Teaching, Learning and Wellbeing

Developing More Formal Writing 

At RGLPS, students are learning that written language is often more formal and carefully structured than everyday speech. Strong writing requires students to communicate ideas clearly, precisely and with enough detail for the reader to fully understand the message independently.

As part of our writing instruction, teachers are explicitly teaching students how to expand and refine their sentences using strategies drawn from The Hochman Method and The Writing Revolution. 

One focus area is the use of appositives. An appositive is a word or phrase that adds extra information about a noun, helping students create more detailed and sophisticated sentences. 

See examples below: (the appositive is underlined)

• Eden, one of the RGLPS school captains, welcomed families at assembly.

• The Murray River, Australia’s longest river, supports many communities and ecosystems.

   

Teaching students to use appositives helps them move beyond simple spoken-style sentences and develop writing that is more formal, informative and engaging. These sentence expansion strategies also support students to organise ideas more clearly and improve the overall quality of their writing across all learning areas.

Parents can support this learning at home by encouraging children to add precise details when talking or writing about people, places and events. Small changes in sentence structure can make a significant difference to the quality of students’ writing over time.

Kerron Worsdell 

Learning Specialist