Writers' tools and supports to scaffold writing

Writers' tools and supports are most effective when they are matched to the developmental level of the writers and are introduced and modelled by the teacher. Students will then know what supports are available, where they are kept, and how to use them to support their writing.

Here are some wonderful examples of how teachers have provided their students with easy access to the writing prompts included in The Writing Book.

Images showcasing:

Ideas from 2015

• Idea 1 - Gina Cave from Auckland Normal Intermediate shared her idea of creating a mini version of the Sentence opener ladder, the Editing pencils and the Punctuation ladder onto a D-ring. You could add resources as they are introduced to students.
• Idea 2 - Thanks to Pauline from Bombay Primary for sharing this writing menu, which the students use for proofreading and re-crafting. They have it beside them while writing.

Ideas from 2014

• Idea 3 - Leisa Neaton from Frenchville School laminated the Punctuation ladder, Sentence opener ladder and Editing pencil, and added a personalised student goal. In the example she has shared, the child's goal is: to add commas after time phrases.
• Idea 4 - In this example, the teacher had laminated copies of the Hook book, Punctuation ladder, Sentence starter menu and Adding detail poster velcroed onto a wall for students to access. 

Refer to The Writing Book to download the following:

• Punctuation ladder - CD2
• Sentence opener ladder - CD3
• Editing pencils - Emergent CD5, Early CD6, Fluent CD7
• Hook Book - CD8a and CD8b
• Sentence starter menu - CD9
• Adding detail poster - CD14 and PM23.