
A few things I'd be reiterating with students over in the final weeks (and couple of months) of the year to revise for 1.3 Writing and 1.4 Unfamiliar Texts.
1.3 Writing
Back to basics:
Don’t assume students know the basics about the standard and the exam. This applies also to 1.4 Unfamiliar Texts. Start from level zero to go over:
The different names of the standards – the long one, the shortened one (1.3 Writing), the NZQA number.
What internal and external means
Typing (on who’s computer)?
Time allowed
Where they’ll be
What they can bring into the exam.
Exemplars
Look over the exemplars again – just the E so that students have THAT one imprinted. Aim for E, then in the worst-case scenario, you get A.

Prompts
Ensure your kiddos know the parts of the prompt, and understand that:
The ideas listed below it are simply ideas. They’re not what HAS to be written about.
Zooming in is a great way to go (rather than focusing on the whole picture).
Writing Intentions
To complete this, students must understand:
The point of view they’ll be writing from. Eg: the tree’s, their own as they swim with that whale… It doesn’t mention this in the templates for statements of intent in the exam papers, but it’s the best place for students to start when they explain their intention.
What they want to communicate. Have students remember FETU (or an acronym of their own to help them explain details about how they want to ‘play’/manipulate their reader. FETU – What they want their reader to:
Feeling (emotions)
Experiences (think of the senses)
Think about (memories, events, people)
Understand (and therefore perhaps even ‘do’).
What genre is – that it’s about the:
Format
Structure (eg using connectives, structuring around senses or different observations, use of turning points, stating key points plus examples…) and
Language (keep it simple – formal and informal) – see safe zone below.
Audience, and that it's more than just “teenagers”. Encourage students to be more specific. They could combine any details about age, race, location, jobs, interests (sport, hobbies…) health, ability, life experience…


The examples above appear in our 1.3 Writing - Revision Pack.
Push planning.
Look at the exemplars. What might this student’s plan have looked like? Turn it on its head in this activity to help them understand how a final product and a plan relate, and to help students appreciate the student that wrote the Excellence exemplar couldn’t have done so without planning first.
Timing
This is key. How much time is there for planning, writing, editing and proofreading (fixing)?

The safe zone
(Not very PC of me, I’m sure, but it's blimmin' good exam strategy!) Have students know before they begin what their strengths are and have them prepare to play to those strengths.
Some of the best (easiest) genre for students to tackle are:
Descriptive – a person, place, an object – you can’t tell me there won’t be one of those in any of the prompts. Break the description of that person, place, object into parts that will become paragraphs:
What your senses experience
The parts of it(eg: roots, trunk, limbs, leaves, legs, torso, arms, face…, handles, carved lid, beautifully lined exterior...)
Different talents
Different uses
Persuasive – speech.
Diary/Journal – easy to show talent with structure – diary entry, first person, colloquial
Tip: Avoid stories – it takes skill to develop character, conflict, resolution – to end that story – in a limited number of words.
Proofreading
Ensure your students know the drill: reading ‘aloud’, slowly with expression.
1.4 Unfamiliar Texts
Back to basics
Again, go over key information, including the names of the standard, where they’ll be, managing the digital platform, time allowed and managing that time.
Parts of the resource and question book
Give students a blank template and have them annotate it to describe the parts, and explain how they’re helpful, how to use them etc. See the examples below, which appear in our 1.4 Unfamiliar Texts Revision Pack.



This works: Give students a text, then ask them to be the examiner and write their own questions. It's a brilliant way to help them understand the questions.
Exemplars
As with any achievement standard, look at the Excellence levels so that this is what’s in the heads of your students.
FETU
Teach students this or a similar acronym, as discussed above in my notes about 1.3 Writing. This time they’re not using this tool to manipulate the reader; this time they’re using it to think about how they are being manipulated.
Structuring an answer:
Be sure you've written your own answers - experienced the fear and done it anyway - LOL - so you understand the struggles your students might be having. Re-invent your answer acronym/structure if you need to.

Activity suggestion: Revision-wise, I'd give students lots of short, short texts (like, 2-3 sentences) with a question, then have them annotate the text (see below) and write a quick answer. Give them 15 minutes. Encourage proofreading at the end because that got to be habit.
Adding sprinkles:
Even the strugglers should try to add the sprinkles. Scatter ideas about:
The wider world (past, current trends, possible future)
Human behaviours (our tendencies, habits, values…)
The writer (you’re spying on them – are they bashing their keys, weeping, smiling…)

Great starter activity idea: pop a picture up on your big screen and have students work in pairs to write a sentence each about what it's suggesting or helps you think of when it comes to the three bullet points above.
Annotating – a must
Tell them this is NOT NEGOTIABLE. Teach them how to annotate and what they’re looking for. That is:
1. Read the text through first to get the gist (at least).
2. Read the question.
3. Read the text again, pen in hand, to mark up all the evidence they find that answers that question.
Give less emphasis to finding techniques. You don’t want students panicking because they can’t find alliteration and simile (let’s face it – the two they always go for). You don’t want them finding techniques so that they can write the definitions for them either. They get so hung up on thinking it’s all about showing they know the names of techniques that they forget to answer the question!
4. They can go through their evidence again to see if any of it has ‘a name’ – metaphor, minor sentence, rhetorical question, ellipses etc.
Remember, annotation give students a treasure chest of evidence (aka ‘answers’).

Rote learning
Compulsory. Not negotiable. Rote learning is deliberate memorization. Kahoot is not rote learning. Cue cards, attainment goal ‘tests’… they help students rote learn all those techniques.
(Cue card templates are included in our 1.4 Unfamiliar Texts Revision Pack.)
תגובות