Writing Developmental Checklist— Grade 4

Writing Developmental Checklist —Grade 4Student’s Name:Date:Communication: Content, Purpose, Voice, Audience, and OrganizationBehaviours and StrategiesPrompts w rites for a wide range of purposesand audiences; uses a variety offorms (e.g., a shape poem fora poet’s café session, an e-mailrequesting information about awildlife habitat project, a poster toannounce a book sale) W hy did you choose to write apoem/letter/article/report/story? Why are you sending this postcard/e-mail/letter? Who are you trying to persuade? Did you write this book recommen dation with anyone in mind? Will this explanation be helpful forsomeone? Who will enjoy this story? o ften establishes an appropriatevoice that engages the reader andfits the purpose for writing (e.g.,adopts a persuasive tone whenwriting a brochure to convincepeople to recycle, and a humoroustone when writing a note to a friend) I like the way you gave good reasonsfor your views. Your tone is verypersuasive too. This story in your letter will makeyour friend laugh. I like the wayyou kept asking yourself questionsas you told it. ‘Well, what do youthink I did next?’ and ‘Why did Ithink of that?’ It almost sounds like aconversation you had with yourself. If you are writing down the steps tomake the calendar, how would youdo it? Talk through the steps withme. Remember to keep each stepshort and clear when you write itdown as readers need to follow yourinstructions. Tell your buddy your opinion about.Now write it down. If you are writing a letter requestinginformation, you would use a moreformal voice. It wouldn’t be chattylike writing to a friend. d emonstrates knowledge of a widerange of text types and decideswhich is appropriate for a particularwriting purpose often includes the characteristics ofeach text type in written accounts(e.g., characters, setting, problem,events, climax, and resolution ina narrative, and a statement of aviewpoint plus supporting reasonsand persuasive language in apersuasive account) Y ou’ve decided to write a reportabout.What will you include in yourplan? If you write a journal of yourobservations, what will it looklike? Will you include pictures anddiagrams? You’ve included the characters,problem, and events, but now youare struggling to think of a climaxand resolution to your story. Could you include an opinion pollwith your report? That would fit withwhat you often find in magazinearticles. You’ve stated your opinion well.Now I think your readers will want toknow your reasons.16 2008 Scholastic Canada Ltd.Observations(continued next page)Moving Up with Literacy Place – Grade 4 Literacy Support Guide

Writing Developmental Checklist —Grade 4Student’s Name:Date:Communication: Content, Purpose, Voice, Audience, and Organization (cont.)Behaviours and StrategiesPromptsObservations u ses a wide range of forms ofwriting (e.g., reports, poems,instructions, stories, scripts) anddecides which is appropriate for thepurpose and audience I like the way you made your minireport into a brochure. It works wellas an informational brochure. You chose a postcard to give yourfriend an idea of what you saw atFort Edmonton. Making a play script of the story is agood idea if you want to produce adrama to show the class. i nitiates own writing projects for avariety of purposes (e.g., writing astory to share with the class duringself-selected writing, jotting downnotes about a topic of personalinterest, and making a poster toadvertise a soccer tournament) Y ou’ve got a good reason for writingyour poem if you want to describewhat you felt and saw in that windstorm. Making a list of what you needwould help you get the materialstogether. Taking notes about the informationyou wanted to find out aboutsnowmobiles is a good idea. I like your rough plan of theheadings you’ll use on the chart. c hooses an ever-expanding range oftopics often seeks appropriate researchresources for the topic and purpose(e.g., interviews a classmate, checksinformation in a book or on awebsite) Y ou chose to write a report oneagles last time, so I’m glad you arepicking a completely different topicnow.a report on snowmobiles is agood idea I know you like writing fantasystories, but why don’t you try towrite a mystery story or an adventurestory this time? You’ve checked out a couple ofbooks on snowmobiles, and nowyou are using a website to gain somemore information. Great, you’ve alsogot some brochures from the localdealership. m akes written responses to literatureusing a variety of forms (e.g. letters,plays, poems, reader responsejournals, book recommendations) W hy not try a poem or a poster thistime? Check out the reader responseideas you have in your Reader’sNotebook. If you two have read the same book,maybe you could jot down yourideas in your Reader’s Notebookand then have a book conversationtogether and talk about what youliked and didn’t like, and whatpuzzled you.(continued next page)Moving Up with Literacy Place – Grade 4 Literacy Support Guide 2008 Scholastic Canada Ltd.17

Writing Developmental Checklist —Grade 4Student’s Name:Date:Communication: Content, Purpose, Voice, Audience, and Organization (cont.)Behaviours and StrategiesPromptsObservations r ecords and explains observationsin science experiments and otheractivities that require observationalrecords; provides accompanyingillustrations. (Will need support inoutlining the process and setting upheadings.) Y ou’ve done an opinion poll onrecycling. How will you fit it intoyour report? You could make a sequenced stripof pictures to show the stages of theplant’s growth. That would help youorganize your observations. e xpresses and justifies a viewpoint often provides evidence to supportthe opinion (may need reminders) M ake sure you give reasons for youropinion. You’ve given some convincingreasons to support your viewpoint. o rganizes and sequences informationappropriately. (May need supportfrom graphic organizers and teacherstudent conferences to organizelonger pieces of writing.) T ry using a sequence organizer tohelp you organize all the steps youhave in this recipe. You’ve plotted out some of theheadings for your report. You areplanning on an introduction tointroduce your topic. Then you’vewritten, ‘What are snowmobiles?’and ‘Where do you use them?.nowmaybe I’d want to know about costor snowmobile events. Look throughyour notes for other possible partsfor your report. d evelops an idea or topic into acomplete and detailed account N ow you have your plan for apersuasive letter on the organizer,what’s the next stage? You followed through all the stagesof writing (planning, drafting,revising, editing, and publishing).Well done. What did you learn fornext time? d evelops a complete and logicalplot for a narrative with characters,settings, a problem, events, and aresolution is able to construct a narrative(e.g., realistic, fantasy) and one thatfollows a more traditional form (e.g.,pourquoi tale, myth) (Will needsupport to develop awareness ofdifferences.) Y ou have a lot of characters herebecause I think you wanted toinclude all of your friends’ names.I’d think about cutting down thenumber of characters so that eachone has an important part in theplot. Write about your other friendsanother time. Could you add some more detailsabout the setting to build up aclearer picture of where the story istaking place? Your pourquoi tale tells us whyleaves drop in the fall. I like the wayyou have reminded us of that in theconclusion.(continued next page)18 2008 Scholastic Canada Ltd.Moving Up with Literacy Place – Grade 4 Literacy Support Guide

Writing Developmental Checklist —Grade 4Student’s Name:Date:Communication: Content, Purpose, Voice, Audience, and Organization (cont.)Behaviours and StrategiesPromptsObservations w rites reports in paragraphs,integrating research from severalsources, and presents ideas withsupporting illustrations publishes reports with accompanyingtables of contents, captions forillustrations, charts, diagrams,photos, and maybe a glossary R emember, if you change topics, youneed to start a new paragraph. Let’slook at the first page of your reportand think about paragraphs. Your illustrations really highlightimportant parts in your text. I like theway the pictures explain ideas andobjects that may be unfamiliar toreaders. A Table of Contents helps yourreaders find information in yourreport. Try and build one thatincludes your main headings.Language StructureBehaviours and StrategiesPrompts u ses a variety of sentence structures(simple, compound, and complex)within each account is beginning to use sentence typesto match the purpose and audiencefor writing (e.g., short, eye-catchingsentences on a poster, and longer,descriptive sentences to describe acharacter in a story) C an you join these two ideastogether to make a longer sentence? It’s a good idea to vary the lengthof your sentences. It can make yourwriting more interesting. Short phrases and sentences on achart make it more eye-catching andeasier to read. u ses first- and third-personconsistently and appropriately tofit the text structure, purpose, andaudience U sing a first-person ‘I’ voice for yourpersuasive account really works asyou speak directly to your readers. When people write reports theyusually write he/she/they becausethey aren’t writing about themselves.Let’s see what the author of thisbook on video games does. u ses appropriate key words to relateto text structures and forms (e.g.,‘compared to,’ ‘in contrast,’ ‘onthe other hand’ for a compare andcontrast report; ‘Dear ’, ‘WithBest Wishes,’ for a letter) I like the way that you signalled to areader that you are comparing andcontrasting in your report. Those keywords, ‘compared to,’ ‘in contrast,’‘but,’ and ‘on the other hand’ sendthe message clearly. uses age-appropriate grammar ‘ He saw the accident’ rather than,‘He seen it.’ ‘She would have no butter on herbread’ rather than, ‘She would ofno butter on her bread.’ (Modellingis more effective than corrections.Modelling will transfer eventuallyinto the student’s oral language andconsequently into writing.)Moving Up with Literacy Place – Grade 4 Literacy Support GuideObservations 2008 Scholastic Canada Ltd.(continued next page)19