Our journey to becoming published authors is almost complete.  This term Year 1 have been working hard studying mentor texts, thinking about special moments in their lives and developing greater independence with their writing.  

Over the weeks the boys have been looking at what accomplished writers do, how they take seeds of a story and share their thought and ideas in writing.  The boys have grown in confidence, willing to tackle complex words and story ideas, planning their stories using sketching and rehearsing their stories with a trusted writing partner.  As their storytelling abilities have improved so has their writing stamina.

During the unit the boys have explored other writers’ craft.  They have thought of ways to elaborate on their stories, revisiting previously written stories and developing them further.  They have also explored adding speech, ‘show, don’t tell’ descriptions which build the inference skills of the reader and making the text more interesting by adding interesting beginnings and various text features such as bold writing or enlarged font to shape the way readers read their texts.

As we come to the end of the unit we are discovering the ways authors make their work easier for others to read and enjoy.  The boys have engaged in the editing process, checking for spaces, spelling and punctuation.  

As the excitement builds around the sharing of their writing with others, it is with great hope that this moment of celebration will be one which lasts in their memories and builds a lifelong love of writing.

Colleen Chan – Year 1 Teacher