Classroom strategies for improving narrative writing Misty Adoniou University of Canberra

Workshop aim To improve the narrative writing outcomes in learners –Let’s find out what kinds of knowledge about the language is useful (for both students and teachers) for improving those outcomes –Let’s look at some teaching strategies that would teach that kind of knowledge about language

Activity Look at the sample narrative Discuss –What do you have to say about the writing? –What would you say to the student about their writing? –What would you do to improve the writing?

A different kind of analysis focus –It is not a plausible ‘possible world’ –It is not eventful –The relationship between the characters is undeveloped –The relationship between the reader and the characters in non-existent Field Tenor

Problem It is not a plausible ‘possible world’ It is uneventful Solution Text level Solution Sentence level Solution Word level Teach about orientations and their role in the narrative structure Teach about adjectival and adverbial phrases as ways to of telling us more about what, when, where and how Expand vocabulary and teach about lexical cohesion ie the power of choosing words that ‘match’ the setting Teach about complication and resolution as key components of the narrative structure Teach about adverbial phrases and time markers as ways of marking the passage of time Expand vocabulary, focus on action verbs and teach about connectors in narratives eg meanwhile

Identifying what to teach ProblemSolution Text level Solution Sentence level Solution Word level The relationships between the characters are undeveloped Teach about the relationship between character and plot ie complications inevitably involve changes in character motivation Teach about adjectival phrases to describe character, adverbial clauses to describe character action. Teach about dialogue as a means of describing characters and character relationships Teach about ‘saying’ verbs

Four strategies to try today 1. Settings It is not a plausible ‘possible world’ Solution at Word level Expand vocabulary and teach about lexical cohesion ie the power of choosing words that ‘match’ the setting

Activity Your group must draw and label one idea under each of these categories. 1.What would you see? 2.What would you wear? 3.What would you eat? 4.How would you travel? 5.Who would you meet? Cut your drawing and label out and stick it on the sea setting.

Four strategies to try today 2. Exploring complications through concept maps Solution at Text level It is uneventful Teach about complication and resolution as key components of the narrative structure

What natural events could happen in this undersea environment? Bully shark Eating the fish community Cause Effect Dolphin makes friends with shark Solution

What man-made events could happen in this undersea environment? Cause Effect Solution

Four strategies to try today 3. Exploring characters through hot-seating Solution at Sentence level The relationships between the characters are undeveloped Teach about adjectival phrases to describe character, adverbial clauses to describe character action. Teach about dialogue as a means of describing characters and character relationships

Activity You are one of the characters we have identified as living under the sea. Think about Where you live Why you live there Your role in any of the complications we’ve talked about How you feel about other characters under the sea You will talk to the class in character, use your character’s voice and move like your character. The class will ask you questions to find out more about you.

‘I hate sea urchins’ squeaked the anemone, with her fronds waving. The addition of the clause – the group of words that tell us more about how she spoke her words is much more evocative writing than squeaked the big, red anemone

Four strategies to try today 4. Exploring settings through transformations and patterned writing Solution at Sentence level It is not a plausible ‘possible world’ Teach about adjectival and adverbial phrases as ways to of telling us more about what, when, where and how

Transformations Through the charred forest, over hot ash, runs dog, with a bird clamped in his big, gentle mouth.

Patterned writing How - In patterned writing, students appropriate the structure and language patterns of the text they have been working on in the sequence to create their own piece of writing.

The author wrote:What that language does:Student writes: Through the charred forestTells us where the characters are over hot ashGives us more information about where runs DogIntroduces the first character and what its doing with a birdIntroduces the second character clamped in his big gentle mouthTells us how the two characters are together

In summary… Looking at writing through a functional grammar lens can give us new perspectives on what is and isn’t happening in children’s writing. When teaching language skills always stay in context and focus on function. Teaching knowledge about language (aka grammar) can be interesting and fun!