Reports
Purpose
The purpose of a report is to describe and classify information. Reports have a logical sequence of facts that are stated without any personal involvement from the writer.
Informative reports are written about living things like plants and animals and non-living things like cars or oceans. An information report is used when we talk and write about, eg. Bikes. (When writing a description we only talk/write about one specific thing, eg. My Bike).
Structure
Reports usually consist of the following:
- an opening statement. (The Antarctic is a large continent at the South Pole; Possums are nocturnal animals that were introduced to New Zealand from Australia.)
- a series of facts about various aspects of the subject eg where possums live, what they eat, problems they cause, etc. These facts are grouped into paragraphs and each paragraph has a topic sentence.
- diagrams, photographs, illustrations and maps may be used to enhance the text
- reports don't usually have an "ending", although sometimes the detailed information is rounded off by some general statement about the topic.
Language
- Nouns and noun phrases are used rather than personal pronouns. The use of personal pronouns is limited.
- Most reports are written in the present tense.
- Some reports use technical or scientific terms.
- Linking verbs are used, eg. is, are, has, have, belong to, to give coherence.
- Uses some action verbs (climb, eat).
- Descriptive language is used that is factual rather than imaginative eg colour, shape, size, body parts, habits, behaviours, functions, uses.
e-Learning tools to support report writing
Online thesaurus:
Brainstorming tools:
Updated on: 18 Mar 2020
