WRITING @ EVERGLADE

Expectations for children’s writing

How we help your child to become a better writer.

How you can help your child to become a better writer.

EXPECTATIONS

Our Goal: our students will leave our school as… CAPABLE LEARNERS, EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATORS and RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS

The NZ Curriculum indicates students will move through a series of ‘levels’ in their progress towards becoming competent writers

Students will work on and understand the key characteristics of each level of the Writing Progressions – they will be able to self-reflect, and communicate their ‘next steps’

We recognise and address differentiation in all aspects of writing, and our writing programmes reflect this

EXPECTATIONS IN THE CLASSROOM

Children will write daily Children will experience writing different genre At different year levels there are different focuses Writing is not expected to be finished in one session Not everything is published We value the process, not necessarily the end product We encourage children to make changes to writing / to

endeavour to improve the message – to engage with their audience

Children are regularly given an opportunity to share their writing

THE CLASSROOM PROGRAMME

The classroom programme includes: Children being involved in some aspect of writing every day

Language experience activities

Shared Writing – planning and constructing (common text) together

Teacher Modelling

Guided writing sessions – ‘talk for writing’- teacher / group – focus on particular task

Independent Writing

Plenary – opportunity for individuals to share with an audience

Handwriting – taught as a response to identified needs

SMART WORDS – as a response to data analysis – we participate in the Smart Words programme to actively promote children’s knowledge of spelling, grammar and to extend knowledge of vocabulary

KEY IDEAS DR.ALISON DAVIS – EFFECTIVE WRITING

INSTRUCTION

Learning to write is a thinking process

Writers need to be self-reflective

Deliberate, planned and regular instruction of writing is essential

Multiple and varied opportunities are provided to create skilled and confident writers

Engagement and motivation are fundamental to developing effective writers

Skilled writers monitor and regulate their own writing

Quality talk – before, during, and after writing – enhances learning

There are direct links between reading, writing and oral language

Writing is used across the curriculum, to access and record real-life experiences and to write for authentic purposes

Writing development does not happen in isolation

DIFFERENT TYPES OF WRITING (GENRE)

In our programmes across the different year levels we explore different writing ‘genre’

Begin with the simple recount and move through a range of genre for children to use for different writing purposes

Recount

Procedural

Information Report

Narrative

Explanation

Persuasive Argument

HOW YOU CAN HELP ?

Prior knowledge – what the children know – what they bring to their writing

Reading helps promote interest and understanding of the world around them

Reading engages their imagination – picture book

‘Doing things together’– these provide rich experiences for writing Go for a drive – to the Zoo – to the Museum – to the Art Gallery – across the

Harbour Bridge

Walk on the beach – in the park – the Botanic Gardens – the Mall – the city water front

Talk about where you are going – look at maps – timetables – money exchange - clothing