The text trait that propels writing forward and best captures the audience’s imagination is voice, the tone and tenor of the piece. Voice is the force behind the words that proves a real person is speaking and cares about what is being said. Writers engage the reader with voice, drawing him or her in by making connections between the reader’s life and the piece’s topic. At the next level voice distinguishes a writer’s work as distinctly theirs, a good writer experiments with their writing and discovers how to make words work. Simple words come together to create a signature style.

In Year 3 we are at the beginning of our exploration into how we can stamp our voice into writing.  The quality of tone captures how the writer wants the reader to feel as he or she is reading: excited, scared, angry, worried or joyful.  Establishing the right tone is essential to connecting to readers and keeping them interested.

Below is a snapshot of the learning experiences we are engaged with to help shape our understanding and skill.

DISCOVER – What can you find out about how authors and illustrators establish voice?

In small groups the boys flipped through picture books, carefully reading the images for clues into the tone of the story, pinning down their thinking by placing post-its on the page.  The boys shared their thinking with the class and together we realised that a good narrative changes tone throughout the story, the story arc keeps us interested and makes us feel.

This lead us into the next step of noticing how the author has consciously chosen words that cleverly reinforce the intended tone of that section.

IMAGINE – Initial ideas for how you can express your intended tone.

We have been smashing through writer’s block by brainstorming and sharing ideas for words and phrases to convey tone before writing.  By doing this together the boys are already thinking through sentences before putting markers to whiteboard.

EXPLORE – Prototypes, feedback, explorations, findings.

We have used a variety of stimuli to prompt our writing, videos of Usain Bolt’s Olympic victory, photos of planes buried in Antarctica and illustrations from picture books.

Usain Bolt sweeps around the bend as his muscles bulge like never before.  He rips through the air, cutting in front of everyone.  The spikes on his shoes shred the track, victory is in his reach.

Christopher Worsley

The animals were finally free. They were no longer in their cages. They were all smiling and cheering as they charged out of the pet shop. Their heads were no longer down and their eyes were fixed on only one thing. Ahead!

Ashok Reddy

SOLVE – A well-developed solution

The goal is to take our small writing explorations into action by writing a short narrative that connects with our new Unit of Inquiry.

Carol Peterson – Year 3 Teacher