1. ENGLISH Writing Conventions

2. TEXT TYPES K – 3 Imaginative performances. Performances.
Historical narrative.
Persuasive reviews.
Narratives.
Informative representations.
Persuasive representations.
K – 3
Performances.
Short statements.
Recounts.
Poetry (rhymes).
Poetry (descriptive).
Procedures.
Literary retellings.
Character descriptions.

3. TEXT TYPES Years 4 – 6 Performances. Historical descriptions.
Information reports.
Procedures.
Expositions.
Persuasive reviews.
Poetry discussions.
Newspaper reports.
Historical descriptions.
Historical recounts.
Historical narratives.
Explanations.

5. 1. PRE-WRITING

6. 2. DRAFTING

7. 3. EDITING

8. 4. PUBLISHING COMPUTER HANDWRITTEN Select font and size. Ruled margin.
Line spacing.
Use thesaurus.
Use spell check.
Date at top of page.
Underline heading.
Name at bottom of page.
HANDWRITTEN
Ruled margin.
Underline heading.
Date in margin.
Neatest writing.
Neatly erase mistakes.
Name at bottom of page.

9. BUILDING WITH THE SIX TRAITS
Idea development.
Organisation.
Voice.
Conventions.
Sentence Fluency.
Word Choice.

10. IDEA DEVELOPMENT
Like the foundation of a house, idea development serves as the solid base on which a good piece of writing rests. If you start with a solid idea, your writing can grow as big as you want.
Topic: personal experience; investigated; personally important.
Focus: zooms in or zooms out; narrow and straight.
Details: interesting and important; rich; quality beats quantity; memorable.
Makes Sense: easy to follow; understandable; all pieces fit together; ideas connect.
Ownership: research is in own words; risks taken; personal insight shown; writes uniquely.

11. ORGANIZATION
The structure of writing. Just as a house has an entrance, an exit, hallways that connect, and a sensible layout, so too does a piece of good writing. Plans are drawn before a house is built; writing should be “planned” too.

12. ORGANIZATION Plan appropriate graphic organizer used to plan writing
the order of the writing makes sense
the most important ideas receive the most attention
transitions sound natural
Beginning
hooks or grabs the reader
an inviting lead
effective topic sentence
shows where writing is going

13. ORGANIZATION Middle parts fit together smoothly
subtopics or parts are clearly separated
ideas connect
contains the “heart of the writing”
End
might leave you thinking or wondering
Makes the writing feel complete
leaves the reader feeling satisfied
ties things together

14. ORGANIZATION Title hits at the writing’s big idea catchy makes sense
is memorable

15. VOICE
The author’s voice (a.k.a. you) should be present in every piece of writing you make. Sometimes your presence needs to be strong, but sometimes it should be kept subtle. How will you ensure that your reader recognizes this as your writing?

16. VOICE
Your Personality: sound honest and sincere; shows passion and confidence
Your Emotions: energetic, heart-felt; shows feelings toward the topic (tone) and invites feelings from reader (mood)
Your Style: either a storyteller or reporter; showcase your techniques; sound like you; show personal risk
Your Point of View: show an opinion, consider perspectives; audience awareness and sensitivity
Your Experience: know own voice; show insight; sound believable; write own topic

17. CONVENTIONS
The roof of a house – though planned from the beginning – is not built first. Think about conventions near the end of your process.
Spelling: “sight words”; use a dictionary; abbreviate correctly
Punctuation: check end punctuation (periods, questions marks, exclamation points), middle punctuation (commas, apostrophes, semi-colons) and dialogue punctuation; check hyphens
Capitalization: proper names; sentence beginnings; titles; do not mis-use/overuse capitals.

18. CONVENTIONS
Grammar: check noun and verb and noun and pronoun agreement, check appropriateness (“gonna” versus “going to”); check verb tense
Spacing: indent paragraphs; spacing between words; do not put black spaces between paragraphs; use appropriate margins

19. SENTENCE FLUENCY
Just as white clouds float peacefully in the sky, or thunder clouds arrive with alarm, sentences and phrases float through a piece of writing. Do you want your sentence fluency to be subtle or alarming?
Variety of Sounds: repetition; natural sounding; rhythm and cadence; experiments with language
Variety of Beginnings: prepositions; conjunctions; participial; phrases; question words
Variety of Sentences: complex and simple; declarative and interrogative; exclamatory and imperative; short and long

20. SENTENCE FLUENCY
Variety of Connectors: transitions; connecting words and phrases; sentence flow together; experiments with colons and semi-colons
Has Readability: carefully crafted; smooth and flowing; sounds natural when read aloud; parallelism

21. WORD CHOICE
Word choice – like the sun in the sky – can accomplish many things: comfort or sunburn, thirst or relaxation. The words you choose to include in your writing have profound impact on your reader.
Verbs: precise and unique verbs; consider synonyms; balance of action and linking verbs
Adjectives: precise and unique adjectives; considers synonyms; using fewer quality adjectives is better than using a string of weak adjectives
Nouns: precise and unique nouns; purposeful use of pronouns; correct noun and pronoun agreement

22. WORD CHOICE
Word Pictures: sensory images; memorable phrases; uses word pictures when appropriate; verbs, adjectives and nouns work together
Word Play: personification; tries new vocabulary; onomatopoeia; effective similes and metaphors; alliteration

23. ONLINE READING SITES
Children’s Storybooks Online – Stories for Kids of All Ages:
Stories to Read Online: and
Story Place – The Children’s Digital Library:
Aesop’s Fables:

24. E-BOOKS FOR OLDER STUDENTS
Doctor Who the Classic Series:
Open Cultures – 450 Free Audio Books: (includes The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis and The Jungle Story by Rudyard Kipling)
Online Story Collections:

25. ENGLISH Writing Conventions