Informative Writing

What Is Informative Writing?

According to the Australian Curriculum:

[Informative texts] include texts that are culturally important in society and are valued for their
informative content, as a store of knowledge and for their value as part of everyday life. These texts
include explanations and descriptions of natural phenomena, recounts of events, instructions and
directions, rules and laws and news bulletins.
(ACARA, 2010 to present)

We have covered a wide variety of informative texts in this manual. Some are much more common
than others, and you’ll find a selected list on the next page.
In reality, text definitions are not set in stone – a blog post, for example, can be either informative
or persuasive. Furthermore, the format in which a text is published (e.g. newspaper, digital news
report, tweet, web page, radio show) does not determine whether a text is informative, the intention
to inform does.

Texts can be classified as belonging to one of three types: imaginative, informative or persuasive,
although it is acknowledged that these distinctions are neither static nor watertight and particular
texts can belong to more than one category.
(ACARA, 2010 to present)

The good news is that everything you already know about teaching effective writing still applies.

Informative writing …
• provides information and knowledge
• contains facts that are accurate and true
• seeks to be clear and precise – to be understood
without confusion
• structures and groups facts and information in a
way that enhances meaning (this means
Step 1: Plan for Success is essential)
• can be an information report, factual recount,
description or explanation
• is not confined to specific forms (print, online) and
can be multimodal (such as a documentary film).

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Informative Writing
(cont’d)

Types of Informative Writing

The variety of informative texts, and the many ways they can be presented (including multimodal
forms), is very extensive. You’ll see examples of many different types of informative texts throughout
this manual in the writing samples and Action Activities.
Here’s a list of the most common types of informative texts:

Information reports
Giving factual information about people, animals, things or phenomena
• animal reports (e.g. ‘Facts about spiders’)
• documentaries (e.g. David Attenborough documentaries)
• geography or science reports (e.g. ‘What is erosion?’)
• investigative news reports (e.g. from ABC’s Behind the News)
• comparative reports (e.g. ‘Similarities and differences between soccer and rugby’)
Factual recounts
Retelling events in the order in which they happened
• biographies (e.g. ‘My life so far’)
• excursion reports (e.g. ‘The Year 6 trip to Canberra’)
• historical recounts (e.g. ‘Daily life on the First Fleet’)
• news reports (print, digital, audio or video news)
• sport reports (e.g. ‘Friday’s football win’)
Factual descriptions
Describing a place or thing using facts
• documentary film and radio scripts (e.g. The Story of India, Life on Earth)
• mockumentary, comic scripts (e.g. Kenny, Best in Show, The Office)
• landscape descriptions (e.g. ‘Western grasslands of Australia’)
• travel articles/guides (but not travel reviews, as they express personal opinions)
Explanations
Explaining how or why something happens
• explanations of why something happens (e.g. ‘Why we have seasons’)
• explanations of how things or processes work (e.g. ‘How a dishwasher works’, ‘Our school
frog bog plan’)
• explanations of a concept or topic (e.g. ‘The wool industry in Australia’)

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 Seven Steps and
Informative Writing
All kinds of informative texts rely on the Seven Steps techniques. Here are some examples:

EXAMPLE STEP

Step
A science report needs to be well structured
for clarity. Plan for Success

Step

2
An informative report has to sizzle at the
start to make the reader want to know more. Sizzling Starts

Tension is crucial in documentary film Step

making to draw the audience in and make
them care about the topic.
3 Tightening Tension

Step

4
News reports in print and audio rely on
quotations from observers and experts. Dynamic Dialogue

Historical recounts paint a word picture to Step

help the reader visualise what it was like
to live in that time.
5 Show, Don’t Tell

Step

6
Printed news articles are ruthlessly edited
for clarity and length. Ban the Boring

Step

7
Biographies need to end with impact to
leave a lasting impression on the reader. Endings with Impact

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 Informative Writing
and the Curriculum (cont’d)

Curriculum Matrix
The curriculum matrix below lists the Australian Curriculum content descriptions covered by each Step
and directs you to the relevant Action Activity (AA) in the manual. The activities in this manual are
designed for Year 3–6 students but they can easily be adapted for younger or older students.

Year 3
LANGUAGE STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5 STEP 6 STEP 7
Language for interaction

Understand that successful All Action All Action All Action All Action All Action All Action All Action
cooperation with others depends on Activities, Activities, Activities, Activities, Activities, Activities, Activities,
shared use of social conventions, pp 40–2 pp 62–4 pp 75–7 pp 88–90 pp 105–7 pp 118–20 pp 131–3
including turn-taking patterns, and
forms of address that vary according
to the degree of formality in social
situations (ACELA1476)

Examine how evaluative language can AA1, p 75 AA2, p 88 AA1, p 105 AA1, p 118
be varied to be more or less
AA4, p 76 AA2, p 105 AA4, p 119
forceful (ACELA1477)
AA5, p 77 AA3, p 106 AA5, p 120
AA6, p 120

Text structure and organisation

Understand how different types AA4, p 41 All Action All Action All Action All Action All Action All Action
of texts vary in use of language Activities, Activities, Activities, Activities, Activities, Activities,
AA5, p 42
choices, depending on their purpose pp 62–4 pp 75–7 pp 88–90 pp 105–7 pp 118–20 pp 131–3
and context (for example, tense and AA6, p 42
types of sentences) (ACELA1478)

Understand that paragraphs are a AA1, p 62 AA1, p 75 AA1, p 88 AA1, p 105 AA1, p 118 AA3, p 132
key organisational feature of written
AA3, p 63 AA2, p 75 AA4, p 89 AA3, p 106 AA3, p 119 AA4, p 132
texts (ACELA1479)
AA5, p 64 AA5, p 77 AA5, p 90 AA5, p 107 AA4, p 119 AA5, p 133
AA6, p 64 AA6, p 77 AA6, p 90 AA6, p 107 AA5, p 120 AA6, p 133
AA6, p 120

Identify the features of online texts that AA1, p 62 AA3, p 132

enhance navigation (ACELA1790)

Expressing and developing ideas

Identify the effect on audiences of AA6, p 64 AA3, p 76 AA2, p 105 AA2, p 118
techniques, for example shot size,
AA4, p 76 AA4, p 106 AA3, p 119
vertical camera angle and layout in
picture books, advertisements and film AA5, p 77 AA6, p 107
segments (ACELA1483)

Learn extended and technical AA1, p 40 AA1, p 62 AA1, p 75 AA1, p 88 AA1, p 105 AA1, p 118 AA2, p 131
vocabulary and ways of expressing
AA2, p 40 AA3, p 63 AA2, p 75 AA2, p 88 AA3, p 106 AA2, p 118 AA3, p 132
opinion including modal verbs and
adverbs (ACELA1484) AA4, p 41 AA4, p 63 AA5, p 77 AA3, p 89 AA5, p 107 AA4, p 119 AA4, p 132
AA5, p 64 AA6, p 77 AA4, p 89 AA6, p 107 AA5, p 120 AA5, p 133
AA6, p 90 AA6, p 120

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Informative Writing
and the Curriculum (cont’d)

Seven Steps Across the Curriculum

The activities in this manual can also be tied into inquiry topics across the curriculum. The table below
lists the learning areas that are covered and directs you to the relevant Action Activity (AA). For more
information on how to use the Seven Steps to bring inquiry topics to life, come to Workshop Two:
Putting It All Together (see the back page of this manual for further information).

LEARNING AREA/SUBJECT STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5 STEP 6 STEP 7

Humanities and Social Sciences

History AA2, p 40 AA2, p 62 AA3, p 89 AA1, p 105 AA5, p 133

AA3, p 41 AA4, p 63 AA6, p 90 AA4, p 106 AA6, p 133
AA6, p 42 AA6, p 107

Geography AA2, p 40 AA2, p 62 AA1, p 75 AA2, p 88 AA1, p 105 AA1, p 118 AA4, p 132
AA3, p 41 AA4, p 63 AA3, p 76 AA3, p 89 AA2, p 105 AA2, p 118 AA5, p 133
AA4, p 41 AA6, p 64 AA4, p 76 AA5, p 90 AA4, p 106 AA3, p 119 AA6, p 133
AA5, p 77 AA6, p 90
AA6, p 77

Civics and Citizenship AA2, p 40 AA4, p 63 AA2, p 88 AA4, p 106 AA3, p 119 AA5, p 133
AA3, p 41 AA3, p 89 AA6, p 133
AA6, p 90

Economics and Business AA2, p 40 AA4, p 63 AA2, p 88 AA1, p 105 AA5, p 133
AA3, p 41 AA3, p 89 AA4, p 106 AA6, p 133
AA6, p 90

Science

Science Understanding AA2, p 40 AA4, p 63 AA1, p 75 AA3, p 89 AA1, p 105 AA1, p 118 AA4, p 132
AA3, p 41 AA6, p 64 AA3, p 76 AA5, p 90 AA2, p 105 AA2, p 118 AA5, p 133
AA4, p 41 AA4, p 76 AA6, p 90 AA6, p 133
AA5, p 77
AA6, p 77

Science as a Human Endeavour AA1, p 40 AA4, p 63 AA1, p 88 AA1, p 105 AA5, p 133
AA2, p 40 AA5, p 64 AA3, p 89 AA6, p 133
AA3, p 41 AA6, p 90

Technologies

Design and Technologies Knowledge AA2, p 40 AA4, p 63 AA3, p 89 AA1, p 105 AA2, p 131
and Understanding
AA3, p 41 AA6, p 90 AA5, p 133
AA6, p 133

Digital Technologies Knowledge and AA2, p 40 AA4, p 63 AA3, p 89 AA5, p 107 AA5, p 133
Understanding
AA3, p 41 AA5, p 64 AA6, p 90 AA6, p 133

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Implementation

How This Manual Works

This manual assumes you will introduce one Step at a time, but you don't have to do them in order from
1 to 7. Check out the implementation advice on pages 27–8 for more on this.
Each of the core chapters in this manual (one per Step) is laid out in the same way for ease of use.

Step
BAN THE BORING
6

Learn the Theory

Informative texts don't have to be boring. Rather than just listing

facts, writers can be creative using the Seven Steps techniques to
bring the topic to life and engage the reader.
Encourage students to use all of their Seven Steps knowledge to
revise and redraft their work until only the interesting, sizzly and

Learn the Theory

enticing facts remain.
Step 6: Ban the Boring can be used during the writing process to
avoid boring bits, and again at the end as an advanced editing tool.

Ban the Boring While Writing

Now that you've taught students some or all of the other Steps,
the good news is that there should already be far fewer boring bits
in their writing. Your students should be able to ban the boring as

The key techniques that underpin each Step are covered at the start
they write!
Tip
Remind students that there are particular things we ban in this Step,
We recommend teaching Step 6
such as:
last because it involves using
• boring beginnings – for example, ‘We woke up. We got dressed. all the Seven Steps techniques
We went on the bus. We got to the camp.' (Step 2) to improve students’ writing.

• repetitive sentences and lists of dry facts – for example, ‘Bears

of each chapter.
are …’, ‘Bears live in …’, 'Bears eat …’ (Step 3)
• long or irrelevant quotations – for example, two paragraphs
of text from an interview. (Step 4)
• telling rather than showing – for example, ‘This topic is
important because …’ (Step 5)
• boring endings – for example, ‘It was fun.’ (Step 7) Try Action
1–3 on
Activities
now.
It’s okay if some of these things still make their way into the first pages 118–9
draft. Step 6 comes into play again at the end of the writing process.

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Step
TIGHTENING TENSION
3

What It Looks Like – Documentary Script

Use these ‘before and after’ student writing samples to show the

What It Looks Like

impact of these techniques and to model what you expect from
your students.

Year 3 Writing Sample

Topic: Iguanas and racer snakes

Before

Use these ‘before and after’ writing samples to show the impact
The baby iguanas have just been born. There are snakes
chasing them trying to eat them. It’s really scary! Some
of them only just escape.

After Paint a word picture – The text

of the Seven Steps techniques and to model what you expect from
sets the scene using the senses to
make the reader feel like they are
It’s a new day, I’ve just been born. I can feel the warm present in the moment.
sun on my skin.
I turn my head and I see them. Snakes. Dark snakes.
Use comparisons and contrasts –
Quick snakes. Hungry snakes.
The text starts with a normal, calm

students. These samples have been directly transcribed and left

Run, run, run! Jump left, go right. moment and then contrasts that
with the moment when the iguana
Three of them come at me and they’re almost on top
sees the snakes.
of me, but I run until my little heart almost bursts.
I’m free, I’m safe!
(Sample created by Seven Steps) Use short, sharp sentences –
The short, sharp sentences give a

unedited.
sense of urgency. Using the Rule
of Three and repetition in these
paragraphs also emphasises this.

The student knows that, for real

tension, we must identify with the
character and believe that they
may fail. Documentaries often
include mini-narratives that use
this principle.

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Step
PLAN FOR SUCCESS
1

Action Activities

These short, fun activities focus on helping students to develop their brainstorming, research and
planning skills.

Action Activity 1
Action Activities
These short, fun activities are designed to help students consolidate their
Igniting Prior Knowledge
Start with what students know, or think they know about a topic.
Show students the image opposite. Ask students to form
small groups and make a list of everything they know about
how to become an astronaut.

understanding of each Step by practising the techniques. In the first few

As a class, watch this short interview:
Australia's Science Channel: ‘How to Become an
Astronaut – Marsha Ivins & Adelle’ (duration 6:32)
[Link]
Get students to revisit their list of prior knowledge and tick anything that has been
confirmed and cross out any misconceptions.

activities, students analyse examples of the Step in action; in subsequent

Explanations (‘ how to’)

Action Activity 2
Brainstorming Bags

activities, they create short texts of their own. For each Action Activity, we
Get the whole class involved in brainstorming questions for research to demonstrate the range
of questions that can be generated for informative topics.
Write a different informative topic on the outside of 10 paper bags (see page 52 for topic ideas).
Place the paper bags around the room with some blank slips of paper next to each one.
Give students five minutes to work their way around the room, writing questions they would like
to ask about each topic on the blank slips of paper and placing them in the bags.

have recommended relevant types of informative texts (see page 7).

Now ask students to form small groups and give each group a bag. Get them to discuss each
of the questions in their bag and select the one they are most interested in. Work with each group
to generate clusters of related questions (see pages 30 and 35 for more information on this).
Students can record their related questions in the deeper brainstorm section of the template on
page 44.

All types of informative texts

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Step
ENDINGS WITH IMPACT
7

Spin Me an Ending

TOPIC:
1. Choose one of the following ending techniques:
• Link to the introduction

Templates
• Include a call to action
• Make the reader think. Ask a
Use
rhetorical
repetition
2. Spin a pencil to choose another question
technique that adds impact!
(The pointy end is your choice.)

3. Now brainstorm as many ideas as

The templates are used to scaffold students’ learning and can be

Use emotive Use the
language SPIN Rule of Three
you can for an Ending with Impact
using both techniques.

Paint a word Use dialogue

picture or a strong
quotation

found towards the back of each chapter. Templates are referenced in

the relevant Action Activities.

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 Implementation (cont’d)

Step
SIZZLING STARTS
2

Top Twenty Topics

Use these topic ideas to adapt Action Activity 6 for different year levels or as the basis for your own
activities.

Lower Primary (F–2)

Top Twenty Topics

1. Wombat rescue
2. Starting school
3. A day in the life of a dog trainer
4. Emma Watkins, life after The Wiggles
5. What it means to be a friend

Middle Primary (3–4)

6. Why are people afraid of sharks?
7. The modern family in Australia
8. Living on a cattle station
9. Jessica Watson, the 16-year-old who sailed around the world alone
Use these topic ideas to adapt activities for different year levels,
to change the focus of topic-based activities when you repeat or
10. What it means to be a role model

Upper Primary (5–6)

11. Protecting crocodiles in Australia’s north
12. What changes when cities go high-rise?

extend them, or as the basis for creating your own activities.

13. Life as an immigrant in Australia
14. Ashima Shiraishi, champion rock climber
15. What it means to be a mentor

Early Secondary (7–10)

16. Polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
17. The dangers of pearl diving
18. The economic impact of COVID-19
19. Nujeen Mustafa, the refugee who travelled over 5,000 km in a wheelchair
20. What it means to be a leader

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Step
DYNAMIC DIALOGUE
4

Self-Assessment

Look at each ‘I can … ’ statement and think about how you are doing. Tick the box that best describes
your progress. You may have mastered some things, but there may be other things that you need
more help with.

I can …

use quotations to support the facts

in an informative text

use quotations for different purposes

Self-Assessment
Students can use these self-assessment rubrics to evaluate
(e.g. add authority; provide different
points of view ; move the action along;
or alter the voice, pace or tone of a text)

use rhetorical questions to engage

the reader

their own progress, and teachers can use them as the basis for
identify a variety of people who might
have an opinion both for and against
a topic

gather quotations from a range

conferencing with students.

of different sources, such as other
texts and transcripts and by
interviewing people directly

choose the most impactful part of what

someone says to use in my text.

Comments:

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Step
SHOW, DON’T TELL
5

Refresher

Engage the reader’s emotions and make them care

about the topic by showing rather than telling.

Build empathy by describing the topic or events

through the eyes or the words of someone the reader

Refresher
cares about. (Walk a mile in their shoes)

Use the Five + 1 Senses to paint vivid word

pictures that show the reader what you can see,
hear, touch, taste, smell and feel (emotions).

Describe the impact

of a topic or event
The key points for each Step are set out on a poster to refresh
students' memories.
on one individual to
represent the many
who are affected.
(One is powerful)

Show information
visually using graphs
and infographics.

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Putting it all together

Now for writing a whole informative text – that is, playing the tennis match! When students are ready
– or at least familiar with Steps 1, 2, 3 and 7 – review the ‘Putting It All Together’ chapter on pages
139–65.
Working collaboratively leads to better learning outcomes, so it is best to create full texts as a group
first. Students scaffold each other by writing a small part of a complete text, and they learn from the
ideas and creativity of everyone in the group.
This chapter includes templates to guide students through the complex process of writing a
complete text. Once students have mastered the process collaboratively with the use of templates,
gradually reduce the scaffolds until they can write independently with creativity and confidence.
There is also a marking rubric (pages 156–7) and graded writing samples (pages 160–5) that you
can use to assess how students are progressing with the Seven Steps and to assist with reporting.

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 Implementation (cont’d)

Eight-Week Starter Plan

How do you start applying the Seven Steps techniques to informative writing? Here is a sample plan
for the first eight weeks to help you implement the core Steps (Steps 1, 2, 3 and 7).
Feel free to change this plan to suit the needs of your students. For beginner writers, you may want
to spend more time on each Step. For advanced writers, you might consider covering one or two Steps
a week.

TIMELINE TOPIC KEY POINT WHAT TO REVIEW ACTIVITIES

Week 1 Introduction Chunk large tasks – Introduction, pp 1–28
the tennis analogy The Five Secrets, p 3

Step 2: Sizzling Starts Learn the Theory, pp 57–9 Do Action Activity 1, p 62

Sizzling aim to engage the What It Looks Like, pp 60–1
Starts reader immediately

Week 2 Step 2: Use fascinating Read Sizzling Starts from a range Do Action Activities 2–6, pp 62–4
Sizzling facts and Sizzling of informative texts Students complete the
Starts Starts techniques self-assessment, p 68
to craft a great
introduction

Week 3 Step 3: Build momentum Learn the Theory, pp 71–2 Do Action Activities 1–3,
Tightening to maintain the What It Looks Like, pp 73–4 pp 75–6
Tension reader's interest

Week 4 Step 3: Build to a high Identify the crescendo in documentaries, Do Action Activities 4–6,
Tightening point just before such as David Attenborough’s wildlife pp 76–7
Tension the ending films Students complete the
self-assessment, p 80

Week 5 Step 7: A great conclusion Learn the Theory, pp 127–8 Do Action Activities 1–3,
Endings wraps up the What It Looks Like, pp 129–30 pp 131–2
with Impact text and packs a
powerful punch Look at good and bad endings in
a range of informative texts

Week 6 Step 7: Combine different Look at examples of the ending Do Action Activities 4–6,
Endings techniques for techniques in action pp 132–3
with Impact maximum impact Students complete the
self-assessment, p 137

Week 7 Step 1: Plan Brainstorm Learn the Theory, Part 1: Brainstorming Do Action Activities 1–2, p 40
for Success questions for more and Researching, pp 29–30 Students complete the
effective research What It Looks Like, Part 1: Brainstorming self-assessment for Part 1, p 53
and Researching, pp 34–7

Week 8 Step 1: Plan Use the Learn the Theory, Part 2: Selecting and Do Action Activities 3–5, pp 41–2
for Success ‘Informative Ordering Facts, pp 31–3 Students complete the
Writing Graph’ for What It Looks Like, Part 2: Selecting and self-assessment for Part 2, p 54
planning Ordering Facts, pp 38–9

Additional informative writing resources are available on Teacher Hub. Log in to your account at
[Link] or visit the Seven Steps website to learn more and sign up.

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