Assessment preparation Writing

Aims and Obs To investigate attributes needed to complete the descriptive writing assessment successfully. To complete a practice question using the techniques discussed this session.

Key features when planning descriptive writing The intended reader. The purpose of the piece. The structure. The language features.

The intended reader How we write and what we write will change depending on who we are writing for. The intended reader for our piece might be given by the exam question so it is important that we check who our intended audience is and form our writing accordingly. For example, We would write a completely different piece if we were writing for our nan or another elderly relative than if we were writing for a someone of our own age.

A visual image- a place, person, object or an effect. The Purpose of the Piece What are we trying to communicate? A feeling An experience A visual image- a place, person, object or an effect. What is the piece that we are writing trying to say or show? Again, the message we need to give might be stated in the question and if it is we must be careful to follow this and include relevant information in our piece. For example, It is no good writing a piece about basketball when the topic was supposed to be cycling, no matter how much you may know or how good the writing might be! It must be relevant to the purpose.

The Structure The structure we choose will depend upon the type of piece we have been asked to write. If we are writing a story we would use the beginning, middle, end format. A letter would be expected to have an addressee (who you are writing to) followed by the body of your letter and then be signed off at the end with a suitable statement. (Use “From” or “See you soon” for a friendly letter or “Yours Sincerely/Faithfully” for a more formal letter). An article would use a different format to the above two, with structured columns/paragraphs, so you can see the importance in choosing the correct structure for your piece.

The language features Adjectives and Adverbs Powerful verbs and Nouns (describing words) Powerful verbs and Nouns (Action or doing words) (names or groups something) Figurative language (Similes, metaphors, personification) Past, present and future tense (Time- has already happened, Is happening now, Is going to happen) Try to write from a personal perspective and include feelings. You can be imaginative or factual, depending on what you are being asked to write.

To write an effective description you must: Make use of powerful verbs and adjectives These are the building blocks to make your writing vivid and evoke feelings in the reader. Compare these sentences, which is better? The lights on the ceiling lit the room Or The huge florescent strip lights, suspended from the crisp snow white ceiling shone, star like, and illuminated the room with a dazzling light.

The Question Create a piece of descriptive writing, telling a story about your school canteen at dinnertime. Your intended audience will be year six pupils who will be coming to school in September. Write a descriptive story to help them imagine what it is like in the canteen during the dinner break.

Have we achieved our aims ? We have looked at the techniques and attributes that need to be used in the descriptive writing assessment. We have completed a practice question in preparation for the assessment, using the information gained this session.