4 Main Writing Styles for Students: A Writing Guide

Beginning in elementary school, children begin to recognize that each story and text has a unique purpose, which means that writing style should be tailored to meet that purpose. Between the ages of 7 and 9, children begin to use adjectives and adverbs in descriptive writing. Children learn how to use different types of writing between the ages of 9 and 11. By middle school, they begin to write reports and multi-paragraph essays.

For children, understanding the various writing styles can be a bit confusing at first. Thankfully, with your help as a parent, you can easily help them understand the different forms of writing. Here is a brief overview of four different writing styles and techniques that you can share with your child to help them become a better writer.

The Four Types of Writing:

Writing style refers to the way an author chooses to write to his or her audience. A style shows both the personality and voice of the writer and how he or she is aware of the audience. For more information about writing style, see below.

Narrative: Writers who use the narrative style are telling a story with a plot and characters. This is the most common style of writing for fiction, although nonfiction can also be narrative writing as long as it focuses on the characters, what they do, and what happens to them.

Narrative writing is often, but not always, in the first person and is organized sequentially, with a beginning, middle, and end.

Parents can help their children improve their narrative writing skills by:

• Explaining and having them use action verbs
• Explain and have them use transition words
• Having them use numbers, such as 56 mph or 1:20 p.m.
• Have them use repetition words
• Have them use sensory words, which is using your 5 senses to show the reader your story not just tell them your story

Opinion

To put it simply, opinion writing is a formal piece of writing that requires your opinion on a topic. Opinion writing is using your thoughts and feelings and must be supported by facts from the text.

Parents can help their children become better opinion writers by having them:

• Tell their opinion about why they like a certain food

• Tell their opinion about why they like a certain pet

• Have them use sensory words, which is using your 5 senses to show the reader your story not just tell them your story

Expository:

When writers try to explain a concept, they use an expository style. Expository writing is fact-based and does not include the writer’s opinion or background. It basically consists of the writer providing facts to the reader.

This is a critical skill. Students need expository writing not only in school, but also in many potential careers where writing is not primarily the goal, such as teaching, video production, and design. Students must be able to organize their thoughts, follow a plan, and in the upper grades, conduct research to support their papers.

Parents can help their children improve their expository writing skills by:

• Giving them topics about their favorite sports to research and write about.
• Giving them facts to verify and write about verified facts

Argumentative:

To get reader to acknowledge that your side is valid and deserves consideration as another point of view. Argumentative writing offers the reader relevant reasons, credible facts, and sufficient evidence to support that the writer has a valid and worthy perspective.

Excellent ways for parents to help their children improve their argumentative writing skills include asking your child the following questions:

• Should every child have a pet?
• Should children have cell phones?
• Should children be paid for doing chores around the house?
• Do you think school should be all year round? Why or Why not?

In brief:

Narrative: to tell a story

Opinion: states your opinion

Expository: to give facts

Argumentative: offers another point of view

Summary of CA State Standards for Writing

The standards are a spiral curriculum, which means in each grade level students focus on the same writing genre. However, in each grade level the writing becomes more complex.

Grade Level	Narrative	Opinion	Expository/Explanatory	Argumentative
K	Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred.	Use a combination of drawing, dictation and writing to compose an opinion piece	Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about.	Begins in Grade 6
1	Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened.	Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.	Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.	Begins in Grade 6
2	Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings.	Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.	Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.	Begins in Grade 6
3	Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events. Introduce a narrator and/or characters. Use dialog to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings. Provide closure.	Write opinion piece. Introduce the topic, state an opinion, provide reasons to support the opinion, use linking words, and provide a concluding statement.	Write an informative/explanatory test. Introduce a topic and group related information together. Use facts, definitions, details, linking words and a concluding statement.	Begins in Grade 6
4	Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events. Introduce a narrator and/or characters. Use dialog to show responses of characters to situations. Provide closure.	Write opinion piece. Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, create an organized structure in which related ideas are grouped to support the writer’s purpose. Provide reasons that support the opinion with facts. use linking words, and provide a concluding statement.	Write an informative/explanatory test. Introduce a topic and group related information in a paragraph. Introduce a topic using headings and illustrations. Use facts, definitions, details, domain-vocabulary, linking words and a concluding statement.	Begins in Grade 6
5	Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events. Introduce a narrator and/or characters. Use narrative techniques to develop experiences of the characters. Provide closure.	Write opinion piece. Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, create an organized structure in which related ideas are grouped to support the writer’s purpose. Provide reasons that support the opinion with facts. use linking words, and provide a concluding statement.	Write an informative/explanatory test. Introduce a topic clearly, provide a general observation and focus. Use facts, definitions, details, quotes, domain-vocabulary, linking words and a concluding statement.	Begins in Grade 6
6	Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.	N/A	Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.	Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant information. Introduce claim, support claim with reasons, provide concluding statement.