I know that we have focused on reading quite a bit the last few years, but with the introduction of media literacy when the language curriculum was updated, TDSB's focus on non-fiction writing, and the difficulty assessing oral language, I'm not surprised that we may struggle with these three.
You know me and freebies, so, here's a link to the Guide to Effective Instruction in Literacy, volume 6: Writing. http://www.eworkshop.on.ca/edu/resources/guides/Guide_Lit_456_Vol_6_Writing.pdf
Pages 11 to 13 provide an outline of different forms of writing and some characteristics of that form. I have to admit that my two favourite have always been procedural and persuasive - it's never too hard to have students engaged in these two forms of writing.
Procedural Writing Suggestion:
- Have students pair up and put up a barrier between them.
- Ask each student to take several pattern blocks (5 - 10) and create a picture. Ask students to sketch their diagram on a sheet of paper.The first student then describes to their partner what pattern blocks they will need (2 hexagons, 4 rhombi).
- The student then proceeds to describe orally how to put the shapes together in order to make the picture.
- The partners then switch roles and repeat steps 2 and 3.
- The two students then work together to record their procedures for re-creating their pattern block pictures.
A really simple way to start procedural writing. I have been lucky to have had pen pals on TEL. We had our students draw "monsters" on grid paper and write procedures on how to draw them. We then emailed the procedures to our keypals who followed the instructions to draw the monster. The last step was to share the actual pictures and debrief whether or not the procedures were well written (if not, how could the procedures have been improved).
What are some ways that you've engaged your students in writing?
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