Genre & the Curriculum Cycle: Teacher strategies explained...

Vygotsky’s term “scaffolding” is useful to describe the ways in which students are taught how to learn within a “zone of proximal development”.  It is about understanding what students can do with a more capable peer (or teacher) before being able to achieve it independently. Think about how babies learn to walk and talk. They have more capable models of talkers and wakers around them and as they attempt to walk or talk, the more capable adult will guide and assist and feedback (e.g. hold their hands, re-state what they are trying to say, give instruction etc.) as they become more competent. This is an important concept for all teaching and learning.
(Lawson, 2011, week 10)

Think of a text type (genre) that would be taught in your subject/work area. You can use the following checklist as a guide:

• Literary narratives (novels, short stories, legends and yarns)
• Literary non-narratives (diary entries, poems, personal recounts)
• Expositions (persuasive essays or articles, analytical writing, writing for information and research)
• Reports (news, business, scientific, social, environmental)
• Procedures (manuals, projects, recipes, instructions)
• Transactions (flyers, posters, memos, letters, receipts)

(Lawson, 2011, Week 9)

The Curriculum Cycle helps students at all levels to learn through and about language using a balance of talking, listening and writing skills.  The 3 stages involved are:

1. Preparation: Building up the field (Shared writing strategies)
2. Joint construction of text (Guided writing strategies)
3. Independent construction of text (Independent writing strategies)

Important:  At each stage talking, listening and writing are interrelated.

• Preparation: Building up the field

Writers cannot simply sit down and write.  They need something to write about.  This is "building up the field".   A non-exhaustive list of teacher strategies to help students achieve this are listed below.  Lot's of talking and listening should be used in these processes.  Teacher should introduce a new genre as required to extend student learning as complexity increases while "building up the field (topic)". 

1. Field trips
2. Reading to students
3. Expert guest speaker
4. Video
5. Internet or library time for research
6. Group discussion
7. Brainstorming
8. Predicting outcomes
9. Referring to diagrams, pictorials and other visuals, texts, videos etc.
10. Observation of worldly activities / existence.
11. Gathering, selecting ,organising and recording information (directed or modeled by teacher)
12. Any activity that may "Spark creative thinking" for an individual

• Joint construction of text

1. Next stage is to engage students in group writing activities (scaffolding).  
2. Grouping:
• Whole Class
• Small Groups
• 1 to 1:  Teacher to Student (Concentrated assistance)
3. Talking & listening are integral part of this process as students discuss, select, organise and record (if required) information appropriate to the "genre / text type"selected.
4. Students may research topic, build up data banks for use in later composing or development of writing skills.
5. Teacher may guide students with appropriate language skills used to discuss, argue and negotiate.
6. Teacher will act as a guide and allow for every student to contribute and participate in the joint construction of the text. Students must be able to freely contribute or comment on the structure and content of the joint text.
7. Teacher may record the text to allow student and open mind to concentrate on the meanings they are creating.
8. Finally, revision and editing should be modeled here by the teacher so students understand how the text may be modified to make improvements and re able to engage the same principles when involved in their own writing.

• Independent construction of text 

This is the final stage that allows students to "have a go".  A process needs to be followed:

1. Motivation to write
2. Pre-writing or preparing
3. Drafting or translating onto paper
4. Revising or editing and publication

NOTE:  writing is not always linear as per these steps.  Some people may revise, edit as they are composing text in short bursts, pauses, restarts and so on.  This is quite normal.  

(Ljungdahl & March, 2010, pp. 437-439)

Lillian from David Allibon on Vimeo.


Karen from David Allibon on Vimeo.


Alistair from David Allibon on Vimeo.


Alison from David Allibon on Vimeo.



John Munro:
High Reliability Literacy Teaching Procedures : A means of fostering literacy learning across the curriculum (Munro, 2002)