Year 3 · English · 2 minutes
How to write a procedure
Goal. What you will need. Numbered steps with bossy verbs.
Key terms
- procedure
- A piece of writing that tells you how to do something, step by step.
- goal
- What you want to make or do; it is the title of your procedure.
- bossy verb
- A doing word at the start of a step that tells you exactly what to do.
- time words
- Words like first, next, then and finally that keep the steps in order.
- precise
- Exact and clear, so the reader knows exactly how to do each step.
Transcript
G'day, chefs! Want to make the most colourful snack at any Aussie party? Let's write a procedure for fairy bread!
A procedure tells you how to do something, step by step. It starts with a goal. That's your title: How to make fairy bread.
Next, list what you will need. Two slices of white bread, some soft butter, hundreds and thousands, a butter knife and a plate.
Then come the steps, numbered in order. Each step starts with a bossy verb, a doing word that tells you exactly what to do.
First, spread butter all over the bread, right to the edges. Next, sprinkle hundreds and thousands on top, until you can't see any butter.
Then, press them down gently with your hand, so they stick. Finally, cut each slice into four triangles.
Did you spot the time words? First, next, then, finally. They're like signposts that keep every step in the right order.
Good procedures are precise, too. Cut the bread? But how? Cut each slice into four triangles tells you exactly how!
Follow every step, and there you go! Crunchy, colourful fairy bread, ready for the party!
So remember: give it a goal, list what you will need, then write numbered steps with bossy verbs and time words. Now you write one!
Sources
Every fact in the video, and where it comes from.
- 1twinkl.com/resources/australian-resources-3---4-english-l…
- A procedure (procedural text) tells the reader how to do something; it has a goal/title, a list of materials ('you will need') and numbered steps in order.
- 2education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/teachingresources/di…
- Procedure language features: imperative (command / 'bossy') verbs at the start of steps, time connectives such as first, next, then, finally, and precise detail.
- 3en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_bread
- Fairy bread is white bread spread with butter or margarine and covered with hundreds and thousands; a staple of children's parties in Australia and New Zealand, usually cut into triangles.
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