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Literacy Professional Learning Resource – Key Concepts

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VELS level 3 – Writing complex texts (Munro)

Writing is a way of communicating through a process of constructing messages and representing ideas, feelings and information in print. The process is complex and involves going from ideas, to spoken words, to printed and visual messages.

Writing is used to create meaning, to explore our ideas, to record what we have done and to communicate our thoughts, desires and feelings. It is also a powerful tool of influence.

The intended audience has an effect on the language choices, text types selected and form of presentation.

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Purposes for Writing

The following information comes from Munro, 2005.

To Organise and to Clarify What is Known

Students use writing as a means for learning more about a topic. They articulate the ways in which writing helps them to organise and to clarify thoughts and to bring together what they know. 

An example is students adding to a list of what they already knew about a topic after more learning has taken place.

To Keep Track of Ideas During Learning

Students describe how writing helps them to think in depth about a topic. An example is students writing down three key points as they read a simple text.

To Retain What Needs to be Remembered

Students describe how writing helps them retain knowledge they want to remember including a sequence of events. An example is students documenting a response to a text viewed or heard.

To Elicit Information from Others

Students use writing as a means to obtain information from others. An example is students writing questions as part of a simple survey or questionnaire.  Students also anticipate questions that readers may ask about their writing and use language to invite questioning.

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Professional learning

Consider each of the purposes of writing and groups of students within your class.

  • Which purposes do you focus on the most in your teaching? 
  • Which purposes do you need to allocate more time to? What are some ways you can do this with the students in your class as a whole and with small groups? 

For each of the purposes:

  • identify how you can link each purpose to the types of text students are currently reading
  • identify opportunities for students to explore the different purposes through speaking and listening.

The English Developmental Continuum P–10 provides evidence-based indicators of progress, which are linked to powerful teaching strategies, and aligned to the progression points and the standards for the English Domain of the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS).

These teaching strategies are designed to support purposeful teaching of individuals and small groups of students with similar learning needs. It is intended that teachers use the strategies in the context of their own classrooms, text or topic being taught.

Related materials

Previous key concept - Fourth grade slump in Reading (Chall, Grosson de Leon, Hirsch, Kamil)

Next key concept - Multi-modal texts and literate language (Callow, Christie)

Teaching strategy

  • Writing strategies
    • Writing plan
    • Writing strategies (Independent writing Modelled writing Shared writing Interactive writing Guided writing Roving conferences)