Expand students' concept of audience by writing the same topic for different audiences¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The guide recommends designing writing activities that naturally lend themselves to different audiences, helping students generate a list of potential audiences for an assignment, and having students "practice writing about the same topic for different audiences, to develop the skill of adjusting tone and word choice to suit the audience." Examples include writing persuasive letters to parents, friends, or teachers, and writing a short story for a magazine or a fable for a preschool class. An example lists students, teachers, administrators, and parents as audiences for a persuasive request.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Activities that naturally invite multiple audiences
• Audience lists generated with students, who choose the best-fitting audience

Constraints¶

Target Learners¶

• elementary school students

Target Learning Goals¶

• adjusting tone and word choice for an audience
• writing for varied audiences

Related Strategies¶

• Teach students that different genres of writing serve different purposes and let them practice genre selection
• Guide students to select, match, and adapt writing strategies to situations

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Graham, S., Bollinger, A., Olson, C. B., D'Aoust, C., MacArthur, C., McCutchen, D., & Olinghouse, N. (2012). Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers: Instructional Tips Based on the Educator's Practice Guide. What Works Clearinghouse, NCEE 2012-4058. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/PracticeGuide/17