WRITING

Foundation

This term the students have been learning about how verbs and adjectives make our sentences more interesting to read. The students have chosen a noun for example monsters, elephants, fish and many more to brainstorm adjectives and then have written sentences to describe them. They have used verbs to describe what their nouns can do. 

The students writing goals have been:

• Start each sentence with a capital letter
• End each sentence with the correct punctuation eg: full stop or exclamation mark
• Leave spaces between their words in their sentences
• Have a go at recording the sounds they can hear
• Include 1 or 2 adjectives to describe their noun
• Try to write on the correct lines

Year 1/2

In 1/2 HB, our big focus in Writing this term has been on information reports. We have been very busy learning about the purpose, structure and features of information reports, such as headings, subheading, images, diagrams, the classification and description. Some of our favourite information reports we wrote were about sharks, kangaroos, koalas and honey bees. To finish our Information Report Unit, we used our knowledge about information reports to write factual information about our Dads for Father’s Day. Check out some of our writing!

Year 3/4

In grade 3/4 this week we have been focusing on using persuasive devices and relating them to the real world. Students last week spent their time designing their own houses, using Minecraft Education. The students then had to create a short descriptive persuasive piece to accompany their houses and then try and sell their property to their peers. 

Year 5/6

In Literacy this term, the year 5 and 6 students have been refining the skills of note taking, paraphrasing and summarising. The students were given the opportunity to develop these skills further when completing their research assignment for the Science Expo. In groups, they researched a critically endangered animal and created a research poster reflecting their findings. The students used a range of sources and explored the difference between reliable and unreliable sources. 

In writing, the year 5 and 6 students have been working on their persuasive writing. They have been exploring the structure of persuasive texts and writing paragraphs using the PEEL structure, ensuring their persuasive paragraphs begin with a topic sentence or point, including explanation and evidence, then wrapping it up with a link. They have been exploring persuasive devices such as repetition, rule of three, inclusive language, emotive language, evidence, alliteration, rhetorical questions, hyperbole and similes. The students have been brainstorming different arguments for and against a range of topics and have been writing persuasive paragraphs using their strongest points. They have also been having verbal class discussions where they form an opinion and justify their reasoning. They are hoping to do some debating next term!