Literacy - Writing
At Wangaratta West Primary School we strive to develop writers who understand what high quality writing looks and sounds like through the use of the “6 + 1 Traits of Writing”. The traits focus on Voice, Organisation, Ideas, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Conventions and Presentation.
Students are also exposed to writing for specific purposes by developing a clear understanding of the structures of various text types during these sessions. Whole class needs are explicitly taught through Modelled and Shared Writing. Individual and small group needs are specifically targeted through differentiated learning tasks, Guided Writing groups and one to one conferencing with the teacher. Punctuation and grammar are taught through whole class and small group sessions based on the needs of the students.
Writing.
As well as the Traits of Writing, we explicitly teach how and why authors write using certain language patterns and word choices by Scaffolding Literacy. Through this approach students learn how to write using the stylistic language features authors apply to create feeling and intent. We build student knowledge of these features using quality mentor texts with the intent of seeing the students transferring these features into their own writing. The mentor texts are used across all areas of the curriculum and are a fantastic modelling resource in reading and writing, providing strong examples of the skills that are being taught.
In addition to the above approaches, our students participate in a weekly ‘Wang West Write’. This is a special writing session which promotes student voice and agency, allowing the students to work on their own personal writing project, based on their interests. The students are supported with their learning goals and create pieces of writing they are proud of, following the writing process and showcasing their skills.
