Supporting Writing in the
English Classroom
Supporting Writing in the English
Classroom
• Aims
To consider what is involved in the writing process
To explore contrasting approaches to the teaching of
writing
To consider strengths and limitations of different classroom
strategies
• Objectives
Understand the different models proposed for teaching of
writing
Be able to use a range of strategies in the English
classroom to support students’ writing
Supporting Writing in the English
Classroom
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The range of writing in English
What happens when we write
Approaches to writing: Process and Genre
A model for teaching writing
Shared/modelled writing
Other strategies to scaffold writing
The range of writing in English
Compile a quick chart of the writing you have done/seen in English
classrooms:
Audience
Purpose
Form
Story Starters
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Dark clouds scudded across the moon as a small girl hurried anxiously along the
path. Her footsteps seemed to echo in the shadows. Suddenly she stopped….
listened….
Rosie tossed her auburn hair restlessly and gazed out of the window. Why hadn’t
Roger returned her call? Maybe Jackie was right to warn her that he was a bit of a
wolf…
Monday: Granny started going dead weird on me. She’s got this terrible moustache.
So embarrassing! What on earth will Sophie say if she calls round? And she keeps
wanting me to snuggle up close to her….
“Oh come on you lot, don’t be so jolly boring! I vote that we take a short cut through
the woods,” urged Peter. “Sammy would love a good run….”
Once, not twice, but once upon a time, in the land where East meets West and North
meets South, which is nowhere, everywhere and here, there lived a foxy
gentleman….
Werewolves are only found in kids’ tales. Ruth reminded herself of this fact, not for
the first time, as she made her way down the dark alleyway. But she could still hear
the soft patter of feet behind her, and in her mind last night’s dream lingered….
Identify the genre of each story
Choose one version and carry on for two more sentences
What skills and knowledge did you need to draw on in order to complete the task?
What writers do
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Motor control
Spelling
Punctuation
Grammar
Knowledge of genre
Prior reading
Other prior experience
Motivation
Having something to say
Two contrasting approaches to the teaching of
writing
• The Process Approach (Graves (1983) Writing:
Teachers and Children at Work)
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Children immersed in stories and other types of text
High levels of student choice about writing topics
Focus on autobiographical and narrative writing
Writing journals
Writing workshops/writing conferences
Mini-lessons to focus on technical aspects
Publishing writing for real audiences
Children as authors
Two contrasting approaches to the teaching
of writing
• The Genre Approach (work of Cope, Kalantzis, Martin –
e.g. Cope and Kalantzis (1993) The Powers of Literacy:
A Genre Approach to Writing)
• All texts we write can be categorised into a genre, or text
type
• Reading and analysing an example text from any given
genre can uncover its conventional features (at word,
sentence and text level)
• Through a process of identifying concentions, teacher
modelling and shared writing, students master the
conventions of the text type
• Students can then reproduce in their own independent
writing the particular text type
Two contrasting approaches to the teaching
of writing
• Criticisms of the Process Approach
• Isn’t direct teaching of writing – children expected to
learn through a process of ‘osmosis’
• Fails to support the less literate children in the classroom
• Amounts to teaching by correction
• Narrows the range of writing that children undertake
Two contrasting approaches to the teaching
of writing
• Criticisms of the Genre Approach
• Constrains individual choice and freedom
• Over rigid in its definitions of text types (not applicable to
the real world)
• Limits motivation/purpose
• Over corrective
• Reinforces textual power
• Over extension of limited initial project
The Literacy Strategy and The
Genre Approach to Writing
• The Literacy Strategy strongly adopted the genre model
for writing, naming six categories of non-fiction text:
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Information
Recount
Explanation
Instructions
Persuasion
Discursive writing
A Model for Teaching Writing
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Read a shared example of a text
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Look at key features of the text
Model an example of this type of writing
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Shared composition
Scaffold independent writing
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Independent writing
Review/evaluation
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Redrafting
Modelling Writing – Key Principles
• Focus on a particular area – opening
paragraph, concluding statement,
significant description, moment of action
• Keep it short
• Offer alternatives
• Think aloud, talk about choices, decisions,
and their consequences
• Articulate the difficulties
• Make mistakes, cross out, start again
Shared Writing- Key Principles
• Take as many ideas as possible
• Try to synthesise suggestions from various
sources
• Reject unhelpful suggestions positively
• Invite redrafting as you go along
Scaffolding Independent Writing
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Annotated examples
Assessed examples
Conventions
Modelling writing
Shared writing
Writing Frames
Pre-writing activities
Benefits of Writing Frames
• Cures the ‘I don’t know how to start….’
syndrome
• Offers a structure and overview
• Gives appropriate connectives to aid cohesion
• Helps students to write successfully
• Useful for differentiation
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Dangers
Limiting creativity
Encouraging dependency
Setting frames in stone
Overuse
Pre writing activity – Fire of London
• Prioritising
• Categorising
Why did the fire of London got out of control and
destroy so much of London? – Essay Structures
• Prioritising/Zone of Relevance
The most crucial factor in answering this question is….
A second important factor is…..
Somewhat less vital, but still relevant to the question, is ….
• Categorising/Grouping
A number of factors relating to town planning played a big part in the spread of
the fire…
Also important in terms of the extent of the devastation are factors relating to
weather….
A number of long-term causes could help to answer this question. Firstly…..
Another crucial long term factor …..
In addition some short term issues contributed to the fire’s effects….
Pre-writing Activities
• Dealing with a range of information to be used in an
extended piece of writing
• Sorting and categorising information
• Zone of relevance, short/long term, relative importance,
for/against
• Helps to organise content
• Offers a shape/structure to writing, and allows students
to see this before writing
• Can allow students to construct own writing frames
• Can point to areas for further research/evidence
• Encourages talk/debate/justifying ideas
• Appeals to kinaesthetic learning styles
Applications in English
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In addition to non-fiction/discursive/persuasive writing, this technique enhances work
prior to typical lit-crit essays, e.g.:
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Who is most responsible for the murder of King Duncan?
IS it true to say that Macbeth is a good man corrupted by outside influences?
What do yo consider to be the key themes of Of Mice and Men
How far is it true to say that Othello and Roderigo are simply puppets in Iago’s
games?
In the Crucible, why did the witchcraft trials get out of ocntrol and cause the death of
so many citizens?
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Typical process:
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A range of statements given to students in relation to question
Students sort information in a variety of appropriate ways
Students come up with linking ‘topic sentences’ to introduce each statement as a paragraph
Students find quotations or other evidence to back up statements and support opinions
DCFS (2008) Getting Going: generating, shaping and
developing ideas in writing
www.teachernet.gov.uk/publications
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Students’ own interests
Audience
Using shared texts
Drama
Sentence games
Modelling
ICT
Organising information/planning activities
Class display