Literacy 

Literacy - Grammar in Context

Our Year 3-6 students have now been back at school for two weeks and it has been delightful to see them immersed in the study of authors’ craft. One of the techniques we use to explicitly study grammar and sentence structure is to draw upon rich literature. Students are exposed to a text and its meaning before taking a deep dive into the language of a specific passage. They work on identifying parts of speech (verbs, adverbs, nouns, prepositions) and how they work in making a sentence powerful. They then imitate the author’s structure using their own ideas. The notion behind this approach is that students develop a reservoir of knowledge around sentence structures and can innovate, using this knowledge, when engaging in their own writing. The steps are specific and deliberate, focused on improving the sophistication of student’s writing, the use of grammatical structures, and word choice. The bigger picture is to ensure that students see the potential of the written word. We want students to know that writing has power. If you write skillfully and intentionally you can ‘control’ your readers’ minds. You can make them feel certain things, you can make them ‘see’ things, you can persuade them and that is why writing is amazing. Writing is not just ‘talk on paper’. Authors truly craft sentences, passages, and text carefully. They choose the best words and sentence structures for their purpose. 

An example of some of the Year 3-6s writing can be seen below. You will notice how carefully students have been directed to use the author’s structures. This is called the patterned writing stage and comes before students can innovate using their new knowledge. 

Patterned writing

Inspired by ‘Flight’ by Nadia Wheatly

• The wind is icy cold and the clouds stalk across the land as if to give a message to say that it will be a freezing, wind blasting night.
• The sea is icy cold and the wind blows harshly in the air as if to warn me of the fearsome creature ahead.

Inspired by ‘The Stone Lion’ by Margaret Wild

• The steel dragon that flew within the museum looked so realistic, so dangerous and deadly that small statues cowered away at the sight of him.
• The electric eel that swam insider the tank looked so pitiless, so unforgiving and cold that small babies cried quietly at the sight of him.

Inspired by ‘The Little Stowaway’ by Vicki Bennett

• Slimy snake slithering around like a slimy worm. It hisses. It rattles its tail as it quickly weaves through the long grass.
• Dangerous acid falls around me like big toxic raindrops. It hurts. I tug my protective coat closer as I run through the war zone.
• Blue birds fly over me like fast feathered darts. It’s intriguing. I climb the vines slowly and I walk through the jungle.