whats opportunities to write students have in a classroom?

Writing in the classroom should be reflective of the writing individuals do in their daily lives. Typically, we create written texts with a specific purpose and for an intended audience.
These considerations make up one's mind the form the writing volition accept and the language choices the author makes.

Whatever the purpose, or whoever the intended audience, composing texts involves a sequenced process from the generation of initial ideas to the realisation of a finished production.
Instruction virtually the writing process is not the domain of any one particular arroyo to the teaching of writing.

Approaches such equally the genre approach using the teaching and learning bicycle, or the more than process-oriented approach of the writing workshop, comprise teaching most the writing procedure equally students etch texts.

As noted by Christie (2016, n.p.), "Every bit teachers and students together initiate writing activities in school, and so also they engage in writing processes, shaping meanings, working towards purposes and creating unlike texts, or 'products'".

In the composition of considered pieces of writing that we intend others to read, this writing process usually takes the class of:

1. Planning and rehearsing: the generation, selection and sorting of ideas to write about, consideration of purpose and audience which volition influence genre selection and system.
2. Drafting or composing: the recording of ideas with attending to meaning making, grammar, spelling, punctuation and handwriting (or keyboarding).
3. Revising: the revisiting of the text (frequently as a result of feedback from peers and/or the teacher) to improve and enhance the writing.
4. Editing and proofreading: the polishing of the typhoon in readiness for publication, which includes editing for spelling, text layout, grammer, capitalisation and punctuation.
5. Publishing: the training of the text for sharing with an audience, with attention given to the form and style of the text.

It is this writing process—from planning to publication—that provides a template for thinking about supporting students equally writers in the classroom.​

 Examples of pupil'south work.

​​Rationale for a focus on the writing process

The recognition of the writing process engages students in writing for specific personal or social purposes and alerts students to the conscious and considered creation of texts. It focuses their attention, even in the very early on years of school, on the need to be attentive to authorial and secretarial aspects of writing, defined by Daffern and Mackenzie (2015) every bit embracing:

Authorial

• text construction
• sentence and grammatical structures
• vocabulary and word choice.

Secretarial

• spelling
• punctuation
• handwriting/legibility.

Early research around embedding the writing procedure into classroom practise (Graves, 1994; Calkins, 1994) highlights loftier levels of student engagement with writing when their interests are legitimated and their topic choices are honoured.

Instituting a writing classroom that involves a writing process of planning, drafting or composing, revising or editing, and publishing, actively involves students in purposeful writing around which both their authorial and secretarial skills and understandings can develop.

Supporting EAL/D learners in the writing process

EAL/D students begin learning English at different points in their lives. Depending on their prior schooling experience, an EAL/D learner might need explicit education in either one or both authorial and secretarial aspects of writing. The type of scaffolding needed to support EAL/D students' writing is influenced past 3 factors:

• the student's historic period
• the student's stage of literacy development in any languages
• their proficiency in English language.

The following strategies are useful for early years EAL/D students who are new to formal written literacy or who are unfamiliar with the Latin script. Some of these can also be modified for older EAL/D students with limited English language language proficiency and/or express formal learning.

• Copying or tracing over a model judgement and drawing an appropriate image to match. Students unfamiliar with classroom practices might struggle to copy from the whiteboard from a distance. They might benefit from sitting closer to the whiteboard, or to copy directly from a personal whiteboard placed directly in front of them.
• Dictating a sentence for the teacher to scribe, and then copying the teacher's writing.
• Innovating on a focus judgement from a moving-picture show story volume, e.g. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what practice you come across? I see a (colour adjective) (animal) looking at me.
• Having a go' at spelling the words themselves, copying them from a bank of words supplied on a chart (east.g. color words, animal words supported past pictures) or cut and paste the preferred words from a list provided.
• Providing a collection of judgement starters for students to use as they demand to. Sample sentence stems for a recount might include: 'On the weekend ...', 'After we went to ...', 'The best thing was ...'
• Providing students with a cloze version of the modelled text where they supply only the missing elements. A cloze can allow the instructor to direct students' attention to particular language features, for example, circumstance of fourth dimension, or adjectives.

The Australian Institute for Pedagogy School Leadership (AITSL) website shows a teacher modelling judgement structure to a Year i class with a number of EAL/D learners.

Explicit teaching and feedback

When teachers programme to be pro-active and interventionist in terms of supporting students' writing, their function throughout the writing process can accept the following forms:

i. Planning and rehearsing: "Getting started" on a piece of writing can be a challenge for many students, and then the teacher's role in supporting students at this planning phase might involve:

• brainstorming ideas for writing
• helping the students select a writing focus from a suite of possibilities
• modelling how initial ideas for writing might be noted (every bit pictures, mind maps, notes, etc.)
• jointly listing the primal parts of the text.  "As a course, let'due south list as dot points what we need to include in this piece of writing."
• thinking well-nigh the genre or text type that might be appropriate for different writing focuses
• talking to peers to generate ideas.

Supporting EAL/D learners to plan and rehearse their writing

For EAL/D students, planning and rehearsing can be enhanced by integrating their dwelling house languages, English language and a range of multimodal modes:

• sequencing images, creating storyboards or using photographs
• talking with same-linguistic communication peers in home language to generate ideas
• making voice recordings of storytelling or discussion
• creating heed maps or making notes in home language as well equally English
• considering the intended audition of the writing. Are the readers likely to exist bilingual, EAL/D learners or monolingual English readers?

Where students utilise visual images to map out the sequence of their text, they use the images to gradually build the language needed to encode the meaning they correspond. Students practice this by focusing on unlike aspects of the picture and producing the parts of spoken communication necessary to form complete sentences.

With support, students characterization:

• the people or objects in the motion-picture show to generate the nouns or noun groups (eastward.g. a rabbit, a dog with brown fur)
• actions they can come across (or perceive) in the picture to generate verbs or verb groups
• additional data to describe the circumstances around the activity. For example, to describe where an activity is happening, students generate prepositional phrases such as 'at my firm', 'on the flower' or 'inside the cavern'.

Students combine these 3 elements to produce sentences almost each image, e.g. My friend plays at my house. Students might begin by writing ane sentence for each paradigm and motility to writing a short paragraph almost each epitome. If students cannot comment the image in English language, they need to be given this vocabulary from a peer, the instructor or with the assistance of a bilingual dictionary.

2. Drafting or composing: Students demand support for recording ideas in an initial typhoon.  Teacher modelling or joint text construction tin be very supportive for students at this point.  This might involve:

• modelling how to convert ideas or spoken language to written text. Then, the instructor engaging in a 'think-aloud protocol' might be of benefit, such every bit, "I need to recall that I am writing this for people who were not at that place when the events happened. So, I'll need to include information like where the action took place and who was there. Let'south see—how will I offset …"
• enlisting student support to collaboratively construct a text (or sections of a text).  "Who has a suggestion for what important details nosotros need to add together here?"
• demonstrating risk taking strategies in undertaking ambitious writing. "I'm not sure how to spell extrovert—only it's a perfect discussion to use hither. I'll take a become at information technology, underline it and check the spelling later. I need to go my ideas down kickoff."
• making connections from texts read to those existence drafted. "Recall how Due east.B. White started Charlotte's Web with dialogue? Why don't yous try that in your narratives?"
• explicitly drawing attention to linguistic structures and features of different text types. "Think, this is a recount. It happened in the past, so we need to utilize past tense verbs."

Supporting EAL/D learners to draft and etch their text

It is useful for EAL/D students to also have a model or construction to prompt their writing during the drafting or composing stage. Some examples include using:

• headings, questions or motion-picture show prompts showing the stages of the text
• graphic organiser showing the fundamental elements of the text type tin can be used as a planning tool
• a Venn diagram to show the similarities and differences between a new genre and a previously learned genre.

Students' domicile languages can also support fluent writing. For example, if students are 'stuck' on a discussion or phrase, they can note down the meaning or a synonym in their abode language, and come back later to check or translate it. They tin can also write an initial version of the text in their domicile language to 'get their ideas down' and then focus on their expression one time the content is set.

Writing a longer text can place a high cognitive load on EAL/D students as they make connections and draw on new knowledge of content, language and text. Information technology may be appropriate to break the writing job into smaller chunks. For case, students write, workshop and receive feedback on simply the introductory phase of the text before proceeding with the adjacent stage. This has the advantage of clarifying correct language utilize in ane stage, earlier it is practised and reinforced throughout the text.

ABC Instruction Literacy Mini Lessons

The Department collaborated with ABC Education to create a series of videos. All 16 mini lessons based on content from the Literacy Teaching Toolkit are available on the ABC Instruction literacy mini lessons page.

three. Revising: As individuals, with classroom peers and with the teacher (incidentally or at a more formal briefing), students need to be actively rereading over written drafts with a focus on meaning and form. Of import considerations here are whether the text makes sense, ideas are presented clearly and sequentially. Actions might include:

• expanding substantive groups to provide more detail
• removing redundant or unimportant information to make the piece clearer
• focusing on more precise, technical language word option
• using connectives to better transitions between paragraphs.

Supporting EAL/D learners to revise their writing

For EAL/D students, significant linguistic communication learning occurs during the revising and editing process. This includes learning to distinguish between social English choices and literate or bookish language choices (e.g. We found out virtually how clouds course versus Our investigations into cloud germination showed ...).

Since EAL/D students are however learning English, their written work may contain many grammatical and/or spelling errors and not-standard forms. Teachers and learners need to exist strategic in their revision strategies and non endeavour to right or modify everything. For example, if the target text is a biography, past tense is a crucial grammatical feature. Focusing students' attention on using by tense forms of verbs they accept learnt in their writing of a biography would exist a worthwhile starting betoken. There may be scope for teachers to address related features such as discussion choice (e.thousand. repeated use of 'went') at the same time.

While correcting students' grammar and spelling is of import, EAL/D learners besides need back up and feedback around content and making significant. The revision stage could also be viewed as an opportunity to focus solely on the ideas of the written slice such every bit the quality of arguments, and get out the language component to the editing stage.

As with all learners, developing strategies and tools for revising writing will be useful in the long term. These can include:

• reading aloud to a partner to help place repetition, omission or lack of coherence in the text
• listening to an English-speaking peer or the teacher who reads the text aloud to model fluency and give feedback for whatever parts that are not articulate
• using bilingual dictionaries or translators to discover alternative vocabulary
• an EAL 'bump information technology up' wall where annotated student work samples are displayed showing the writing produced past EAL learners as they progress along the writing continuum
• checklists identifying important features of dissimilar genres for students to use in self-evaluation. For example, students might be asked to indicate how they began their narrative, using a range of techniques taught in class.

  What sizzling start technique did you use?

  • a question
  • dialogue
  • beginning with action
  • using humour
  • a moment of change
  • something dissimilar. Please describe your starting technique.

4. Editing: Students edit their texts focusing on conventions (spelling and punctuation) to ensure they are incorporated correctly and in means that will assist the reader. The teacher's function in supporting students to edit their writing might be:

• ensuring that if the writer is mindful of the reader at all times, making visible the proofreading strategies writers need to enact. "I'm not certain about my spelling of that word extrovert. Let me say it slowly in syllables: ex-tro-vert.  What sounds do I hear? How might I tape them? Does it expect right? I better check using a lexicon or spell check"
• orchestrating a peer-review process. "When y'all share your written pieces with each other, ever begin with positive feedback. Two stars and a wish is a skilful arroyo—offer ii compliments, then a constructive suggestion"
• modelling give-and-take substitution. "Instead of saying 'We got bored', what could we write? What's a better discussion than got? 'We became … what … disinterested …"

Supporting EAL/D learners to edit their writing

Helping EAL/D students develop editing strategies will support them in hereafter writing tasks. Useful strategies might include:

• reading aloud to identify tricky spelling or expression
• using bilingual dictionaries or translators to check spelling and pregnant
• focusing teacher feedback on a minor number of features (3-4) with each piece of writing. These may be features that were explicitly taught in grade, or features that are part of the student's personal learning goals
• EAL/D students having boosted learning goals in relation to their writing. For case, learning how to use plurals correctly in English. This might include double checking that nouns marked equally plural are countable nouns, e.g. He has grey hairs and many wrinkles vs He has grey hair and many wrinkles, irregular plural forms (tooths vs teeth), or non-marker of a plural (She bought two banana).

For more data, see: The writing workshop

v. Publishing: The final course of a written piece might be a digital publication, a paper-based text, an audio-recording or podcast, among many options. Rich models of published texts serve as exemplar texts that students might strive to emulate. And then, the instructor's part here can be around:

• modelling and deconstructing existing texts as mentor texts for students: these might be web pages, flick books, graphic novels, podcasts, pamphlets, information texts, etc. Salient features of these texts should be noted for students to appropriate and suit.
• supporting students' publishing by recognising different strengths and talents in the classroom: the students who take an excellent center for layout, are talented calligraphers, adept on the keyboard, etc.
• encouraging students to offering feedback on published pieces of classroom writing. This can include students reflecting on their own successes. "Was in that location something you did with this publication that you'd never washed before?"
• celebrating successes and the mastery of new skills effectually text creation.  This can take the form of special classroom celebrations (as mentioned earlier) but can besides take the grade of ongoing feedback. "Can I merely share some really astonishing things I'm noticing equally you are all working abroad on your publications?"

Publishing EAL/D learners' writing

Publishing EAL/D students' writing is an opportunity to engage a wider audience past:

• inviting family unit and community members to read or listen and give feedback
• engaging family members who tin provide written or spoken translations of students' writing
• developing a classroom library of multilingual and multicultural pupil texts to sit down aslope published work by international authors or multilingual Australians (eastward.k. Anh Practise, Gabrielle Wang).

If students are writing for a bilingual audience, or for other EAL/D learners, some useful features of a publication might include:

• speech communication bubbles or captions in abode language
• a glossary or in-text translations of fundamental words
• a translation of the text, or parts of it
• a blurb or synopsis of the text (in home language, English language or both) providing a summary
• sound recordings of the writing in dwelling linguistic communication, English or additional languages.

The students' role in the writing process

The writing classroom needs to exist a supportive environment for students to:

• experiment
• innovate
• attempt new and different forms of writing.

So, while mindfulness of an audience necessitates attending to conventions around grammar, spelling and punctuation, students must experience they have licence to learn through a process of trial and error.

Newkirk and Kittle (2013), reflecting on the legacy of Donald Graves, notation that a successful writing classroom is one where students feel a sense of:

• audience
• agency
• purpose.

Students need to know that their writing choices will be respected, and that feedback will be offered respectfully and sensitively. In addition to these rights, they also need to know that they have responsibilities in what they write—and that sensitivity to the reality of student multifariousness needs to be advisedly considered as students embark on writing that volition entertain, inform and appoint.

Grammar

In this video, the instructor explicitly demonstrates how to expand noun groups to include pre and post modification of the noun. This instance shows a whole group mini lesson and differentiated modest group learning.

References

Calkins, L.M. (1994). The art of didactics writing. (2nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Christie, F. (2016). Writing development as a necessary dimension of linguistic communication and literacy education. PETAA Project 40 essay three

Daffern, T. & Mackenzie, N. (2015). Edifice strong writers: creating a balance between the authorial and secretarial elements of writing. Literacy Learning: The Middle Years, (i), 23-32.

Graves, D.H. (1994). A fresh look at writing.  Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Newkirk, T & Kittle, P., Eds. (2013). Children desire to write: Donald Graves and the revolution in children's writing.  Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

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Source: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/english/literacy/writing/Pages/litfocuswritingprocess.aspx

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