Your students may become increasingly introduced to expository writing during their third grade class year. As opposed to narrative writing or persuasive writing, expository writing deals with the presentation of factual information. The reader should be able to comprehend and flow through the materials easily and effectively. To this end, students should be capable of displaying good sentence structure, vocabulary choice and organization to disseminate the information.
There is a range of topics you can draw on to encourage practice with expository writing. Have students write about the events of their day and present them in chronological order. One method you can use is to have students describe their ideal study habits or patterns. This may also help establish best study practices at an early age and allow children to recognize environments where they learn best. Another option is to have students describe their favorite foods, the recipe and the order or procedure for making it. If students recently went on an outing, the third graders can supply a chronological study of the trip, the downsides and the best parts.
You could prompt the students to do interviews at local businesses, police departments or fire departments. Have them construct questions and report back as to the answers supplied them. You also can have them present a list of school or classroom rules with descriptions of them as well as reasons behind them. The students can offer a summary and explanation of the topics found in a nightly news program. This latter option can get them interested in writing on events outside just home, school and their immediate area.
Remember that whatever topic you choose, it is clarity of the writing voice that needs a special focus. Because expository writing is most concerned with collecting and presenting information, you should encourage third graders -- through vocabulary development and learning -- to describe things in their own words as well as in a manner that translates well to paper. Zero in on paragraph structure through introductory sentences, succeeding bodies of info and closing ideas. Make sure yours student aren't always writing on the same topics. Diversity of topics will better enrich them, create larger comfort zones and increase their range of analytical focus.