Literacy Plus Sample Unit
1 of 13The National Strategies Secondary
Key Stage 3 Literacy Plus
Literacy Plus sample unit
DIY writing
In this unit pupils work towards gaining a DIY Master Writer certificate. The focus is on developing a ‘toolkit’ of writing strategies and applying the right skills to each job. The first six lessons address the needs of audience and purpose, and the skills of linking sentences and paragraphs. The next four lessons give pupils the opportunity to use the toolkit to produce independent texts for which they receive a DIY Master Writer certificate. The regular opportunities for self- and peer assessment give pupils the opportunity to internalise and independently apply the skills they have learned.
Literacy Plus W2
DIY writing
Improving writing: organising writing
Relevant to: Functional English Level 1 Writing L1.3Write documents to communicate information, ideas and opinions using formats and style suitable for their audience and purpose.
Writing assessment focuses AF1, AF2, AF3, AF4
Framework strands / Unit objectives / Possible pupil targets
8.1 Developing viewpoint, voice and ideas /
- Develop their own viewpoint, drawing on evidence, opinions and the particular purpose of the task and their understanding of what a personal viewpoint is in non-fiction texts
2. Make choices about what I include in my writing, based on the audience and purpose
8.5 Structuring, organising and presenting texts in a variety of forms on paper and on screen /
- Make ideas clear by appropriate use of paragraphs and by choosing from a range of linking words and phrases
- Shape the overall organisation, sequence and presentation of a text to convey ideas clearly and effectively
2. Use paragraphs to organise my writing and use topic sentences to help my reader make sense of the text
Overview of lessons
Lesson 1 / Introduce the theme of the unit and its objectives– begin the DIY writing course
2 / Audience and purpose
– maintaining a consistent viewpoint
3 / Planning for writing
– using a planning tool
4 / Paragraphing
– using topic sentences
5 / Paragraphing
– connecting sentences and paragraphs
6 / Independent planning and writing: house details
– presentation of first DIY Master Writer certificates
7 / Independent writing
– peer assessment and feedback on skills applied
8 / Independent writing: Year 7 guide
– use of DIY toolkit
9 / Independent writing continued
– self-assessment, feedback on progress and targets for next steps
10 / Cross-curricular links
– using writing organisation skills in other subjects. Presentation of DIY Master Writer certificates
Lesson 1 / DIY writing
Lesson
objectives /
- Engage pupils’ interest in the unit topic
- Revise the terms ‘audience’ and ‘purpose’ and explore their effects
Starter
10 minutes / Explain to pupils that this unit teaches the skills they need to organise their writing effectively. Remind them how much they already know by using resource W2.1. Cut out and jumble up the sentences and ask pairs to put them in order, discussing how they decided and what clues helped them. Take feedback and focus the discussion on justifying the choices rather than a right order.
Main
40 minutes / Introduction
Make the link between organising writing and DIY, i.e. having a building (content) but needing to develop your DIY skills to make it exactly as you want it (writing organisation). The more skills you have, the more you can control what your home looks like and how it works for you (fit for audience and purpose) – it’s the same for writing.
However, we need the right tools for the job. Explain that in this unit pupils are working towards a DIY Master Writer certificate.
To fit with the DIY theme useslide W2.2/resource W2.2, tomodel how a house is organised to reflect its audience and purpose,for example a family with young children who enjoy having friends round, etc. Ask pupils how a different audience and purpose in the same house, for example a famouscelebrity, very rich, who enjoys partying, might change the way the house is organised. Take brief feedback.
Development /
1. Using resource W2.3, pupils work in groups of three to decide quickly how they might organise the same space for the Robinson family who have just moved into their new house. Audience:Mum, Dad, Alex (age 5), Emily (age 11), Grandma and two cats; purpose:the family enjoys cooking, Grandma likes her own space, the cats live indoors, children have different interests and needs.
Provide pupils with examples of sentence openers, for example: It makes most sense if...; To suit...; It fits if.... Ask them to select two rooms and give reasons for their chosen use – referring to audience and purpose. Take brief feedback with teaching assistant (TA) supporting a specific group.
2. Link the learning to writing by showing slides W2.3a and W2.3b/resource W2.4 and asking:
i. Who is the audience for each text?ii. What is the purpose of the writing? Find two extracts from each example that helped you decide.
iii. Find one organisational difference between the two pieces and explain the reasons for the different ‘construction’. Pupils annotate resource W2.4 for future reference.
Plenary
10 minutes / Give out resource W2.5 – The Writing Toolkit front cover andprovide wallets for the toolkit.Ask pupils to file their notes on resource W2.4 and explain that over the next five lessons they will be adding different knowledge and skills to the toolkit.
Resources: slides W2.2, W2.3a, W2.3b, resources W2.1, W 2.2, W2.3, W2.4, W2.5 and transparent wallets for pupils’ writing toolkits.
Suggested focus words:
i. toolkit, house, skill, writing, reader
ii. purpose, audience, organise, difference, instructions.
00076-2009EPD-EN-01© Crown copyright 2009
1 of 13The National Strategies Secondary
Key Stage 3 Literacy Plus
Lesson
objectives /
- Link audience and purpose to the organisation of writing
- Establish and maintain a clear and consistent viewpoint
Starter
10 minutes / Using slide W2.4 explain that these images have been selected by a DIY magazine to show that two children live here. Are the choices consistent with this? This is designed to explain the concept of ‘consistency for purpose/viewpoint’.
- Which picture doesn’t seem to show this audience and purpose and why?
- In what ways are the other photos suitable? (Look for detail.)
Main
40 minutes / Introduction
Back at the Robinsons’ house, Grandma has decided to decorate her bedroom. However, she needs a set of instructions to help her. Discuss the content and organisational features of useful instructions (brief, clearly structured, friendly, simple, etc.) and list these on a flipchart. Using resource W2.6, read through with the pupils and, thinking of the audience and purpose, ask them to underline:
- anything they feel is in the wrong order or is repetitious
- any words that do not fit with the purpose of the writing.
Tell the pupils that they are now going to write some instructions for the Robinson children.
Dev Development / Emily and Alex want to make a cup of tea and some toast for Grandma but need help. Using shared writing on whiteboard (IWB)/flipchart, establish audience and purpose, record ideas, agree the best order and start to draft instructions using the pupils’ suggestions.
Ask pupils to refer to the criteria on the flipchart and complete the instructions on resource W2.7. Explain that this will show what they have learned about audience and purpose and consistency. TA works with targeted pupils to rehearse consistency of language in their contributions. Review the instructions – asking pupils to identify anything that reminds them of the specific audience and purpose.
Plenary
10 minutes / In pairs, ask pupils to identify the audience and purpose of three different pieces of writing they have done recently in school (not English). Show two ‘mystery’ pieces of pupils’ writing from other subjects and ask pupils to identify audience, purpose and how consistently these are applied. TA to work with identified pupils to find examples in their work. Congratulate pupils, ask them to put resource W2.7 into toolkit and remind pupils that next lesson they will tackle a new skill.
Resources: IWB/flipchart, slide W2.4, resources W2.6, W2.7 and extracts from pupils’ work in different subjects (made into slides), pupils’ writing toolkits.
Suggested focus words:
i. order, purpose, audience, wallpaper, link
ii. instructions, sequence, consistent, decorate, example.
00076-2009EPD-EN-01© Crown copyright 2009
1 of 13The National Strategies Secondary
Key Stage 3 Literacy Plus
Lesson
objectives /
- Use the planning tool to plan and organise ideas before writing
- Plan paragraphs and understand the use of topic sentences
Starter
10 minutes / Collecting ideas for writing
Ask pupils to imagine that they are preparing for a child’s party. Have three buckets drawn on IWB/flipchart and labelled food, decoration, and entertainment. Give out slips of paper with ideas on that fit the categories above and ask pupils to ‘drop’ them into the appropriate bucket. Explain that having collected our ideas we now need to group them together and put them in an effective order.
Main
40 minutes / Introduction
Show pupils the planning tool on a flipchart/slideW2.5. Say you will practise using it together this lesson and that they will then have it in their toolkit as a reminder.
Model the following process using the ideas generated from the starter exercise. Pupils can work on their own plans at the same time using resource W2.8 so they can keep it for future reference.
The drop: explain that this is where you write all your ideas before writing. Ask pupils to add more ideas for the party on their plans and swap these extra ideas in pairs.
Model map: each branch of the model map represents a possible category/heading. Model this by writing on one main branch the word FOOD and then on the smaller branches the specific party food from the drop. Model ticking ideas off the drop as you add them to the model map. Agree with the class useful headings for the other main branches, for example decorations, entertainment and ask pupils to fill the smaller branches of their own map with ideas from their own drop.
Sequencing ideas: explain that each of the main branches will represent a section or paragraph of the writing and they now need to decide on the best order for these. Revise the audience and purpose and agree an order for the paragraphs that would be helpful and engaging for the readers. List the order of paragraphs but emphasise that there is usually more than one way to organise your writing. Pupils can write this order on their own sheets for future reference.Development / Outline what we mean by a topic sentence and its role in telling the reader what the paragraph is going to be about. Using an IWB/flipchart, take pupils’ ideas (think/pair/share) and agree a topic sentence for two paragraphs. Pupils then decide on and write topic sentences for the subsequent paragraphs.
The TA works with a more-able group to identify a further category and, as well as agreeing topic sentences, drafts an opening paragraph.
Plenary
10 minutes / Ask pupils to think of a sentence to explain the paragraph order chosen. Share a few of these explanations around the class and listen to the opening paragraph from the group which worked with the TA. Pupils put resource W2.8 into their toolkit.
Resources: IWB/flipchart, slide W2.5, resource W2.8,pupils’ toolkits.
Suggested focus words:
i. planning, ideas, organise, party, branch
ii. sentence, paragraph, entertainment, decoration.
00076-2009EPD-EN-01© Crown copyright 2009
1 of 13The National Strategies Secondary
Key Stage 3 Literacy Plus
Lesson
objectives /
- Identify topic sentences and understand their purpose
- Start to use paragraphs with topic sentences
Starter
10 minutes / Tell pupils they are going to practice one of the skills from the toolkit without any help with a tight time limit. Show slide W2.5 and, using a copy of resource W2.8, ask pupils to:
i. complete a drop for tidying the classroom
ii. complete one branch of a model map.
Main
40 minutes / Remind pupils that last lesson they were planning and organising their ideas and that in this lesson they are moving on to write the paragraphs. Through discussion (think/pair/share) agree a group definition of the term paragraph and why they are useful in organising our writing.
Using slides W2.6a and W2.6b (from Literacy Progress Units – Writing Organisation session 1) revise the term topic sentence and read the first paragraph ofCaring for Pets aloud. Identify the topic sentence, underline it and repeat with the second paragraph, selecting an appropriate topic sentence. In pairs, ask pupils to identify and underline topic sentences in the remainder of the text. Take brief feedback to ensure pupils can explain their choices.
Development / Explain to pupils that we are going back to the day when the Robinsons moved into their house (Lesson 1).
Using resource W2.9, cut up and muddled:
- agree with class what makes most sense as the first paragraph, speaking aloud the reasons behind the decision
- pupils work in groups of three to decide an order of events for the rest of the piece
- each pupil glues their own slips onto paper and writes a short explanation for their choice of a final paragraph. Pupils store these in their toolkit to keep as a reminder and to use next lesson.
Plenary
10 minutes / Ask pupils to a) identify the topic sentence for the paragraphs and b) explain why they are topic sentences. Congratulate pupils and remind them to put their work into their toolkit. Next lesson, a new skill!
Resources: IWB/flipchart, slides W2.5, W2.6a, W2.6b, resources W2.8 and W2.9,pupils’ toolkits.
Suggested focus words:
i. topic, sentence, paragraph, moving, remember
ii. remove/removal, convention, section, identify.
00076-2009EPD-EN-01© Crown copyright 2009
1 of 13The National Strategies Secondary
Key Stage 3 Literacy Plus
Lesson
objectives /
- Understand how connectives can link paragraphs
- Build a repertoire of connectives and begin to use them
Starter
10 minutes / Quickly revise the planning skills learned by asking pupils to use the drop and model map, slide W2.5, to plan a piece of writing on My ideal bedroom, decide on the first paragraph and write its topic sentence.
Ask pupils to swap their plans with a partner and peer assess by identifying two things done well with the planning tool and one suggestion for making it better.
Main
40 minutes / Introduction
Recap with the class what they have already collected in their toolkit: Addressing audience and purpose; Using the planning tool; Starting paragraphs using topic sentences. Explain that thislesson is about ways to:
- link paragraphs together using connectives
- link sentences together within paragraphs.
Model how to connect the following simple sentences.
Sam had a cup of tea. Tony picked up the boxes.
Prompt pupils’ thinking further by looking at time sequence connectives, for example lastly, first, next, finally. Follow this up by showing how you can use connectives at the beginning as well as the middle and end of a sentence. Pupils collect/copy down the bank of connectives to keep in their toolkit and refer to as they write so as to avoid repetition.
Give pupils two different examples of simple sentences to join in as many ways as they can using the bank of connectives. Let pupils know that this would mean that they are working at a secure level 4 for AF4.
Development / Recap on what pupils achieved in lesson 4: putting the paragraphs in Moving Day into a logical order and underlining topic sentences.
Ask pupils to now work in pairs and use two different connectives to make links between two paragraphs.
Plenary
10 minutes / Ask selected pairs to share the way they made links between their paragraphs then put the resource sheet into thetoolkit as well as the bank of connectives.
Resources: IWB/flipchart, slide W2.5, pupils’ toolkits, a bank of connectives, examples of simple sentences.