Have You Ever Wondered? 
Explanation Checklist

Tick	Check 	
 	I have selected one explanation about spiders to
write about.	
 	Written a title to grab my reader's attention.	
 	Started my explanation in an interesting way.	
 	Written my explanation in sequence.	
 	Written some words in the timeless present tense, eg. are, turns, happens.	
 	Used some action verbs, eg. falls, rises, changes.	
 	Written some words that show time passing, eg. first, then, following, finally.	
 	Used some different punctuation, eg. exclamation marks, ellipses, parentheses. 	

© Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand (First published 1998)