Level B1 Writing

The students' performance in these tasks suggest that they are working within the range of Level B1 in Writing. The assessing teacher will need to consider a range of student samples in order to determine whether each student is at the beginning of B1, consolidating B1 or at the B1 standard in Writing.

At beginning Level B1 students:

• use drawing as a means of expression
• attempt to copy writing from other sources, for example environmental print, other students, the teacher's model
• will observe shared writing tasks, watching as the teacher writes but most likely will not contribute because of their limited English
• may exhibit limited concentration during shared writing tasks
• talk about their writing and pictures drawing on their oral English language and may use their home language with same language peers or bilingual teacher.

At consolidating Level B1 students:

• begin to form letters and place text appropriately
• communicate their ideas and experiences simply through writing, drawing, copied or dictated texts
• demonstrate knowledge of some sound–letter relationships, and show evidence of some planning
• produce writing that reflects their use of oral structures
• demonstrate an early awareness that written texts in English are presented according to certain conventions which change according to context and purpose
• write or draw for specific audiences
• write simple sequenced descriptions, recounts, and procedures, following models
• link ideas using common conjunctions and show awareness of the need for basic punctuation
• model their writing on shared writing activities and published texts, and use some basic strategies, such as copying words or phrases from lists, using illustrations, and asking how to write a word
• contribute to whole-class or small-group shared writing activities.

At Level B1 Achievement Standard students:

• write and present simple texts for a variety of basic classroom and personal purposes
• communicate familiar ideas, events and experiences, writing simple narratives, recounts, descriptions and reports, with support
• use some of the basic structures and features common to these text types, demonstrating their beginning awareness that purpose influences the way texts are written and presented
• produce written texts that incorporate the basic grammatical features of their spoken English
• spell some common words correctly and their attempts at spelling show a beginning understanding of the patterns of English letter–sound relationships
• use some simple strategies for spelling words, such as checking word lists or books
• plan and edit their texts, providing additional information through visual images, with support
• use the basic features of computer software applications to write and present their texts.

Student information

The student is nine years old and was born in China. She speaks Cantonese as her home language and has had age equivalent schooling.

Task

The student was asked to write about herself after an oral discussion. She has had two terms in an English language school in Victoria and the teachers were assessing whether the child was ready to attend a mainstream school.

Text

My name is N. I'm 9 years old.

I is very tall. I like fruit, swim and P.E.

my sister name is R. She is 9 years old.

She like dog, cat, rabbit and banana.

my father like news.

my Mother dot like news.

My sister and me like drawing.

Saturday and Sunday I reading and wach T.V.

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can:

• Write known phrases around familiar language (VCEALC294)
• Write simple imaginative or personal texts modelled on familiar forms and repetitive patterns (VCEALC298)
• Write using language that largely reflects features of spoken language (VCEALA299)
• Sequence ideas simply, using short sentences or statements (VCEALL309)
• Organise some subject matter and write according to the structure of the text type, using modelled forms and repetitive patterns (VCEALL307)
• Spell accurately common words encountered in the classroom (VCEALL318)
• Use basic punctuation, such as full stops and capital letters, appropriately (VCEALL319)
• Use simple sentences and phrases with correct subject–verb–object pattern (VCEALL310)
  

Student information

The student was born in India and speaks Punjabi and Hindi as his home languages. He has had age equivalent schooling before starting school in Victoria. He has had three terms in an English language school.

Task

The student was asked to write about himself. The student is familiar with the topic and form of writing. It had been modelled and the class jointly constructed a text in previous lessons. The student wrote this text independently.

Text

My name is S. I am 13 years old. I come form India. I like play Soccer and cricket too. I like watch T.V. Simpsons. I can speak Punjabi, Hindi and English. I don't like hair cut. I born in India. My birthday is 19^th October. My best friend is Dimitri. My favourite animals is Dogs. My favouri Food is Pizza. My favourite colours are white, black, yellow, golden, green and red.

My favourite subgact is English and Math.

My favourite country is Austrila and U.S.A.

I like driving the car.

My father, Mother and brother in my family.

I like to watching moving with my family.  

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can:

• Write simple imaginative or personal texts modelled on familiar forms and repetitive patterns (VCEALC298)
• Sequence ideas simply, using short sentences or statements (VCEALL309)
• Use simple sentences and phrases with correct subject–verb–object pattern (VCEALL310)
• Write using language that largely reflects features of spoken language (VCEALA299)
• Use basic punctuation, such as full stops and capital letters, appropriately (VCEALL319)
• Spell accurately common words encountered in the classroom (VCEALL318)
• Use simple layouts to present texts logically (VCEALL317)
  

Student information 

The student is in Year 3. He was born in Japan and speaks Japanese as his home language. He has had age-equivalent schooling in Japan. 

Task 

The students were learning about animals. They read model texts with the teacher and jointly constructed information reports before writing their own. Students were asked to write sentences about different animals. They were allowed to use word lists and pictures of animals with labels. 

The analysis is based on the student’s writing before correction. 

Text 

trunk has elephant 

live has 

mane has lion 

lioess has girn lion 

biggest has elephant 

water has elephant 

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can: 

• Translate literally from home language to English (VCEALA305) *draws on language structure of home language, potentially object-verb-subject structure
• Sequence ideas simply, using short sentences or statements (VCEALL309)
• Incorporate learnt vocabulary into writing (VCEALL315) *uses topic-specific vocabulary and high-frequency word has consistently
• Spell accurately common words encountered in the classroom (VCEALL318)
• Write simple factual texts using print and computers or other digital devices for a variety of classroom purposes (VCEALC296) 

Possible next steps for this student's learning 

• Using simple sentence starters to write, such as The elephant has… or The elephant is… (VCEALL314) (VCEALL311)
• Unjumbling and reordering simple subject-verb-object sentences (VCEALL310)
• Planning and constructing an extended information text on one animal with a peer or teacher (VCEALL317) 

Pathways and transitions considerations 

A Year 3 student working within the range of Level B1 in any one language mode is not ready to transition to the English curriculum regardless of their proficiency in the other two language modes. This student will continue on Pathway B of the EAL curriculum in all language modes.

Student information 

The student is 10 years old and in Year 5. He was born in Afghanistan and speaks Dari. He had a few years of schooling in Afghanistan and can read but not write in his home language. He has been at a language school in Australia for three terms and both parents have limited English. 

Task 

This writing task was completed at the beginning of a persuasive writing unit. Students had only seen a model text written by the teacher and had not been taught any linguistic features related to the task. 

This task was completed during remote learning. 

The analysis is based on the student’s writing before correction. 

Text 

I Would like To be a Superhero 

InTrodcTion-I Would like To be a suPerhero 

firstly, I would lik To be superman because superman is my best hero. 

Secondly, if i was a superman i will help people and I will catch The bad guys and bad superhero. 

Thirdly, if i was a superman i will be Powerful i can fig i can ran fast i can shoot laser with my eyes. 

Conclusions – For all These reasons i think it will be fan To be a superhero. 

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can: 

• Organise some subject matter and write according to the structure of the text type, using modelled forms and repetitive patterns (VCEALL307)
• Use some conjunctions to connect ideas within a sentence (VCEALL313)
• Use formulaic structures (VCEALL314)
• Use simple layouts to present texts logically (VCEALL317)
• Spell accurately common words encountered in the classroom (VCEALL318) 

Overall, this student can also:

• Write simple imaginative or personal texts modelled on familiar forms and repetitive patterns (VCEALC298) 

Possible next steps for this student's learning 

• Consistently using capital letters for the pronoun I and proper nouns (VCEALL319)
• Expanding noun groups to include simple adjectives (VCEALL312)
• Exploring and using modal adverbs to add emphasis (VCEALL312)
• Expanding the range of conjunctions used to provide more examples and elaborate on ideas (VCEALL313)
• Expanding the range of sentence starters relevant to a persuasive text (VCEALA300)
  

Pathways and transitions considerations 

A Year 5 student working within the range of Level B1 in any one language mode is not ready to transition to the English curriculum regardless of their proficiency in the other two language modes. This student will continue on Pathway B of the EAL curriculum in all language modes.

Student information 

The student is 9 years old and in Year 4. He was born in China and speaks Mandarin. He has had age-equivalent schooling and is able to read and write in his home language. He has been studying in an English language school for over four terms due to the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. His parents have very little English and therefore are unable to provide a lot of support at home. 

Task 

Students have been learning about Australia including the states and territories, capital cities and places of interest. Students also looked at voicing opinions (agree and disagree) and supporting their opinions with reasons. For this task, students were given the topic as their opinion and asked to write a text to persuade their friends or family to come and visit Melbourne. The class had explored the structure of a persuasive text prior to writing. Key vocabulary were provided on flash cards with pictures. 

The student completed the task independently using the flashcards and text structure discussed. 

The analysis is based on the student’s writing before correction. 

Text 

Melbourne Is The Best City 

I think melb is the dest city. 

becausa you can see beautiful playcis. 

It is the best because it rar safe and it have rar delicious food. 

You must come because it have fantastic bech, mani playcis and mani park. 

Melbourne has bigst Shopping center cod chadstone shopping center. 

Melbourne has mani places to see like Twelve Apostles, Luna Park, Melbourne Zoo and Yarra River. 

see ftrbo, tans and cict. 

camm to see Melbourne 

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can: 

• Create short, simple texts for particular purposes, with some support and modelling (VCEALA300)
• Organise some subject matter and write according to the structure of the text type, using modelled forms and repetitive patterns (VCEALL307)
• Use a small range of simple descriptive phrases (VCEALL312) *uses simple noun phrases such as delicious food, beautiful playcis, bigst Shopping center, fantastic bech
• Use some conjunctions to connect ideas within a sentence (VCEALL313) *uses because through modelled sentence structures
• Use formulaic structures (VCEALL314)
• Spell accurately common words encountered in the classroom (VCEALL318) 

Overall, this student can also: 

• Write simple imaginative or personal texts modelled on familiar forms and repetitive patterns (VCEALC298)
• Engage with a range of writing tasks (VCEALA306)

Possible next steps for this student's learning 

• Proofreading and editing own work for spelling mistakes and/or errors, with teacher support (VCEALA302)
• Participating in a range of spelling activities focused on common letter patterns based on words that are commonly misspelt (VCEALA304) 
• Using the TEEL (Topic sentence, Explanation, Evidence and Linking sentence) framework to plan the main ideas for writing, then using a writing template with the same framework to structure own writing (VCEALL308)
• Using a checklist to support consistent use of punctuation such as capital letters for proper nouns and at the start of a sentence, and full stops at the end (VCEALL319)

Pathways and transitions considerations 

A Year 4 student working within the range of Level B1 in any one language mode is not ready to transition to the English curriculum regardless of their proficiency in the other two language modes. This student will continue on Pathway B of the EAL curriculum in all language modes.