©BATOD Magazine Sept 06 17

Writing frames are a fantastic way of overcoming the fear of a blank piece of paper and helping students tohave a go at what, for many, are the more challenging writing genres. For any student, each completedwriting frame provides valuable experience of the writing process and is a step towards independentplanning and writing of extended pieces.

In the English department at St John's we use them most when tackling the non-fiction genres, for examplethe three writing triplets required in the GCSE: inform, explain, describe; argue, persuade, advise; andanalyse, review, comment. At Key Stage 4 a writing frame like the one below provides practice in writing toexplain. It provides an organisational outline and models an appropriate style with suitable connectives.

GCSE English : Writing to ExplainWrite an explanation of how to play Kim's Game.Imagine you are writing in an exam.Aim to write about 250 words in 45 minutes.Use the ideas on the writing frame below to help you.

Writing framesCatherine Baldwin, St John's School, Boston Spa

WRITING FRAME

Game guide : Kim’s Game

Section Headings Possible phrases

Introduction (explanation)

General descriptionNumber of playersEquipmentObjective

Kim's game is …It involves …This is a game for …….To play the game you need ……The object of the game is to ……

Procedure(instructions)

Starting the gamePlaying the gameMaking the game more difficult

To start the game …..Make sure ……During your turn you must …..For a greater challenge, you can..

General advice What to do if… To help you remember the items on the tray…

If you can't see …..

Conclusion Winning The player who …… is the winner.

The sentence starters can easily be copied onto a page of Smart Notebook to allow the teacher to model, egthe opening paragraph, drawing attention to a fairly formal style and the need for the present tense.Students can then continue independently, using as many of the starters as they wish.

Especially useful with less confident writers, writing frames can be used across the curriculum with all agesand all abilities. However, they are also valuable in terms of providing guidelines for the more confidentwriter who can be selective in using those aspects of the frame he or she finds helpful. The beauty ofwriting frames is that they can be adapted to fulfil a number of functions, and they can be used flexibly toprovide as little or as much help as is required.

In Food Technology the Pupil Help Handbook is an extended writing frame, which guides students throughthe production of their major project for GCSE. The handbook includes both advice - in terms of the rangeof information required and how to pick up maximum points - and also exemplar sentence starters. Pupilsuse this booklet in different ways according to their ability and confidence.

18 ©BATOD Magazine Sept 06

Some use the complete handbook, copying all the sentence starters and completing them with their ownrelevant information.Some students use the framework simply as an ideas base and expand in more detail, adding furthersentences where they are able.Some use the framework as a guide to the ideas and information required and then present the work intheir own way - this provides scope for the achievement of higher grades.All students will need guidance at different levels to make sure that the content and specific terminologyis fully understood before filling in the details.

Guidelines a

nd Writing

Frames fo

r

Food Techno

logy course

work

Instructions are written in italics and are between ( ). They should not be copied.

Your proje

ct should t

ell a story. E

ach step o

f the way yo

u need to

tell the reader

:

- what you ar

e doing

- why you are

doing it

- what you ha

ve found out

- what you ne

ed to do n

ext

Where I cou

ld find my info

rmation

(Think about as many places (sources) where you could find information about your task. You get more

marks if you use lots of different sources of information).

I could look at …………………………………………………………………………………………………

I could carry out a survey to find out ………………………………………………………

I could carry out some sensory analysis to find out …………………………………

I could …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Research F

indings

(Think about how you are going to present the information you have found out in your research.

Use graphs, charts, photographs, food labels, written evidence etc to illustrate your results. You should

use about 3 sheets of

A3 paper for all your research.)

Handling Data Investigations

IntroductionState clearly what you are trying to find out:

�I am going to show that………..

�I am going to investigate the following statements……..

Specify the problem and plan

Describe how you are going to do the investigation:

�I will need to collect the following information…..

�I will find this information from…..

�I will need to collect a sample of size…..

�I will use this data to compare

�I have chosen these sources of information because….

Collect, process and represent-

you can do this as a spider diagram

-you can do it as bullet points or numbered points

Remember you can always add or change your plan.

Predict in your plan what you think the results will be and give a reason:

�I will show the information in the following types of diagrams….

�These diagrams are useful because………..

�I will carry out the following calculations….

�Theses calculations are useful because….

�As a result of my calculations and diagrams, I can compare….

Interpret and discuss results

This is the conclusion – it is the hardest part:

�Write a summary of what you have found

�Were your results the same as your prediction?

�Were there any results that were surprising?

�Do your results allow you to answer the original question?

�As a result of my calculations, I can state the following….

�This shows my original prediction to be correct/incorrect because….

�My diagrams helped me to show this by….

�What could you do to improve or extend this investigation?

�What could you change?

�What other things could you investigate if you had the time?

Use the present tense: I am going tofind out…..

Always use the Future tense

when you predict.I think that…will be…..

because……

Use the Future Tense when you

are writing about what you will do.

After using a range of writing frames of different designs and indifferent curriculum areas, students gain the confidence to move onto planning methods which allow greater scope for exploration oftheir own ideas, in terms of both content and organisation.The plan shown is one which GCSE English students use whenpractising for the writing questions - in the exam 5-10 minutesplanning is allowed.

Using either Word or, more easily Smart Notebook, writing frames can be easily annotated to illustrate arange of features. This can be done at various stages of the writing process;

GCSE English Exams: Section B………………………………… ………………………….

Plan for Writing Answers

Key words from question:

Purpose: ………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Audience: ………………………………………………………………………………………………

Ideas:

Paragraphs:

Initially to demonstrate the procedure and draw attention tothe points the teacher wishes to focus on, as in the screenshots below of a biology investigation;After a first draft to illustrate improvements to be made.And finally to exemplify good work completed by an individualor a number of students.

The writing frames illustrated on this page may bedownloaded from the BATOD website resources folder.

Guidelines and Writing Frames for

Food Technology coursework Instructions are written in italics and are between ( ). They should not be copied.

Your project should tell a story. Each step of the way you need to tell the reader: - what you are doing - why you are doing it - what you have found out - what you need to do next Where I could find my information (Think about as many places (sources) where you could find information about your task. You get more marks if you use lots of different sources of information).

I could look at ………………………………………………………………………………………………… I could carry out a survey to find out ……………………………………………………… I could carry out some sensory analysis to find out ………………………………… I could ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Research Findings (Think about how you are going to present the information you have found out in your research. Use graphs, charts, photographs, food labels, written evidence etc to illustrate your results. You should use about 3 sheets of A3 paper for all your research.)

Handling Data Investigations Introduction

State clearly what you are trying to find out:

I am going to show that………..

I am going to investigate the following statements…….. Specify the problem and plan Describe how you are going to do the investigation:

I will need to collect the following information…..

I will find this information from…..

I will need to collect a sample of size…..

I will use this data to compare

I have chosen these sources of information because…. Collect, process and represent

- you can do this as a spider diagram - you can do it as bullet points or numbered points

Remember you can always add or change your plan. Predict in your plan what you think the results will be and give a reason:

I will show the information in the following types of diagrams….

These diagrams are useful because………..

I will carry out the following calculations….

Theses calculations are useful because….

As a result of my calculations and diagrams, I can compare…. Interpret and discuss results This is the conclusion – it is the hardest part:

Write a summary of what you have found Were your results the same as your prediction? Were there any results that were surprising? Do your results allow you to answer the original question?

As a result of my calculations, I can state the following….

This shows my original prediction to be correct/incorrect because….

My diagrams helped me to show this by….

What could you do to improve or extend this investigation? What could you change? What other things could you investigate if you had the time?

Use the present tense: I am going to find out…..

Always use the Future tense when you predict. I think that…will be….. because……

Use the Future Tense when you are writing about what you will do.

GCSE English Exams: Section B………………………………… …………………………. Plan for Writing Answers Key words from question: Purpose: ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. Audience: ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Ideas: Paragraphs: