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What do I need to know?

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.

What does it look like?

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:

• articulated her sentence to the teacher before she began to write;
• made connections with key content words that were modelled by the teacher (“mum”);
• used her knowledge of high-frequency words well (“my”, “me”, “she”, “at”);
• used her “sounding-out” skills in trying out new words (“owas”, “gve”, “hag”, “scol”);
• used a capital letter, a full stop, and a space between the lines.

Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003, p.143.

What do I need to know?

The writing process

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:

• composing and revision are affected by how thoroughly information has been gathered and organised;
• composing often throws up a need for more information;
• decisions made during composing and revising sometimes influence the chosen form of the writing.
  Adapted from Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003, pp.42, 138–141.

What does it look like?

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:

• tell her audience what her mother did (main purpose);
• show them how she felt about her mother (second purpose).

In addition, she reminded the students that she was trying to:

• write some new words by getting down all the sounds she could hear;
• use capital letters and full stops well;
• use finger spacing well in her writing.

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:

• articulated her sentence to the teacher before she began to write;
• made connections with key content words that were modelled by the teacher
• (“mum”);
• used her knowledge of high-frequency words well (“my”, “me”, “she”, “at”);
• used her “sounding-out” skills in trying out new words (“owas”, “gve”, “hag”,
• “scol”);
• used a capital letter, a full stop, and a space between the lines.

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.

• She wanted her teacher to read and respond to the final version. Her teacher did this and affirmed not only the lovely feelings in the story but also Tamyka’s ability to meet the success criteria. The teacher also focused on Tamyka’s still developing familiarity with the sounds “dr” and “l” in writing.
• Tamyka wanted to read it aloud to her class and get an oral response from her classmates. She did this, and they loved it!
  Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003. p. 142–143.

What do I need to know?

Learners need to develop knowledge and a repertoire of strategies for writing across the three aspects of the framework so that they can:

• encode (form words accurately and efficiently)
• create meaning effectively
• think critically as a writer.

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

• decide on the topic or ideas
• decide on the purpose, form, and audience
• make connections with what they already know and with what they have read
• decide on the important ideas
• draw up sections or a rough sequence, using devices such as a graphic organiser when appropriate
• ask questions of themselves and of others to clarify their ideas
• gather information by discussing ideas, locating sources, and selecting information
• create mental images (visualise)
• seek feedback on their ideas and on how to express and organise them
• reflect on their ideas honestly and openly and enjoy a sense of anticipation.

Composing a text

• write their ideas down as clearly as possible
• apply their knowledge and awareness of how to use visual and grapho-phonic, semantic, and syntactic information in written texts
• attend to structure and form as well as ideas
• think about the best words to use for the intended audience
• ask themselves questions to clarify their thinking
• seek and act upon feedback from their teacher or peers
• check that they are covering the main points they identified when forming intentions
• check factual accuracy
• shape their text to create links between basic information and further detail
• attend to spelling, grammar, and handwriting (or keyboarding skills).

Revising

• review how clearly and effectively they have expressed their ideas
• review the purpose or point of view
• review their work critically, for example, for choice of vocabulary and for interest
• ask questions about their intended audience: how will the audience feel when they read this?
• seek and respond to feedback from teacher and peers
• modify the writing as necessary
• attend to surface features.

Publishing or presenting

• make judgments about how to present their writing to the audience
• proof-read their writing, checking for correctness (for example, accurate spelling)
• complete the version to be published or presented
• seek feedback about the published piece from their teacher, peers, and others to inform further learning
• enjoy their own work, share it, and display it.
  Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003.pp.138–141

What does it look like?

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:

• tell her audience what her mother did (main purpose);
• show them how she felt about her mother (second purpose).
• In addition, she reminded the students that she was trying to:
• write some new words by getting down all the sounds she could hear;
• use capital letters and full stops well;
• use finger spacing well in her writing.

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:

• articulated her sentence to the teacher before she began to write;
• made connections with key content words that were modelled by the teacher (“mum”);
• used her knowledge of high-frequency words well (“my”, “me”, “she”, “at”);
• used her “sounding-out” skills in trying out new words (“owas”, “gve”, “hag”,“scol”);
• used a capital letter, a full stop, and a space between the lines.

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.

• She wanted her teacher to read and respond to the final version. Her teacher did this and affirmed not only the lovely feelings in the story but also Tamyka’s ability to meet the success criteria. The teacher also focused on Tamyka’s still developing familiarity with the sounds “dr” and “l” in writing.
• Tamyka wanted to read it aloud to her class and get an oral response from her classmates. She did this, and they loved it!
  Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003. p.142–143.

Shows some understanding of the connections between oral, written, and visual language when creating texts

What do I need to know?

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:

• Exemplar: Moving Images: Bell
  This exemplar shows the interrelationship between oral, written and visual language. 
• Exemplar: Paw Thing
  This exemplar shows the interrelationship between oral, written and visual language. 

Creates texts by using meaning, structure, visual and grapho-phonic sources of information, and processing strategies with growing confidence

What do I need to know?

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.

What does it look like?

The following are typical prompts and supports that teachers might use to help their students form words when writing:

• How many sounds can you hear in that word? How does it start, what is the end sound? Write down the sounds you can hear.
• Can you think of another word that sounds like the word you want to write? How does it start, what sounds can you hear in the middle and the end, what letters might make those sounds?
  Adapted from Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, NZ Ministry of Education, p.139.

Seeks feedback and makes changes to texts to improve clarity and meaning

What do I need to know?

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:

• begins with positive comments about the learner’s work
• is specific to the intended outcome and the shared goal for the tas
• is always directed towards the intended outcome, not the learner
• is primarily descriptive rather than evaluative
• is offered as soon as possible after the task has been carried out
• offers the learner guidance on the next steps in their learning
• invites the learner’s suggestions about what they could do to improve their learning.

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:

• to affirm
• to inform
• to guide future learning.

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]

What does it look like?

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:

• use words or ideas that will make people want to buy my item
• describe the features of my item
• include the price and my contact details.
  Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1–4, Ministry of Education,2003. p.53 (Robots for Sale/Feedback Form scanned).

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:

• Peer Assessment: Oral Feedback
  Students providing oral feedback using an assessment guide.
• Success Criteria / Self Assessment
  Students use an assessment guide to give feedback.

Is reflective about the production of texts: monitors, self-evaluates, and describes progress with some confidence.

What do I need to know?

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.

What does it look like?

The following links demonstrate students reflecting on and monitoring their progress with their teachers as they write or present.

• Exemplar Static Images: Teacher-student conversations
• Exemplar Moving Images: Teacher-student conversations
• Exemplar Argument Writing: Teacher-student conversations
• Exemplar Explanation Writing: Teacher-Student Conversations
• Exemplar Personal Experience Writing - Teacher-Student Conversations
• Exemplar Character Writing: Teacher-Student Conversations

Show some understanding of how to shape texts for different purposes and audiences.

What do I need to know?

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:

• provide or obtain information;
• share the excitement of an event;
• persuade or influence;
• create or enter a personal world;
• stimulate the imagination;
• convey important cultural stories or myths;
• express or appreciate a point of view.

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]

What does it look like?

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

What do I need to know?

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:

• have clear goals, and know how these will affect their writing;
• feel that what they will write is valuable and interesting to others;
• expect to respond to, and profit from, others¡¦ responses and writings;
• distinguish between public and private writing, and the effects of audience on content, clarity, and expression;
• expect to receive help from the teacher, from others, and from examples of writing for different audiences. Learners ask, "Who is my audience? What do I want them to know?"
  Dancing with the Pen, NZ Ministry of Education, 1992. p.34.

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.

What does it look like?

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

What do I need to know?

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]

What does it look like?

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.

What do I need to know?

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.

• Crafting Authentic Voice (Word 36KB)
  A selection of quotations that highlight the importance of "voice" in writing.

What does it look like?

The following national writing exemplars all feature texts that demonstrate strong personal voice:

• Exemplar: Table Manners
  The writer demonstrates a strong and confident sense of personal voice and engages the reader's interest through humour and anecdotal comments. There is a strong feeling of her affection for her grandparents.
• Exemplar: When My Grandad Died
  The writer demonstrates a strong and confident sense of personal voice.
• Exemplar: My Nana Is So Small
  The writer demonstrates a strong and confident sense of personal voice.

Forms and expresses ideas and information with reasonable clarity, often drawing on personal experience and knowledge

What do I need to know?

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].

What does it look like?

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:

• articulated her sentence to the teacher before she began to write
• made connections with key content words that were modelled by the teacher (“mum”)
• used her knowledge of high-frequency words well (“my”, “me”, “she”, “at”)
• used her “sounding-out” skills in trying out new words (“owas”, “gve”, “hag”, “scol”)
• used a capital letter, a full stop, and a space between the lines".
  Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1-4, NZ Ministry of Education, 2003. p.143

The following teacher and student resources have been designed to help students form and express their ideas and information with clarity:

• Narrative planning sheet (13 kB)
• Planning sheet (15 kB)
• Mind map (16 kB)
• Venn Diagram
• Timeline (RTF 382KB)
• Concept map (187 kB)
• Brainstorm (140 kB)
• KWL Chart
• Story Map

Begins to add or delete details and comments, showing some selectivity in the process.

What do I need to know?

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:

• review how clearly and effectively they have expressed their ideas;
• review the purpose or point of view;
• review their work critically, for example, for choice of vocabulary and for interest;
• ask questions about their intended audience: how will the audience feel when they read this? seek and respond to feedback from teacher and peers;
• modify the writing as necessary;
• attend to surface features.

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

What do I need to know?

In order to achieve certain purposes in writing, the language we use reflects three main considerations.

• What are we writing about? (content influences vocabulary, idioms or phrases).
• What is our purpose? (language choices and grammatical structures that are associated with a desire to argue, to entertain, to instruct, etc.)
• 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. 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.

• New Zealand Curriculum Exemplars: Glossaries
  Glossaries of terms used by teachers working with students in oral, written and visual language
• Exploring Language: A Handbook For Teachers
  Sections from "Exploring Language" are available online.

What does it look like?

The following texts and units demonstrates students thinking about links between oral, written and visual language as they compose.

• Visual Language Exemplars: Paw Thing
  This exemplar shows the interrelationship between oral, written, and visual language features.
• Visual Language Exemplar: Plip Plop
  This exemplar shows the interrelationship between oral, written, and visual language features.
• Visual Language Exemplar: Spring
  This exemplar shows the interrelationship between oral, written, and visual language features.
• Visual language Exemplar: The Bell
  Conveys an idea in a short video by using visual and verbal features.

Uses a large and increasing bank of high-frequency, topic-specific, and personal content words to create meaning

What do I need to know?

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

What does it look like?

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

What do I need to know?

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.

What does it look like?

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

• Exemplar: Why Does Earth Need the Atmosphere
  The author of this exemplar uses precise, descriptive and factual topic-related vocabulary to give detail to the explanation.
• Exemplar Static Images: Plip Plop
  In her explanation, the student uses a range of topic-specific and personal-content words to explain the choices she has made in the development of her work.

Spells most high-frequency words correctly and shows growing knowledge of common spelling patterns

What do I need to know?

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).

What does it look like?

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

What do I need to know?

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.

What does it look like?

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.

• 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). 
• Exemplars Written Language: Character My Nana Is So Small
  This example shows that the writer spells most high frequency words correctly, shows knowledge of consonant sounds, blends and vowel sounds, and of common spelling patterns such as “ea “ (creases and reach ).

Uses a range of strategies to self-monitor and self-correct spelling

What do I need to know?

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.

What does it look like?

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

What do I need to know?

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.

What does it look like?

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.

What do I need to know?

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.

• Exploring Language: Language Rules and Conventions
  An explanation of the rules of written and spoken English.
• Exploring Language: Visual Language: Genres and Conventions
  An explanation of some of the conventions common to books, film and television.

What does it look like?

• Non-Fiction Text Conventions
  Lessons on how to add features to non-fiction.
• Blending fiction and nonfiction to improve comprehension and writing skills
  This ReadWriteThink lesson supports the use of a text set (paired fiction and nonfiction texts on a similar topic) to increase student interest in and understanding of content area material and to develop critical writing skills.
• Exemplar: Skateboarders at School
  This exemplar shows that the writer is able to use the conventions of an argument (emotive language, rhetorical questions, modal verbs) and grammatical conventions (verb agreement) with some confidence.

Gains increasing control of text conventions, including some grammatical conventions.

What do I need to know?

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.

• Exploring Language: The Grammar Toolbox
  A guide to understanding the internal structure of sentences and words, and the related terminology.
• Exploring Language: The Grammar of Film and Television
  The grammar of written language and film are similar in some ways.

What does it look like?

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.

What do I need to know?

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.

What does it look like?

It is important that teachers and students understand the structure and features of texts.

• Features of Text Forms
  Teaching about text forms can help students understand how text is structured and why. We need to be careful, however, to be flexible about the features in a text form. Authentic text forms are often mixed. Text forms evolve and change.
  • Descriptions
  • Explanations
  • Instructions
  • Narrative
  • Recounts
  • Reports
  • Persuasion

Uses knowledge of word and sentence order to communicate meaning when creating text

What do I need to know?

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.

• Exploring Language: The Grammar Toolbox
  Provides a guide to understanding the internal structure of sentences and words, and the related terminology.
• ARB: Thinking about how Language Works
  This site provides information about sentence structure and linking words within and between sentences for students with English as a first or subsequent language (needs the password sent to all schools).

What does it look like?

• Exemplar: If There Were No Cats
  In writing to the Prime Minister on the topic of whether cats should be banned in New Zealand, the writer knows exactly whom he wants to persuade. He attempts to play on his reader's emotions, and supports his argument with elements of personal experience. Uses knowledge of word and sentence order to communicate meaning when creating text. 
• Exemplar: How a Spider's Web Forms
  The writer uses knowledge of word and sentence order to communicate meaning. She clearly and concisely explains a process that interests her and engages the readers through effective use of poetic devices, especially in her introduction.

Organises and sequences ideas and information with some confidence

What do I need to know?

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]

What does it look like?

The following texts demonstrate students organising and sequencing ideas and information in their writing, according to the purpose of writing.

• Exemplar: Argument If There Were No Cats
  Organises and sequences ideas and information with some confidence.
• Exemplar: Explanation How a Spider's Web Forms
  Organises and sequences ideas and information with some confidence.
• Exemplar: Personal Experience When My Grandad Died
  Organises and sequences ideas and information with some confidence.
• Social Studies Exemplar: Playing a Part
  Students have organised ideas in the correct sequence in order to construct a flow chart to describe the stages in the honey production process and show how people participate in the process.

Begins to use a variety of sentence structures, beginnings, and lengths.

What do I need to know?

Sentences

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

• Assessment Resource Banks: Thinking About How Language Works
  Provides information about sentence structure and words used to link ideas within and between sentences.
• Exploring Language: Making sentences more complex
  This resource provides information on using conjunctions to construct compound and complex sentences, and subordinate clauses. 

What does it look like?

Students in the following texts use a variety of sentence structures for effect.

• Exemplar: Personal Experience – Table Manners
  Student is beginning to use a variety of sentence structures.
• Exemplar: Argument – Six-year-olds Can Cook
  Student is beginning to use a variety of sentence structures.
• Exemplar: Explanation – Why Does Earth Need the Atmosphere?
  Student is beginning to use a variety of sentence structures.