📖 Unit Overview
The Writer’s Toolkit is a four-week intermediate English unit designed to help students master high-leverage writing moves. Instead of delivering generic writing prompts, the unit breaks writing craft into explicit, teachable micro-skills—narrative detail, persuasive structure, informational clarity, and authorial voice—so students can apply them across inquiries.
The unit is intentionally structured for Years 7–8, but scaffolds and extension prompts allow quick adaptation for lower or upper secondary classrooms. Each lesson combines model texts, co-constructed exemplars, student practice, and reflection. Assessment is iterative: students revise a single portfolio piece each week, culminating in a publishable writing showcase.
🌟 Why it matters (2025 context): Intermediate students are expected to produce complex writing before they have the toolbox to do it. The Toolkit gives them direct instruction in craft moves aligned to Te Mātaiaho and NCEA literacy co-requisites. Techniques emphasise culturally sustaining practice, critical literacy, and voice—creating writers who can persuade, inform, and narrate with mana.
🎬 Video: Writing Craft Techniques
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Before watching
- Preview the purpose of craft moves in student writing.
- Pair students to identify writing techniques they already know.
During
- Pause to discuss specific craft moves as they appear.
- Note examples of show-don't-tell, hooks, and voice.
After
- Think-Pair-Share: Which craft move will you try in your next piece?
- Connect video examples to the handouts in this unit.
🗂️ Unit Structure (4 Modules)
Module 1: Narrative Craft
Focus: imagery, suspense, hooks.
- Model mentor texts: NZ short stories & student exemplars
- Mini-lessons: show vs tell, foreshadowing, compelling leads
- Portfolio task: revise a narrative excerpt using new techniques
Module 2: Persuasive Power
Focus: argumentation, rhetoric.
- Mini-lessons: PEEL/TEEL structures, ethos/pathos/logos
- Workshop: analysing real-world opinion pieces from Aotearoa
- Portfolio task: craft an editorial responding to local issue
Module 3: Inform & Explain
Focus: clarity, organisation, analogy.
- Mini-lessons: informational text structures & signal words
- Strategy: using analogy/metaphor to simplify complex ideas
- Portfolio task: write an explanatory article for a class magazine
Module 4: Voice, Precision & Revision
Focus: tone, diction, fluency, editing.
- Mini-lessons: tone shifts, vocabulary choices, sentence flow
- Revision protocols: peer feedback, glow/grow statements
- Portfolio task: final revise/publish using revision roadmap
📂 Handout Library
Each lesson pairs with a focused handout. Use them flexibly: as minilessons, literacy rotations, homework, or cross-curricular writing scaffolds.
📋 NZ Curriculum Alignment (Te Mātaiaho 2025)
Aligned to the refreshed English learning area with strong Literacy Across Learning connections.
English | Writing & Creating (Years 7–8)
- Compose texts for differing purposes using genre-specific structures and cohesive devices.
- Experiment with language features (imagery, figurative language, rhetorical devices) to shape meaning and tone.
- Plan, draft, revise, and publish writing using feedback, self-assessment, and goal setting.
Literacy Across Learning
- Analyse how writers position readers, then apply those techniques to student writing.
- Communicate inquiry findings clearly using informational and explanatory text structures.
Te Ao Māori & Cultural Responsiveness
- Encourage incorporation of te reo Māori kupu, whakataukī, and personal whakapapa links.
- Use culturally sustaining mentor texts to amplify diverse perspectives and voices.
📝 Assessment & Evidence of Learning
Portfolio Pathway
- Students maintain one anchor text, adding each new craft move weekly.
- Annotated drafts highlight technique use and reflect on impact.
- Rubric aligns to Te Mātaiaho writing progressions and literacy co-requisite indicators.
Checkpoint Tasks
- Mini quick-writes at the end of lessons demonstrate technique mastery.
- Peer conferencing protocols (glow/grow, two stars and a wish) build evaluative talk.
- Teacher exit tickets identify reteach focus groups or enrichment options.
Publishing Showcase
- Students publish via class anthology, podcast series, or digital blog.
- Self-reflection template links progress to learning outcomes and personal voice.
- Optional whānau celebration highlights learner voice and community connections.
🎯 Differentiation & Support
Acceleration: Provide extension prompts using high-level mentor texts (Spinoff, E-Tangata, Newsroom), invite bilingual outputs, and challenge students to integrate statistics or multi-perspective arguments.
Scaffolds & Support: Offer sentence stems, vocabulary banks, and graphic organisers; model using think-alouds and shared writing; conference in small groups for targeted feedback.