Teaching Report Writing:

“But I’m Not an English

Teacher!”

Part One

by Jean Reynolds,

Ph.D.

I’m Jean Reynolds, an author and

longtime English instructor.

I often discuss report writing with

academy instructors.

Here’s something I

hear all the time:

“But I’m not an

English teacher!”

Many students have a similar complaint:

“But I wasn’t good

at English when I

was in school!”

The good news is that you don’t have to be an

English whiz to write effective reports—or to

be an effective instructor for report writing.

The keys to success are…

instruction

practice

accountability

Today you’re going to watch three

videos that offer practical strategies for

raising students’ writing levels quickly.

First, here are some essential

principles.

1. Students should

practice writing

every day.

This is why your lesson plans always

include a journal activity.

Some students

may not have done

much writing in

school.

They need to

develop fluency

and confidence.

2. Everything students write should be

checked twice before it’s graded.

It should be checked by the

writer…

(this is why

students must

complete a writing

checklist)

…and by a small group of students.

(this is why every

writing assignment

is followed by a

group process)

3. Most writing problems have three

causes:

Students are in a

hurry

Students write like

they talk

Students have some

gaps in English

usage

4. Most usage problems can be

prevented...

…by writing

simple,

straightforward

sentences.

If you start most sentences with a

person, place, or thing, you won’t need

sophisticated punctuation.

You can usually

just put a

period at the

end of the

sentence.

Here are two versions of the same

information.

Richards started to slide his right hand into

his right front pocket. Upon seeing this

movement, I proceeded to grab his right hand

and told him to stop.

Richards started to slide his right hand into

his right front pocket. I grabbed his right

hand and told him to stop.

Which version is easier to write?

Richards started to slide his right hand into

his right front pocket. Upon seeing this

movement, I proceeded to grab his right hand

and told him to stop. COMPLICATED

Richards started to slide his right hand into

his right front pocket. I grabbed his right

hand and told him to stop. BETTER

Sometimes students are confused by

what they’ve learned in the past.

In fact students sometimes disagree with

me about English usage!

For example, I

require students to

spell a lot as two

words.

But students have told me that a past

instructor told them to spell a lot as

one word.

And then I’ll get an argument about this

sentence: The chief commended my

partner and me for our quick thinking. ✔

“The chief commended my partner and I

for our quick thinking.” X

“The chief commended my partner and

me for our quick thinking.” ✔

Some students say they were told it

should be my partner and I.

And then there are quotation marks.

In American

punctuation,

commas and periods

always go inside

quotation marks.

There are no

exceptions, ever.

But in every class I’ve taught, there are

always a few students who say they

were taught a different system.

Who’s right, and

who’s wrong?

Here’s how I handle it.

I explain that sometimes students forget what a teacher said years ago…

…or they may

have misheard

what the teacher

said…

Or the teacher may have

unintentionally passed on some

misinformation.

The information in Criminal Justice

Report Writing is based on professional

writing principles.

I have a doctorate

in English, and I’ve

published 11

books.

Students who continue

to doubt can verify the

correctness of the rules

by checking Internet or

library resources.

The Online Writing Lab at Purdue:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu

This video is going

to review some

basic punctuation

issues—a kind of

heads-up of

questions that

might arise when

you’re teaching.

You can refer to

Criminal Justice

Report Writing for

additional

examples and

practice exercises.

First, let’s deal with

commas.

You can avoid most comma problems by

starting each sentence with a person,

place, or thing.

Simple,

straightforward

sentences don’t

require fancy

punctuation.

If you start a sentence differently, you

may need to deal with commas.

Clarkson told me her husband usually worked

until 10 or 11 PM.

When I questioned Clarkson, she told me her

husband usually worked until 10 or 11 PM.

Commas are also necessary if you

change your voice in a sentence.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it,

is to seize the illegal shipment.

Jane’s brother, who has a cocaine habit, has

been stealing from her.

What about semicolons? They’re just like

periods, but there’s no capital letter.

You’re making two sentences into one.

I approached the dog. It snarled at me.

I approached the dog; it snarled at me.

There’s no need to use semicolons in a police

report. Just end every sentence with a

period.

Our next topic is

quotation marks.“”

First I want to talk about a problem

always comes up when I teach

quotation marks: Students start

arguing!

In the US, periods

and commas always

go inside quotation

marks.

You can verify this

yourself by picking

up any book,

magazine, or

newspaper published

in the US.

In the United States, periods and

commas always go inside quotation

marks.

When I questioned Phillips about the

argument, he told me it was “a

private matter.”

“It’s just a scratch,” said Benton.

But there’s always a student who insists he

was taught to place periods outside

quotation marks.

When this happens, I always ask the student

to do some research and report back to me.

That usually clears up the issue.

What about apostrophes? There are

three simple rules:

1. Use

apostrophes only

in contractions

(didn’t, couldn’t)

and “of”

expressions

(Taylor’s badge).

Apostrophes don’t mean “more than

one.”

We’re serving hot

dogs, hamburgers,

sodas, and

cupcakes at this

year’s Open

House.

This year’s Open House = “Open House

of this year.”

We’re serving hot

dogs, hamburgers,

sodas, and

cupcakes at this

year’s Open

House.

Place the apostrophe after the last

letter of the word or name.

Bill Carter

The Carters

Sally Jones

the baby

the babies

a family

the families

Bill Carter’s job

The Carters’ house

Sally Jones’ wallet

the baby’s medicine

the babies’ health

a family’s vacation

the families’ problems

The old “before the s if it’s singular, after

the s if it’s plural” rule isn’t reliable.

Bill Carter

The Carters

Sally Jones

the baby

the babies

a family

the families

Bill Carter’s job

The Carters’ house

Sally Jones’ wallet

the baby’s medicine

the babies’ health

a family’s vacation

the families’ problems

Here are three words that students will

be required to memorize.

Notice that the apostrophe comes after

the last letter.

men men’s

women women’s

children children’s

Criminal Justice Report Writing offers

detailed explanations that students can study,

along with practice exercises.

As students work

step-by-step through

the book, they will

gain confidence and

competence with the

writing skills needed

for effective reports.