curriculum specifically requires students to "generate, gather, and organize ideas and information to write for an intended purpose".  The video resource below, courtesy of watchnknowlearn.org and youtube can be an effective tool for introducing students to the 5 main purposes that authors write for. In a catchy and straightforward way, this resource identifies and describes writing to entertain, describe, narrate, inform and persuade (EDNIP...no this is not a brand of catnip).

Entertain

Likely, students will be most able to relate to this purpose for writing through fiction.  Either as a result of their own initiative or by having someone read to them, students will encounter various examples of fiction in their short lives. The most obvious example is in the form of reading a novel.  A less obvious example might include the writing of scripts behind their favourite television shows or movies. In teaching writing for entertainment purposes, it is critical that students become familiar with the elements that make what makes an effectively entertaining written piece.  The following links can assist with identifying elements that make up an effective entertainment piece.  Once students have a firm grasp on these elements, how they are combined to produce an entertainment piece to use is free for the students to decide.

http://www.free-training-tutorial.com/writing/purpose-entertainment.html

https://anoveledit.com/writingtoentertain.html


Describe

Writing to describe has the objective of creating a clear picture of something in the mind of the reader.  The author uses detailed adjectives and adverbs as well as specific nouns and verbs to bring to life a character or scene for the reader. The idea is to appeal to the reader's senses so that what is being described becomes real to them.  This article from the New York Times published in 2012 entitled Your Brain on Fiction provides empirical evidence from the field of neuroscience about what goes on in the human brain as it reads descriptive writing.

Narrate

Narrative writing is the art of telling a story.  It combines the elements of character, setting, plot and conflict into a sequence in order to tell the story.  This type of writing is evident in written forms (novels, articles and biographies), spoken forms (speeches or songs) and visual forms (movies and television shows).   The video below provides a few quick tips to help anything you write or say that will help strengthen its narrative. 

Inform

Writing to inform involves providing the reader with objective facts.  This style of writing is intended to be impersonal and devoid of opinions. Preparing an informative piece of writing involves doing research.  The informational text can also be used as a source during the research process as well.  When writing to inform, it is essential that the facts are correct as incorrect facts can perpetuate false information.  Examples of writing to inform include encyclopedias, peer-reviewed research papers in academic journals and newspaper articles.

Licht, Mike. (2012). Britannica Bytes [Online Image].
Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/notionscapital/6995201897/

Persuade

When an author writes to persuade, they are trying to advance their point of view.  Different techniques can assist in this process, such as comparing and contrasting, hyperbole, using data to support their position, and many other styles.  The most foundational element of persuasive writing is for the author to determine their position and then begin to structure their discourse in an effective way to support it.

An example of effective persuasion

Putting It All Together

Ontario's curriculum goes on to state that "[students] need numerous opportunities to write...As they learn to select and organize their ideas, they must also keep in mind the purpose for which they are writing".  One way to effectively structure writing instruction is through the gradual release of responsibility.  This involves using the Inquiry Model Shared Collaborative Independent (IMSCI) model depicted and described below in a slightly varied form.  Instead of Collaborating, this visual uses Guiding as a heading and instead of Independent, they refer to Applying. Regardless of the title of the stage, what makes this visual effective is the description of what happens in each stage in relation to the student and teacher roles and degree of control.

Yisesliteracy. (20160. Gradual Release of Responsibility [Online Image].
Retrieved from https://yisesliteracy.wikispaces.com/Writing+to+Entertain

The IMSCI model is a great way to scaffold for writing instruction guiding students toward becoming independent and effective writers for any purpose.  Emphasis should be placed on providing students with many opportunities to write since this has been identified as an achilles heel of sorts in writing instruction.  Providing students with those opportunities affords them what all effective performers of any activities require in order to develop their craft and that is practice. Lots and lots of practice. Just ask Alan Iverson about the importance of practice.