Learn It

Your teachers have likely told you that having good writing skills is a very important life skill. You already know that writing skills are important when you take a test or write a report. However, do you know why good writing skills are important to your future? In high school, writing is often used to assess your learning. For written assignments, you may be graded on both content and your writing skills. When you prepare college application materials, an essay is often required. Colleges often assess responses to application questions and essays when considering potential students to admit. Even after college, good writing skills will be essential in your career because you will be expected to communicate effectively with co-workers and the public.

The video presentation below will take you through the steps of writing an informative/explanatory text. This kind of writing is factual, and its purpose is to explain or inform the reader about a topic.

a pencil on a stack of written paper and lumps of crumpled paper, next to hands typing on a laptop computer with the screen showing a word processor program

Being able to communicate effectively through the written word is a life-long skill required for college and employment applications.


Watch the video to learn how to write informative/explanatory texts. Click on the Glossary link for the definitions of unfamiliar terms.

Writing Informative/Explanatory Texts

> Text version for video

When writing, it is important to use transitional words. Click on the link below to view some examples of commonly used transitional words that are used to connect paragraphs and information in a text.

Common Transitional Words