A non-chronological report is a non-fiction text which is not organised into time order. They usually deal with one topic, using sub-headings to split the text up into ideas. For example, a non-chronological text about otters could include sections on their diet, habitat and life cycle, each with its own sub-heading.

These reports often include pictures and diagrams to illustrate and explain the topic.

Teach your children about non-chronological reports using our handy topic guide!

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Teaching Ideas

This Powerpoint presentation gives an overview of report structure and features, perfect for starting your report writing unit.
Give children an example of a non-chronological report and ask them to find and highlight the different features.
Ask the children to make a list of questions that their audience might like answered about the topic, and check that they are all answered in their report.
Give the children some muddled up sentences about a topic, and ask them to organise them into paragraphs.
Help your children to format bullet points correctly with this BBC Bitesize guide and activity.
Ask children to create their non-chronological report in presentation software, such as Powerpoint.
Ask your class to write a school guide, using this template.
Create a report about an animal, this activity about foxes could be adapted to suit your topic.
Use this BBC Teach video and accompanying teaching ideas to support children in planning and organising their reports.
Show children an informative video related to your current topic, and ask them to present the key information in a non-chronological report.

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Resources

Our Report Writing Pack is full of useful resources, including checklists, examples and a comprehensive guide.

Literacy WAGOLL (What A Good One Looks Like) has plenty of examples to share with the children.
This detailed progression from years 1 – 6 is useful for planning a unit of work on non-chronological reports.
This simple report template could be used for any topic.

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Non-Chronological Report Facts

“Non-chronological” means “not in time order”.
If a bullet point is a complete sentence, it needs a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark at the end. If it is just a word or phrase, it does not.
Each new bullet point goes on a new line.
Non-chronological reports are usually, but not always, written in the present tense.
A glossary is a useful addition to a non-chronological report, to explain technical vocabulary.

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Videos

Features of non-chronological reports

In this short video, a teacher runs through a non-chronological report about non-chronological reports, focusing on the features.

Running time: 3:51

Animal Fact Files

This is the first of a series of three useful videos that give plenty of information for children to produce non-chronological reports about sharks, foxes, elephants and penguins. The other two look at appearance and habitat.

Running time: 1:45

Literacy – What are Subheadings?

This lesson models how to organise topics into subheadings, with tasks for the children to complete.

Running time: 8:15

Non-chronological report on woolly mammoths

This is a lovely example of using actions to help younger children learn the structure and features of a non-chronological report.

Running time: 3:26

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Books

Links

The DKfindout! site is perfect for researching topics and a great example of how to make non-chronological reports engaging and easy to read.
Kiddle is a child friendly search engine, which makes it easier for children to find reliable information online.
There are lots of quizzes, matching activities and other fun ways to consolidate this topic on Wordwall.
This School Run page is a useful overview for children to refer to.