Original article: LINK
By Murray Gadd, Judy M. Parr
Imagine a primary school teacher in New Zealand who found a fantastic way to get his Year 5 and 6 students excited about writing. He started telling his students fun and adventurous stories about his mischievous dog, Baxter. Instead of just asking the kids to retell Baxter’s adventures, he encouraged them to come up with their own funny, naughty, or strange animal stories based on either their own experiences or their imaginations.
The students dove into their writing with enthusiasm. They wrote vivid descriptions, like a cat drinking from a used toilet bowl, a parrot sipping wine from its owner’s shoulder, and a peculiar dog winking mischievously at a child walking home from school. John then told his students that their stories would be published on a class blog for the local community to read.
Almost all the students said they loved the project, and their writing was as good as or even better than their previous efforts. John believed the success came from the nature of the project itself – it was meaningful, open-ended, and connected to the students’ own lives [LINK].
This approach is called ‘task orientation.’ It means carefully planning the content and structure of a class writing project so as to engage students effectively [LINK]. When done right, as John demonstrated, it can significantly boost students’ interest and academic performance. The study highlighting John’s method shows how essential task orientation is for effective writing instruction and how it helps teachers positively impact their students’ learning and engagement.
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Projects are the cornerstone of a writing classroom, whether they are created by teachers [LINK] or students [LINK]. These tasks can vary widely: some might be the same for everyone, while others offer choice; they can be done alone or in groups; they can aim for one specific result or invite various outcomes.
Four key features make class writing projects more engaging and beneficial for students.
- First, the project must be meaningful to the student. When tasks connect to what students are interested in or already know, they become more engaging [LINK]. Students often feel more invested if they have a say. When students find class writing projects meaningful, they are more likely to feel empowered and motivated.
- Second, class writing projects should be linked to learning goals. Writing, in particular, should relate to the students’ own lives and other subjects they are studying [LINK and LINK].
- Third, there should be a variety of projects. Students need different types of writing projects to show their abilities in various areas and to keep them interested. However, tasks should not be randomly varied. They need to be thoughtfully planned to ensure deep learning [LINK].
- Finally, class projects should be appropriately challenging. They should be challenging but achievable to keep students motivated and help them build confidence. When students successfully complete challenging projects, it increases their self-efficacy and motivation [LINK].
Effective class writing projects should meet the students’ learning needs, be seen as purposeful and challenging by students, involve students in their creation [LINK and LINK], consider the diverse backgrounds of students [LINK], and be open-ended, allowing for extended engagement.
This study looked at how these principles of effective unit planning are used by exceptional writing teachers. It examines which strategies are most closely linked to student progress and what these strategies look like in practice. By understanding and applying these strategies, teachers can create tasks that significantly boost student engagement and achievement.
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Teachers who excel in planning class writing projects are more likely to see their students make significant progress in writing. Specifically, two strategies stand out:
- Planning projects that students find purposeful and challenging [LINK]
- Involving students in the selection or construction of these projects [LINK and LINK].
In classroom practice, most teachers successfully planned projects that were purposeful and aligned with their students’ learning needs and diverse backgrounds [LINK]. The lessons observed included a wide range of topics and writing purposes, such as recounting personal experiences, describing imaginary moments, or explaining scientific concepts [EYFS, KS1 & KS2]. Teachers could articulate why they chose specific projects and how these were relevant to their students’ experiences and interests.
In terms of project organisation, most teachers ensured a variety of class projects, often making them open-ended to accommodate personal or imaginative writing. However, there was variability in how much choice students had in selecting topics. About half of the lessons observed involved some degree of student choice within broad parameters set by the teacher. For example, students might be asked to explain how something works but could choose what to explain [EYFS, KS1 & KS2].
Only one lesson demonstrated full student involvement in project construction. Students not only selected their topic but also the purpose and audience for their writing [LINK], fostering greater engagement and ownership of their writing.
Overall, this study highlights the importance of purposeful and challenging class writing project, student involvement in project construction, and thoughtful task organisation [LINK] in promoting effective writing instruction.