How to write a formal report
Description
A discussion between two friends entering a competition to write a factual report about kangaroos. The friends talk about the need for facts rather than opinion, sentence structure and how technical language is more appropriate than descriptive language. The friends reword the competition entry to make it more report-like and less opinion based.
Classroom Ideas
Students could be given a pre-prepared text describing an animal using informal language and opinions. It could be written in a similar style to the the one described in the clip. Students could identify the facts and the opinions in the text and discuss the difference between the two. Students could be asked to consider which is more reliable - fact or opinion. They could then look at an example of a non-fiction text - are there any opinions there? Students could create a checklist of success criteria for writing a formal report. Students could be challenged to re-write the original text using formal language, following the success criteria checklist. Alternatively, students could write a report on a subject being studied in a topic.
Creative writing
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