Grade 4-8 Report Writing Activities
TO THE TEACHER
Report writing skills help students become better thinkers and writers. Reports require planning, research, and evaluation. An effective report shares facts and observations in an organized and interesting way. Writing a Report guides students step by step from idea to final composition.
The goals of this book are:
• to instill in students a desire to express themselves in writing
• to teach and reinforce writing skills and enhance writing competence and confidence
• to provide high-interest, meaningful lessons that inspire creativity and critical thinking
The lessons in this book contain background information, checklists, graphic organizers, and write-in activities. Many lessons also include a “student assignment” to offer extra practice.
WORKSHEET & Sample PDF Activity
Sample PDF Activity
This book is organized into three sections:
I. All About Reports describes the different types of reports and their purposes. It teaches the components needed to write an effective report.
II. Writing Reports teaches the writing process steps or prewriting, drafting, editing, and publishing. It gives practice researching, documenting, and analyzing data. This section also allows the student to write different kinds of reports.
III. Assessment evaluates students’ work for mastery and/or areas for improvement
What is a Report?
You have been given an assignment. You must write a report. What is your first thought?
a. “Hurray! I love writing reports!”
b. “Oh, no! Reports are so boring.”
c. “Huh? How do you write a report?”
If your answer was “a,” you are one of the lucky students who naturally likes to research, organize, and write. This book will give you the opportunity to practice your skills and learn about different kinds of reports.
If you chose “b,” you may have had an experience in the past writing a report. Perhaps you didn’t get to write about something you enjoyed. Maybe you did not feel confident in your report writing skills. Or, maybe no one ever showed you how to make it interesting. This book will teach you how to write a good report . . . and have fun doing it!
Finally, if you answered “c,” you might not have had the chance to write a report before. Or, you might have forgotten how to do it. Report writing is an important part of your education. You will most likely be assigned many reports in school. You also may write reports for your job after you graduate. This book will give you the knowledge you need and teach you step by step how to write a great report.
A report is a collection of information about a topic. It is a written or spoken piece that tells people facts and details that the writer finds important and interesting. The writer’s job is to find and share that information in an interesting way.
An effective report is well researched, well organized, and well written. The goals of a report are to educate, to inform, and to keep the reader’s attention.
In Writing a Report, you will learn how to write effective research reports, lab reports, book reports, oral reports, and news reports. Along the way, you just might discover that writing a report can be exciting.
Student Assignment: Think about a report you have seen or read. What was it about? What about it interested you? Write a paragraph about that report. Describe what you have learned.
Report Writing Just the Facts
A report must be objective. This means it contains just facts. The writer should not include his or her own personal opinions, feelings, or prejudices.
A fact is something that can be proven. Facts that are accurate and solid support the report and make it believable.
An opinion is what a person thinks about a subject. An opinion conveys ideas, thoughts, or feelings that can’t be proven.
Fact: Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Opinion: The lake is too cold for swimming.
Fact: Madeline L’Engle wrote A Wrinkle In Time.
Opinion: A Wrinkle In Time is one of the best books ever written.
Activity: Read the sentences below. Write “fact” next to each fact and “opinion” next to each opinion.
- A magnet has a pole on each end. ____________________________.
- Canada is the northernmost country on the North American continent. __.
- Too much television contributes to lazy children. __________________.
- All restaurants should be non-smoking. __________________________.
- Our school offers instruction in three foreign languages. ____________.
Activity: Choose one of the following topics. Write three opinions and three facts about that topic. (You may need to do research using books or the Internet.)
Harry Potter
waterfalls
Princess Diana of Wales
soccer
Christmas trees
peanut butter
Student Assignment: Cut out an article from an old magazine. Cut out facts and opinions in the article. Draw a line down the middle of a blank piece of paper. Paste the facts on one half of the paper and the opinions on the other half. Label the two sides.
Table of Contents
All About Reports
What Is a Report? – 1
Just the Facts – 2
Point of View – 3
Types of Reports – 4
Parts of a Report – 5
Class Assignment – 6
Example of a Research Paper – 7
Example of a Research Paper (continued) – 8
Map a Research Report – 9
The Writing Process – 10
Report Writing Can Be Fun – 11
Writing Reports
Prewriting – 12
Choosing a Topic – 13
Focusing a Topic – 14
Your Topic Web – 15
The Right Topic – 16
Temporary Thesis Statement – 17
Giving the Evidence – 18
Your Topic Chart – 19
Collecting Your Data – 20
Go Straight to the Source! – 21
The Dewey Decimal System – 22
Searching for Sources – 23
Recording Your Sources – 24
Making Notecards – 25
Taking Down the Notes – 26
Interviews – 27
Interviews (Continued) – 28
Conduct a Survey – 29
Experiments – 30
Conduct Your Own Experiment – 31
Displaying Results in a Table – 32
Displaying Results in a Graph – 33
Making a Graph – 34
The Outline – 35
Create an Outline – 36
Your Outline – 37
Boxing Your Report – 38
Prewriting: Finishing Up – 39
Your First Draft – 40
Document It! – 41
Footnotes – 42
The Opening Paragraph – 43
The Body – 44
The Body (continued) – 45
The Closing Paragraph – 46
Revising – 47
The Writing Basics – 48
Editing Your Report – 49
Proofreading – 50
The Bibliography – 51
Prepare Your Bibliography – 52
The Final Draft – 53
Book Reports – 54
Book Report Boxes – 55
Book Report Boxes: Part Two – 56
Write Your Book Report – 57
News Reports – 58
The Five W’s – and One – 59
Write a News Report – 60
Report Writing Prompts – 61
Assessment
Final Report – 62
Final Student Assessment – 63
Final Teacher Assessment – 64
