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What do you look for when observing student writing?
When analysing student for the purpose of writing moderation, we identify the authorial and secretarial elements with the intention of providing effective feedback.
I've used a writing sample (see below) from Brightpath, a formative writing assessment tool. The sample provided is from an average Year 4 student in Term 4. Brightpath is a well-researched writing moderation tool to support and affirm teacher judgements with student writing samples- I highly recommend you check this out!
During my time as a Literacy Coach and Head of Curriculum, I introduced Brightpath to the Junior School, and we dedicated time (the most sought after resource!) during PLCs and team meetings to support the moderation process of our students' writing using this tool.
What do YOU look for in your students' writing?
How do YOU provide them with feedback?
From the above sample:
- what do you notice about what the student has done successfully in their narrative?
-what kind of feedback would you give to the student?
-what do you notice about the room for improvement or opportunities for growth?
-what kind of feedback would you give the student?
-what are you wondering?
-what would you ask the student about their writing?
Did you identify areas associated with spelling, grammar or punctuation before any other writing element?
Did you observe what the student couldn't do or didn't do?
Did you think about the way the student crafted this writing in terms of their ideas, to the features, text structure, sentence structure and vocabulary choices?
The first, and usually the most noticeable observations about success in student writing, are the SECRETARIAL skills (Mackenzie, 2011). More often than not, we find ourselves confident providing feedback about the following secretarial writing elements:
The flip side of secretarial skills, AUTHORIAL skills- the organisation of ideas, the communication of information to a particular audience, the refining of author's craft through text structure, sentence and grammatical structure and vocabulary. These authorial skills are the ones less drawn upon, initially at least, when analysing student writing. Derived from the NAPLAN marking guide (Narrative), these eigh
t elements of authorial writing skills support students as authors, in creating effectively composed and well crafted texts which impact and engage the reader.
TAKE TWO!
Reflecting on this writing sample once again:
What do you notice/observe now?
How has your thinking shifted?
How could you inform the student of what they've done well?
How could you share one area for improvement?
What kind of statement or question would you provide to the student about their writing?
In order for us to know what to look for when analysing, moderating and when providing feedback, we strengthen our own knowledge and capacity about each of these authorial elements, and we frequently model these in our writing practice. When we know what they are, understand how they're used and know what to identify within each element, we have the confidence and clarity to analyse student writing- in a sentence, in a paragraph or in a complete text. We're able to provide feedback confidently by recognising which of the authorial elements have been used successfully, and with clarity, we express those authorial elements which need to be used effectively to improve writing.
How do you moderate with your teams?
How do you analyse student writing in your classrooms?
How do you provide students with feedback about their writing?
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