Week 8 Term 3: Teacher Practice: Literacy Strategy: Preparing students for the Literacy CAA: Writing (September 09 - September 13)

This year the Literacy and Numeracy Team (Level UP) which consists of myself (HoLA English) and the Heads of Learning Area for Math, Science and Social Sciences have been working with our Year 11 students who do not have Literacy or Numeracy. We have been preparing them for the Literacy and Numeracy Co-Requisites (CAA) which took place in May and we are currently working with our akonga for the September assessment in Week 9 of Term 3. I have documented the journey here: 

Alby’s Blog Post Entry - (25/08/24)

The next steps from my previous post outlines: 

• Hold an intensive class with our Year 11 students for a whole day to get them practicing again with the past Lit and Num papers.
• We will be getting our Year 10 English and Math teachers to use their class time to go through the past Lit and Num papers with their students - in an effort to empower our kaiako to drive effective teaching of literacy in their classrooms.

We have covered the intensive with our Year 11 students and the focus now is on making sure that our students are practicing and preparing for the co-requisite. In this post I am going to look at 32405 (Written Assessment) and what literacy strategies I think will work well when teaching and preparing our students for the assessment. 

UNPACKING THE QUESTION

May 2024 AS 32405 Assessment: Questions 1

Unpacking the question is important. I always go through the question with the students in the class and I give them three tips on how to unpack a question and break it down so that they understand it. 

May 2024 AS 32405 Assessment: Question + Inustructions

Check out the three tips below: 

• Dissect the keywords and phrases: Break down the question to highlight key terms or phrases. These often indicate what you need to focus on or specific areas that need addressing.

• Break down the question into parts: Divide the question into sub questions especially if it has multiple parts. This will help you understand each part of the question and hopefully influence who you answer. 

• Consider the scope: Clarify the scope of the question to ensure your response is focused and relevant. Avoid going off-topic by sticking to what the question specifically asks for and avoiding unnecessary information.

ESSAY STRUCTURE + GRAMMATICAL FEATURES

It is important that the students are aware of TWO things: 

• Essay Structure
• Grammatical Features (specifically sentence structure) 

I am trying to veer away free essay structures but I know that many of students depend on it as it is a good launching pad when they are crafting their text. Some good essay structures that could work well for students when they are crafting their answers for the Literacy Written CAA are: 

TEEPEE Paragraph Structure

APE Paragraph Structure

Sentence structure is a skill that my students will need to nurture going into the CAA. It will help them refine and define their text. 

Sentence Structure:

• Simple Sentences: Contain a single independent clause (e.g., "She runs daily.").
• Compound Sentences: Join two or more independent clauses with coordinating conjunctions (e.g., "She runs daily, and she also swims.").
• Complex Sentences: Combine independent and dependent clauses (e.g., "She runs daily because it keeps her healthy.").
• Compound-Complex Sentences: Feature multiple independent clauses and at least one dependent clause (e.g., "She runs daily because it keeps her healthy, and she enjoys the exercise.").

These are two literacy strategies are just two ways to engage students with the written assessment. I look forward to adding in more.