writing development checklist—grade three - … · 244 literacy place for the early years—grade...

244 Literacy Place for the Early Years—Grade Three

Writing Development Checklist—Grade Three

Student’s Name: Date:

COMMUNICATION (Content, Purpose, Voice, and Audience)

Record the stage of development when the student demonstrates the characteristic. (Use of coloured markers for different

time periods would be helpful.)

Observations

•writesforawiderangeofpurposesandaudiences

•changesvoiceappropriately(frompersonal-expressivetofactual-impersonaltopoetic)

Prompts

•Whydidyouchoosetowriteapoem(story,letter,report)?

•Howisthislistgoingtobeuseful?Isitjustforyou?

•Whyareyousendingthisletter?•Howcanyoumaketheseinstructions

easytounderstand?Wouldamaphelp?

•Whowillreadthisposter?•Whydoyouthinkdirectionsforthe

gameneedtobeshort?•Whoareyoutryingtopersuade?•Whodoyouthinkwillenjoythisstory?•Didyouwritethebook

recommendationwithanyoneinmind?

•Ilikeyourfriendlytoneinthisinvitation.(reinforcement)

•Youhavestrongfeelingsabout…IcanreallyhearthatwhenIreadyourwriting.

•Thispieceofwritingsoundslikeyou.•Ifyouweretryingtopersuadethe

class,whatwouldyousay?I’llpretendtobetheclass,nowtrytopersuademe.(roleplayingtostimulatethedevelopmentofvoice)

•Tellyourbuddywhatyoureallythinkabout…Nowwriteitdown.(buddytalktostimulatevoice)

•Ilikethewayyoutoldareaderthefactsonhowtobuildaskyscraperandthenyourvoicechangedwhenyouwrotethepoemonhowtheskyscraperlookedatnight.Inthepoemyouusedan“I”voiceandweremorepersonal.Wecouldimaginethescenefromthepicturesyoupaintedwithwords.(reinforcement)

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245Literacy Place for the Early Years—Grade Three



COMMUNICATION (Content, Purpose, Voice, and Audience) continued



Observations

•demonstratesknowledgeofawiderangeoftexttypesanddecideswhichisappropriateforaparticularwritingpurpose

•usesawiderangeofformsofwriting(e.g.,story,letter,poem,report,directions,recipe,play)

•initiatesownwritingprojectsforavarietyofpurposes

•choosesanwiderangeoftopics:someofthemmayrequireresearch

Prompts

•Maybeyoucouldsurveytheclassonfavouriteicecreamflavoursbeforeyouwriteyourreport.

•You’vetoldmesomuchaboutyourcomputer.Maybeyoucouldwriteaboutit.You’dneedtoincludeapicturewithlabelsoftheparts.

•Perhapsyoucouldexplainhowtheremotecontrolcarworks.

•Thatwouldmakeagoodstory.•Great!Youdecidedtowritea

poemaboutplayingbasketball.(reinforcement)

•Ilikethewayyoumadeyourbookrecommendationintoaposter.

•Tryretellinghowyoumadethemodeltrain.

•PerhapsyoucouldwriteaplayliketheonewewroteonourprojectonBig Bad Bertha.

•You’vegotagoodreasonforwritingthislettertoRicardo.

•Youwantedtomakeapostertotelleveryoneaboutcomingtoseeourclassplay.That’sagoodidea.(reinforcement)

•Thinkaboutwhyyouarewritingthesedirections.Whatdoesthereaderneedtoknow?

•It’sagoodideatowriteaboutthemountainbiketrailsyouknow,butIlikethewayyoucheckedouttwonewmountainbiketrailsintherecreationbrochurefromtheParksDepartment.

•You’rewritingabout…becauseitreallyinterestsyou.That’sagoodplan.Whatdoyouthinkyouneedtoresearch?Wheredoyouthinkyou’llfindinformation?

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ObservationsPrompts

•makeswrittenresponsestoliteratureusingavarietyofformse.g.,letters,plays,poems,bookrecommendations,TextandMejournal,OpinionSummaries

•recordsandexplainsobservationswithtextandappropriatepictures(e.g.,achart,picture,ordiagram)

•expressesandjustifiesaviewpoint

Prompts

•Checkoutyourlistoftopics…maybeyouneedtothinkaboutaddingsomenewideas.

•Youenjoyedthatbook.Whoelsewouldlikeit?Canyoumakeabookrecommendationforourbulletinboard?

•Youdidn’tlikethatbookmuch.Writeandtelluswhy.

•What’syouropinionabout…inthebook?UsetheOpinionSummarytohelpyouthinkaboutyourideas.

•IlikethewayyouhavechosenacharactertowriteaboutinyourTextandMeJournal.

•Yourreadingclubhasdecidedtomakethatsceneintoaplay.That’safineplan!(reinforcement)

•You’vedoneasurveyabouticecreampreferencesintheclass.Howwillyouincludethatinyourreport?

•Yourcartoonshowsusaninterestingscenefromyourbook.Canyouincludespeechbubblesorthoughtbubblessothatweknowwhatyourcharactersaresayingandthinking?

•Ilikethewayyouhavewrittencaptionsunderyourpictures.Theygivesomeextradetailstoareader.(reinforcement)

•Youwrotethatyoureallylikedthebook.Canyouwritesomereasonssothatareaderknowswhyyoulikedit?

•You’vegotastrongopinionaboutwhetherbaseballorsocceristhebestgametoplayandyou’vegivenareaderonereasonforyourviews.Canyouthinkofsomeotherreasons?

•Youhavesomegoodreasonstosupportyouropinion.(reinforcement)



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Writing Development Checklist—Grade ThreeStudent’s Name: Date:




Observations

•developsanideaortopicintoacompleteanddetailedaccount

•developsacompleteandlogicalplotforanarrativewithcharacters,settings,problems,events,andresolutions

•writesreportsinparagraphs,integratingresearchfromseveralsources,andpresentsideaswithsupportingillustrations

Prompts

•IlikeyourreportonsurvivingintheArctic.Whatwouldbeaninterestingwayoffinishingit?

•Good,youhaveagreatdescriptionofpenguins.Iwonderifaglossarywouldhelpareadertounderstandsomeofthetrickywordse.g.,polaricecap.

•You’reright!Atableofcontentshelpsthereadertofindsectionsofyourreport.(reinforcement)

•YouwroteabouthowPetrathechipmunkneededalesscrowdedplacetoliveandcouldn’tfindone.Thatwastheprobleminthestory.Howcouldyousolvethatproblem?

•Youhavealotofcharactershere.Aretheyallimportantinthestory?Couldyouleavesomeoutandstillhaveagoodstory?

•Maybeyoucouldaddafewmoredetailssothatthereaderwouldknowwhereyourstorytookplace.Wasitinthecityorthecountry?Wasitsummerorwinter?

•Yourstoryhasclearevents.Areadercanreallyfollowtheplot.(reinforcement)

•You’velookedatonebookaboutwildlifesanctuaries.MaybeyoucouldcheckoutthisbrochurefromtheWildlifeRecoveryCentre.

•Canyouinterviewsomeonewhorecyclestofindouthowtheydoit?

•Thispartofyourreportisonmachinesusedtodigtheholeforthefoundationsoftheskyscraperandthispartisaboutmakingthecementwalls.It’sbesttokeeptoonetopicinaparagraph,andtohaveoneparagraphforthemachinesandanotherforhowtheyputupthewalls.

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LANGUAGE STRUCTURE



Observations

•usesavarietyofsentencestructures(simple,compound,andcomplex)

•variessentencestructureswithinanaccount

•usesfirst-andthird-personwithawarenessaboutwhichisappropriateforthetextstructure,purpose,andaudience

•uses“booklanguage”moreconsistentlyanduseskeywordsthatrelatetotextstructures(e.g.,“first,”“next,”“then”forproceduralwriting,and“reasons,”“because,”“myopinionis...”forpersuasionwriting)

Prompts

•Canyoujointhosetwosentencestogethertomakeone,longersentence?

•Itworks!Usingashortsentencelikethatontheposter,attractsareader’sattention.(reinforcement)

•You’vewritten,“Thesnowfalls.Manyofthecarsgetstuck.”Letmehelpyoutomakethatintoone,interestingsentence.IfIput“When”atthebeginning…

•Youcanmakeyourwritingmoreinterestingifyouhavesomeshortsentencesandsomelongerones.Canyoujointhesesentencestogetherandmaybethesetwoaswell?Let’sjointhesetwotogetherandthenyoutry…

•Whenyouareretellingyouneedtosay,“Ididthis,andthenIwentthere”becauseyouarewritingaboutwhatyoudid.

•Whenpeoplewritereportstheyusuallywrite“he/she/they”becausetheyarenotwritingaboutthemselves.Let’slookatthebookonwhalesandfindoutwhattheauthordid.

•Ilikethewayyouwrote,“Webelievethereshouldbearecyclingboxinthelunchroom.”Youwrote,“We”becauseyouknowtheclassagreeswithyousoyouarewritingforallofus.

•Ilikethewayyouwrote,“Footballandrugbyarealikeinmanyways,buttheyaredifferentinotherways.”Whenyouwrite“alike”and“different”Iknowyouarecomparing.(reinforcement)

•Thestepswouldbeclearerifyouusedsignalwordslike“first,”“second,”“then,”“next…”

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LANGUAGE STRUCTURE (continued)



Observations

•usesage-appropriategrammar

•maintainstenseconsistency(onmostoccasions)

•usesparagraphs

•usesavarietyoflinkingideastocombineideas

Prompts

•(“Heseenit”)Hesawtheaccident?•(“Theywasthere”)So,theywere

there.Yousawthem.•(“Therewerefourmices.”)Isawfour

micetoo.(Modellingwhenyouheartheincorrectgrammarexpressedwilltransferintowriting.Accurategrammarneedstobeusedinorallanguagebeforeitisintegratedintowriting.)

•Good,youractionwords…ran…went…rushed…alltellmeyouareretellingatripthathappenedinthepast.(reinforcement)

•Youstartedyourstorywith“Alongtimeago”andthenwrote“aprincesslivesinacastle.”Ifitwasalongtimeagoallyouractionwordsshouldtellthereaderitwasinthepast.Howwillyouchange“lives”?

•Inyourreportonseacreatures,whenyouchangefromwritingaboutseaurchinstowritingaboutsharks,itwouldbeagoodideatostartanewparagraph.

•Areallyourideasaboutbuildingabridgeinthisparagraph?Doyouhaveanyextraideasthataren’taboutbridgebuilding?

•Canyouthinkofawordotherthan“and”tojointhosetwosentences?

•Ifyoustartthefirstsentencewith“When,”youmaybeabletolinkthosesentencestogetherandmakeonelongersentence.(Bartrusheddowntheroad.Hewasjustintimetogetthebus.)

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LANGUAGE STRUCTURE(continued)



Observations

•recognizesthedifferencebetweenjotnotesandsentences

•usesdialogueinwrittenaccounts

•usesavarietyofverbs,adverbs,andadjectivestoenhancewrittenaccounts

•useswordstoindicatecomparisons(e.g.,“but,”“although,”“similar,”“alike”)andcauseandeffect(e.g.,“if,”“then,”“because”)

Prompts

•Jotnotesjustcontainkeywordstoremindyouoffacts.Theyaren’twholesentences.

•You’vechangedyourjotnotesintowholesentences.Theylookgood!

•Theastronautisspeakingheresolet’sputquotationmarksaroundwhatheissaying.

•Let’slookinthisbookandseewhattheauthordoeswhenacharacterstartstospeakandthenfinishes.Yes,dialoguealwaysstartswithacapitalletteraftertheopeningquotationmarks,etc.

•Youhavesomeniceactionwordshere.“Hetumbledtotheground.”Iliketheword“tumbled.”Itgivesmeaclearerpicturethansaying“fell.”

•Canyouthinkofanotherwordinsteadof“went”?

•Thinkofawayofmakingthecharactermoreinteresting.Tellmewhathelookedlike…talkedliked.

•Ilikethewayyouwrote,“hesaidsleepily.”Thatgivesussomedetailsabouthowhisvoicesounded.

•Youwrote,“Thebulldozerwasenormous.Themotorcyclewassmall.”Canyoucomparethemandjointhoseideastogether?(modelifnecessary)

•Ilovethewayyouusedsignalwordstoconnectthosetwoideas,e.g.,“Ifthevolcanoerupts,thenthelavawillcomedownthemountain.”

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WRITING PROCESS



Observations

Planning and Research•talksaboutideasforwritingwitha

varietyofpeople:mayintervieworsurveypeopletodoresearch

•makeswrittenplans(mayuseagraphicorganizer)

•gathersinformationbyinterviewinginformedpeople;usingbooks,charts,CDs,visualmedia,andwebsites

•makesjotnotestorecordresearchfindings

Prompts

•It’sagoodplantotalkoverideasforyourreportwithyourbuddy/orwritinggroup(GuidedWriting).

•Plan4–5questionsbeforeyouinterviewtheschoolcrossingguard.

•Howwillyoujotdowntheresultsofyoursurveyquestion?

•IfIwaswritingabout…I’dmakesomenotesfrom…(modelnotetakingfromabook,brochure,orsharedreadingtextinacraftlesson)

•It’sagoodideatoplanyourstoryusinganorganizer.Ithelpsyoutothinkabouttheideasyouneedtohavebeforeyoustartwriting.

•Writeeachnewthingyoufindoutabout…onanideacard(orstickynote).Thenyoucansortthemafterwards.

•Isthereanybodyyoucouldaskaboutthistopic?

•Howcanyoufindoutmoreabout…?•Whichbooks/pamphlets/websites

mighthelpyou?•Sometimesithelpstowatchamovie

tofindoutmoreabout…Let’swatchthismovietofindoutabout…(setaspecificpurposee.g.,tofindoutabouticebergs)

•WhatareyouplanningonaskingMrs.Smithabout…?

•Remember,youdon’tneedtowritedownwholesentences,justenoughimportantwordstoremindyouabouttheidea.

•Theimportantideaisthatkillerwhalesarepredators,somaybeunderlinethatideaincolour.Thenyoucanjotdownafewdetailstosupportthatidea.Useabulletforeachnewidea.

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WRITING PROCESS (continued)



Observations

•organizesnotestoclusterideas(withsomesupport)

Drafting•writesafirstdraftwithorwithoutan

organizer

Revising•adds,deletes,andsubstitutesideas

•revisesideaswithabuddyorindependently(withsupportavailableifneeded)

Editing•checksspellingswithclassresources

(e.g.,Wordwall,charts),oradictionary

Prompts

•Arrangeyourideacards(orstickynotes)onthetableandthensortthemintoideasthatgotogether.Thenlet’stalkaboutwhytheygotogether.

•Youhaveyourbigheadings…SwimClub…Swimmingat…andSwimmingintheOcean.Nowsortyourideasundertheseheadings.Doyouhaveanyideasleftthatdon’tseemtofit?

•Themostimportantthingistogetyourideasdowninyourwriting.

•Useyourplantohelpyouwritedownyourideas.

•Yournoteswillgiveyousomedetailstowritedownaboutthispartofyourtopic.

•Ithelpsyoutoreadyourwritingoutloudtoyourself(orothers).Thenyoucanhearifitmakessense.

•Whatdoyouthinkneedsadding?•Doyouthinkitwouldhelptochange

theorderofyourideas?Couldthisgofirst?

•Whatpartofyourwritingdoesn’tfitin?(orisn’tontopic)Let’stakethatpartout.

•Readitoutloudtoyourself.Doesitmakesense?Isthereanythingyoucanadd/takeout?

•Whatpartdoesyourbuddylike?Didhe/shesuggestanychanges?

•CanyouchecktheWordWallforthatspelling?

•Ithinkyoucouldcheckthatwordinadictionary.(modelifnecessary)

•Check“Mystery”onouranchorchartaboutmysterystories.

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Observations

•checkspunctuationconventions(e.g.,capitals,periods,questionmarks,exclamationmarks,dialogue,andapostrophesforpossessivesandcontractions)

•usesaneditingchecklistwithminimalsupport

•printsclearlyorusesclearcursivewritingtoensurelegibility

•checksthatthetexthasappropriatevisualfeatures(e.g.,illustrations,tablesofcontent,diagrams,glossary)

Prompts

•Doyouneedaperiodoraquestionmarkattheendofthatsentence?

•Remember,youonlyputexclamationmarkswhensomethingyousaywillreallysurprisethereader.

•Whatkindofpunctuationwouldyouusewhenthepersonhasfinishedspeaking?

•ThejacketbelongstoMariasowheredoweputtheapostrophetoshowthat?(Maria’sjacket)

•Readyourwritingoutloud,orreaditinyourheadandpointtoeachword.Checkonlyonethingatatime.Whatwillyoucheckforfirst?

•Whatareyoucheckingforthistimeyourereadyourwriting?

•Usingacolouredpenciltoaddyourcapitalsandpunctuationhelpsyoutonoticewhereyouneedtochangethingswhenyourewriteyourpiece.

•Yourfinalcopyneedstohavereallyclearprinting/handwritingsothatotherpeoplecanreadyourpoem.

•That’snice,clearprinting/handwriting.(reinforcement)

•Yourprintingneedstobemuchbiggerthanitusuallyiswhenyouaremakingawallposter.Otherpeoplehavetobeabletoseeitfromadistance.

•Wouldanotherpicturehelphere?•Let’slookatatableofcontentsin

thisbook,becauseIthinkatableofcontentswouldhelpareadertofindallofyourheadings.

•Youhavesometrickywordsthatareadermightnotknow.Aglossarywouldhelp.Let’slookatthisbooktoseehowanauthorwroteaglossary.

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Observations

Sharing and Publishing•selectstexttobepublished

•publishesandshareswritinginavarietyofways(oralpresentation,books,charts,andposters)

Prompts

•Willyoupasteyoursurveyresultsintoyourreport?Wherewillyouputthem?

•Whydidyouchoosethispieceofwriting?Whatwasspecialaboutitforyou?

•Youchoseapoemlasttime.Maybeyoucouldchooseadifferenttypeofwritingthistime.

•Thinkaboutthepaperyouwanttousetomakethebook.Doyouwanttomakeitintoashapebook?

•Ilikeyourauthorbiographyonthebackcover.(reinforcement)

•Yourposterwillcatchpeople’sattentioninthehallway.(reinforcement)

•Maybeyourreportonhowtoplaysoccercouldbemadeintoapamphlet?Whatareyouthinking?

•Practisereadingyourwritingtoabuddybeforeyoushareitwiththeclass.

•Thankyouforsharingyourwriting.Ireallyliked…Whatdideveryoneelselike?

•Iwouldlikeyoutothinkabout…DoesanyoneelsehavesomethingtosuggestthatLeilacanconsider?

•Isthereanythingyouwoulddodifferentlynexttime?

•Whatwasyourfavouritepartofyourwriting?

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CONVENTIONS



Observations

Form•movesfromprintingtocursivewriting:

formslettersclearly

•writtenaccountsarespatiallywell-organized

•usesclassroomresourcesforspellingsupport(WordWall,charts,anddictionary)

•titles,labels,andheadingsareclearandhelpfulforareader

•illustrations,charts,diagrams,tablesofcontent,indexes,andglossariesareusedtosupportthetext

Prompts

•Tryusinghandwritingforthisreport.•Remembertodoreallyneatwritingso

thatotherpeoplecanreadyourbook.

•Maybeleaveaspaceunderyourpicture.Thenyou’llhaveroomforacaption.

•Ilikethewayyouputthetableofcontentsonaseparatepage.(reinforcement)

•Good,you’veindentedyourfirstwordineachparagraph.(reinforcement)

•Writingonalternatelinesmaymakeyourreportclearer.I’llputadotoneachofthealternatelinestoremindyou.

•CheckthewordontheWordWall.•Letmehelpyoucheckitinthe

dictionary.•Good,youusedthecharttocheckthe

word“mysterious.”(reinforcement)

•Howcanyoumakeyourtitlestandoutmore?

•Ifyouaredividingyourreportonhockeyinto“Howtoplaythegame”and“Equipment,”itwouldbeagoodideatoputheadingsintoshoweachpart.

•Ithinkyourheadingsshouldmatchyourtableofcontents.Thatwouldmakeiteasierforareader.Let’slookatanexampleinthisbook…

•Thatchartcomparingfieldhockeyandicehockeyisveryhelpful.Areadercanseehowtheyarethesameandhowtheyaredifferentveryquickly.(reinforcement)

•Maybeadiagramherewouldhelpthereadertounderstand…

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CONVENTIONS (continued)



Observations

Spelling•spellswordsconventionally

(lessthan10percentareinventedspellings)

•incorporatesvisual,sound,andmeaningcuesintospellinglessfamiliarwords

•identifieswordsthatdon’tlookrightinanaccount

•generatesstrategiesforconfirmingspellingaccuracy(e.g.,usingadictionaryorabookusedforresearch)

Punctuation and Capitalization•capitalizesappropriately

•usesperiodsandquestionmarkswithease,andexclamationmarkswithsomeguidance

Prompts

•CheckyourdictionaryofWordWallwords.Ithinkthatwordshouldbeinthere.(Dictionarycontainslastyear’swordsaswellasgradethreewords.)

•I’mgladtoseeyoucheckingthatwordinthedictionary.(reinforcement)

•Youthought“fly”wouldbecome“flies”becauseitendswitha“y”like“try.”Goodthinking!(reinforcement)

•Doyouknowanotherwordthatsoundsthesame/hasasimilarmeaning?

•Ifyouknowhowtospell“raced,”thatcanreallyhelpyoutospell“traced.”

•Youspelled“coiled”sowell.Wereyouthinkingitlookedlike“boiled”attheend?

•Doesitlookright?•Doyouknowanotherwordthatlooks

likethis?

•It’sagoodideatocheckthatspellingintheglossaryofthebookyouread.

•No,it’snotontheWordWall.Trythedictionary.

•Checkthatyourheadingshavecapitallettersatthebeginning.

•Good,you’verememberedtoputacapitalrightafteryourquotationmarks.(reinforcement)

•Ifit’saquestion,youneedtoputaquestionmarkattheend.

•It’sagoodideatoputanexclamationmarkwhensomethingissurprising,butthenyoushoulduseperiodstofinishtheothersentences.Whichsentencedoyouthinkcontainssomesurprisinginformation?

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CONVENTIONS (continued)



Observations

•usesdialogueconventions(maystillbeinconsistentatthisstage)

•usescommasmoreconfidently

•usesapostrophesforcontractionsandpossession

Prompts

•Readwhatthepersonsaysoutloudtome.That’sthepartthatneedsquotationmarks.

•Afterthepersonfinishesspeakingweusuallyputinacomma.Letmeshowyouwhereitgoes.

•Ifthegiantasksaquestion,thenyouputaquestionmarkinsteadofacommawhenhestopstalking.Thenyouputthequotationmarks.Letmeshowyou…

•Youhavealistofsuppliesforyourcraftproject.Whenwewritelists,weputacommainbetweeneachofthethingsinthelist.

•Great,you’veputacommajustbeforefinishingthequotationmarks!(reinforcement)

•Whenweleaveoutletterswefillthespacewithanapostrophe.Youwrote“well”andthatisshortfor“wewill”inyoursentence.We’veleftout“wi”soweputanapostrophetoshowwe’veshortenedit.

•Whenyouwroteabout“Jackiescat”youneedtoincludeanapostrophetotellareaderthatthecatbelongedtoJackie.Itlookslikethis…(Jackie’scat)

writing development checklist—grade three - … · 244 literacy place for the early years—grade...

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