KnowledgeMadeFun, home

Lesson · Grade 4 · English Language Arts

Narrative, Report or Exposition: The Purpose Picks the Form

  • Grade 4
  • English Language Arts
  • 1 min 7 s
  • British Columbia
  • BC4-EN-01

One short text about a school garden is shown first as a narrative, then rewritten as a report and as an exposition, with a badge naming each form, the panel giving its purpose, and the clue words (a character and past tense verbs, facts and present tense verbs, a main idea with reasons and "That is why") lighting up in the text. It ends with the three versions side by side under their names and the one-line recap that a narrative tells a story, a report gives facts, and an exposition explains an idea.

Concept: Narrative, exposition and report

Anyone can watch two lessons on the website without an account. Signing in is free, no payment and no card, and opens three a day; Plus has no limit.

Loading

Share to Google Classroom

In one sentence

The question this lesson answers

One subject can be written in three different forms.

Here is a short text about a school garden.

Transcript

What the lesson says

One subject can be written in three different forms.

Here is a short text about a school garden.

It tells what happened to someone, in order, so it is a narrative.

The clues are a character, events in time order, and verbs in the past tense.

Now the purpose changes, and we want to give the facts.

A text that gives facts about a subject is a report.

The clues are facts and numbers, present tense verbs, and general statements instead of a story.

Change the purpose once more, and explain why the garden matters.

A text that explains an idea and gives reasons for it is an exposition.

The clues are a main idea, reasons for it, and linking words like that is why.

It is the same garden each time, but the purpose picks the form.

A narrative tells a story, a report gives facts, and an exposition explains an idea.

Curriculum

Where this fits

British Columbia, Grade 4

English Language Arts, Story/text: forms, functions, and genres of textBC4-EN-01

Next: Genres: What Kind of Story Is This?

British Columbia, Grade 5

English Language Arts, Story/text: forms, functions, and genres of textBC5-EN-01

Next: Why a Text Was Written: Finding Its Function

British Columbia, Grade 6

English Language Arts, Story/text: forms, functions, and genres of textBC6-EN-01

Next: Why a Text Was Written: Finding Its Function

British Columbia, Grade 7

English Language Arts, Story/text: formsBC7-EN-01

Next: Why a Text Was Written: Finding Its Function

This lesson is also listed in Grade 5, Grade 6 and Grade 7.

The outcomes and strands follow the British Columbia curriculum.

Keep going

More on this topic