Explain why it is challenging for students to write informational text, and discuss how you would teach writing informational text in the classroom

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: The challenge of teaching students to write informational texts is to have them understand the various organizational writing patterns writers use. The purpose for the writing determines which organizational or text structural patterns a writer uses. Teachers should teach the following common text structures in informational texts:
Description
Chronology
Cause and Effect
Comparison and Contrast
Problem and Solution
As students read and listen to informational texts, they become familiar with these basic organizational writing patterns. Teachers can help students understand informational texts by showing how the writing patterns present the information and why they are used by writers. As the students learn about writing patterns, they begin to use them in their own informational writing.
As students create their own informational texts, they need to understand the purpose for their writing and the best writing structures to fulfill the purpose. Teachers can achieve this by encouraging students to listen to and read nonfiction texts and talk about the purpose and structure of the text. Next, using purpose and writing structure as a model, students create a group- or class-constructed informational text. Last, students write their own information texts appropriate for their age and grade level.