Comprehensive Writing Instruction
Improve student writing with:
Genre studies & lessons
Animations & web tools
Professional development
Author Heather Lattimer reminds us that “good nonfiction shouldn’t let readers forget. It should capture readers’ imagination and spark within them an intense desire to learn, not just about interesting people and places, but about ideas and perspectives.” (Thinking Through Genre, 2003, p.70) This is the great benefit of introducing students to feature article writing.
Feature articles dig in, going deeper than the superficial news bytes that bombard most of us on a daily basis. By reaching beyond the dry facts, features provide a fresh take on a real issue, challenge or problem. They have the potential to inspire readers’ compassion, understanding and enthusiasm for topics that may not previously have been on their radar.
When studying this genre in the classroom, students get the chance to generate non-fiction that is more exciting than what is typically assigned. Often, the non-fiction that students are required to write emphasizes facts rather than ideas. For too many young teens, this type of writing becomes an unmotivating exercise in paraphrasing material from a text. Feature article writing, on the other hand, offers students a vehicle to communicate their unique perspective on a particular issue existing in the world today. Students are encouraged to articulate ideas thoughtfully, develop their own voices and recognize that their voices have power, all of which are skills that contribute to a successful adulthood.
Dr. Heather Lattimer is an Assistant Professor in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego. Formerly a high school teacher and literacy coach, Heather has taught English, history, and mathematics in a diverse range of high school and middle school classrooms in both Northern and Southern California. Her expertise is in supporting struggling readers and writers and challenging chronic underachievers. Heather has consulted for schools and school districts throughout the country. Dr. Lattimer is the author of a professional text for teachers, Thinking through Genre: Units of Study in Reading and Writing Workshops, 4-12, published by Stenhouse in 2003. She holds a B.A. from Harvard University, received her M.A. in Education from Stanford University, and completed her doctorate in education at the University of California, San Diego, where her research focuses on educational access and equity for low-income students, teaching excellence in literacy and the social sciences, and the professional growth of teachers working in urban secondary schools.
The unit offers six weeks of instruction and is suitable for a wide range of middle school classrooms.
This beginning step supports students in developing ideas for their own writing. After determining the characteristics of a feature article, students brainstorm ideas for their own articles. At the end of this step, students submit a description of the content, angle and intended audience for their articles.
Lesson 1.1: Define a Feature Article
After being introduced to the four key characteristics of feature articles, students examine examples and non-examples before drafting their own description of this popular writing genre.
Lesson 1.2: Know Your Expertise
Students generate ideas for topics, considering the personal knowledge they hold that might translate into a feature article that is focused, in-depth and has a unique angle.
Lesson 1.3: Find Your Angle
Students decide what they want their readers to know about their topics, with an aim of providing their readers with new information, a fresh perspective and or/deeper understanding. As part of this process, they identify a unique angle for their articles.
Lesson 1.4: Test Your Topics (Supplementary)
Students work with a peer to finalize their topics in an editor’s conference. Students will then continue to pre-write on their topic focusing on their angle and personal experiences.
Although we want students to write about a topic with which they are very familiar, feature articles are generally written in the third person. As such, students cannot rely solely on their own experience when writing a feature article. They need to collect information and anecdotes from outside sources. During this step, students gather outside information via interviewing, web searches, surveys, etc. which they will later include in their feature articles.
Lesson 2.1: Plan a Research Strategy
Students are introduced to the key types of evidence/factual information typically found in feature articles. After identifying them in a mentor text, students begin planning a research strategy specifically suited to the article they are writing.
Lesson 2.2: Search the Internet for Evidence
Students search the Internet for applicable information on their feature article topics. Students learn how to use search engines to find topic-related websites and then evaluate them for trustworthiness.
Lesson 2.3: Take Relevant Notes
Students learn strategies to take effective notes and apply them to websites and/or articles relevant to their topics. Students record key information on what they find, using their own words, and indicating how the information will be used in their writing.
Lesson 2.4: Prepare for an Interview
Students prepare to conduct an interview that will deepen their feature article. After viewing and analyzing a short videosegment, studentschoose an interview subject and craft questions that will yield information that enriches their articles.
During step three, students organize the information they have gathered in order to make it meaningful for their audience. Some students may continue to gather information for their articles, either because they were unable to complete interviews, etc. during the previous week or because, in the process of organizing information, they recognize holes that need to be filled. By the end of the week, students should have a complete outline of their feature article.
Lesson 3.1: Clarify the Main Idea
Students revisit the angle of their articles (from Lesson 1.3) and adjust them in response to the information they gathered while doing research. By the end of the lesson, students use their topic and angle to craft a main idea statement, consisting of one or two clear and concise sentences.
Lesson 3.2: Organize Your Sections
Students use their understanding of feature articles, the main idea they developed earlier (3.1) and their research to organize the body of their feature articles. In doing so, students outline the sections of the article by identifying the key “idea chunks” they plan to write about and giving the idea chunks section headings.
Lesson 3.3: Complete Your Plan
Students determine what information from their research needs to be incorporated in their feature articles to give readers a good understanding of what the article is about. Students include information collected from interviews and surveys, as well as expert opinions and statistics found on the Internet. As part of this process, students identify parts of the article that remain “thin” or “weak” and require additional information/research.
Lesson 3.4: Create a Survey (Supplementary)
Students will create survey questions on their feature article topic. Students will use the questions they created to survey their classmates and create statistics to accompany their feature articles.
Students draw on both the research completed and outline constructed earlier to draft their feature articles. Students are encouraged to stay focused on their main ideas while crafting paragraphs that grab the attention of the reading audience. At the end of the week, each student should have a complete draft of his or her feature article.
Lesson 4.1: Craft Expository Text: Body Paragraphs
After analyzing sample body paragraphs in a mentor text, students work independently to craft the body paragraphs of their feature articles. Emphasis is placed on writing paragraphs that contain evidence connected to the main idea.
Lesson 4.2: Craft Expository Text- Introduction
Students identify a compelling way to introduce their topics to their audience. Emphasis is placed on leading with a personal story that comes from either an interview or research. Students then complete their introductions by incorporating a paragraph expressing the main idea of their feature article.
Lesson 4.3: Craft Expository Text- Conclusion
Students draft the conclusion to their feature articles. They first examine mentor texts and choose from several different approaches to ending their articles – revisiting the opening story, making recommendations, or summarizing perspectives. Students then select a conclusion strategy that makes the article most clear and powerful.
Lesson 4.4: Use the Computer for Drafting (Supplementary)
This lesson helps students make the best use of word processing software to prepare drafts of their feature articles for revision and publishing.
During the fifth step of the feature article unit, students add details and revise their texts for clarity. They work together with peers and the teacher to ensure that the feature articles convey the information and ideas they wish to communicate.
Lesson 5.1: Peer Review for Clarity of Meaning
After being introduced to specific guidelines for reviewing a partner’s feature article for clarity of main idea, students share their writing with one or two peers in order to get one or more sets of feedback. Peer review is scaffolded by a short series of questions and corresponding “sentence starters” that keep the process on track.
Lesson 5.2: Clarify the Main Idea
After reviewing the feedback they received from a partner(s), students develop and execute a plan for improving their articles. Students work independently to implement their plans, revising their writing to clarify the main idea of their feature articles.
Lesson 5.3: Use Quotations to Strengthen Your Feature Article
Students learn how quotations can make feature articles more interesting and unique by analyzing effective examples in mentor texts. Students then review their feature article drafts along with their research and interview notes to identify portions of their writing that might benefit from the quotations they have at their disposal.
Lesson 5.4: Craft Expository Text – Headings (Supplementary)
Students learn strategies for writing headings and sub-headings that draw their readers’ attention and make the text more readable.
During this final step of the unit, students edit and proofread their feature articles for grammar and spelling errors. Additionally, students develop visual and text elements that will enhance their published articles. At the end of this step, they celebrate their accomplishments by publishing their completed articles online.
Lesson 6.1: Focus on Transitions
Students learn how transition words can improve the continuity of their feature articles and help the reader stay connected to the main idea. Students then identify places in their writing where they transition from one idea to another and use transition words to strengthen the text.
Lesson 6.2: Design the Features
Students decide on the features that will best enhance their articles. After making their choices from subheadings, photos, survey results and other visual and text elements, students will be ready to add the features to their writing in the next lesson. The process will result in a more engaging, elucidating and professional published piece.
Lesson 6.3: Edit and Publish
Students work with a peer to edit the grammar and punctuation of their articles. They then review the final version of their feature articles in preparation for publishing. With the guidance of the teacher, students use the online publishing tool.
Writing Feature Article References for Teachers
Anderson, Jeff. Mechanically Inclined. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers, 2005.
Bomer, Randy. Time for Meaning. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1995.
Calkins, Lucy. The Art of Teaching Writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1994.
Lattimer, Heather. Thinking Through Genre. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers, 2003.
New York City and State Learning Standards
The lessons in this project support the New York City ELA Middle School Performance Descriptions for writing. According to ELA Standard E2:
Writing is a process through which a writer shapes language to communicate effectively. Writing often develops through a series of initial plans and multiple drafts and through access to informed feedback and response. Purpose, audience, and context contribute to the form and substance of writing as well as to its style, tone, and stance.
Writing Feature Articles addresses the following NYC ELA Standards:
E4a. The student demonstrates an understanding of the rules of the English language in written and oral work, and selects the structures and features of language appropriate to the purpose, audience, and context of the work. The student demonstrates control of:
E4b. The student analyzes and subsequently revises work to clarify it or make it more effective in communicating the intended message or thought. The student’s revisions should be made in light of the purposes, audiences, and contexts that apply to the work. Strategies for revising include:
E5b. The student produces work in at least one literary genre that follows the conventions of the genre.
Examples of literary genres include: A personal essay. 4a, 4b A short story. 2c, 4a, 4b A short play. 4a, 4b A poem. 4a, 4b A vignette. 4a, 4b
New York State English Language Arts Learning Standards
ELA 1.1. Establish an authoritative stance on the subject and provide references to establish the validity and verifiability of the information presented. Develop information with appropriate supporting material, such as facts, details, illustrative examples or anecdotes; and exclude extraneous material.
ELA 1.1c Use the process of pre-writing, drafting, revising, and proofreading (the "writing process") to produce well-constructed informational texts.
ELA 2.1. Speaking and writing to acquire and transmit information requires asking probing and clarifying questions, interpreting information in one’s own words, applying information from one context to another, and presenting the information and interpretation clearly, concisely, and comprehensibly.
ELA 3.1. Evaluate their own and other’s work based on a variety of criteria (e.g., logic, clarity, comprehensiveness, conciseness, originality, conventionality) and recognize the varying effectiveness of different approaches. Analyze, interpret, and evaluate information, ideas, organization, and language from academic and nonacademic texts, such as textbooks, public documents, book and movie reviews, and editorials.
ELA 4.1. Express ideas and concerns clearly and respectfully in conversations and group discussions.
