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Reading and Writing 6-8 / Week 08 / Tuesday
2/6
Week 08 · Explanatory Writing

Tuesday

Organizing by sections
// Explain something clearly, section by section
⏱ about 20 min

Tuesday: Organizing by Sections

Raven slides the three rows of index cards apart so each row stands alone.

"Row one, the two sides. Row two, the rules. Row three, the care," she says. "Three sections."

Rocket frowns at a card about the drain. "Does the drain go with care or with the sides?"

"What do you notice about why Rocket checks it?" Raven asks.

"So the bottom stays dry. That is care." He moves the card to row three.

Nova hovers above the rows, her light pausing on each one. "A card that fits two rows is a card you understand," she says. "Choose the row where its job is clearest."

Rocket squares up the rows and writes a heading above each.

Learn it: sections

A section is a group of sentences about one part of the topic. Each section often gets a heading and its own small topic sentence.

Sort your facts into groups before you write. A fact that could fit two groups goes where its job is clearest.

Raven thinks aloud: "The tarp note is about protecting the ramp in winter. The drain note is about keeping the bottom dry. Both protect the ramp, so both belong in a Care section."

  • Write each fact on its own card or line.
  • Group the cards. Name each group with a heading.
  • Put the groups in a sensible order: what it is, how it is used, how it is kept.

Read it: a mentor text with sections

This short explainer ran in this week's Signal. Notice how each heading introduces one group of facts.

Read it
The Corkboard, Explained
The corkboard above the Signal Desk is the memory of the newspaper, and it works in three ways.
What goes on it
Every story idea gets one card. The card names the idea and the writer. Finished stories get a small star.
How the string works
A piece of string joins cards that belong together. Two cards about the garden, for example, are tied with one green thread.
How it is kept tidy
On Press Day the crew takes down the finished cards and files them in a box. The board starts each week nearly empty.
Because of these three habits, nobody at the desk forgets an idea, and no story gets written twice.
CHECK IT: THE CORKBOARD, EXPLAINED
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
How many sections does the mentor text have between the topic sentence and the conclusion?
Which section would the fact "Finished stories get a small star" belong in?
Which section explains the green thread?
What does the last sentence do?
SORT RAVEN'S RAMP NOTES INTO SECTIONS
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Where does the note about the low side and the tall side belong?
Where does the note about helmets and one skater at a time belong?
Where does the note about the green tarp belong?
Where does the note about checking the storm drain belong?
A SENSIBLE ORDER FOR THE RAMP EXPLAINER
  • ?Section 1: The two sides
  • ?Section 3: Care
  • ?Conclusion: why the three parts matter together
  • ?Section 2: The rules
  • ?Topic sentence: the ramp has three parts that make it work.
WHY THIS EXERCISEA reader needs to picture the ramp before learning its rules, and the rules before learning how it is cared for.
About sectionsTrue or false?
Each section is about one part of the topic.?
A fact that fits two sections goes where its job is clearest.?
Headings are only for decoration.?
The conclusion should start a brand new topic.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEHeadings and sections help the reader follow the explanation one part at a time.
In the mentor text, what color is the thread that ties the garden cards? Type the color.
In Raven's notes, how many weekends did it take to build the ramp? Type the number.
Try it
Write each of Raven's notes on a slip of paper. Sort the slips into three rows on a table.
Read each row aloud and check that every slip fits its heading.
Checklist
I have three sections, each with a heading.
Every note is sorted into exactly one section.
My sections are in a sensible order.

Three rows, three sections. Tomorrow is Writing Lab: you draft two sections using only the facts in the notes.

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