Writing is an art form, and should be explored in the same way that we encourage children to draw, paint and create. In society, all studies of literature and writing are classified under the arts; therefore, it's time we treat the teaching of writing the same way we approach creative art lessons. Would you ever use a red pen to write and draw all over a student’s artwork? We need to find the balance between allowing children to explore in a non-threatening environment and helping them to become structurally sound writers
Editing/Revising
Children can complete their own proofreading by underlining any possible spelling mistakes and marking their punctuation. Children should also read their work to ensure that their writing makes sense.
Encourage self-editing:
If children miss misspelt words, then an adult can indicate spelling mistakes to children by putting tally marks (III) in the left-hand margin for each mistake on a line. Children can then attempt to find the misspelt word and underline it; if this cannot be done independently, then adult guidance can be used.
Misspelt words can be corrected by the students. Children are encouraged to say the word, stretch out the sounds and use the visual pattern to spell the word. If the word is incorrect give the child another attempt but scaffold it to give them support E.g. If drawing was spelt droring > dr _ _ ing, give them a second chance with the correct letters in place and blanks where incorrect. If needed, provide them with different options for the same sound and talk about which one looks correct. Furthermore, word shapes could be used so that student can use their visual knowledge to assist with the incorrect word.
If children miss misspelt words, then an adult can indicate spelling mistakes to children by putting tally marks (III) in the left-hand margin for each mistake on a line. Children can then attempt to find the misspelt word and underline it; if this cannot be done independently, then adult guidance can be used.
Misspelt words can be corrected by the students. Children are encouraged to say the word, stretch out the sounds and use the visual pattern to spell the word. If the word is incorrect give the child another attempt but scaffold it to give them support E.g. If drawing was spelt droring > dr _ _ ing, give them a second chance with the correct letters in place and blanks where incorrect. If needed, provide them with different options for the same sound and talk about which one looks correct. Furthermore, word shapes could be used so that student can use their visual knowledge to assist with the incorrect word.
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If punctuation is missing, brackets can be used to highlight the length of writing without sentence boundaries in place. Children can then use this guideline to place appropriate punctuation.
Feedback
Children are always given feedback about their writing. Feedback could be either verbal or written and its purpose should always be to help students understand where they need to go next with their writing to make further improvements. The main focus of feedback should be on the authorial skills of writing and the minor secretarial skills can be noted as a by-the-way remark. If feedback isn’t effective and relevant to how a student can improve, it is going to have little impact of the writer’s ability to improve their craft and authorial voice.
Where to next Feedback:
Feedback should refer to the success criteria outlined in the task. Where to next feedback follows the following structure:
Positive Feedback:
This is another method suitable for peer feedback. It is generally recommended for less able writers who are responding to a higher quality text. The structure is as follows:
S A S Feedback:
At the end of the writing task, a small comment can be made following a three-step process called the SAS method.
TAG Feedback:
Self-Reflection:
Where to next Feedback:
Feedback should refer to the success criteria outlined in the task. Where to next feedback follows the following structure:
- a positive comment
- an area to improve/change and why – highlight the part in the text
- an explanation of how the part can be improved
- a written example to demonstrate the effect of the change
Positive Feedback:
This is another method suitable for peer feedback. It is generally recommended for less able writers who are responding to a higher quality text. The structure is as follows:
- identify a technique that the student did well
- say why you liked it and the impact it had
S A S Feedback:
At the end of the writing task, a small comment can be made following a three-step process called the SAS method.
- a Strength: - something the child did well
- an Area to improve: - an area the child needs to focus on
- a Suggestion: - feedback on an area the child is attempting, but this is a chance to expose them to further levels of sophistication (suggestions are individualised teachable moments – verbs, punctuation, dialogue, figurative language).
TAG Feedback:
- Tell a compliment: be specific about which part of the text you enjoyed and why.
- Ask a question: something about the text, character, setting or plot you would like to know more about.
- Give something to work on: refer to the text and success criteria to suggest an area to improve. Give an example.
Self-Reflection:
- “What makes this writing good?”
- “What would make it better?”
- “What’s missing?”
IDeas for feedback
Punctuation &Spelling:
Structure:
Meaning:
- Capital letters for proper nouns (names of people, places, months and days etc)
- Question marks for asking sentences
- Use of commas in a list
- All punctuation is placed inside speech marks
- Check that plurals don’t have unnecessary apostrophe
- Check usage and placement of apostrophe in contractions
- Subjects and verbs agree
- Check pronoun reference
- Check spelling of homophones
- Look for change in verb tense
Structure:
- Use of paragraphs
- Separate paragraphs with a line space
- Vary paragraph lengths
- Vary sentence beginnings
- Check the sequence of each paragraph
- Appropriateness of lead and ending
- Cohesive writing
Meaning:
- Reread writing to make sure it makes sense
- Read to see if any words have been left out
- Expand the message in each paragraph
- Improve detail in each paragraph
- Check for word repetition – use synonyms
- Use of figurative language in description – simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration
- Use of persuasive techniques – emotive language, rhetorical questions
- Adds details to nouns – effective adjectives, adjectival phrase (with) or clause (that)
- Use ‘vibrant’ verbs to add description
- Use language that shows rather than tells
- Consideration of audience
- Achieves purpose
- Sufficient information & correct sequencing
- Does the text need tightening - balance storytelling, summarising and remove irrelevant details