How I Teach My Child to Write a Report
BING – BANG - BONG

I learned this method from a teacher who does the end of the year testing in our area.  I am sure she learned it from a book and I am not sure who to give the credit to, but want to say that this method is quick and it works!

Here is how Bing, Bang, Bong works.  You have the student pick a topic such as “German Shepherds”.  You then have them choose three aspects or points that would relate to the topic.  Such as the ‘History of the German Shepherds’  (Bing), 'Description and Temperament' of the dog (Bang) and 'Care and Training' (Bong).  Your first paragraph introduces your topic and your three points that you will be discussing, Bing, Bang, Bong.  Now each of these areas are expounded upon and become the next three paragraphs in your report.  Your outline would look like this

I. German Shepherds (Bing, Bang and Bong are introduced in this paragraph)
II. History of Shepherd (Bing)
III. Description and Temperament of the Shepherd (Bang)
IV. Care and Training of the Shepherd (Bong)
V. Closing paragraph is optional

This may sound somewhat silly, however I have found it to be very effective to get a child to understand how to write a report.  As the child becomes more proficient at writing this concept will develop to something that is not quite as simplistic as this.  But this has made a great teaching tool for me!