Writing portfolio

Here are some definitions, taken from the NCEA standard.  Your teacher will be able to explain these in more detail.  

Written pieces may include:

• descriptions

• narratives

• poems

• personal accounts

• scripts

• reports

• commentaries

• text reviews

• articles

• short fiction

• essays

Ideas may include:  thoughts, feelings, experiences or sensory qualities, facts, opinions, information, observations, and argument.

Crafted writing involves a systematic process of reworking and reshaping the writing, and selecting language deliberately to achieve a planned whole.

Controlled writing involves the deliberate use of language features to produce writing that is precise, planned, and coherent.

Using language features involves making choices about:

• vocabulary selection

• syntax

• stylistic features

• written text conventions (including spelling, punctuation, grammar).

THE OVERALL PROCESS

• Each writing piece will be planned, developed and completed during class time, and for homework.

• The first 200 words needs to be done in class to ensure authenticity and confirm your idea. 

• Your teacher will help you through the planning and development stages by providing feedback and guidance about each piece, although s/he cannot tell you specifically what to change or where to make corrections. 

• Your teacher will indicate a date by which you need to be ready for formal feedback. After that, your job will be to edit and proofread. 

• You can share your work with peers and receive general feedback but any changes must be done by you. 

Your final grade will be determined from your two best pieces.  You will be able to work further on these before the final submission date in 

term 4. 

NB To achieve with Excellence, two pieces must reach that standard. To achieve with Merit, two pieces must reach that standard. To Achieve, two pieces must reach that standard. You must meet both of the criteria at the grade to receive that grade overall.  If you have well-developed ideas at a Merit level, say, but your language use and proofreading is at an Achieved level, then your overall grade will be Achieved. 

WRITING FROM OTHER CLASSES

When you come to choose your final two pieces, if you aren't happy with the pieces you produced in English, there is the possibility for you to bring in writing from other classes.  For example you might take JRN223 and have produced an opinion piece for a different assessment in that class that could be suitable for the portfolio. You will need to check with your teacher if this piece will be suitable and adapt the writing to suit the English portfolio requirements.

NB Your teacher may need to check in with the teacher of your other class to make sure the piece is suitable. 

STEPS TO WRITING YOUR DRAFTS

STAGE ONE: PLANNING

Your teacher will give you some prompts to choose from. You can select one of these or if you have your own ideas you can pitch that to your teacher. 

Whatever you choose to write about, you've got a limited number of words to work with, so think about how you want your reader to feel and what you want them to think about. What mood are you going for? What do you want them to take from your piece? 

If you need to do some additional brainstorming to get started, focus on imagery and characterisation. Come up with:

          --a list of specific details related to each of the five senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell) and/or

          --a list of specific details related to each aspect of STEAL (says, thinks, effects on others, acts, looks).

          --ideas for what mood you want your piece to have or what aspects of personality you want to show with your characters

STAGE 2: DRAFTING

Begin writing (or adding to) your piece. Complete the first 200 words in class. Once your teacher has checked it, you can work at home, too. Once you’ve finished a first draft, you can begin the editing and revision process. You can share your draft with your teacher to get feedback. 

**Please follow your teacher's guidance around where to write your draft so they can access it easily. 

STAGE THREE: EDITING TO IMPROVE QUALITY

Consider STAR: What could I Substitute, Take out, Add in, Re-arrange?

Read through your piece and consider the following:

• Which parts are necessary to ‘get’ my idea, and which parts can be condensed or deleted?

• Have I shown what people or things are like rather than only told the reader?

• Which senses have I appealed to? Have I ended up relying mainly on visual imagery?

• How effectively does my imagery create the mood I want readers to experience in my piece?

• How effectively have I used figurative language (metaphor, simile, personification)? Do I have too much imagery or figurative language so that it loses its power and becomes a distraction?

• Have I used a variety of sentence lengths and structures to avoid monotone and keep readers engaged?

• Have I added complexity to my depiction of a person or place so that as my readers continue through my piece, they understand new layers or aspects of the person/place?

STAGE FOUR: PROOFREADING TO IMPROVE CORRECTNESS

Here is where you “zoom in” on your writing, carefully making sure it is accurate. Read over your printed story slowly with a pen in your hand, marking spots where you notice issues or have questions related to:

• Capital letters

• Punctuation (like comma splices, semi-colons, or colons)

• Dialogue formatting

• Verb tense consistency

• Paragraph formatting

• Sentence fragments and run-on sentences

STAGE FIVE: STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

In a box at the top of the final portfolio assessment Google Doc, explain what idea about a person/place you tried to show in your writing and what techniques you used to try to achieve that. What audience did you have in mind? 

Before handing in:

• Read your work out loud to hear any mistakes and to check that your writing communicates what you intend.

• Give your piece an original title.

• Ensure your font is readable.

Keen to see if your writing can get published? Talk to your teacher about submitting your piece to Re-Draft.

Each piece of writing needs a Statement of Purpose. This should tell the reader what influenced you to write the piece and how you have used language to engage and affect your reader.  While your piece should not rely on the SoP for understanding, articulating this purpose often helps you to refine and edit your writing 

Example 1:

I really liked the story, ‘Aunty Marlene’ by Ngahuia Te Awekotuku and how it shows the way adults can influence the people children become.  I decided to write about my grandmother and the impact she had on me.  I chose to describe how she behaved at a family Christmas so that the reader would understand how free and unconcerned for rules she was in comparison to my parents.  I used a lot of dialogue to show this as well as descriptions of her clothes and actions.  By putting myself in the story and writing from my point of view, I tried to give clues about how I felt about Grandma. 

Example 2:

I really like the way Simon Sweetman wrote reviews in On Song so I tried to imitate him in my review of Lorde’s album. I had three threads or ideas going and I switched between them.  I wrote about how the songs reflect her upbringing in Auckland, how the songs fit into the pop genre and how they compare with other artists.  I also wrote about how they sound and affect the listener.  I used a mixture of factual language, New Zealand English, allusions and poetic language. I tried to inform the reader and persuade them that Lorde is a great songwriter. 

If you would like a more structured way to write your SoP, you could use these prompt questions. Not all questions will be relevant with every piece.

• What is my piece about?

• Why is this significant or important?

• What author model(s) have I used and how?

• What do I want the audience to feel or think when/after reading my piece?

• What stylistic devices am I employing?