How to Teach Expository Writing to Middle School Students
In middle school English, students begin to learn how to put complex thoughts and ideas together. By teaching your students to write rich, detailed expository pieces on a variety of subjects, you can show them how to develop their thoughts into complete ideas and capture the attention of readers.
Instructions
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Start with a few descriptive writing assignments. Turn off the lights and have the class call out descriptive details about the classroom that don't involve sight. Ask them what they hear, feel and smell. Then ask each student to write a description of a place without including its name. Have the other students try to guess the place.
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Assign short history papers to teach sequence-based expository writing. First, have each student graph a timeline of events in a certain era and then write a paragraph outlining the order of events with as much rich, visual detail as possible.
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Teach cause and effect essays. Ask students to call out something they have always wondered about; have them make a list of questions on the board, adding a few of your own. Then allow each student to pick a question to answer. For instance, students might wonder how rockets break free of gravity. Corresponding questions might include "How is a rocket constructed?" or "What is the ratio of gravity on the moon as compared to the Earth?"
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Assign problem-and-solution essays. For example, you can have each student describe some problem that he ran into at school or regarding a hobby or pastime, and detail how he overcame it.
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Tips & Warnings
Keep the expository writing assignments short at first. Your students will learn more quickly by writing several short essays than from composing one or two long ones.
