Assessing writing in Year 3*
It is important when assessing children's progress in writing to remember that:
- writing is a complex, unitary skill, so these elements are interactive and interdependent even though they can each be analysed
- the different facets of writing develop together: when teaching specific points it is important to show how they relate to writing as a whole
- children need to learn how to orchestrate skills at word, sentence and text level in order to be able to write independently
- when assessing it is always important to look at the parts in relation to text as a whole e.g. how individual sentences contribute to overall effect
The following statements to support assessment of children's writing are taken from the NLS 'Target statements for writing' (available from www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary/literacy/publications/) and have been organised against the renewed learning objectives. The statements illustrate key aspects of writing that need to be addressed to raise standards. They are intended as a practical guide for headteachers in steering and monitoring the teaching of writing. They should be used selectively in relation to the needs and context of each school in any of the following ways:
- to audit writing achievement in each year group;
- to set curricular targets for year groups and learning targets for children;
- as a steer for teachers' planning;
- to help focus teaching on key elements of writing;
- as criteria for monitoring teaching and learning.
Opportunities for assessing progress in writing occur in dedicated literacy teaching time and also across the curriculum where children have the opportunity to practise and apply the skills they have been taught. These opportunities are at times informal as well as formal. They engage children in peer and self assessment as well as teacher-led assessment. 'Excellence and Enjoyment: learning and teaching in the primary years' (Ref DfES 0520-2004G) offers further support on Assessment for Learning.
| Learning objectives | Target statements for writing |
|---|---|
| 8. Creating and shaping texts | |
• make decisions about form and purpose, identify success criteria and use them to evaluate their writing |
• Use different planning formats, e.g. charting, mapping, flow charts, simple storyboards. • Identify and consider audience and how this affects writing. • Mentally rehearse writing, and cumulatively re-read, making adaptations and corrections. • Be able to improve own writing and correct errors. |
• use beginning, middle and end to write narratives in which events are sequenced logically and conflicts resolved |
• In non-fiction, begin using basic structure, e.g. introductory and concluding statements in non-chronological reports. • Use language and structures from different text types for own writing. |
• select and use a range of technical and descriptive vocabulary • use layout, format, graphics, illustrations for different purposes |
• Generate and collect suitable words and phrases before writing. • Use interesting vocabulary; vary use of adjectives and verbs for impact. • Select nouns to be specific, e.g. poodle rather than dog. • Use terminology appropriate to text type |
| 9. Text structure and organisation | |
• signal sequence, place and time to give coherence |
• Use 1st or 3rd person and tense consistently. • Use a range of connectives that signal time |
• group related material into paragraphs |
• Use language and structures from different text types for own writing. • Sequence sentence to extend ideas logically. |
| 10. Sentence structure and punctuation | |
• show relationships of time, reason and cause, through subordination and connectives |
• Write simple and compound sentences. • Begin to use some subordinators, e.g. if, so, while, though, since. • Vary openings of sentence to avoid repetition. |
• compose sentences using adjectives, verbs and nouns for precision, clarity and impact |
• Use interesting vocabulary; vary use of adjectives and verbs for impact. • Select nouns to be specific, e.g. poodle rather than dog. |
• clarify meaning through the use of exclamation marks and speech marks |
• Demarcate sentence in the course of writing, using full stops, capital letters, question and exclamation marks, usually accurately. • Begin to use speech marks and capital letters for a range of purposes. • Secure the use of commas in a list. |
| 11. Word structure and spelling | |
• spell unfamiliar words using known conventions and rules and a range of strategies including phonemic, morphemic and etymological |
• Attempt to spell unfamiliar words using known conventions and rules and a range of strategies including phonemic, morphemic and etymological. |
• spell words containing short vowels, prefixes and suffixes and inflections, doubling the final consonant where necessary |
• Spell words containing common prefixes and suffixes, e.g. un-, dis-, -ly, -ful. • Spell inflected forms of words containing short vowel, doubling the final consonant where necessary, e.g. win – winning, beg – begged. |
| 12. Presentation | |
• write neatly and legibly with handwriting generally joined, consistent in size and spacing |
• Write legibly with a joined hand, maintaining consistency in size and spacing. |
• use keyboard skills to type, edit and redraft |
• Use IT to polish and present. |