What is procedure writing

The purpose of a procedural text is to provide sequenced information or directions so that people can successfully perform activities in safe, efficient and appropriate ways.

Recipes and science experiments are common examples of procedural texts. They use headings and sub-headings that can be structured in the following manner. It is clear that having a good grasp of this type of genre writing has multiple possible real-life applications for our students. Luckily for such an important genre, procedural texts are one of the easier genres to teach and to successfully produce as a student.

The learning of a series of criteria will ensure that even weaker students can produce coherent and successful procedural texts. An explanation text is similar to a procedural text and these can often be confused, however, a procedural text explains the how and why behind a process such as. A procedure generally instructs the audience how to make or do something, such as a recipe.

Although they have similarities they are two very distinct writing tasks. Read our guide on how to write an explanation text here. FLOW Use connectives and conjunctions related to time to indicate the chronological order of the actions. Maps, diagrams and photos are essential. Then, we can take a closer look at some of the finer details. This component addresses the what of the piece. It will refer to what is to be done or made. Very often too this will provide for the title of the text itself.

To help your students get a sense of the importance of the title and its relationship with the goal of the text, provide them with a set of procedural texts with the titles removed. In groups, have them brainstorm a variety of titles for the text. When they are finished, reveal the original title of the text and compare it with the suggestions made by the group. Soon they will start to see the pattern evolve and this will help them when they come to produce and name their own procedural texts.

Usually done in the form of a list, this component may also be titled Materials , Equipment , Ingredients , Items Needed etc and is pretty self-explanatory. This component comprises a list of things required to complete the procedure outlined in the text. For a recipe, this will obviously include things like ingredients, but may also include things like the appliances and tools required to follow that recipe to completion.

For flat-pack furniture, for example, items like a screwdriver, spanner, the glue will form this section. Science experiment procedural texts will include apparatus such as Bunsen burners, test tubes, litmus paper etc. Regardless of the specific purpose of the text in question, the resources listed in this section will usually be presented in the order they will be used, as far as this is relevant or possible. This is the heart of the procedural text as it outlines step-by-step the methodology to follow in the procedure itself.

Again, the title of this section of the procedural text may vary depending on the specific type of writing it is. Longer user guides and instructional manuals will have a complex and extensive list of steps to follow that will employ subtitles and subsections to explain micro-processes within the wider procedure being described. Simpler texts, such as recipes, will be much less complex in structure. It is important to encourage students to think very logically about the process they are attempting to outline in their writing.

Too often students write themselves into corners as they try to describe complicated procedures while struggling with the technical difficulties of constructing grammatically sound sentences. A good rule of thumb for student writers is to use many short and simple sentences when writing about complex ideas.

We will talk more on this aspect when we discuss language features in greater detail. The conclusion of a procedural text offers guidance to the reader on how they can evaluate the success of the procedure that has been followed. This may take the form of, for example, a description of the completed meal for a recipe text or a description of the assembled furniture in a flat-pack instruction guide.

Depending on the type of text in question, often illustrations can be used to reinforce what a successfully followed procedure will look like. Given the broad range of forms, a procedural text may take, we should not expect that all of the structure and features outlined will apply equally to each type of text.

However, the following is some valuable general advice for students to bear in mind when they are considering the language registers of their text. Procedural texts are one of the few writing genres that regularly use the second person pronoun that addresses the reader in a general way.

Given the nature of these types of text, the simple present tense is the preferred tense for this type of writing. In this regard, it offers a great opportunity to focus on verb work, especially on imperatives.

These command words, or bossy words, such as cut , take , hold are often used to give orders for readers to follow as they move step by step through the process outlined in the text. This is a nonfiction genre and this should be reflected in the choice of language.

There is little to no place here for flights of imagination or figurative turns of phrase. Students should stick to plain, straightforward sentence structures and word choices. Sentences should also provide detailed information on the how of performing each of the steps in the process outlined.

For example, remove carefully rather than simply remove — when care is necessary for the satisfactory performance make sure it is stated explicitly.

Actions should be outlined sequentially and time connectives can be used to help organize the necessary steps chronologically. For example, use of adverbial time words, such as: first , second , before , then , after.

Encourage students to focus on answering the questions of where and when of each of the actions they instruct the reader to follow. The challenge in writing a good procedural text is to deliver your instructions in a logical manner. Ensure your instructions are straight to the point and that you as the author understand what you are trying to achieve.

You really want to answer three questions to your audience. Ensure you also clearly understand your audience, as this will have a big impact upon the language you use. It can often be difficult to describe actions in words — even for accomplished writers.

Casting a quick eye over the sports pages of the newspaper will quickly reveal the importance of the visual in relaying information. Students can, depending on the nature of the text, employ diagrams, schematics, tables, even cartoons! As with the written text, these images will often be ordered sequentially along with the corresponding text and will usually be labelled or accompanied by a caption.

One of the things that make procedural texts an accessible writing genre for our students is one of the things that can also make it an uninspiring genre for students to engage in, that is, its factual, straightforward nature.

Entertaining the reader is not the priority of a procedural text and it shows. Step 1. Provide a purpose statement why this procedure. Step 2. Provide an overview of the procedure. Step 3. Identify prerequisite knowledge and skills, if any. Step 4. Highlight any safety issues and other precautions. Step 5. Add a list of equipment, supplies, or parts needed for the procedure. Step 6. Define a logical sequence of steps and substeps, neither too large nor too small.

Use the imperative voice for clarity and economy of words. Write to the level of the reader's ability or a little below.

Define unfamiliar terms. Step 7. Include hints and helps. Step 8. Add illustrations, analogies, models, anything that will aid understanding of the process and the end product. Step 9.