Category: Sequencing

How to Sequence Your Reports

When writing reports, students are told to use chronological order or time order. All that means is that actions should be written in the order they happened. This sounds simple enough, and really shouldn’t be a challenge, especially when actions are carefully selected. However, some students run into problems because they’re not sure how to list the actions in a way that shows the order.

This is when transitions come in very handy. Transitions help the writing flow smoothly from one idea to the next. Sometimes with a single word, sometimes with a few words. There are many transition words and phrases, but the best ones for reports are the simple ones that show time order. Some of these are: before, after, then, to begin, at the onset, next, from this point, during, at that time, at the end, to finish, and while.

The key to using transition words effectively is keeping to the ones that are specific about time order and avoiding those that could introduce opinion. For example, words like ‘suddenly’ and ‘not long after’ are subjective ideas that show how the writer feels about the actions taken place. In the first instance, the writer believes the actions are unexpected. In the second instance, the writer is making a judgment about the length of time, stating that it’s long without giving a time frame.

These subtle opinions can change the tone of the report. A better way to report information regarding time is to give the exact time that has passed. So, a statement like ‘approximately two minutes after’ would work much better than either option above.

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Organized Writing

After young writers get their ideas together and know what they are going to write about, the next step is organizing the information. Keeping to a structure/format helps writers manage how their writing unfolds. Like all writing, both narratives and reports follow an introduction-body-conclusion format. In narrative essays, the plot provides a structure for young writers to follow. Each element of the plot, once developed sufficiently, guides the writing from beginning to end.

Reports have their own structure, but it’s not as easy to identify or guide as a narrative. To understand how reports develop, young writers must think about the type of report and what readers need to understand the information.

For example, competition reports must include rules, incident reports must include information about events leading up to the situation, and activity reports usually include guidelines for the activity.

The 5-Paragraph Structure

While there is no set number of paragraphs required, a 5-paragraph structure helps writers develop their ideas logically.

NARRATIVES

Introduction – hook reader, introduce character and goals, describe setting

Body Paragraph 1 – Introduce action and conflict (start things off with the complication, and give the character’s reactions)

Body Paragraph 2 – Increase the conflict and give character’s reactions to that.

Body Paragraph 3 – Increase the conflict again and give character’s reaction to that, but this time problem is solved and goals are achieved.

Conclusion – Explain how characters react to accomplishing their goals, show how things get back to normal, but show how things have changed as characters have learned lessons and now have their desires fulfilled.

REPORTS

Introduction – State who was involved, where the incident took place, what the incident is, and when it happened.

Body Paragraph 1 – Explain the events leading up to the incident, what happened directly before the situation occurred. For competitions, give rules. For activities, give guidelines. For events talk about the program. For accident, give the situation just before the accident.

Body Paragraph 2 – Describe the main situation, stating what happened and who did what

Body Paragraph 3 – Give reactions and immediate responses to the incident or accident. For competitions, activities, and events, say what happened right after the main situation. Reactions to prizes received, accomplishment of task, or closing of the program.

Conclusion – Document the outcome of the incident or accident, any punishment or lasting outcomes. For competitions, activities, and events, say what participants will do next (reported speech only) or any announcements given about next steps.

Once young writers work within this type of structure, they will produce narratives and reports that readers will be able to follow and understand.

However, it’s good to note that the number of paragraphs is just a guide because the narrative paragraph can be flexible.

The Flexible Paragraph

One thing young writers should keep in mind is that not all paragraphs are the same. For one thing, narrative paragraphs are not as rigid as report paragraphs.

Report paragraphs are expected to follow the topic-sentence format. There is a main idea stated in a sentence at the beginning, then details are provided to explain the topic sentence. Finally, a sentence is given to close off the paragraph.

Each paragraph is connected to the other with transition words that help readers follow the sequence of actions of the report. The report paragraph is a formal structure that helps readers see the logical progression of events.

The narrative paragraph, on the other hand, is a unit of expression. And when dialogue is introduced, it becomes flexible and often doesn’t look like the conventional paragraph.

The best way to write dialogue is with each new speaker starting in a new line that is indented. So, in a sense, each new speaker has their own paragraph.

Additionally, narratives work better with transition phrases and not transition words. Phrases complete the flow of ideas and allow for vivid description and creativity.

When young writers are following the 5-paragraph structure for narratives, they should use it as a guide and not feel like they are bound to 5 paragraphs only.

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Connecting Cause and Effect

Actions and reactions must be connected. This is the simple truth that often eludes some young writers. Many have fantastical ideas that run away with their thoughts to the point that it’s a challenge seeing how things are connected. Others race through their ideas so quickly that they forget to make connections clear for their readers, often assuming that certain things are obvious. The one thing that should be made absolutely clear to young writers is that nothing is simply obvious to readers. Remember, readers have their own ideas and thoughts which may be quite different from the writer’s. And that’s ok, but it’s important for writers to see that as a challenge to create clear and descriptive stories.

This is why understanding the link between cause and effect is worth sharing with your young writer. Every action has a cause. Every action has an effect. So have your young writer thinking about why characters do what they do. Ask questions such as, “How does this action affect the others in the story?” and “How does this action lead to the solution?” If there’s a ripple in a bucket of water, what caused it and what does the ripple mean? These are the things readers look for. What’s the significance of each action that’s happening in the story?

Short stories create a little challenge here because there isn’t a lot of time and space to develop all the details. But that’s ok. Young writers don’t need to develop a lot, they just need to connect the ideas.

One of the best exercises to help young writers make connections between events is to have them plot out stories. They don’t always need to write the full narrative, but seeing the connection between events during the planning stage can be very instructive. Have some fun making up funny ideas and connecting them with action toward a logical end. And get your young writers thinking!

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