Stage 3 Writing Program 2011

Information Report

Stage / Grade: Stage Three / KLA(S): English / Writing / Duration: One Term
Intellectual Quality
What are the central ideas or concepts I want students to know? / Informing an audience:
Students need to know that sentence construction and text structure work to inform an audience. / Significance?
Why does this learning matter? / Students need to be able to interpret and construct factual texts. Students must have an understanding of how text structure is manipulated and utilise grammatical features to achieve their set purpose to inform their audience.
Formal Assessment
How will students demonstrate their deep knowledge? / WRITING: Students will write an information report on an animal from the Antarctic to go in a children’s encyclopaedia in the school library. / Criteria for marking.
What criteria will be used to assess deep understanding? / a) Structure and Purpose of texts -Understanding of how the structure contributes to the purpose of the text.
b) Audience – Ability to identify and write with a view to informing an audience.
c)Sentence Structure – writes the most appropriate sentences that make sense.
Links to Foundation Statements / WRITING: Students write well-structured and well-presented factual texts for a wide range of purposes and audiences, dealing with complex topics, ideas, issues and language features. They write well-structured sentences, effectively using a variety of grammatical features. Students evaluate the effectiveness of their writing by focusing on grammatical features and the conventions of writing.
Integrated Task(s) / -Students will create documentaries on other animals during technology lessons.
Content
Outcome
/ Indicators
WS3.9
Produces a wide range of well-structured and well-presented factual texts for a wide variety of purposes and audiences using increasingly challenging topics, ideas, issues and written language features. / -writes paragraphs that contain a main idea and elaboration of the main idea.
-writes more detailed reports with increased technicality.
- constructs a variety of compound and complex sentences to present more information.
WS3.14 Critically evaluates how own texts have been structured to achieve their purpose and discusses ways of using related grammatical features and conventions of written language to shape readers’ and viewers’ understanding of texts. / -model sentence construction and how to make active choices in the sentences you use
-model ways of providing specific and constructive comments about their own writing and the writing of others during peer conferencing sessions.
- initiate discussions about the sentence construction in written texts with the view to students applying this knowledge in their own writing, e.g. how compound and complex sentences enable the author to provide more information.

ASSESSMENT: MARKING GUIDELINES Information Report Writing

Task Outline:
Criteria ↓ / Students will write an information report on an animal of their choice for a children’s encyclopaedia. / Level
Paragraphs
Information is chunked under relevant topic sentences (description, habitat, diet, movement, behaviour & interesting facts) / • paragraphs are deliberately structured to pace and direct the reader’s attention / 3
• not all topic sentences are successful
• has an introduction and body needs at least three paragraphs (4 paragraphs)
• may use an extended one-sentence paragraph that contains an elaborated idea / 2
• ideas are separated (may contain some unrelated ideas)
• paragraphs may be used to separate the body from the introduction (2 or 3 paragraphs) / 1
Sentence Structure
Students use an appropriate range of sentence structures- simple, compound & complex to provide detailed information / • shows control over a range of different structures (quantity, quality and variety)
VARIETY
• clause types and patterns, dependent clause position, length and rhythm, increased elaboration and extension, stylistically appropriate choices / 5
• more routine use and greater control of elaborating clauses and phrases in simple, compound and complex sentences
• allow for an occasional minor error
• usually requires a sustained piece of writing / 4
• most simple and compound sentences correct
• some complex sentences are correct (experiments with complex sentences)
• meaning predominately clear / 3
· correct sentences are predominantly simple
· meaning is predominately clear / 2
· most simple sentences are correct but control is very limited / 1
Lesson / Teaching & Learning Strategies & Activities / Resources / Quality Teaching
Lesson: 1 / Outcome: WS3.14 Knowledge: Purpose/structure of an Information Report
Read an information report on an Australian animal as a shared reader. Break up into groups and discuss who would read this and why this has been written- to inform, share facts on a specific, generalised topic. Share and clarify findings with the class.
Students go back into their groups and highlight each paragraph in a different colour. Students then read each paragraph and decide what that paragraph was mostly about- description, diet, habitat, movement, behaviour and interesting facts.
As a class, discuss why the information is presented this way. Draw students’ attention to the first sentence in each paragraph, explain that this is a topic sentence it introduces what the paragraph is about.
Explain that students will learn how to write a detailed report this term using a variety of sentence structures and organised paragraphs. / Enlarged copy of an Australian Animal Report
Copies of animal report for groups / Metalanguage
Substantive Communication
Social support
Knowledge Integration
Registration & Evaluation:
Lesson: 2 / Outcome: WS3.9 Skills: Clause
Explicitly explain that a clause conveys a message. It must contain a noun (subject) and a verb. Jointly construct some clauses. Do the first question of the worksheet.
Point out that a sentence can have more than one action and, therefore, more than one clause. Explain that the clause with the main idea is the independent clause and makes sense on it’s own. Write some sentences with two clauses on the board. Select students to identify the two clauses and determine which is the independent clause. Do the second and third question on the worksheet. / Worksheet / Metalanguage
Social support
Registration & Evaluation:
Lesson: 3 / Outcome: WS3.9 Skills: Simple sentences
Highlight a simple sentence from the Australian animal report. Explicitly explain that a simple sentence must contain a subject (who/what), verb and an object. Jointly construct a couple of simple sentences about animals and identify the S,V,O. Students each write a simple sentence, switch with a partner and underline and label the S,V,O.
Students complete worksheet and classify simple sentences that make sense and don’t make sense. They then explain why. i.e. no subject. / Australian Animal Report
Sentence Posters
Writing Books
Worksheet / Metalanguage
Knowledge Integration
Explicit Quality Criteria
Registration & Evaluation:
Lesson: 4 / Outcome: WS3.9 Skills: Compound sentences
Read an information report as a shared reader. Highlight a compound sentence. Explicitly explain that a compound sentence is 2 simple sentences (independent clauses) joined by a conjunction. Ask students to identify the two independent clauses & the conjunction. Introduce the conjunction poster. Jointly construct a compound sentence, identify the 2 independent clauses and the conjunction.
Students complete worksheet and classify sentences as simple or compound. If a sentence is compound, students underline the 2 independent clauses and circle the conjunction.
**Have students identify compound sentences and the independent clauses during reading groups** / Information Report
Conjunction Poster
Worksheet / Metalanguage
Knowledge Integration
Background Knowledge
Explicit Quality Criteria
Registration & Evaluation:
Lesson: 5 / Outcome: WS3.9 Skills: Complex sentences
Read an information report as a shared reader. Have students work in pairs to identify a simple sentence and a compound sentence and identify the components ie. S,V,O and 2 independent clauses.
Highlight a complex sentence. Explicitly explain that a complex sentence contains a dependent and independent clause. Ask students to identify the dependent and independent clauses. Look closely at the dependent clause as a standalone clause and ask the students what they think makes it dependent (keeping in mind what dependent means). Then have a close look at the independent clause and discuss why it is independent.
Jointly construct a complex sentence about the animal in the information report and underline the dependent clause and circle the conjunction that makes it dependent eg. when.
Students each write a complex sentence, switch with a partner and underline the dependent clause and circle the conjunction.
**Have students identify complex sentences, the dependent clause and conjunction during reading groups** / Information Report
Conjunction Poster
Writing Books / Metalanguage
Knowledge Integration
Background Knowledge
Explicit Quality Criteria
Registration & Evaluation:
Lesson: 6 / Outcome: WS3.9 & WS3.14 Skills & Knowledge: Variety of sentences
Present a third of the class with an information report you have written using all simple sentences, a third of the class an information report using only compound sentences and the other third an information report with only complex sentences. Students need to discuss what is wrong with these texts. Put students into expert groups to share their text and what was wrong with it.
Come back as a class and discuss the need for a variety in sentence selection. Read an information report as a shared reader and highlight simple sentences red, compound sentences orange and complex sentences yellow. Discuss if the report shared detailed information with a variety of sentence structures and if the distribution of these different sentence structures worked. / Information Report with all simple sentences, all compound sentences and all complex sentences.
Information report with varied sentences / Metalanguage
Substantive Communication
Social Support
Background Knowledge
Registration & Evaluation:
Lesson: 7 / Outcome: WS3.9 & WS3.14 Skills & Knowledge: Variety of sentences
Provide students with their original animal information report (pre-test). Ask them to highlight simple sentences red, compound sentences orange and complex sentences yellow. Get students to reflect on their sentence choice:
Did I rely too heavily on simple and compound sentences?
Which simple sentences could be joined to make compound sentences?
When I used complex sentences, did they make sense?
If they didn’t make sense, how can I improve these sentences?
Tell students that authors of information texts need to ensure that they are presenting as much information as they can in a way that makes it easy for readers to process the information. This can be done by using a variety of sentence structures. Explain that at the end of the unit they are going to write a report for a children’s encyclopaedia and they need to start thinking about how they can clearly inform their young audience- it can’t be too simple or too complex.
Give students time to ‘fix’ their pre-test so that it has a good balance of sentence types to make it an informative but readable for a young audience. / Pre-tests
Red, orange and yellow highlighters / Student Self-regulation
Higher Order Thinking
Background Knowledge
Registration & Evaluation:
Lesson: 8 / Ask students what was in common with all the animal information reports we have read over the past few weeks (prompt students to comment on variety of sentences, paragraphs, topic sentences and the information in the paragraphs).
Ask students to break up into groups and work out the text structure for a report (provide copies of shared information reports as an aid). Students need to realise that the first paragraph provides a general statement and classification of the animal and that each remaining paragraph is about an aspect of the animal ie. Description, diet, habitat, behaviour, breeding and interesting facts.
As a class share findings and realisations and talk about a logical order for presenting information ie. you wouldn’t do breeding as your first paragraph because we don’t even know what the animal looks like yet. / Animal reports from shared reading / Social Support
Substantive Communication
Explicit Quality Criteria
Background Knowledge
Registration & Evaluation:
Lesson: 9 / Use the report proforma (What, When and How to Teach English) to plan for a joint construction about an Antartic animal that was studied last term. Reinforce the importance of getting down thoughts and ideas before writing.
Use the proforma to jointly construct the general statement/classification and the second paragraph. Prompt students to look at the ideas in the first two proforma boxes and work out what the main idea is to come up with relevant topic sentences to begin each paragraph. Use this as an opportunity to revise the importance of using various sentences and identify the clauses and circle the conjunctions. / Report proforma / Social Support Background Knowledge
Knowledge Integration
Registration & Evaluation:
Lesson: 10 / Read the joint construction from the previous lesson. Highlight the topic sentences and revise what these are. Tell students they will write the rest of the paragraphs in groups and they need to ensure their paragraph starts with a topic sentence and has a variety of sentences. Give each group a different box from the proforma.
Groups share their sentences with the class. Analyse if the paragraphs share all the information, if it makes sense and if they have made good sentence choices- edit as you go. / Joint Construction & proforma from previous lesson / Social Support
Explicit Quality Criteria
Background Knowledge
Knowledge Integration
Registration & Evaluation:
Lesson: 11 / Read the completed report, together as a class. Determine if it follows the structure from lesson 8. Highlight the topic sentences and ensure they all orientate the readers’ thoughts. Explain that this is an information report ready for a children’s encyclopaedia and we are going to practise writing some more so at the end of the unit we all have our own report that we can put in an encyclopaedia for our own school library that the others students can use.
As a class, complete a proforma for another Antarctic animal and use this information to create a topic sentence for each box. Pair students up- mixed ability. In pairs students use the jointly constructed topic sentences and the proforma to write a report together. Conference with students as they go to ensure they are following the structure, using paragraphs with topic sentences and making sound sentence choices. / Joint Construction from previous lesson
Blank proforma / Social Support
Explicit Quality Criteria
Metalanguage
Background Knowledge
Substantive communication
Registration & Evaluation: