Students will:
select and use sources of information, processes, and strategies with some confidence to identify, form, and express ideas.
The sources of information in text that are used for reading are also used when writing. Like readers, writers use semantic, syntactic, and visual and grapho-phonic sources and integrate these with their own prior knowledge and experience to create meaningful text.
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003, p.41.
The following is an example of a student (Tamyka) using sources of information (and processing strategies) to form words and sentences.
As Tamyka wrote, she used her prior knowledge of sound, letter, word, and sentence formation. In particular, she:
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003, p.143.
The four main stages common to most writing forms are:
Forming intentions
At this stage, the writer gets an idea, thinks about it in terms of the purpose and audience, and gives it time to grow.
As the teacher supports students in forming intentions for their writing, the students will become aware that writing, like reading, is for a purpose.
Depending on the children's age and ability, forming intentions may take some time or may hardly feature at all.
Composing a text
Composing a text involves the writer in translating their thoughts, ideas, intentions and understandings into written form.
This stage is often described as 'getting something down on paper' and (even when it involves when using a computer).
Revising
Revising generally involves re-wording, deleting and adding text in order to represent and an intended meaning more clearly.
The writer may search for a more accurate word or expression or idea. At the revising stage, students of all ages reflect critically on what they have written and think about how the audience may respond. At more advanced levels, revision often involves substantial changes to content and stucture.
Publishing or presenting
Publishing or presenting means making a text available for others to read. This stage may involve completing a number of tasks in preparation for presenting, or it may mean simply sharing a piece with the class by reading it aloud. It’s important to recognise that these four stages are not discrete but are closely interrelated. The writer does not necessarily move through them in a simple sequence. The writer’s movement from one step to the next is influenced by what has gone before and what is anticipated.
For example:
The following is an example of a student writer moving through all the writing processes.
How Tamyka wrote My Mum Gives Me a Hug
The teacher of this year 1 to 2 class worked with her students for three weeks on exploring characterisation in writing. She began by reading and discussing lots of picture books and talking about the concept of “characters” with them. Favourite books included My Dad by Anthony Browne, The Kuia and the Spider by Patricia Grace, and The Best-loved Bear by Diana Noonan. Eventually her students started to think about characters as people, animals, or objects.
Forming intentions
The teacher particularly wanted her students to focus on real people in their writing, especially people who were close to them. She began to promote this focus by getting the students to talk about the mother in the picture book The Lion in the Meadow, by Margaret Mahy. They used both visual and text clues in the story to talk about what the mother looked like, what sort of person she was, and how she might have talked. As the students discussed their ideas, the teacher recorded them on the board.
The teacher then asked the students to focus on their own mothers. They had to visualise them in their minds and think about what they were like and what they did. She used the five senses to encourage this thinking – for example, “What does her hair look like?”, “How does her voice sound?”, and “How does she smell when she hugs you?”
After the discussion, the teacher wrote about her own mother as a model for the students.
She particularly reminded them that she was trying to:
In addition, she reminded the students that she was trying to:
The students now understood what they needed to do. Tamyka, the writer of this text, had a clear purpose for writing: to tell what her mother did and show how she felt about her. She also knew that her teacher expected her to try some new words in her writing and to use capital letters, full stops, and finger spacing well.
She was excited about writing because she had now clearly visualised all the relevant things about her mother and knew what she wanted to say. Her teacher had helped her visualise these images through conversation:
Teacher: I see your mum drop you off at school sometimes. What does she do when she says goodbye?
Tamyka: She gives me a hug.
Teacher What a lovely mum. I like it when my mum hugs me.
Composing the text
Tamyka drafted her piece of writing. To begin with, she drew a picture of her mum.
This helped her to focus on her main message:
“My mum always gives me a hug when she drops me off at school.”
As Tamyka wrote, she used her prior knowledge of sound, letter, word, and sentenceformation. In particular, she:
Revising the text
The teacher helped Tamyka to revise her story. While roving, she realised that Tamyka could add more to her story because she had not yet met the second purpose for writing (“Show how you feel about your mother”).
So she asked Tamyka focused questions that led her to add a second sentence.
Teacher; How do you feel when your mum hugs you?
Tamyka :It feels warm. She goes like this (demonstrates by hugging herself).
Teacher: Her arms wrap around you and make you feel warm. Can you write that?
Tamyka :not only used the teacher’s modelled sentence structure and vocabulary to help her; she also used her own knowledge of key content and high-frequency words (“and”, “with”, “two”) and her sounding-out skills (“ams”, “wom”, “hods”).
She read her story again and was pleased because she knew that she had now met the purposes for writing. This also gave her the confidence to feel that her audience – theteacher and the other students – would enjoy her writing and respond positively to it.
Publishing and presenting the writing
Tamyka wanted to present her writing in two ways.
Learners need to develop knowledge and a repertoire of strategies for writing across the three aspects of the framework so that they can:
The first of these points can be described as attending to surface features of written text and the second and third as attending to its deeper features.
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003.p.41.
The strategies that writers use are:
Forming intentions
Composing a text
Revising
Publishing or presenting
The following is an example of a student writer using a range of strategies as she moves between the writing processes.
How Tamyka wrote My Mum Gives Me a Hug
The teacher of this year 1-2 class worked with her students for three weeks on exploring characterisation in writing. She began by reading and discussing lots of picture books and talking about the concept of “characters” with them. Favourite books included My Dad by Anthony Browne, The Kuia and the Spider by Patricia Grace, and The Best-loved Bear by Diana Noonan. Eventually her students started to think about characters as people, animals, or objects.
Forming intentions
The teacher particularly wanted her students to focus on real people in their writing, especially people who were close to them. She began to promote this focus by getting the students to talk about the mother in the picture book The Lion in the Meadow, by Margaret Mahy. They used both visual and text clues in the story to talk about what the mother looked like, what sort of person she was, and how she might have talked. As the students discussed their ideas, the teacher recorded them on the board.
The teacher then asked the students to focus on their own mothers. They had to visualise them in their minds and think about what they were like and what they did. She used the five senses to encourage this thinking – for example, “What does her hair look like?”, “How does her voice sound?”, and “How does she smell when she hugs you?”
After the discussion, the teacher wrote about her own mother as a model for the students.
She particularly reminded them that she was trying to:
The students now understood what they needed to do. Tamyka, the writer of this text, had a clear purpose for writing: to tell what her mother did and show how she felt about her. She also knew that her teacher expected her to try some new words in her writing and to use capital letters, full stops, and finger spacing well.
She was excited about writing because she had now clearly visualised all the relevant things about her mother and knew what she wanted to say. Her teacher had helped her visualise these images through conversation:
Teacher I see your mum drop you off at school sometimes. What does she do when she says goodbye?
Tamyka She gives me a hug.
Teacher What a lovely mum. I like it when my mum hugs me.
Composing the text
Tamyka drafted her piece of writing. To begin with, she drew a picture of her mum. This helped her to focus on her main message: “My mum always gives me a hug when she drops me off at school.”
As Tamyka wrote, she used her prior knowledge of sound, letter, word, and sentence formation. In particular, she:
Revising the text
The teacher helped Tamyka to revise her story. While roving, she realised that Tamyka could add more to her story because she had not yet met the second purpose for writing (“Show how you feel about your mother”). So she asked Tamyka focused questions that led her to add a second sentence.
Teacher How do you feel when your mum hugs you?
Tamyka It feels warm. She goes like this (demonstrates by hugging herself).
Teacher Her arms wrap around you and make you feel warm. Can you write that?
Tamyka not only used the teacher’s modelled sentence structure and vocabulary to help her; she also used her own knowledge of key content and high-frequency words (“and”,“with”, “two”) and her sounding-out skills (“ams”, “wom”, “hods”).
She read her story again and was pleased because she knew that she had now met the purposes for writing. This also gave her the confidence to feel that her audience – the teacher and the other students – would enjoy her writing and respond positively to it.
Publishing and presenting the writing
Tamyka wanted to present her writing in two ways.
Shows some understanding of the connections between oral, written, and visual language when creating texts
Whether we listen and speak, read and write, or view and present, we participate in a very similar communication process. When we communicate, we (the originator) convey (medium) something (meaning or message) for someone (audience) for our reasons (purpose) by some means (mode of transmission, or form).
Exploring Language, NZ Ministry of Education, 1996. p.181. [abridged]
Because language is essentially an interactive process, the oral, written and visual forms are highly interrelated. Listening, for example, may require watching someone’s body language to understand fully the overall communication. When listening to and watching a demonstration or dramatic performance, there will often be visual elements that add important meaning to what is said and listened to. Skilful reading enables the reader to obtain information, to appreciate the feelings of others, to reflect upon ideas, experiences and opinions, and to gain imaginative and aesthetic pleasure. Skilful writing enables the writer to convey information, to express feelings, to record, clarify, record and reflect on ideas, experiences or opinions, and to give imaginative and aesthetic pleasure.
Flockton & Crooks. NEMP Writing Assessment Results, 2002. p.9.
What does it look like?
An example of a student writer using oral and visual cues to help their writing
Tamyka's teacher particularly wanted her students to focus on real people in their writing, especially people who were close to them. She promoted this focus by getting the students to talk about the mother in the picture book The Lion in the Meadow, by Margaret Mahy. They used both visual and text clues in the story to talk about what the mother looked like, what sort of person she was, and how she might have talked. As the students discussed their ideas, the teacher recorded them on the board. The teacher then asked the students to focus on their own mothers. They had to visualise them in their minds and think about what they were like and what they did. She used the five senses to encourage this thinking – for example, “What does her hair look like?”, “How does her voice sound?”, and “How does she smell when she hugs you?”
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003. p.143.
The following links illustrate the inter-relationship between oral, written and visual language as used by students:
Creates texts by using meaning, structure, visual and grapho-phonic sources of information, and processing strategies with growing confidence
Visual sources of information are the visual features of the print itself. Visual information in a text includes letters, letter clusters, words, sentences, and the conventions of print, such as direction, spaces between words, the shapes of letters and words, and punctuation marks. It does not include illustrations. The term “grapho-phonic information” encapsulates the idea that the information used to decode a printed word or to write a word is partly visual or graphic (the learner recognises the printed shape) and partly aural or phonic (the learner recreates the sounds of letters and words). The learner draws on prior knowledge to remember which visual configuration goes with which sound. When they write, students must attend to the detail of each word. They add to their store of knowledge about how certain visual shapes relate to certain sounds as they look closely at the features of letters and notice combinations of letters that occur often. The term visual information refers to visual aspects of print, such as letters, words, spaces between words, and punctuation marks. The term visual language is used to describe signs, symbols, illustrations, gestures, and so on that are used to communicate meaning.
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003. p.30. [abridged]
The sources of information in text that are used for reading are also used when writing. Like readers, writers use semantic, syntactic, and visual and grapho-phonic sources and integrate these with their own prior knowledge and experience to create meaningful text.
Just as young readers need to become efficient in decoding, so young writers need to learn to encode effectively – to match sounds to letters in the actual business of writing words. Students need explicit instruction to ensure that they learn to form as well as recognise letters and words rapidly and accurately. They need to master phonological processing strategies, such as distinguishing the phonemes within words and making accurate links between sounds and letters, and to develop a visual memory for printed words.
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003. p.41–42.
The following are typical prompts and supports that teachers might use to help their students form words when writing:
Seeks feedback and makes changes to texts to improve clarity and meaning
Effective assessment provides the student with feedback to enhance their learning. Feedback on learning is embedded in everyday classroom interactions and in teacher planning, and it is most effective when the teacher has in-depth knowledge of the students.
In the context of assessment, effective feedback:
The teacher needs to allow time for the students to discuss and act on the feedback in order to reinforce their understanding of how they can use it to improve their learning.
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003. p.54.
The impact of effective feedback on student outcomes has been established through a number of studies (for example, Hattie, 1999, and Crooks, 1988). Hattie, on the basis of extensive research, describes feedback as the most powerful single factor that enhances achievement.
The purposes of feedback are:
Feedback can be defined as “… providing information how and why the child understands and misunderstands, and what directions the student must take to improve” (Hattie, 1999, p.9).
Like all the teaching strategies, feedback is most effective when it relates to specific learning goals and to the ultimate goal of enabling students to monitor and regulate their own learning. The primary purpose of feedback is not to indicate whether learners are right or wrong but to enable them to reflect on their use of strategies for reading and writing and on their learning. Feedback involves conveying information to learners about where and when to use their knowledge and strategies. Effective feedback can provide a model of how good readers and writers think. Feedback should be honest and specific so that learners know how they are doing. An important message for teachers to convey to students is that using effective strategies in their reading and writing is what caused their success; this is crucial to building students’ metacognition. It’s especially useful to encourage students themselves to suggest what they could do. This is a great way to build their awareness of how they can take control of their learning.
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003. p.83–85. [abridged]
The following is an example of a teacher giving feedback to a student in order to help the student make changes to their writing.
The teacher and students have been working on persuasive writing. The shared goal is to write to persuade an audience. The task, in this example, is to write an advertisement for an item that the writer wishes to sell.
The teacher and students jointly developed the following success criteria:
The following are some teacher/student feedback conversations that lead to students making changes to their writing.
The teacher talked with Jonathan to extend his understanding of explanation writing.
Teacher: You have remembered to include the definition of a nest.
Jonathan: Yes – that has to come first.
Teacher: And you've numbered these ideas?
Jonathan: It made it easier to sort the different things out.
Teacher: How about when you publish, you use separate paragraphs for those ideas, instead of numbers?
Jonathan: Okay.
Teacher: I see you've used the words "cause" and "effect" too.
Jonathan: Yes.
Teacher: If we wanted to keep the meaning the same, without using those words, how could we write that in a sentence?
Jonathan: Um ...
Teacher: "The nest is warm" ...?
Jonathan: Oh – you could say the nest is warm so the egg is happy.
Teacher: Yes, you could. Any other words that might fit there?
Jonathan: The nest is warm ... therefore the egg is happy.
Teacher: Well done – "therefore" is a useful word for explanations. You will have a lot to think about when you publish your explanation.
The New Zealand Curriculum Exemplars – English – Written Language – Level 2 – Explanation: The Best Nest – Teacher–student conversations
After making sure that Jane had followed the necessary processes, the teacher and Jane checked her writing against the success criteria.
Teacher: Who have you read it to?
[Jane indicates.]
Teacher: Have you proofread for spelling and punctuation?
[Jane nods.]
Teacher: Are there any words that you're not sure of?
Jane: No, I think I've got them all right.
Teacher: Great. How about sharing it with me now.
[They read together.]
Teacher: That's really neat. I'm really impressed. I think you've met our criteria. Let's check. Yes, you've got a clear introduction. Yes, your reasons are clearly stated and I can see the consequences. Yes, you've got a conclusion. But is having an atmosphere the only reason we can live on Earth?
Jane: No.
Teacher: How could you make that clear in your explanation?
Jane: I could say that "it is only one of the reasons" in my conclusion.
She then went off to revise her conclusion.
The New Zealand Curriculum Exemplars – English – Written Language – Level 2 – Explanation: Why Does Earth Need the Atmosphere
The following resources and schedules have been developed to guide teacher and peer feedback:
Is reflective about the production of texts: monitors, self-evaluates, and describes progress with some confidence.
As students come to see, with their teacher’s help, that writing is like a dialogue between the writer and the developing text, they become increasingly critical readers of their own texts. Just as good readers constantly question the author or the text, good writers, too, ask themselves questions. Effective teachers deliberately promote such questioning through planned activities. By modelling, during shared writing or conferences with students, how writers ask themselves questions, teachers can encourage their students to formulate questions such as the following for themselves: Is my writing making sense? Is the idea worthwhile? Is this expressed in an interesting way? What should I explain further? What should I leave out? Is there another way of writing this? Will the readers be able to imagine what I’m thinking? What am I going to do next?
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1-4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003. p.137.
The following links demonstrate students reflecting on and monitoring their progress with their teachers as they write or present.
By using these processes and strategies when speaking, writing, or presenting, students will:
Show some understanding of how to shape texts for different purposes and audiences.
It is important for readers to recognise that behind every text is an author, that the author has a reason for writing, and that the reader has a reason for reading.
The purpose of the author may be to:
By supporting students in discussing the purpose and point of view of a text, teachers can help them to recognise that writers bring their own experiences and concerns to their writing. Such activities contribute richly to students’ awareness of the functions of texts and of how authors position readers; they also help students to build the habit of responding thoughtfully to what they read. Students then carry their new awareness to their own writing and learn to plan and articulate their specific purposes for writing as they consider purpose and point of view.
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, Ministry ofEducation, 2003.p.133.
This … relates to the writer’s ability to respond to the given task … the extent to which a writer was able to take account of the questions “Who am I writing this for?”, “Why am I writing this?”, and “What shape or form will this take?” to produce a piece that achieves its communicative purpose.
asTTle V4 Manual 1.0, Appendix p.3. [abridged]
The following teacher student conversation demonstrates a student thinking about their purpose for writing and their audience:
Before writing:
Teacher: What can you tell me about the serviette rings?
Ariel: They have engraving all over them.
Teacher: Do they have anything special engraved on them?
Ariel: Yes, one has my grandad's name.
After the draft:
Teacher: Who is your audience? Who are you writing this for?
Ariel: The kids in my class.
Teacher: Do you need to give them any further information so that they can picture it in their minds?
Ariel: No, there is enough there.
Teacher: How do you think they can see "you" in the story?
Ariel: Well, I've tried to write it just like I see it at Grandma and Grandad's house.
From: The New Zealand Curriculum Exemplars – English – Written Language Language – Level 2 – Personal Experience: Table Manners
The following 'think aloud' illustrates a student considering their purpose and audience as they compose a static image.
"I decided on a command for my writing, as that's what Mac is always doing to the cat in the story. Always yelling at it to do this and that. I decided that a rhyme would be good as you would remember it. I wanted a red, fiery background to make it look angry, as Mac is angry at the cat and treats it badly.
The mice are around the border, as in the story. Mac makes the cat catch mice in the restaurant. The cat doesn't like. it. I didn't want to many colours, so I decided on angry and mean colours.
The black lettering is sort of mean and it also stands out. I didn't want too much black anywhere else, though. The cat is the main thing, so it's big and the middle of the page. I coloured it purple, as it's a mix of angry and scared (red and blue makes purple). The cat has red glitter eyes. I wanted them to really stand out on its face. They are pop-out angry eyes. I'm aiming at adults, and want them to read them to read this book to their children.
I think they will like the rhyme."
From: The New Zealand Curriculum Exemplars – English – Visual Language – Level 2 – Static Images: Paw Thing
Constructs texts that demonstrate a growing awareness of audience and purpose through appropriate choice of content, language, and text form
Writers should speak first from their own experience and knowledge, in their own voice, maintaining their integrity. However, writers need readers, so they must consider their audience unless they are to end up writing only for themselves. In determining audience successfully, learners will:
There is no such thing as good writing in a vacuum. Teachers need to think about the situations students are asked to write in, the purposes given for writing, and the audience the students are writing for, because all these factors influence the kind of writing produced.
Exploring Language, NZ Ministry of Education, 1996. p.159.
Writers have a range of choices they can make about the way they organise the text, develop the topic or theme, use particular grammatical structures, and choose vocabulary. All these decisions influence how a message is read by the read. Texts are structured in different ways to achieve their purpose. The purpose of a recount is to tell about a past experience – to tell the reader what happened. The purpose of an argument on the other hand, is to persuade the reader to agree with a point of view.
Exploring Language, NZ Ministry of Education, 1996. p.156–157. [abridged]
In order to achieve certain purposes in writing, the language we use reflects three main considerations. (1) What are we writing about? (content influences vocabulary, idioms or phrases). (2) What is our purpose? (language choices and grammatical structures that are associated with a desire to argue, to entertain, to instruct, etc.) (3) Who are we writing for? (language choice and grammatical choices that acknowledge different ways of addressing our parents, our friends, the teacher, the principal, etc.). These three considerations combine to influence the language in use in a text.
asTTle V4 Manual 1.0, Appendix. p.4.
The following teacher-student conversation demonstrates a student thinking about their purpose and audience as they write.
As they finished writing, Liam checked in with his teacher. After this conference, Liam edited his work and added some punctuation before publishing it.
Teacher: You have a great set of reasons for cooking. Which one do you think is the most important?
Liam: I know how to stay safe ... I won't get hurt. Oh, I forgot to tell about reading recipes!
Teacher: I like the way you've left a space before ending with that last sentence.
Liam: It made me cross. I wanted that bit to stick out. You know we can read recipes.
From: The New Zealand Curriculum Exemplars – English – Written Language – Level 2 – Argument: Six year Olds Can Cook
Expects the texts they create to be understood, responded to, and appreciated by others
Children will develop as writers when they work in an environment which assumes they will succeed – this is most important. Teachers must convey the expectation that writing … can be shared successfully with others.
Dancing With the Pen: The Learner as a Writer. NZ Ministry of Education, 1992. p.12. [abridged]
The following teacher-student conversation suggests a writer who expects their audience to understand and appreciate their text.
Before writing:
Teacher: What can you tell me about the serviette rings?
Ariel: They have engraving all over them.
Teacher: Do they have anything special engraved on them?
Ariel: Yes, one has my grandad's name.
After the draft:
Teacher: Who is your audience? Who are you writing this for?
Ariel: The kids in my class.
Teacher: Do you need to give them any further information so that they can picture it in their minds?
Ariel: No, there is enough there.
Teacher: How do you think they can see "you" in the story?
Ariel: Well, I've tried to write it just like I see it at Grandma and Grandad's house.
From: The New Zealand Curriculum Exemplars - English - Written Language - Level 2 - Personal Experience: Table Manners
Develops and conveys personal voice where appropriate.
Voice refers to those aspects of a piece of writing that give it a personal flavour. It is a term coined by Donald Graves. A definition such as 'personal style' nearly suffices, but the 'voice' also reflects the personal confidence of the writer. It may have less stability and consistency than style, and be relevant to a particular event - 'voice' is often modified by the chosen genre, fashions, and the prevailing media. Above all it expresses the writer's confidence of expression.
Dancing with the Pen. NZ Ministry of Education, 1992. p.129.
The following national writing exemplars all feature texts that demonstrate strong personal voice:
Forms and expresses ideas and information with reasonable clarity, often drawing on personal experience and knowledge
Composing a text involves the writer in translating their thoughts, ideas, intentions, and understandings into a written form. This stage is often described as “getting something down on paper”.
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003. p.139.
Writing is the easily observable process of translating thoughts, ideas, and intentions into a form of graphic representation.
Dancing With the Pen: The Learner as a Writer. NZ Ministry of Education, 1992. p.24. [abridged].
The following illustrates a student forming and expressing ideas as she writes.
Tamyka drafted her piece of writing. To begin with, she drew a picture of her mum.
This helped her to focus on her main message:
“My mum always gives me a hug when she drops me off at school.”
As Tamyka wrote, she used her prior knowledge of sound, letter, word, and sentence formation. In particular, she:
The following teacher and student resources have been designed to help students form and express their ideas and information with clarity:
Begins to add or delete details and comments, showing some selectivity in the process.
Revising generally involves reordering, deleting, and adding text in order to represent an intended meaning more clearly. The writer may search for a more accurate word or expression to capture an idea. At the revising stage, students of all ages reflect critically on what they have written and think about how the audience may respond. At more advanced levels, revision often involves substantial changes to content and structure. Revising may involve the learner in doing some or all of the following:
Students often need encouragement to give careful attention to their writing and to spend time revising it, but it is important that they do so. Learning to revise their writing is essential if they are to become skilled, accurate writers, whether their writing is for personal use or is intended for publishing. The term “editing” is often used for this stage of writing.
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003. p.140.
Uses oral, written, and visual language features to create meaning and effect
In order to achieve certain purposes in writing, the language we use reflects three main considerations.
These three considerations combine to influence the language in use in a text.
asTTle V4 Manual. Writing/Tuhituhi, p.4.
Teachers will find many opportunities during classroom programmes to make links between writing, reading, and oral language. They may draw attention to words or turns of expression both when reading to or with children and in conversations and interactions throughout the day. There’s a whole range of written language that can be discussed, including poetic language (for sheer delight in the sounds, rhythm, flow, and power of language) and the language of a transactional text (for its interesting details and its accuracy).
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education. 2003. p.137.
The following texts and units demonstrates students thinking about links between oral, written and visual language as they compose.
Uses a large and increasing bank of high-frequency, topic-specific, and personal content words to create meaning
Students need to build an ever-increasing writing vocabulary (that is, a bank of words that they can write automatically). This frees up the writer’s resources to focus on meaning and on other aspects of writing, such as developing an author’s perspective and planning the impact on the intended audience. It enables writers to experiment with language and to analyse their work and review it critically.
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1-4, NZ Ministry of Education. 2003. p.42
The following student written text features examples of high frequency words (in bold).
I think that 6 year olds can cook because I've done cooking at home. I've made hokey pokey. My mum is a very good baker, She cooks all kinds of stuff. I measure liquid and measure temperature on the oven. I know how to stay safe. I need to wash my hands too and turn off the power then put the plug in and turn on the power. I know not to burn myself by working with a Mother help.
Sure 6 year olds can cook.
From: The New Zealand Curriculum Exemplars – English – Written Language – Level 2 – Personal Experience
Uses a large and increasing bank of high-frequency, topic-specific, and personal content words to create meaning
Content words are those that carry most of the meaning in the sentence – nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. In the context of the exemplars for explanation and argument, the term "content words" is replaced by "topic-related words" to refer to words that relate particularly to the topics the students wrote about.
Teachers' Notes. New Zealand Curriculum Exemplars. English. NZ Ministry of Education. 2003.
The following student written text features examples of content- or topic-specific words (in bold).
I think that 6 year olds can cook because I've done cooking at home. I've made hokey pokey. My mum is a very good baker, She cooks all kinds of stuff. I measure liquid and measure temperature on the oven. I know how to stay safe. I need to wash my hands too and turn off the power then put the plug in and turn on the power. I know not to burn myself by working with a Mother help.
Sure 6 year olds can cook.
The New Zealand Curriculum Exemplars – English – Written Language – Level 2 – Personal Experience
Spells most high-frequency words correctly and shows growing knowledge of common spelling patterns
What students need to be able to demonstrate at Level 2 in relation to spelling/high frequency words.
Shows knowledge of consonant and vowel sounds, and blends. Shows some knowledge of common spelling patterns and can transfer these between words. Spells most high-frequency words correctly (Spell-Write lists 1-4).
Shows knowledge of consonant and vowel sounds, and blends. Shows some knowledge of common spelling patterns and can transfer these between words. Spells most high-frequency words correctly (Spell-Write lists 1-4).
Spells most high-frequency words correctly and shows growing knowledge of common spelling patterns
Students need a knowledge of orthographic patterns – that is, of the spelling patterns that represent sounds in words. The teacher can help the students to develop this knowledge by encouraging them to make analogies to known words that sound the same or look the same. Beginning spellers need to be exposed to ways of writing all sounds (not just those that are commonly associated with the alphabet letters) since they will be trying to write words such as look, out, now, house, toy, boot, train, and tree.
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003. p.145.
The following vignette demonstrates the importance of teachers recognising how students can learn to spell new words from the knowledge of spelling patterns that they already hold.
"I tuk my nyou t_ to the prk akros the rod from my hows."
"I took my new toy to the park across the road from my house."
The child does not know how to write the "oy" and "ar" sounds. They have used what they know from "put " to write "took" and from "you" to write "new". Phonetically and orthographically, this is an excellent attempt, but it also tells the teacher that child needs to learn that "ar" and "oy" are separate sounds that have particular ways of being written in words.
Uses a range of strategies to self-monitor and self-correct spelling
Spelling strategies for writing and proofreading
Student writers need to learn strategies for spelling unfamiliar words. Teachers can encourage their students to make connections to words that sound the same, to think about the spelling patterns that they already know, to analyse a word in terms of what it means, to write down possible spellings and see how they look, to consult other writers, and to use dictionaries and phonetic spellcheckers.
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 5–8, NZ Ministry of Education, 2006. p.165.
Exemplar: When My Grandad Died
This example shows evidence that the writer has identified spelling errors and has attempted to correct them.
Writes legibly and with increasing fluency when creating texts
Students’ handwriting develops in the course of their experiences of writing. Almost every child enjoys the physical act of drawing, but developing the precision required to form letters is a challenge for many. Initially, the teacher needs to accept some irregularities, especially where an undue emphasis on letter forms could interrupt a young writer’s flow of thought. However, students need explicit instruction in letter formation so that they do not develop habits that prevent them from writing fluently and legibly. Teachers can note the aspects that need working on and provide opportunities for their students to practise them, for example, by having practice cards available in the writing corner.
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003. p.148.
Exemplar: If There Were No Cats
This example of handwriting, although showing irregularities in size, letter shape and slope, is legibly and fluently written.
Gains increasing control of text conventions, including some grammatical conventions.
The term convention is used where there is a generally accepted usage or practice. The conventions of written English include such aspects as punctuation, the layout of a letter or a curriculum vitae, the format of a book. In oral language, there are conventions for formal debates or sermons or speeches of welcome. Children need to learn the conventions of their language - when it is appropriate or inappropriate to use certain words, how to use politeness forms, and so on. The rules of a language are highly resistant to change over time, but conventions can and do change, both over time and from one audience to another.
Exploring Language, NZ Ministry of Education, 1996. p.28.
Gains increasing control of text conventions, including some grammatical conventions.
Students should explore and develop an understanding of grammar, or the way words and phrases and formed and combined.
Exploring Language, NZ Ministry of Education, 1996. p.25.
Grammar provides us with the knowledge and understanding to analyse and describe how both written and oral language work. Similarly, by knowing the grammar of film, we can explore, identify, learn about, describe, and use features of visual language that create particular meanings and effects in moving images in film and television.
Exploring Language, NZ Ministry of Education, 1996. p.210.
Knowing the structure or syntax of a language helps readers to predict a word or the order of words in a sentence. A child who is using syntactic information knows what type of word is missing in the sentence “The dog ---------- over the wall.” The language of most five-year-olds enables them to use syntax well in predicting and checking the accuracy of words they read in their first language. Similarly, when children begin to write, they try to record what they might say. They are governed by syntax because the words we hear, speak, read, and write are organised into grammatical sequences. Children’s understandings of written language structure increase progressively through planned literacy activities.
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4 NZ Ministry of Education, p.29.
The following are the grammatical conventions that most level 2 students can be expected to demonstrate.
Uses most grammatical conventions with support (correctly formed sentences, consistent tense and pronouns, subject-verb agreement, correct prepositions).
Attempts at more complex sentences may include errors.
From: The New Zealand Curriculum Exemplars – English – Written Language – Level 2
Organise texts using a range of structures.
This dimension of text refers to the ordering or organisation that a writer demonstrates in his/her text. The focus here is on the management of text through sequencing and linking of ideas. There are two main ways in which organisation is seen to operate. There is the “global” organisation of the text, dealing with sequence from start to finish. This kind of paragraphing may be a tool used by a writer to group ideas and between paragraph links. Another way in which text may be organised is through the linking of ideas within and across sentences (by using conjunctions, adverbials and adjectivals). This may be particularly useful in texts where the job of the writer is to explain. In such texts, cause and effect sequences need to be made explicit.
asTTleV4. Manual. Writing/Tuhituhi, p.4.
It is important that teachers and students understand the structure and features of texts.
Uses knowledge of word and sentence order to communicate meaning when creating text
Knowing the structure or syntax of a language helps readers to predict a word or the order of words in a sentence. A child who is using syntactic information knows what type of word is missing in the sentence “The dog ---------- over the wall.” The language of most five-year-olds enables them to use syntax well in predicting and checking the accuracy of words they read in their first language. Similarly, when children begin to write, they try to record what they might say. They are governed by syntax because the words we hear, speak, read, and write are organised into grammatical sequences. Children’s understandings of written language structure increase progressively through planned literacy activities.
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003. p.29.
Structure/Organisation
This dimension of text refers to the ordering or organisation that a writer demonstrates in his/her text. The focus here is on the management of text through sequencing and linking of ideas. There are two main ways in which organisation is seen to operate. There is the “global” organisation of the text, dealing with sequence from start to finish. This kind of paragraphing may be a tool used by a writer to group ideas and between paragraph links. Another way in which text may be organised is through the linking of ideas within and across sentences (by using conjunctions, adverbials and adjectivals). This may be particularly useful in texts where the job of the writer is to explain. In such texts, cause and effect sequences need to be made explicit.
asTTleV4 Manual. Writing/Tuhituhi. p.4.
Organises and sequences ideas and information with some confidence
Learning through ordering information for writing. Helping writers become conscious of form is the major task in this stage of the writing process. This applies not just to the understanding of the characteristics of different genre but also what makes an example of structure within a genre good or bad. Sequencing, relevance, and logic are important aspects to develop, as are the use of contrast, comparison, example, and recapitulation to make meaning or emphasis clear. When learners organise their information for a purpose, they often create their first real understanding of their topic.
Dancing with the Pen, p.46.
Writers have a range of choices they can make about the way they organise the text, develop the topic or theme, use particular grammatical structures, and choose the vocabulary. All these decisions influence how the message is read by the reader.
The purpose of the writing influences the overall structure of texts; however, writers also use different language, depending upon the situation in which the texts are to be used. Writing can range from "close" personal writing (expressive) at one end of a continuum, to "distant" impersonal (often transactional) writing at the other.
Exploring Language, NZ Ministry of Education, 1996. p.156. [abridged]
The following texts demonstrate students organising and sequencing ideas and information in their writing, according to the purpose of writing.
Begins to use a variety of sentence structures, beginnings, and lengths.
A sentence is a group of words that makes sense on its own.
A simple sentence consists of one clause.
My DaD like Fines. [My Dad likes friends].
(from: My Dad's Name is Crash)
A compound sentence has two or more clauses joined by a co-ordinating conjunction. The clauses are of equal weight; that is, they are both main clauses.
Mi Gran has bAn heR and Grancome in The pleoel weTh me. [My Gran has brown hair and Gran comes in the pool with me.]
(from: Gran Comes in the Pool with Me)
A complex sentence consists of a main clause, joined to one or more subordinate clauses.
However, even if all this is done cats will still kill.
(from: Feral Cats)
Minor sentences are also called elliptical sentences. They are sentences in which part of the structure has been omitted. They are more common in conversation than written language.
The New Zealand Curriculum Exemplars – English – Written Language – Glossary
Students in the following texts use a variety of sentence structures for effect.
Published on: 03 Jun 2014
