How to Teach Information Report Writing

ESL learners struggle with many aspects of the English language, however when it comes to writing - they struggle the most with sentence and paragraph structure. Looking for a comprehensive guide on How to Teach Information Report Writing? Teaching report writing can be daunting, however with the right materials and ideas, teachers can successfully help ESL learners master this task

How to Write an Information Report

Students have trouble with understanding this concept because they are new to language writing skills in general. So, how do we teach report writing?

Firstly, what is an information report?

An information report provides readers with information on chosen a topic by providing them with facts. These facts are then layed out in an informational manner.

Generally an information report is written to provide facts about a living or non-living object.  It can be an individual object or a group of objects.  Some suggestions are factual.

Information Report Format

The challenge in writing a good information report is to provide the audience with plenty of facts and evidence about a topic without providing personal opinion.  Personal opinions would make the report more of an opinion piece rather than an informational piece.

If you do include personal opinion essentially you are writing a persuasive ( also known as an expository ) text. 

How to Guide Students to Write their Informational Reports

This is an essential step. Here are some ways you can guide students into writing their report:

- Explain how to research factual information on their topic

- How to write topic sentences

- How to write paragraphs

Information Report Examples for Year 4 or ESL

Looking for a complete pack to help you deliver a step by step lesson on writing information reports?

This Writing Information Reports Printable pack includes 48 pages of examples, guides, posters etc. I have personally used this with ESL students and year 3 students. It works for both. 

What's included:

What's included:

► What is an information report? (activity & guide for class activities and discussion).

► The structure of an information report.

► Visual elements in an information report.

► Glossary / bibliography writing.

► Sample information report from the National Geographic web.

► Formal language used in reports. (passive voice, limited use of pronouns etc.)

► Report writing tips poster.

► Whole class / pair research activity with information provided.

► Brain storming sheet.

► KWL chart.

► Drafting a report.

► Editing your draft of the report.

► Checklist / pair checklist for editing.

► Information report assessment with rubric.

Grab your copy right here from TPT.