Camp Thrills, Chills and Spills

Writing Models

A writing model is an example of quality writing used as an exemplar for teaching and learning about writing. 

It can be a few lines, a paragraph, several paragraphs or the complete piece. 

It is carefully chosen for the language and text features it exhibits in relation to the teaching and learning programme and the children's next learning steps. 

It can come from almost anywhere, eg. a children's book, an adult book, a magazine, a newspaper, the teacher's own writing, the children's writing and of course the National Exemplars (see http://www.tki.org.nz/r/assessment/exemplars/index_e.php). 

The Ready to Read Series, School Journals, and particularly the Journals of Young People's Writing have many readily available models for use in classroom writing programmes. 

All children working on the model need to be able to see it easily, eg. in a big book text, chart sized text, on the overhead projector, individual books, or individual photocopies depending on copyright. 

If children have their own copies they can then interact in a hands-on way with the text, using a highlighter or sticky notes, to locate (and sometimes label), specific language features, eg. simile, and writing structures, eg. introduction. 

Display chart size models or glue individual models into writing books for future reference. Children will return to these when they next write in this genre, or remember a particular word or phrase they want to incorporate into their writing. 

Watch out for suitable models when you "read to" the children, keep a sticky note handy to mark the place! You will soon start to see them everywhere. 

Students will also start to find them for you and the class, in their own reading books. If you have too many to use, acknowledge their interest in quality writing by having a special place in the classroom where they can record them or put them on display, eg. in a clear-file for sharing. 

Use writing models in close reading sessions, shared reading, in depth or briefly in passing. There is no "right' way, just use them heaps!! It is an easy way to lift the quality of writing in your classroom and will really get students "talking about writing". 

© Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand (First published 1998)