120 LEARNING TO WRITE, READING TO LEARN

WRITE ITRIGHT/THE RIGHT TO

WRITE 121
smeboY woking Hghi UDointnaa.gun and. wlthout proocation pulina the trlgger
Some specific events
making up part of the sequence are also charged with
feeling (e.g. a burst of 16 (M-16 rifle) rifle fire below):
Then the captoln's RTO (mdio operator) put a burst of 16 (M-16 Afe) fire Into him. It was so bad,
Gruver said, hat one of the mon In his squad shot himself in the foot in order to be medvaced out
of the area so het he would not have lo nominal
participete in the sleughler. group
Where events being attiudinally charged, Ridenhour is more likely to
are not

express them verbally (e.g. ransferred and trying to ambush

some eveots are realised as nouns
below), although
(especially where commonly expressed as such
io military parlance; e.g. orders for a
transfer and to protect the infantry soldiers
from ambush below):
Flgure 3.10: Meaning mismatching wording (incongruent realisatlons)
tn late Apr, 1968 I was awating orders for a transfer trom HHC, Ith Brigede to Company E Once we move from more personal spoken recounts like Ridenhour's
51t In, (LRP). when happened to run Into Pfc 'Butch' Grver, whom had known In
to dis-
I torical recounts like 3.27] above,
Hewail Gruver told me he had been assigned to 'C' Company 1st of the 20th until April 1st when
incongruent wording
becomes far more
common, although it is seldom artitudinally
he uanstened to the unit that I was headed for. charged. This is because incon-
Gruver okd he had been
gruence is useful for generalising across events and helping to package them up
me 35slgned to 'C' Company 1st of the 20th untll April 1st when he
in phases of time (shown in bold here).
went out to ty around in this vilage and to protect the infantry solders from an ambush. They got
on ne, teray they mede a line long enough for all the men in two Infantry companiles to stretch
(3.271 Historlcal recount
oat n one long ine and then they started walking through the villege. Our job was to fty over the

vilage and te ty behind the village to see f anybody was either trvina to ambush them or to fee.
Using umen wave atacks the Viet-Minh overnhelimed Dien Nan Pu on 7 May. 1954 Wn
he talil of Dlen Blen Phu, French power in Vietnam collapsed
Ridenbour's texts are autobiographical recounts and so the generally con- In August 1945 the Frencn colony of IndoCina (Vietnam, Lacs and Cambodia, now caled
gruent relation between meaning and wording is appropriate, especially taking
Kampuchea) was occupied by Brush and Nauonaist Cinese troops after the surrender of the
ito account that one of his recounts was spoken (his Tulane University address).
Japanese who had sezed il in
1941. n Octobar 145 tne French ratumed delemined to
The compietnentary congruent and 'incongruent' wordings we are exploring here e
esiablish helr contro, espedaly in Vietnam. French lorces easily re-occupied he southem
are outlined in Tabie 3.2. parion of Vieinam, but were faced in the north witt a new communist regime hich had bewen
estabisned in tner aosencs by the communst leader Ho Chi Minh. During the war Ho nad ed the
Tabie 3.2: Meaning matching and mismatching wording
resistance to he Japanese accupation af Vieinam, and ater the war ted a communist-dominated
organsauon which represented Vetnamese natonaist aspirstors Ho's organisauon was known
congruert wordirg ncongruent warding_ as the viel-Minh. The French were detemined to reiske northen Vetnam ard in 1948 began
atize noun) tun
miltary cperaüong agairsi the viet-Minn, hus trigyering he (rst Indo-Chuna War.
iciause) e varslenod to ve unt (norminal group) s rensfer rom
HHC 11h Brigade ta
The nominal expressions human wave atacks, the full of Dien Bien Phu, the
coea corplexj scmetody wakny ngnt up noun) muter
surrender of the Japanese. ther adsence, the resistance to the Japanese
prting s gun and, witod proracavon
occupation and Viemumese nanionalisi aspirations all function in this way in
palng Vre gyer
[3.271 A tremendous armount of miitary activity was going on. concisely
enc apsulated in these wordings.
These incongrueat reletions between neanings und wordings sre mapped onto
he mdel of ianguage strata as Figure 3.10
122 LEARNING TO WRITE, READING TO LEARN WAITE IT RIGHTTHE RIGHT TO WAITE 123

3.6.3 Cause In the clause generolly folt confdert in their ability to mould events throiugh the Mercise of helr ingenuiy,
energy and vost oconomic rmaources. Vietram proved to be a problem thal dhoy couidn'1 marage.
Comparable encapsulation
of events is also critical in historical accounts and
In these genres the pressure is on not just to package up events as
The Vintnam conflict gave rMse to soclal dlvision and distrust od govemment in the US. It
explanations. onded tho polltical career of Presldent Lyndon Johnson and hs dreams of major soclal rafom. h
phases of time, but to organise them into appropriate causes and effects as well also produced, In the case of Richard Nxon's presldency, siege montality that cortrbuted
Formulating causes and effects may involve more than one incongruent wording.
directly to the intamous Watergato Scandal (1973-74) ønd he resignatlan, in disgyace, d Nixon.
which can result in relatively complicated nominal expressions (compared with
Because o the Vietnam Wor, ns part of the wider conflct n Indochina, a generaion of Amertcans
the simpler nominal groups we find in everyday spoken language). Examples
idantinod with onti-conscrnpuon and antu-wor protest movaments. Many af the sncial and politcal
from text [3.29] are in bold below, with the noninalised events underlined.
eflects evident in the US woro also present in Austaía.

(3.29] Historical account

The pattern of figures realised by nominal groups, with their causal relatíon
realised by verbal groups is diagrammed in Figure 3.l1.
Ameicat response to dvelkpment in Vletnam was dramalcally Infuenced by two events:
in 1949, China fell to the communists. This intensifled the foors of a global communlstgxpanslon.
and led to gitcam of the Democrat Presidet Tnuman trom membere of the rtvol Ropublcan Porty
In he US. Republicans blarned Trumen for 'losing China'
Onnecgon
In 1950, President Truman aaw the sAutbreas of the Korean War as a dellberete chellenge to
warld peace and his polley of ontainment. The gontaloment polcy had been put in place In March
Ngure verbat
1947 as the Truman Doctrine, with the lntendlo0 of hating the globel spreed of communism by groupnominal
nomjnal BroUp
supporing ant-communist regimes. At the same ume that Truman committed US forces to Korea,
he ordered o major military asststena package for the French In Indochina. Americsn ald was 8roup

administerad by the Milltary Assistance and Advisory Group lIndochina (MAAGI). Ald to the French
and me torces of SOV in the fom of weapons and equipment amounted to between $2.6 and $3
bHion (Dennett and Dixon 2003: 435).

More spoken variations on some of these would include they feared that the
communists would expand around the world, the Korean War broke out, Figure 3.11: Cause reallsed as a verbal group
America tried to contain communism. More significantly, because causes and
effects are now realised inside clauses as nominal groups, the causal relations Table 3.3: Cause in the clause in consequentlal explanation [3.30)
connecting them have to be specified inside clauses as well. In our discussion of
science explanations [3.24) and historical accounts (3.28] above we noted the cause causal connecdonehecd
Veriety of ways in which cause was expressed (using conjunctions, verbs, pre the cost and trauma of produced (verdal) a 'crisis of considence' in the USA

poStions, nouns, adverbs and adjectives). When cause is expressed inside the the vieinam War
gave ise to social division and distrust of govemment in
ceuse, the main incongruent wordings involve nominal groups, prepositional the Vianam confict

phrases and especially verbal groups. Text [3.30) above, a

consequential expla- (verbal) the US
It (the Vieunam produced (verbal) a siege mertaily
ation, has ezamples of cach of tbese.
confict)
that (a siege cortrbuted to the infamous Walergale Scandal (1973-
3.301 Consequential explanation
mentality) (verbai) 74) and the resignatan, indsgrace,olNzon
a generaton ot Americans iderined with
VMetnam war because af
Te V e v n war, vfih lo Uhe main topic of this dhaplor, also had a major mpacd on Uho (prepositcnal) ant-conscripion and anu-war protest
ween certary natonal history of te USA arnd was one of he definirng events of Uve Cold War. movemens
Proler Cavid Kennedy of Stanlord Univerpity has
argued that the cosl ond trauma of uhe
Vieran Y produced a 'cneis of cunhidercs in the USA Unui tha
Visnom War, Amerncons had
124 LEARNING TO WRITE, READING TO LEARN WRITE IT RIGHTITHE RIGHT TO WRITE 125

t e evenise t hek ingenuty, aneryy hrough thor ability to mould avents Firstly, secondly, fnally are not, to be sure, specifying the sequence in which the
(pypomitoMial) research activities prescribed should be put into practice 5iDce they are ail
the Vietarn wer amaor Impact on tin wentloth century relevant, all the time. Rather their function is to organise the arguments. This
(nominal) national hilotory of the USA text-organising function is known as internal conjunction.

By realising causal connections inside the clause, historians are able to fine rune 3.6.4 Building technicality in science
the effect of one event upon another. In [3.30), for example, a contrast is set up
Cause in the olause is also an important resource in scientific explanations for
between events which had a major impact on otbers with those that simply
conributed and the verbal groups procuced and gnve rise to fill in the middle packaging information as cause and effect. In science, however, it is not used to
ground as tar as causai immpact is concerned anywhere near the sane extent to fine tune causality- since scientific reasoniog
depends on simple cause/e ffect relations, not contextually sensitive interpre
tations of just how one thing affects another. The lightning explanation [3.25]
contruted d - o e ise to inrough - prodced Decause of- a major impac-
above consistently reasons inside the clause to outline one hypothesis about bow
of events to do
force of causallty
lightning is formed, and depends on multiple nominal realisations
so. These nominalisations are in bold below and causal connections underined

Amother advantage of realising cause/effect relations between historical events

3.25] LIghtning explanation
inside the clause is thar it makes between clauses to organise texts which
room

are o t chronologically organised. This is managed through bullet points

in the by as-yel uncertain
According to the electrostodc Induction nypothesis chargos are úriven a9an
factorial expianation [3.29] above. processes. Chargo eparndon aggeIrs lg reguire stong updrais
which camy water droplets

to beween -10 and -20 C. These coflide with ice crystals to fomm a
upward, supercooling them
3.29") Pactorial exptanation soft lce-water mixture called graupel. The collislons Ceaul In a alght posiBve charge baing
to the graupel. Updrats dv he less
trarslored to ice crystals. and a saghe negetve chege
developmonts in Vietnan was dromatically Influenced by two events:
increasing posiive charga.
Ameras's response lce crystals upwards, SAUSÍOg he cloud tcp to accumulate
to
heavy
1949. Cuna l o te coTTANsts to fall toward the middle and icwer portons
Gravity cauaeg the heavier negeively charged graupel
1950. Presider Truman saw ho outbroak of the Korean War as a deliberate chollenge to increasing negatve charge. Charge seperadon
and accumulodon
of the cloud, uildina M2 an

word peace and his palicy od containment- conünue unul the electial potentdal becomos suficient to iniliate a ghtning dischsrga, which
foms sufticiently $vong eloctnc
octurs when he dsuributton of posmve and negetve chargos a

with conjunctions in a more

Contnbutung (actors could be further scaffolded field.
The canonical exposition
fuly developed essay (eg. first of all, in addition). [3.25]
scaffolds its argument structure with oconjunctions Table 3.4: Cause In the clause in sclence explanation
331) above exphcitly
flagging the sequence of their presentution. affect
causa

orinecn
(3.31 xposition
ayeuncertain proc9Sses ae dinren cha
o charge sopargbon
carry woler
on some incidert or p0rson in histoy strony upd.ats whch
Yre s n i d vey arsd Btout pasirg judgemenis droplets upward, supercooiy them equre
a sefting end et e ume much diterent froun
Firsy, Uu e v e r a rder d rotatiy o k place n
belveen.10 sud -20 C
a slghi posiüve cnarge beng
the cciharO resulin
a&out he transfemed w ce cryatais, snda
Secordy. aend myte su v nove c e n s o as mu) infstion es
POs ible
SHgt negave chorye lo Me gupeL
the heavtor negaüvely charçed
ry to kal taws/d he maddle and
raupot
ower porliong af the cloud
126 EARNING TO WRITE READING TO LEARN
WRITE IT RIGHTITHE RIGHT TO RITE 127

e hezver nepatvely hæged

p e l o al iowerd t e midse
8d lower porions of thee doud
arge separshon and
ecca potentia
e dsrdson of positve and
eyave ergas oms a
eectic ed
buldng up an increasing negatve charge.
insutator. For example, we migh insert some boron atome nto a ump of - othermsa vey pure
sicon. It is corvertional to cal the main matertal he buk ard the smai number of oraign aoms
the dopan
becomes e ghtring discharge
sundert tod
The result of this kind of doping is then outlined by way of defining n-type
suiciernly"which (a ightring discharge) occurs extrinsic semi-conductors, the anaphoric phrase in this wy gathers up the
suong neanings being distilled as 'o-type' semi-conductors:

The effec d doping is to provide he bulk matertal with a popuistion free edectrors wtch heve
Most of the incongruent wordings in
[3.25] involve technical terms such as been borrowed from o r donzrodtye doper. Senicodicors marufacturead n tis my are

elect-asaric inauction and pasirive charge, precisely because definitions regu- calfed ype because the free charge cariers w have ceaied are negatre (electrans) and here
larly depend on such wording to distil the right package of meaning as an are o coTesponding holes in he valence band.

unComonsense thmg. To explore this let us returm to classification of Lesurf s Note the cause-in-the-clause noun efect used here. An alternative process, which
substances, introduced in Text [3.9] and Figure 3.3 above. Lesurf
conducting
subclassiñes extrinsic semi-conductors as follows: adds a dopant which freely accepts electrons ratber than donating them, estab-
lisbes the 'P-type' sxtrinsic insulators. The resulting uncommonsense
Tee SE NO mem ypes or semicondUcIor matenals: cation of conducting substances is outlined in Figure 3.12.
classif
rtn ahere e semicondctng propertes materral
of De occur naturaly ie hey are

Trns e
maenes neture conductors
extrinsic e seniconducing propertes f the meternsl are manufactured. by us, o make the
meee bereve in he manner wuch we require. intrir.sic
semi-conductors
YP
And e then noies the two most comnon ways of extrinsic
manufacturing the semi-
conducng properues of ext1nsic semi-conductors. insulators
-Ype

Ssera e e n semicondcing materiats exist, but tne most common semiconductor material is
Figure 3.12: Further classifcation of conducting substances
Sicor a t e wo mes comman mehods of moditying the eiectronic properties are
Cong ne eodiam ol toreign 'atoms to the matenal.
As we can see, building an uncommonsense classification of this kind, and
Jrcn efecs ne things ttar heppen when
we pun diffening matenisls togetier thereby establishing its technical terms, takes a ot of explaining. And we have
only touched on Lesurf s reader-triendly account here. The point we are empha-
Notice bere thet the definition of
doping is the incongruent norninal group the Sising through this scientific domain is that if it were not for incongruent word-
addision of
foreign
atoms to the material, and that the technical term for the
ings, then technical terms, their definitions, the eriteria by which they are
second method is tself tbe
incongruent normnal group junction efects. Lesurf defined, resulting class ifications and decompositions and attendant theoretical
then redefires dop:ng with another
incongruent nominal group (the process by relations could not bave been established (Halliday and Martin 1993, Martin and
huch. and
subsequentiy 'unpacks" the defining process (establishing wo Veel 1998, Halliday 2004). Simlarly, without incongnuent wordings, phases of
furter technicai terms, bulk and
dopant as he goes) Vietnam war bistory, the -isms involved, the ways that events a tfect one another,
the ways outcomes are valued, and arguments about how to interpret the past
Dopm s te prsrs y wtid)
angresrt change an
irs Jiating materal into a
semiconducior. Tha could not have been formulated (Coffin 2006, Martin and Wodak 2003,
Da ASI r e a
s'pseuon ofs loreign elemet into trie cyslal lattice of te Schleppegrell2004) Scientific and historical understandings. ke all
uncommonsense ones, are built up through incongruent language; and learming to
Ct aileTamr ardigwhco maies read and write language of this kind is thus the most important task faced by
e ceusaluty uore TuLs paren! when ihe dismibtion of
posit und negotiv churges farms un
eloco e feld sr ong emuugh to rsusr o ihining students in secondary school.
ischrg
 TETKHTTHE AYT PO R E 12

is te engage readess, so a stories is ou the

foKus of teaching
Purpoee ef stories
MaRino the genres of schooling langte that authoN Lse to engage Eaders. A purose of factual texts
cnmoa

is to inrm maders, so a teachung ficus Is ou

the nforuation they present The
Tee * Rede ppint marpni the majr gonres tbat shakeuts inei o control
comnon apose of ovahating texts is to
evahuate either texts, in the case of text
s S n tde sxndary s c h Figure 3 I ses out the mest corenn ones
the case af argunents So a teaching
esponses, or issues and pauns of
view, n
s a a a a y oganst dy theu scial puges auni dy watrasts in thear to evaluate
ocus with these genres is on the evaluathvc language that writers use
anurs 1e Runtn ot this unap is te provide teachers with an overview of the
AInd persuate.
s s thy oend a preere tei sntents fr

Engaging: stories
N There are tive man opes of stones: a recount simply recounts a series of evants.
but in a oarrative the central eharacters reselve a complicatioeu; auecdotes share
elings about a complicating event that s not esolved, while an exemplum
stories
judses paople's character or betaviour. U'nlikr the other story types, news

(in western broadsheet newspapers, especially Eaglish oaes) are aot sequenced in
s time, but first engago the rrader with a newsworthy ovent and then eport
ass horikel a
difterent angles on it

Informing: chronicdes, expianatons, reports, procedures

atpie e a tun ae aus oaseqvental The set of genres that we bave grouped as 'chronicles ' inchudes uutobiographical

recounts, in which the wnrer recounts the major events in his or her lif; bio-
graphical rerounts tel the stages in persoa's lufe: historical recounts and
accounts cover the stages in a pernod of history; stages are connected terrporally
in recounts but causally in accounis. Explanations are concerued with causes and
etfects sequenial expianations explain a sequence of events; conditional expla-
nations present alternative causes producing different effocs (if then
nt esoss ( aa a teat eral väual musica) view

nerre the
meseda haprecaöon
factorial explanations explain multüple causes for oae effect; consaquential espla
nations explain muitiple effects of one cause. Procedura texts inclade procedures
Racvasy o mrewns o iew -russion
for coing experments and observauons, uSing erknology. or making thngs, as
well as algorithms or operations in maths, prvtecols tell what not to do, such as
Figure 3.13: Nap of genras in school ules and waruings. procedural recounts outhine the steps that have been doae ina
procadure, such as experiment reperts and observation repots Reports classiry
Figure 3.ia can be sed to introduce teachers to systermatic principles for and descride things. a deseriptive report classisies and descnbes oae kind of
selectang and analysing iexts in their curriclum prvgrams, starting with the thing a ciassirý ung report classities ditferent ypes of things a compositio0al
social purpo6es of gerres, their stages and phases. The names for each genre
soRute tbe first level of metalanguage tdey can use to teach reading and writing
con eport describes parts ot wholes.

The TAOOny is sumbarised for teacbers as follows, in tems that conaect with Evaluating: arguments and text responsS
tber own koowledge of heur curricula in oter woerds, teachers are already Text responses evauate texs (verdal, visual, musieal: personal responses
fmsar wih hese geares, tut witheul eapleitly narmrng them Naming and capress fecings atuut a tert, oten with a retelling of the story; eviews descnbe
organising hem in this taxouomy brogs that intuuve knowledge of genres to
the text and make a judgenent about it; aterpretattcns interpret the mesage that
coscioustess a first
xnd oocessary step in beng able to teach them explicitBy. a text symbohses. Argument genrrs evzhate s u s ad ponts of view: cxpo-
The first choice the genre mep is between texts whose central
s
purpose is to sitteas argue for a point of view. but discussions debate nwo or ttore points of
engrge, aforn or raluate Any text bas multipie purposes, it is its
primar view about aa issue.
purpooe that sbapes 1ts staging. ard the tanly of geures it belongs to. A common
The sevond evel of aretalanguage is the names for stages that euch genre goes
130 LEAANING TO WRITE, READING TO LEARN WRITE IT RIGHT/THE RIGHT TO WRITE 131

through to achieve its social purpose. These are set out in Table 3.5. As we explore these genres in this book (and in Martin and Rose 2008), we
usually go a step further than their stages, to name and discuss the phases they go
Table 3.S: Genres and stages
through within each stnge. Where stages are obligatory steps that each instance of
the genre nypically goes through, phases are often more variable (as we noted in
purpose Smges Chapter 3). For example, stories of all types are created from pbases such as
recount Orientatlon
recounting events
Record of events settings, problems, characters' reactions to problems, solutions and descriptions.
Orienteuon How these are arranged depends very much on the ingenuity of the autho.
nameove resoving a complication In a story Compllcatlon
Resoluton discussed in Chapter 4 below. On the other hand, phases in some factual genres
Orentaton are more predictable, such as the type pbases that distinguish classifying
arempum
Judging character or behaviour in a
Incddent
reports
story [3.9-12) above, and the part phases that distinguish compositional reports (3.13].
Interpretaton
Orientaton A third perspective to round off the discussion of genres and knowledge in the
anecdote shanng an emotional reacton in a story Romarkable event
school curiculum is the topology of genres and their purposes in Figure 3.14
Reaction
uoblographical
receunting ife events Orientaton below.
count
Record of stages
bkographlcel recout recounting life stages Orientatlon nformin
Record of stages
hdstoricai recount recounting histoncal events Backoround
Record of stages
istonca 2ccout explaining histoncal events Background Cassiing descnbin Recountin
ACcount of stages explalning enabiling: xplaining. antestng
sequedal plinabon explaining a sequence Phenomenon ports, epanatios, Hlstorical recounts
Explanation procedures accounts, explanadons
Condiona Phenomenon
altemative causes and effects
explaneton naturalisin contestng
Explanadon
tectordel epleration explaining mutiple causes Phenomenon: outcome Evahuating persuadin
nE imagining.
cCansequenial
Eplanaluon: factors eCing. Judging: ountering ciquing
Phenomenon: cause
epianaDon
explaning multiple effects Stories ArgumentS&er
EXplanaban: consq. responses
how to do expeniments and Purpose
procedure Equipment
oDservations
Steps
recountng experíments and Purpose engaging
procedura recount Method
observabons
Results
dassitying and describing a Classincaton
descrpave repor
phenomenon Figure 3.14: Genres and types of knowledge In the school curriculum
Desciptuon
cassifying and describing types of
dassityng repon Classification
pthenomena Descnpuonz Dypes In contrast to the typological organisation of
postona report describing parts of wholes Classiicaion Figure 3.13 (categorising as
Descripuon: parts eithet/or), this topology organises genres in terms of their tendencies along rwo
Thesis
eposion argng 1or a point of view axes the extent to which their primary purpose is to provide information about
Arguments
a field or to
Reiteration engage readers' feelings and judgements and to and present things
Issue events as nanural, or to contest viewpoints about them. The social purposes of the
dcussing wo or more points of vie Sides
genres in the top left, top nght and bottom right quadrants have been discussed in
Resoluuon
evaiualn9 8 liter ary. vsual or musical Context this chapter, stories and text responses will be explored further in
Description of text Chapter 4.
However, these categorisations are only tendencies. For example, the texts in
Judgemet
Evaluaton the top left tend to present scientific or technological information as fact, more
riteorpretedc rterreang he re53399 of a taxt
Syropsis of text
natural than contestable, so that contested scientific hypotheses oñen stand out as
Reaffimalion newsworthy. Ou tbe other hand, we cxpect the historical texts in the top nght to
eaporse Oelergrg he massage of a text Evalualon
Deconsuuction take a position in relation to other views, more or less explicitly. If history is
Challen9
 READING TO LEARN
LENRNING TO WRITE.
132

as either
dull or one-sided.
as fact it may be regarded other voices, but
in deft
presented werely definition contesting
text critiques are by uncontestable. And
Anguments and that they appear
so nsturally
conclusions can fow
bands their inlo the events so
seamlessly that the
Reading to Learn
'

stones can w e a v e
their writers judgements
st all.
realises they are moralising their
reader scarcely two axes, towards
text can be positioned
along these bave
Ay particular for analysing texts, that we
One of the principles
centres or their margins. to look at each
that teachers need
and model here, is
endeavoured to emphasise combined with their
we present here,
the guidelines
Ext with epen cyes, using
dose of c o m m o n s e n s e .
cumiculud subject and a healthy
knowledge of the so, for example,
stones
has multiple purposes
eariier that any genre and science
Wesaid inform readers, as well as engage them, known as Reading to
and arguments can certainly inforrn them. Of coursc, outlines the third generation
of genre pedagogy.
to engage their
readers, as well as This chapter
in indigenous
Australa,
educauon In
and history need who are not sufficiently
literate with t s starting point
students Leam. The chapter begins interactions and h e
s c r e n c e and history
texts will not engage of c a s s r o o m
components: the design
that publishers and education departments and then o u l i n e s
wo key
path three sets of genres: stories,
r e a d then. An unfortunate and make curiculum tor reading
next oudines strategies
r e a c t o n to this growing
problem is to try model of reading. It
for prepanng for readng.
have taken in so they look Each section inciudes strategies
more
shudents and less informative factual texts and arguments. new Iexts.
tens more engag+ng
for these learnt rom readtrig to write
Our position is directly opposite: every and for using what has been

less like textbooks. for reading in detail, the cumkcuium in the

like magaznes and cumiculum texts at the
s a n e level and wriing with learming
confidently with The focus is on integrating reading
student has e nght to engege teachers
or another school. For this to happen. primary and secondary schoo
in their owm
asthe top students set of texts. It is to
dot a dumbed down
needsbetter set of teaching strategies,
that we turn in the next cbapter.
these strategies for tesching reading

to Learn
4.1 From learning to write to Reading

chapter extends genre pedagogy s

outiined in this
The Readng to Learm program and wnung
principle of embedded literacy, ihe tenching of readrg
to integrate
To thes end it is grourded
across the curriculum at
all leveis of schoot and beyond.
2 and 3.
described in Chapters
1D the research in language and wnhng pcdagogy
and also incorporates strategies
for teaching reading. i n an integrafed approach
that has bcen designed and refined through extensive.classroom apphcation and
Rose
2005, 2007, 2008a, 20113, b,
teacber prutessional iearning programs(Rose
and Acevedo 2006, Koop md Rose
2008)
cducation prograu1s across
in mainstreamn
Although i is now unplenenied
tnitially desagneto mmcet the
Learn was
A s traia and untemationaliy, Readimg io
ot latrgenous chool
shdents them remote conmunites in centra
nsSda this
tor many years His mentors in
whom David bad workod
Aatrala, with
and Charie llyatjan, who
ran
wok were the Pitjntjatjars eiders, Nganyinta
at nsk u the Fgantyaljara
culturai asi educatron pgrama for young people
whom ihua book tä dedrcated) bod
been the tirst
o n u U e S . Ngaayin, tya (to

tbe segda iu the 1950s By the

190s, she und
Asaistant i
ndigenis tchins
134 LEARNING TO WRITE, READING TO LEARN
READING TO LEARN 135

other community leaders and parents were deeply concerned that their children 4.1] Cralg's Initlal writing sample
were inishing
primary school with little or no literacy in English, and no
possibility of completing secondary or furtbeT education (Tjungutu Uwankaraku Gaeonas
1985, Jabangardi Poulison 1988, Lester 1993, Martin 1990a, Rose 1992).

oannos_O Sah OaumakLAsLlL

iniolotedplac andy att 4phl-
- -
100048 rdtlay J
oanns joaK asSame a Aro
.

a
Zhen.ComDu.llog+.is
LIallou -braiwn-und-AY.catinse
dac eol-

Goenna basd.ObeutS'n91-
Abarigunals hun grann91 lar facd srg
Hfatiasids
Medicina
H --oannoAruladt2

A Figure 4.1: Nganyinytja speaking on educatlon in 1993

Craig was a Year 10 student with Pitjantjatjara as bis first language and the
dialect known as Aboriginal English as his second. He had attended the
primary
school in his community until Year 7,
exposed to the usual mix of whole lan-
To address this need, David initiated the guage, process writing, phonics and sight word drills known as a "balanced
project Scafolding Reading and approach in Australian primary schools. He had then attended an urban secon-
Writing for indigenous Children in School, in collaboration with Brian
Gray and
Weady Cowey of the Schools and Community Centre, Canberra
dary school with intensive ESL support and utoring for three years. This texi
University was written following lessons on the
topic (reptiles) and joint construction of the
(Rose, Gray and Cowey 1999) In the early 1980s, Gray had developed success-
ful strategies for teaching report genre. Its standard was typical, not only for Craig but for all the Indi-
Indigenous children to read, using texts their teachers genous students in his secondary school program, and for many others all over
bad wnien together with them
(Gray 1986, 1987, 1990). Ar the Schools and Australia. His teacher, Wayne Wearme-Jarvis, then used the
Community Centre, Gray, Cowey and colleagues had developed a program for techniques of
Detailed Reading and Rewriting (described below in this
eecting children who were failing to read in upper primary years (Axford, chapter) in a esson
Harder and Wise 2009). sequence beginning with a primary school text about goennas, then with a
The-scaffolding reading program emphasised building8 secondary school text on the same topic, then set a research task for the students
uEdeTstndingof a text before starting to read it, and carefully planning.teacher to write their own
report on an animal of their choosing. Craig independently
eamer inieractions to provide maximumsupport researched and wrote the report on Komodo
ln the first phese of this
project, David worked with teachers of Pitjantjatjara dragonsshown in Text (4.2].
two
months after the goannas Text !4.1]
secondery school students to synthesise the genre writing pedagogy and Write it Text [4.2] is a first draft, in which Craig stull bas issues with
Paght research with these reading strategies, producing English grammar
the gtart of the project's first
encouraging results. At but few problems with understanding and
explaining tbe field be has researcbed.
year, aimost ati these secondary shudents, even up to This report went on for another page after this one,
Year 0, were
reading at
junior pimary levels despite continual intensiVe one- providing more detail about a
0t-one suppor in ciasses and topic which he clearly found fascinating. Afer a few more months of teaching
bornework from tutors and ESL
ed of toe
specialists. By the Craig was consistently researching and writing well-organised texts in standard
proyect's first year, all students were reading at age-appropriate levels English, such the first draft of a report on butterflies in Text [4.3].
(MCRae et ai. 2000, Cray, Rose and Cowey
1998). One such student was Craig.
wboe report on Goanas we met in
Chapter 2, reproduced here as (4.1)
 PEADNVG ToLEAAN 7
136LEANING TO WITE READNG TO LEARN

chemical Tom he sronai drops n d e ped

cplleced by he tengus ten e
ater 2 months en dormaton s) sent e rain. The Komoto Drzgon ten attes te y
T2) a i s ritng
he dragon bas t e rey e n t e s in a eret ey
and e s kil he prey
h e dragon ges ts prey i s s fat
whichs) poisoned by he tagon bite
yecs
e n t swaios s E y T dragor Fa2ilws
and shakes razy ard
nick gots d spt -
he
*e fed len.
Knde v i s bie hearhe en a morths
S tui
4.31 Craig's writing after

Aemd Degon Ha
i n dra W
KemeieD29e .ombus h a N

Lnstaonrghsis

keste
Caaprd on Lspa nitct2a ibeAaes-
miccaoy Nin_Suiamiitiaiaaiacaa-

Kenna drgen Aet

ui D LabiS_Shapa Loess Like Sghcar

- a

thas e sliong body aiso it tah

Konogo Dregon which
álaieecasALLAkAutskthin
izarda woud be Ge as
yes í
can grow to ten feet
t a KOO Drgn bas s t s all s Dody und
can see their nostrils
The Yomo Oragar nes very visible hesttoi arnd you
k
thai e saTe Iorgue ike he goanne
ecK r su, 1A K n O ugon
The Konado Dragon has loeth, less
kisir te oazue i h like 8 sheke

d iher lfe cyce. me butferlies a d cator

A twe go nrough kur siyea
Bidteries y scound wheas he
and y oOR J i e r e t
kar dhtyrurt thng
«nerns Mhe Duttedties
on e gruurt Catepulars have eys
Cui pivars rawt 8u
ttttas y e n levos. Cihers T
vot a
i wga a 3 uhid
8 LEARNNG TO WAINE, SEACING TOLEARN
n a and mae btheies ate. The male tetise the epgs with his
e Te spem entes the ay dy a tny hole caled a mirophyte Now the female
W 3 sN N y her eps. Then she ays the aggs under the leaves
snay n 2a, sUnshne ano sonve Praiatvs. The eNnate ay more than 100
o a n ethened.
A ea y s he t e R 9IwS d way ut o the aN and eats he shell bcause
sl Nens then t eas kaves where t was kayed by the butterty. The
r e n t n a e for the ceapaas s va whh is the eing stage of the ife cycle
eat me cser h s a ste v dange v a upa. The caterpiur makes a
s ä r a m n dy soirvning sii arournt s daty
Tde suess of snaients like Craig attractad natdonal attention and led to many
muests fir David to work with school programs across the country. In the
icaie snce. many thousanis of Australisn schol students have benetited from
he teacher prufessional learning program which became known as Reading to
Lesm ior RL, Working with teachers and teacher educators at all levels of
sbaol and furtber otucation, acrass all subjet areas, has shaped the method-
oloy e broad and îievidle enough to work in any pedagogic situation.
independent evalustions oonsistentiy show that R2L accelerates the literacy of all
students from all backgrvunis and sges, at an average of double expected leam-
ing rates, and up to four times expected rates for the shudents who started with
the wrakest skills. Tbe most consistent results are with whole classes (Culican
2006. Rose 201le, Rose et si. 200S).
Key oducatioa programs thst have contributed to developing the R2L program
and prefesstcnal ieaming program have included the Catholic Education Office
Melbune, led by Claire Acevedo and Sarah Culican (Culican 2006, Rose and
Aceedo 2006) and the Western Region of the NSW Department of Education,
led by Lyndall Hiarison end Cheryll Koop (Koop and Rose 2008), along with
many otber educaton progra:ns across Australia. Internationally, R2L has taken
oo in Soth Ainca, led by Mike Hart of the University of KwaZulu Natal, in
Afghanistan, Kenya and Uganda, initiated by Fran Tolhurst with the Aga Khan
Foundatios, and in Scandinavia, led by Ann-Christin Lovstëdt of Sweden's
Muiningual Research Insnitute (Acevedo 2010). At an academic level it has been
Lpiemented with international, Indigenous and mainstream students at uni-
veTsities around Australia (Rose, Chivizhe, McKnight and Smith 2004, Rose et
al 2008), and in South Afnca, China, Indonesia and Latin America. It has also
been the subject of PhD research in South Africa, Australia and China (Cheu
2010, Childs 2008, Culican 2007, Liu 2010).
READING rOLEARN 139
4.2 A functlonal perspective on reading
The ehapter is organised as follows. To begin with, the tnsk of leaming reading is
addressed from two perspectives: the problem of teaching reading in the
classroom, and the nanure of the reading task itself. This sets the context for
describing the Reading to Learn methodology, which involves a set of stratogies
for reading and writing that can be applied in various teaching contexts. The
strategies vary across the genres outlined in Chapters 2 and 3; strntegies are
described for working with stories ($4.3), factual texts ($4.4) and argunents
(3-4.5). Each of these sections bogins with stratogies for working with texts at
prinmary or junior secondary level, and then extended with strategies for more
challenging texts. More intensive strategies for tenching foundation literacy skills
are outlined in §4.6, and strategies for teaching beginning literacy in the first
years of school are described in §4.7.
2Designingrclassroom interactions
One of the issues that became apparent carly in the Scafolding Reading ond
H'riting project, and later in all manner of school contexts, was that the problems
with reading experienced by Indigenous students are also experienced by a
signiticant proportion of students from all backgrounds. Not only are these
students unable to read at the levels they need in order to ongnge in the school
curriculum, but they are also less likely to eugnge actively in elassroom learning
As mentioned in Chapter I, the teachers we work with report that only a minority
of their students consistently respond to their classroom questions with answers
that the teacher can afinn; most respond rarely and less successfully, wlhile
others barely participate. Fron classroom studies, Nuthall (2005: 919) reports
that:
teachers are very largely cut oft trom intormation about what individual
students are learning Because of the numbers of students that teachers
have to manage simultaneously, and because of the individuality of
student learning, teachers nust rely on routines and rituals that we believe
are good tor students. Typically, a few students contribute the majority
of the ideas, a few nore students contribute one or two ideas, and mmost
students are silent.
socioeconomic contextot
Moreover, the proportions in each group vary with the
the fewest number ot
the school. Teachers in lower socioeconomic areas report
two or three out of a class of
students who consistently respond, often just oue,
where no students are able or
20 or 30. In Indigenous community classrooms,
 PEADEVG TO LSAAN 141
4LEARNING TO WRITE READING TO LEARN

Parent-child reading at age 1:6

wling w respond to teacber questions, the resut is the comrnunication break- 4.41
dowa descrided by Malcolm (1991) and the widespread nurn to undemanding
Foas coirs to esch of ihe pigs on page 1j The rres rce Pgr
Morer
busywork reported by Folds (1987) pons to pcue d a s } Tse jooks up st martert
Crld tdenuhy
Thispresensa double chailenge for reading pedagogy in the school. On one Moter Afim Yes
hand we aeed to provide teachers with a set of strategies that can rapidly develop Saborafe Ksa e

stadents reading and writing skils, on the other they need to deliver these 2 Mother Forus
ports to dhe sae pGs on pae 2 Here s e t e i cigs
suategies to whole classes of students with a wide range of abilities and engage Bys bye m a r a . (naes her and) Were going to bald a oun

ment in learning. Furthermore, the students most in need of the strategies' Cnild ldendy
laugts waves t e mama pig in he Mustratonj

beneits are oten the least engaged and responsive in the classroom One tus page
response to this problem has been to divide the class into ability groups' in 3 MctrerFocus poirts to the wol Ch an, I see tat wah. feyes get iarger as fn

which students read and discuss different levels of texts. The outcome of this mga
a r s to page d and poins to wo Cn on
practice, as we discussed in $i.3.3, is to widen the gap berween high- and low- Chid denfy
achieving students. Instead, teachers need tools to redesign their classroomn MotherATim an on
Eaberate He h u e d and pured (biowng an chikd erd he biewrw tat pig
discourse to engage and support their weakest students, while continuing to
extend their most successful students. So on top of delivering an effective read- away
Very bad snt he? |in irerent n e directed loward Chid 3s an
ing and writing pedagogy, we needed a better understanding of how learning
ASIdeS
actually occurred through teacher-learner interactions.
With respect to reading, afetileplacestostart
is in
pareat-child.readingin the In the first Focus, the mother points and nanes the story's main characters.
The
Sone in reading with their young children, parents work with a repertoire of child does not simply imitate her mother, but responds with her own innovation
strategies to draw their attention, model behaviours, affirm them and elaborate tree in the picture. Ater afiming ber, the mother
by pointing and namning
their understandings, in order to engage them in the act of reading as a
elaborates by modelling correct pronunciation in a full sentence. In the second
meaningful activity (Rose 2010a). How this engagement with books develops is
cycle, the Focus fron identifying characters to engaging the child's
ilustrated in the following interaction between a mother and her 18-month-old progresses
of events
child (from McGee 1998: 163), around The Three Little Pigs [4.4]. The extract empathy with them, Bye bye mama (waves her hand), and expectancy
to come, We're goimg to build a house. These are not the words in the text,
but
includes three cycles of interaction, over four pages of the book. Although the
primary purpose of the reading activity is shared pleasure rather than teaching,
what ishappening in the picoire, explained in terms the child understands, so she
pare-child reading is nevertheless a learning activity, in which the child's task responds by laughing and waving at the picture. In tbe third cycle, the Focus
extends to emotional reactions, with the apprehensive Oh oh, I see that wolf.
is to identify elements in the story. In each cycle in (4.4) below the mother
focuses the child's atteation, the child identifies an element, and the mother interpreting the pig's facial expression with her own, modelling empathy with the
elaborates. These elements of the leaming exchange are included in the muclear character. The child responds by identifying the uext picnure of the wolf and
model we developed in Chapter 1, as Figure 42. repeating Oh oh, and the mother elaborates by reading the words on the page and
blowing on the child, imitating the wolf in the image. Recognising the wolf's

behaviour in both words and image then provides a context for judging his
character: Very bad, isn't he?
that
Fos Identify Affirm In this brief excerpt, the child's attention has been drawn to features
of
identify main characters, engage readers in their activities, expect sequencess
events, enact emotional reactions, and judge their behaviour. The mother care
child. She
fully and deliberately interprets the meanings in the book for the
words and images in
Figure 4.2: Phases In parent-child reading exchenge [4.4 adjusts, translates and reduces the meanings expressed by
the book, down to the level of spoken language she knows the child will under
of story
stand. The continual affirmations serve to engage the child in the activity
to the meanings that the motber
reading. but they also give intense positive value
of value-laden meanings then
presents and the child repeats. Each exchange
2EFNNG TO ASITE FEOING TO LEAAN
FEONG TO LEIFN

apans he d i
apary cr undesaning a fher eiboranon. i c h he By he tme chiidren r r hre a t o yean oid, ser cey be less f
epastion before saring ang, ba here re ml de ane e zes n
drscaszioe At i s 1ge. perents o i s i chides aDe Ficn eimens h e
cceretaiised i chooi is he RF oycles
cf ciasstoem dsourse,
isussed n
Chaprer acve {Aierunder 2000, Cristie 2002, Gibboes 2002
Lemke 1990. Mercr 2000. Nassaji and Weils 2000, experiecce, bs pareatS s o mi provide 1 x ofiniostoa n terutca
Sinclair nd Coulthard e ciid in the foiowing erapie [45] ~e WEns ma s s of parem
S7S Pernaps the key skil ar teachers posses s he ibiy o nterict t h chiid reading (i995: 359L te nother spiy n a e s te bocik
whcie cias o s d e a s arcnd the
earainz goals of a esson. Teactes mtiate aing zd ars
25 te child looks oa bt s sbe r s te pages she sks e cáld w o s i e
a t a e i n gcle by sskcng the ciass a focs
quesioa that is relevant to the epeated everts, znd nir wtat is hzppenng aoz áe pictrs
23k e aged n - isussing a topic, readng a tex or constructing
Toter I Te sTndents task s tien to
respond to tse teacher's queskon, and 451 Parant-chld ra ng t age 4
e as*er may come bom what they bave just leamt, irom the text tey are
ng r T o ther previous
experience. As n the parnt-caild exchangs Mcrar a e d A Tre neeca
above, sLens espcases are always evaluated by the teacher, and are then rpadsi T e cy saz M e e DeTa ior n te e s c o s h e c e r
uly elabarared (he 'feedback' slot a RF ems). The elaboratica contains
e aching goal: the stideats respnse is the sieppmg stone thtat alows the
Mcter CS 4rd te mcer sad 7Renece
tescier to bridge iom wèat saudents
already iknow to new knowledge that is the
gcal of the lesson As can be seen. our zuclear
analysis of learming tasks is
equally apPicable to classrvom exchanges, 2s it is to parent-chld
exchanges. McTer Focs
AIthough such classrcorn excbanges are the very narrow of teaching practice,
aches iean these skiils prunanly reacsi Te maer sag Tesyu ga a r g resan ees
through experience, both as students them-
sis d as practising teechers, rather than
being explicitly taught them in their
teacter aing. One dimension of he But ne bcy said T a t ecese heress iks Dere
Reading to Learn program is to bring
scber's iznitive knowledge of this classroom discourse to
consciousness, and The mother's
to use it o quesions focus on the paterns that a7 wth variatons
explic:ty design teaching practice. The aim is that all students in a repeaed
-

cles can
each episode *hat the boy and bis mother said
be equally supported (as we outlined in Chapter 1. $1.3.3) to read and - and the evidence n te
wTi texts a:
pictures. Next sbe asks the ch1ld to interpret the events îrom his experence. in
challenging the levei they should be for their
grade and subject this case, the chiid's task is ro
propose a response from bis eperience, rather
than identify an element in the text, so this move is labeled Propose.
Again the
Focus-Propose-Affñirm nucleus of cach xchange is outlined (2nd diagrammed in
ereange5 Figure 4.3)
Exchange [4.4] illusturates bow with very young children, parents
explain what is
hepperang n the pictures before they start reading the story. A glance at most Moher Focs Co yau n k ere mas aay Ty 3 hor7
children's picture books sbows why this is necessary, asther ficlds are often Chila Propasa es
t2nt2 stic and well outside of Moter Focus
young children's experieace. These books are wy you ?
Crid Propose Crse hes
dreamng
expiucitly esigned to depend on parenis guidance for children to understand
them. The pareat-child discussion
of picfure books happens at three levels: MonerAIm
Focus iov ao you krow he's
derg?
ntng and naming what is n Chid PropuseSecaLs he weri o D e gçarter s Sw iC
bappening the pictures,
2 relating what is oer Añm
happening to preced1ng or following events, eg
We're going to
build a house or Oh oh, I see that wolf?,
5. relabng what is tappeoing to expericnce or values beyond the text,
cg Yery bad isn'1 he'
 READNG roLEARN 145

144 LEARNING TO WRITE. READING TO LEARN

For children m literate middle-class families, as illustrated m [4.4] and [4.5].

infer and
their parents guiding hem to identify,
leaming to read begins with The process
before they learm to decode letter patterms.
interpret meanings, long children, them to
Fbcus Propose the piIctures with guiding
begins with parents taliking through the fieid of he story. As the
and discussing
identify elements in the pictures
discussion folows the sequence of the book, from page to page. the child
of phases or episodes in which be story
Agure 4.31 Nuclear phases in parent-child reading (4.5] becomes familiar with the sequence
presented on one or two pages, and episodes
unfolds. Each episode is typicaily
a characteristic of children's picture
books
Here again are the three levels: identifying elements in the story, inferring con- pically foilow a repeated patterm -
above in 'A lion in the meadow'. In
other words.
events from expenience. We will use that the mother focuses on
Dections from page to page, and interpreting So at the
teachers to refer to these three reading levels, is a typical configuration of the picture book geare.
terms that are widely recognised by repeated episodes field
child is guided to recognise the partennS in which the
as literai, inferen tial and interpretive. unterpretive level, the
of the story unfolds through this genre
a sentence or the to infer discourse
Literal ueanings are accessible within the words of At the inferenlial level, the parent also guides the chiid
before reading be words, such as #e 're going
image on a page. connections across the text, even
-

are recoverable from other parts of the text or I see that This gidance through the fiekd, the
inferential meanings to build a house Oh, oh, wolj.
sentences, or images. discourse young children o comprehend the
preceding or following pages, sections of prepares
genre, and patterns
or
Enterpretive meanings require applicatio0 of the reader's experience words of the story as they are read. The parent will reiníorce and elaborare these
values to interpret whai is going on. leveis of
understanding as the words are read and re-
unterpretive and mierential
with tte parent, and
read. Eventually ihe child wli be able to say the words aiong
The fourth levei of reading is often referred to as 'decoding', that is 2 each leveil the time the child is three or fous
understand what they nean, By
in quotes
recognising words from their patierns of letters. We put "decoding' their ianguage repertoue will have gown to he point wbere the
years old,
because in fact ali levels of language encode meanings,
and reading invoBves
read the words, and discuss theu irferentuai and
caregiver can often simply
used to refer to research
decoding meanings at all levels. But as 'decoding' is widely interpretve meanings aferwards, as in exchange [4 5] above' Williams"
words from their letter patterns, we will use it in that sense here.
recognis1ng on semanatic variation in parents reading styies (1995, 19996, 2001l) suzgests
Tuese four levels of reading corelate with the levels of language
in social that children from middie-ciass famiiies are more likely 1o dave xpenenced
we outi1ned in 1. Decoding relates to the graphological level in
context thst Chapter 4.72
guidance witb respeci to nterpretve meanings (discussed further
of ierier patterns in words, literal to the level of patterns withia sen-
grammatical
below) Before starung seaooi, such children may vell bave read zod re-read
tences, inferent1al to the discourse level of patterns across texts, and interpretive
rundreds of books with theur parents, discussing tkeir meanings at each levei
to the contextual ievel of experience and social relatons beyond the text illus-
to 1000
Adams 1990 reports tbat ch:ldren in middie-cias families spead up
reted in Figure 4.4 t
hours in parent-ch1ld readng befere they start Althaugh hey may
school
to decode lerter are resding at zvery other level, aad
have yet leamt patterns, they
arealready literate it most senses of the word Wben these children s1a7 achool.
sounds
imually a!l their isachers need do is shoa them correspondences berween
shared 7nd ieare to read
and icttes, togetier wih more reading. ihey rapidly
Tdepeniently.
etence-

Luka 1 oa a l the (ur rds of

Fooebonty n (i990 p c a parioi penpecti ve aang they

n ar
alkowA stones a (erOEAd, acz s
tgage readen rde rot *x particupau
-

exA auecs enl n

rEpmEs ualsse putclar ayse the
Car
Figure 4.4: Leveis od resding behaviaurs &nd ienguegs in conteat
146 LEARNING TO VWRITE. READING TO LEARN
READING TO LEARN 147

From the discussion above we can draw the foliowing key principles pedagogyconstitutesssetdf
toos that teachers can apply ar any ponts thei
Currieuiumprograms whenever learning tasks invoBve reading or writing.
1.
Rescrivoivesfournlevelsrof mesningudecoding words-from their Simply put, there arenine sets ofstrategies,in.the-pEogramwbichprovnfathree
ietetpaRerns, identifying meanings within sentences, inferring con
levels-ofsupport-forreading-and writing
gestens.aczOS5.a.text,and interpreting relations to the social context
ofasext Preparing tar Reeéng oint Consruion Induai ConseTction

hirenlean.to.read through-explicit guidancebyearegivers anaor Level 2 Deraied Readng Joint Rewriäng Indroual Raeriting
(not
by it for
discovening themselves in a rich environ- Level 3 Setence Makng Speiing Sentanca Wnting
ecbers 'print
ment").

These nine sets of strategies are presented as a set of options for integrating
acycles
Gdangs takighiyapredictable formsfearure ofrinteraction, in
ahishstheparert foeuses=attention on a of the child tert the reading and writing with the curricuum in Figure 4.5.
ideptifles the ficature and the parent 2ffirms their Tesponse. In asddi
aogshe pareatmay prepare the child by saying what to look for, and
melaborate aith further,inlormation after affirming the child's
response
Eighoraticnsnaybeninteractive; in which the parent asks a focus
quBE bechiid-proposes aresponse from their expenence, and the
pRIOBEafirms and-oay further elaborate.
ClasszooniiniETActiOns foliow similar patiems Teachers ask focus
questions and build on
students' responses to elaborate their teaching
goas, but teachers often prepare only if they get no response or the
wrong response from students, and this preparation may be tuned into
the needs of just a few 'responsive' students.
ezding dexeiepment.eccurs.oxet,ime,t begins with a high level of
support in which parents tell the child what is happening in the story
before readung the words, and later, as the child's language experience
develops, they may provide less preparation before reading.
Figure 4.5: Three laveis of strategies tn Reading to Learn
7 i r the cariy stages, parcats provide most of the literal, inferential and
akerpretive meanings in a text, and in later sages children may be
gued o denufy, iafer and interpret meanings themselves as the text
Cycle I corespands to the genre writing teaching'learmung cycle descnbed in
Chapter 2 above. But as the startiag point is with teaching reading. the s t sesof
rcad
stratcgies here is called Preparing for Readiag his inchades, strateges.tog
Ctaidren are not cxpected to start decoding themselves until tbey are
supporting students to read texts in the curriculum, along with deconsmucting
toroghiy familar with writen ways of meaning, and learning to
e d e ietter patierus becomes cusy once they are familiar with the
model texts tor writing (lemed Deconstruction in the genre wniting TLC in
iCDns of wards
Figure 2 4 above) This levei of strategies links drecty with cumculum goals at
cach stage of schooing, mhudng the knowledge that s learnt
through reading
and the evaluauon of learning through wnting Thelanguage fous asthis levetis
sa piacd: tbeue princ1ples to designitg a pedagogy for explicitly
al ai ieveiz of nducauou
artisulatiy on the Stuctures ot whcictexts
stk ad wrtng He Reaaing t Lean The sategics in cycle 2 prox1de a aigher.leyei of support for studeuts to Tead
uhe languags of cugcalum iexts wth detailed comprehension andt se tie
e language they haxo learnt (rom reading in their wnting- The languags.focus at
ctr¥ sppruack icading tbir isggagr, clauna that lcarn so trad os
ch idren
tbisleveliso parserns ofmeuning within uadbenwasaptences,Shot passages
aayast fiuvaí Guessbeit langanar
s Lavr epgabit rffora uu read d are seleted from curriculum texts for Detaied Redng. Tollowed by Rewriting&
ltaiTEL - be of the pas5age us1ns the same language pattens. As well as deta1led compre
148 LEARNING TO WRITE. READING TO LEARN READING TO LEARN 149

hensionaad1witinguskillsptheserstrategiesaresused1to.develop.detailedikmowl
edgaboutlarnguageatitheilevelsof grammarand discoursea Delailed
nealing
Cycle 3 consists ofintensiveatrategies thatare usedto teach foundation skaills
in reading and writing inethecontextsof curiculumtexts (described in 54.6 Senterrc
Maine

below). Oneion.more-sentences,are,selected from-Detailed Reading passages for

Sentence Makingractivitiesswinwhichrstudents cuteup-and-manipulatewordsr and

Cent oidua
wordgroups: Words are then selected from these sentences to practise Spelling,
letter patterns, letter-sound correspondences, and letter formation.
including The
knowledgeofemeanings"rwordings and spelling gained from-these activities is
thenpractisedvin Sentence "Wrifing These-strategies-are rused regularly-in
primary school for additional support in secondary school and for teaching
the

beginningreading and writinginthe-first years of school. They are also effective

in providing support for students learning English as an additional language in Figure 4.6: Preparing for Reading in the
R2L program

TESOLcontexts,/and for léarning other languages.

In this chapter we outinethe strategies that have been developed for reading to illustrate this technique with the novel Fartastic
Mr Fox by
We can start
readers. This is a
three kinds oftexts: engagingreaders in stories, informing readers with facrual Roald Dahl (2007: 13), whicb is aimed at eight to ten-year-old
it is written
textsy and evaluating issues and texts in arguments and text responses Each useful text as a starting point here, as its field is relatively simplc, but
a serial narrative,
section includes strategies.for preparing.for reading, for reading in detail, and for with a host of rich language resources. The novel as a whole is
last chapters (a
usingwhatnhasebeonlearnt from reading to write new texts. The focus is on with a series of Complications that are finally resolved in the
common pattern in children's and adult fiction, Rothery
and Stengn 1997).
techniques for integrating reading and writing with leaming the curriculum in the
primary and secondary school. Before reading it with the class, the teacher could preview it as follows.

This book is about Fantastic Mr Fox and his ight wilh tiree famers who want to shoot him. The

4.3 Engaging readers: stories reason they want lo shoot him is that Mr Fox steals hair chickens, ducks and geese to leed his

Mr Fox ond h/s wife and children live in a hole in the ground, on lop of a hil under a huge
family.
Their
chickens, ducks and geese irom the lamers.
names

4.331PRearingfocreading.stories tree. Evey

are Famer
nighi
Boggis,
he goes out to steal

Famer Bunce and Farmer Bean, and they are nomble men. Hero are the

Pceparing for Reading is the first phase in the R2L program (Figure 4.6). It
begins at the inerpretiye level of comprehension, with the background knowl-
cliaracters n the book (opening to rsl page illustrathons. You can see Mr Fox is danung in i s

their children, the Sma! Foxes. How many

are
coat and his scan. Here's Ms Fox, and here ere
text. This discussion of
edgeor ficld that deamersmeed to know about to access a
there? Four. Right Here's Mr Fox's fiend Badger. And here's lat Famer Boggis, and skinny

thefield need not include everything that happens in the text, because these Famer Bean, and mean Farmer Bunce.
details will emerge as it is read. Rather a brief outline of key elements is
sufficient, so as not to overload leaners with details before starting to read. In The lamers decíde to shoot M Fox, so one nighl they wait around his hole
wiih sholguns, until he

any case, the text is likely to be part of a topic that is being studied in a class, comes out They almIOst get him, but he jumps back in his hole. Then they try to dig him out
with

wbich will give students the field knowledge they need to access the text. This the famers can t catch uhen. Then
shovels. but the Fox lamily dig a lunnel away rom them, so

knowledge may only need briefly revising before reading. hem out with big tractors. They dig away hall of the hill, but they sul cant
catch
they ty to dig
The secondstepuin preparing for reading is then to preview the sequence in them, so they decide lo wail beside the Foxes' hole until they starve. The Foxas have nothing o

which-the field unfolds,through the genre. This is the key phase in parent-child then Mr Fox gets an idea that might save them. So let's stat reading ne story
eat for days, but
reading described above, in which the leamer is guided to recognise what is end find out whal happens. l starts by descnbing he three farmers.
going on in each episode or phase of the text, by talking through the pictures
the basic
before reading the words. The same principle can be applied to texts at any level that needs preparing for this text is
Theonly background knowledge teacher then sum-
or any subject, by summarising the sequence in which the text unfolds. with the main characters. The
premise of the story, along
 READNG TO LEAFN 151
TSs* e
2t Coepicances nd teraporary Resolutiocs up to he
inwere a sart reng resoived (J Fax gets aides) However, the novei wad e n be eard ar ogi he eerd a try oise, a c t raing sound.
sLS iirendy, by descnding he farmers, so that the reader must ough someone had moved a tco e e r so jerty rogh a pac tr
eæen
D e premISe et e story s revelod Tars Mr Fox fatened his body against e gound and ay very n, s m oet
hpe ot device s cotrmon in e wated a ong tne bt e heard rotung o
irm eranure t eqres readers t sspend her expectations, and so soALon R s t a 9 been a Seid-mause.' he tokd himsed,
SSnes a vei ot
readng erpeneece hat mary children do aot bave Piebrnef
or some aher nai ari
e-sering He cspta iie Aurer out f ne hoie hen furter stll. Ms *as most
ngna
in he cpen now. He ook a iast caretd iock ercund. The ood e s
may 2d
etg e tr angage n e shor very still. Somenhere in he sey moon wes shining.
ARer ecdacing the stury as a wboie, tbe oext Compilcadon
step is then to prepare each
chaprer befir it s read ioud The etaople bere is for
Chapter 3, in which the orotien 1 Just en, hs s a nghtyes caught a gint cd somethng ongnt benind a re
o t ar way.
t wes a snal siver spec of mocnag shiring ons posred
probiem2 sutaca Me Fox lay stil, watchungt What on esrth was ? Ncw t s monrg
was coming up and up Great heavers! t was the beref of a quni Quck as a
problem3 whip. M: Fax jumped bacx into his hole and at that same ns:ant he endre wood
seemed to exptorte around him Bang-bang/ Bang- barg! Barg-targf
Resoution
re-sertng Tha smoke from the hree guns faated upward in the nagt ar, Boggs and Bunc
and Bean came out tom benind their drees and waked towards te hole. Vd we

get him sad Bean

sciudon One af them shcne a fashight cn the hole, and there an the ground, n te circe
Tis preparadoc tirst relates the chapter to the preceding events (he fammers ot lignt hat n and haif cut af the hole, lay he pcor tatered bloodstained remains
waiting ouside the hoie), and then summarises the key events that foliow. As in of a fox's tail. Bean picked it up. We got the tail but we missed he fox,' ne
the preparadon for the book, the twist at the end is not said. tossing the thing away.
revealed, until it is read
alcud to he class. The prepanatioa thus both
supports and motivates shudents to
arternd to the text as it is read Phases such as these, among others, can be found across all types of stories,
This chapter from children's to adult fiction (Martin and Rose 2008, Rose 2006a).
is a complete narative within itself, with the Orientation^ Settings
Complication Resoluticn structure discussed in our Chapter 2 above. The present characters, events, places, times, problens create tension; reactions
Orientatioo is very long. as the Foxes decide on ducks for dinner, Mrs Fox warns express characters' feelings, which can intensify tension, soiutions release
M Fox to be carefui, and be siowly creeps out of his hole. in contrast, the tension. Within the Orientation here, the author builds and releases tension by
Complicatioa is very short -just one paragraph - with a twist in the last having Mr Fox react to a small noise, then decide it is nothing. Tis episode
sentences of the chapter. Here are the last two foreshadows the Complication to come. The Complication then builds rapidly
pages of the chapter, with the
Onieatation, Complication and ResoBution labelled. In addition, the story with a series of worsening problems that Mr Fox reacts to, until the wood
witbin each of these
phases explodes with the sounds of shotguns. It is not until the last sentence that the
stages are also labelled.
tension is finally released.
4.6) Extract from Fantastic Mr Fox The analysis of phases in a text can infomm the preparation 'before reading
particularly if the text is difficult or challenging for students. The text we are
Criertafon considering here is relatively accessible; but this extract could be prepared in
more detail as follows.
Mr Fex c e up he dark tunnel to the
mouth of his hole. He poked his long
hancsome tace aut into he night air and sniffed ance. He Remember Mrs Fox tod Mr Fox lo be careful but they don t krnow thar he tomers are wating for
moved an Inch or two
forward and stopped. He sniffed nim. This pan starts with Mr Fax creeping very siowty out of hs hole, snufing the ar for s'igns of
again.
He was atways especially carehul wnen
coTing out rom his
hole. He inched forward
body was now In he open.
a fitle more. The tront haif of his danger. Then he hesrd a utie sound nat mede him le la,
butnothing happened so he decded
must have just been a mouse. As he crept Aurther out, he coud see a itthe bit becausa t o mocn
problem His biack ncse twitched from side to side, snifing and sniffing for the scent of then he saw something shining behind a ree. What do you think it was7 Tha
was shining,
danger. He found nane, and he was just about to go trottng fcTward into tha the moonlghi. Just as Mr Far jumped back
famers. That's mght, it was one of their guns shining in
 READING TO LEARN 153
52 LEAFNING TO WRTE. READING TO LEARAN

n o ney s heir gurs here was i s af smoe, so mey dhdn? know t tey gt him This in imform teachers' selection of texts to read with ther students.
turm can
readers to access them witb
Texts that easy to read may enable weaker
are
for a worthwaile
minimal support, but will not show sufficient literary technique
is to enabie ali
i s p e ot preparaton suma7narises the sequence of phases identified in the discuss ion after reading The poim of preparing for reading
students to access challenging texts. The strategy of preparing for esding
analysis above, in terms that all students can understand, including its key events,
ad usmg maTy of the words Erom the passage. It also starts by relating the
enabies the wbole class to work with texts that chaileoge the top readers, wits tbe
teacher's guidance. Repeated preparation, joint reading
and elaboraing disous
passage to the preceding events. Such a preview gives students a map of how the
to independentiy read he texts the ciass
l unfolá, a series of signposts so that they wiil recognise key sion eventually enables veaker readers
text includng
texts at the level
workang with, anduitimateiy other
same
eieents as No snedent wiil struggle to cormpreherd what is happen-
they occu.
ng a c d sep. so al wil be able to folow the words closely as they are readif The principle of preparing. reading and elaborating may also be used
sarme

the x t s read aloud, weaker readers need not struggle to decode unfamiliar with longer literary texts. uch as 2ove chapters, sbort stones and drana As
worcss i a a d to them. shown above for Mr Fos, the teacher can preview te longer ext n less deta
If students
are likely to find the text comparatively
a y to foilow. the prevnew can be briet, as in the chapter preparation above. If elements from the piot, wch aci as ignposts thai shdnts wl
distaling key
e text s ore chellenging. the preview can be more detaiied, surmmarising its recognise as the text is read The combination of preparmg and reaáng tbe tex
phaases as a whole, and then close reaing of a passage. can provnde the rupport and
Foikowing the txt with general comprebension, as it is read aloud, tten forms insights for sudents to read the remamder of tbe closely, and identify
asacis Sor p r e t g its details. After reading this chapter, the class could have significant elementa The whole tex: shouid be read first at ieast up to the
tremework or comprehending the pasag
a dhsussos about sorme of ns key eiements, led by the teacher. For example, the
elected passage, to uve nudents
Novels sbould be read up to and inciudng he chapter contarning the seieced
acter couid atk

passage
e endg wa epecied (and name it as a "twist'). Prepanng for reahng can aiso beed or aadeue duscoue in ternary
s h o n g ca. a a paprise, and review the way that the author education, with iocrurers preparing subsequeni course rezadings ar the end of eac
brasit aesn througs a series of probiems, lectuze, by sumnasng how the field unfois through eacd n Taking a fes
wy toe t i r e wosé seezsd to expiode minutes al the end of caca iectuae to prepare uknis tor theT reading CaC go
c Me Fax coruid see the gun. teviewisg elements such as the moonlight long way t0 vercong u d e s inabtiity or uingoess t rad tbe. Vs
shnng om a poliched sufuce pracce both enabiea and ncAates Tudents ta udy cuSE IEsdngy at
heast gouetai comprshensos, atd thas fun prydea tas fourcdalra iur them-t
Suca cyce of preerng, cenóing ad ten ciabxsatiug are tot too far trom the tOpTeend ihe ok1 e t a Preper:g 1a t i a y ivoves karture ozkag
k d dseacig aciarms hst exprinnced teachets normaly u e n Eerasy ckowey a1 1e txs Fhey eapraituds t read ad ths a 1siara. bots 1e
adies Tcwthe trpcaily provide tackg nad kowjedge o that studenis can
teAeiection and bow hey nactiure tbe
ectres ( 2D. Rome. L
AT&itZng xt, zá dutas uirpretalotus after seadiag One key Chrvzhe, McKmgal snd South 70A, Pave et s 2005)
a i m n bre t t
x uf pimpaten, wtach caTetully prevaws the phases
woh t i pio untnds,
t s ya studens to follow he text i
s i t i u t piac c p s E i izactes ue farst seiect an sdea ruid gu taght o a it (cF6TCTYI het t i i r s he e ags as aes
pA oaA s tinn roa fontausy F o r , tes azuaiye n tlonaly t
154 LEARNING TO WRITE, READING TO LEARN
READING TO LEARN 155

Preparing
for Reading
is engaging for the students and lends itself to
writing heir own passage
using the same language resources (4.3.3 below),
could easily be worked through in about 15 minutes of class time.
Naking
Students use highlighters pens to mark groups of words in each sentence
or as
they are read and discussed: The Detailed Reading
technique here begins by
oint nstructon reviewing the context and phases of the selected passage.
Re

Detailed Reading transcript for Fantastic Mr Fox [4.6]

Prepare Remember ihis is the Complica tion where poor old Mr Far gets shot Mr Far had
passege aimast cimbed nght out of his hole, and was looking around. î was dark but the

Figure 4.7: Detailed Reading in the R2L program moan was shining. So hars the sarting. The there'3 a Mto probiem hat mates
Mr Fox wory. He saw somathing shining behinda tree. and he wondered whal
was. Then the problem
C Recoingostoeserguaderesourgestor engaqingreaders gats worse because the shiny thing started moving up and
up, and he realised i was a gun He jumpod bock in hs roie as fast as ne could
In Decailed
Reading, the teacher guides students to identify wordings within eacb at he same lime as the tamers all shot therr guns at him.

of a short passage írom the reading text, and then elaborates their
sentence
meanings in more depth and detail This intensive activity takes some time, so The teacher then reads the passage aloud. The next
step is then to prepare the
ypicaly first sentence of the passage. giving students the inferred
short passages
rautes Passages
are sclected that can be, worked through in 20
are selected with the most elaborate language resources
on the
30
in terms they will all understand, and then
meaning of the sentence
reading the sentence aloud as students
vey coes for wàict students need more guidance to read with read along.
understanding,
sd wct they their
For example, one section of the
car use ir t u r in
writvng.
sbove that offers rich opporunities for Detailed Prepare The first samtenca iels us nOw careruly Mr For came aut of his hoe. Look at ne
passage Reading is the Com-
plicztion, with its mounung probiems and reactions by Mr Fox. To give it a sentence senience Is I readit He crepl a htte iurther ou
of the hole non irther sil
costext we couid also ioclude the setting that precedes the Complication. This sentence preparation enables all students to understand the sentence as it is
read, heaing the words as they see them. It is a crucial step for three
Ty itte frtrer out of the noie hen furtner sul. He was almost rght out in the open reasons
o e
D as ko arourd The wood
was murky and very stil Somewhere in the sky
. It corelates the written words with their
e on w Sranng spoken expression, as a
sequence of meanings that snudents can understand. Because its mean-
J e t step r h i y e s caugni a gint of somatming ongit behind o Uee not far away.

P T ver veo d
ing has been prepared, students need not s1ruggle lo understand the.
monigru sraning on a polistied suface M Fox loy sU, watching it
sentence. Because it is read to them, they need not struggle to decode
a e s r m »as
O
unfamiliar words. Th1s reduces their semiotic load, enabling them to
ong ws CeTrG and p- Greal heavenisa o s the baTel
of a gun process the complexity of meanings, word1ngs and soundings as easily
a amp, M F myed 3eck irto hut haie and ul Dal same nstont the entire wood
as possible
e u p e xDeA u
Bargtarg Barg-tang Bang-beny
2 It provides a mean1ngful context for identitying and understanding
TuS panszg each wording within the sentence, as they are highlighted and dis
u vdeal for Detaled Reading. because it
cussed.
EeS ncb As the students have heard the words articulated, they will be abie to
angeage EVses or building ension in storics,
through a
sCTHES of sce and say the words aloud when the teacher asks them to dentiny
Osnr probiems and character's reuctio,
inchudes of snd highlight them
a sies deseTpt:ve dences tha' cxpand thr ineges of the
sceve(analysed n Chapter , 151 beiow).
The next step is te give students a meaning cue for the first wording, along with a
 EAmG TO WsUTE, READING TO LEARM
SADNG ro LEARN
p This is serned Prepare mve in Deteiled Reading, a folkows A gain the nucteus of each
exchange cousists of Focu-identify-Airm
esen Ar nt t semteete fc he movedt
but now esch
exchange is deisberately prepared, shudents are directed(utined)
to
lght, and an elaboration follows egh
Alsudent.canaow see tbe pecifit.nvord refened ts by this generai cue how he
m Bewrver the teacher tbet anks e particular student to say the
pic with a Foctn quetioe. that words F S
repents the meening cue Shxten ery A Re rthe
farahar
A epreperatioe firt of the whole sentence, then of the tencer
wording enabies
wey sadestosesd he words eenidenly this questios cas be addressed t any
,
meltingde ake readers m the class Note that the meaning cue is Ar hart s
epeate to be comapleteiy unambiguus, and the T e
thst precedes theposition cue
guaema mates r as eery as ponsibie. The aim i Teduce "the semiotie load and
Sa stem.orm.studenta, s0 that tihey can focus on identifying the wording
ros the meag ce Consequentiy every student can be equally
engaged in the
ic ani movt inaportantly, be affimed by the teacher The students" task
s
y ko eniy te wordsng in de text
lere tbe rescher focuses on the tbrre
eiemeats thet exprass bow
crept out of his hole a siowly Mr Fax
iidie furthr, hen three duts, then forther stiil A littte
furtker is preparsd with a wh cue
fur, ts t as t ly casy to uoierstand,
Where wordings are oasy to road and
undersand. they
ge lic t e beter can make students feel aboul theuz
iiterai ineanng cues such as who,
whar,
can be
prepared with
whsn, whure, O fur Ater
sG n siaegone heir atiepiion and engageraent So affirmations CAD be cue, the teacher hants coroi to giving ths
e sudenrs to de ke task temselvs. Wt
T jo yasor CK.
wRout beconmung cloying Phrases like exacty right, wh cues the ask s to deataty
speciie wordings o n thee
ecelienu, Katsastar This mentai iabour what
gnserai ncanings
an simgly roli off he toacher s tongue Thus sinpe tect 1s aKes tbe ieamag IRsÍHTAbie lo
M ccky All siudcaiis ib tihe discusson Ai the sR.e ae Such general meanngs icus studente readiog other tex
tention an tbe
wOT goup thai iaake nac unctrors o
up s6BeREOS, 19cadrng peapie (wha
eues (wtanl deing. planas thigs wbat), pro-
where ), simes
i
iwen i
anei qusibes thow. whal liko)
E R a , firther it iaessie uter rua vnung vhlcsa's avaytay
158 LEARNING TO WRITE. READING TO LEARN READING TO LEARN 159
to use contextual cluces as they read, and to infer the meanings of wordings. This experience, in contrast to identifying wordings in the text. The Focus question is
isa more etfective technique for expanding students' vocabulary and grammar phrased in such a way that students' responses can always be affrmed. Note also
knowledge than attempting to memonise words or grammar struchures out of that the teacher gives a precise position cue in the second cycle, by reading up to
context, or relying on dictionaries for definitions. Furthermore, students are the required wards with a nising tone Almostright out.. This common teacher
guided through the elaborations to imagine the scenc, i.e. to interpret the word- question techoique is deployed in Delailed Reading to ensure that students can
ings in the sentence in terns of the images and feelings they evoke: Mr Fox is see exactly which words to identify.
creeping because he 's a bit scared so he 's being very careful... So he's creeping The next sentence is prepared with its inferred meaning, that is, why he looked
oud really siowiy around.
Ia sum, where wordings are comparatively easy to read and understand, they
can be prepared with literal 'wh' cues; but where they may not be understood,
Teacher Prepars In the net sertena9 he checXS (or danger telore he croeps al he
they are prepared with synenyms or paraphrases. Elaborations subsequently way out fT revd it He took 3 last carefu look around
sentenca
guide students to infer connections across the texi, and to interpret the context. ppare So he tock 3 lcok.
These principles apply at all ages, from young children up. Any text worthy of Focus (studei name) What knd of lcok was 17
Detaiied Reading will involve inferential and interpretive levels of meanings that Student ldentity A last aruul lcok
are scaffoided in elaborations, even where the literal wordings are apparently TeacherAfm Brdliant
transparent. We can see the same principles applied with the following sentences Drecd Ler's highigi last carefd look
The next sennence lells us he's almost night out of his hole. Walch Teacher Prepare So ne's just about
Teacher Prepare to cresp nght cut of his hote
sentence arnd I lreadit He was amost nght out In the open now Focus Why do you ihink r's a last look ? (student namel
Prepare Al the slar i says how far out he was. Student Proposo Me's gorng o go outside.
Focus student name Can you see how far out he was? Teacher Affrn Thar's night.
Student loentity ATost nghr out Elaborate He's abou to creep right cut of his noie and go of w sEal Die aucks
eacher Aftirm Excty for oinner, so he's hoving 3 s t careru kook arcud
Dinect Let's hnghight almast nignt out.
Focus So t he's almost night out whal psn of him mighi still be in the hole? Here a last look could be ambiguous, he is about
as to get shot, so the teacher
Shude TOpOA His ta first prepares with the inferred meaning (that he is about to out of his hole),
creep
Terce Athim That's axacily nght and then asks a student who is likely to infer the right response. The next
Eiaborsto Al the rest of him is probaby oulside, end just his long bushy tail is sentences describe what he sees, but this logical connection to the
nside
preceding sen
tence is implicit,
so the teacher makes it
explicit.
Teaa /studeni nsmej Cen you see the ords thst mean outside? Amos
Teachor Prepar0 n e next wo seriercS descibe whaf he sees. Looi l e Ireed
nght out
sentenca them The wood ws 7ury a r vey S4i, SOTewhere in he siy e
Sudert in Uhe opnn
7Iaan wa3 SOining.'
escher Excellent
Eiabora The opan masns ono0ors whero there's nownerr o hde
Prepare Ipo fwst sertene descnpes two quaices of the ood
Focus (student namel whels the frst quailty?
Foos So how would he e / sboul beng out n e open?
Studentldenuty
Prpse Scared. Wom 2rar Am Faniastic
Ar outaly Otrect ghghi muAy
E8Dorue heti wtiy e'b Creeping out so sioni
Eiabarats Murky maars (hat à was dart so pou coud see a ite t not
in hat
ezctarnge,
the teacber engages the students interactively in elaborations, Focua s e N name h a s the ned quaty
by n g tem to magie whet pan of Mr Fox might stili be n tbe hole, and Student kdentity veny so
tiae bo i
Focs
would fei out in tie
oypet
la this kind of exchange the tcacher's TeacherAiem Groat
qucstiot gudes unudentu to icspnse from their knowicdge o
proposc s
160 LEARNING TO WRITE,
READING TO LEARN
READING TO LEARN 161
Oirect Highlight very stl.
Eleborate So R's reinforces the structures of the text, and
a derk
night and nothing s mo ving. provides more detail. The passage is
bighlighted and labelled by way of illustration as
follows
Here the teacher draws students'
attention to a pattern of two similar items,
asking students to name one at a by s9tlng He crept a itte fiurthar out of he hole
time. Repeated patterns are common in both - then furher sil He was almost nght out
literary and factual texts, at the levels of words, word groups, clauses and
in the open now. He took a last careful look around. The wood was murky and
sentences very still. Somewhere n the sky Uie moan was shinlng.
in pairs, triplets, quadruplets. They generally
between the elements, which can be imply some similarity problem1 Just then, hls sharp night-eyes caught a glint of something bright behind a tree
brought out in elaborations (see §5.2.5). not far away. wras a small sliver speck of maonlight shining ona polshed
Here the teacher explicitly names them as
qualities of the wood. Guiding stu- suface
dents' attention to common structural patterns such as this enables them to reacion Mr Fox lay sll, watching it What on earth was 7
recognise similar patterns in their reading and to them in their writing.
use problem2 Nowitwas moving. itwas coming up and up-
reacdon Great heavensl It wos the barrel of a gunl
TeacherPropar The nexd sentence tells us there was some
ight irDm he moon.
reacion Quick as a whip, Mr Fox jumped back into his hole
Focus First of all where I probiem3 and at thal 1ame Instant the entre wood seemed to explode around him.
was shining ? (student name
Sudent Idenllfy Somewhere in the sky Bang-bangl Bang-bang! Bang-bangt
TeocherAMm Exactly
Direct Ler's highlight somewhere in the sky. Note that grammatical words such as pronouns and articles are ofen not
Focus And whet was the moon doing? /student name highlighted, in order to leave gaps between wordings as srudents bighlight then
Student Idenity Shining. After 20 minutes or so of such Detailed Reading, every student in a class will be
Teacher Affim Greet able to read the passage with detailed understanding. Teachers invariably find
Direct Just highlight shining. that their weakest students can now read a passage that is far beyond their normal
Elaborate Mr Fax couldn 1 see where the moon was Ther's why t says independernt reading scores, although they will not necessarily be able to read
somewhere in the sky. other texts at the same level, as this will require repeated practice with the kind
Focus So haw would he know the moon was shining ? |student neme/ of guidance illustrated above. In addition, students will come to recognise the
SudentPropose He could see a ite bit. language choices that the author has made in writing the Detailed Reading
Teacher LAim Thet's right passage. Accordingly, the oext activity is to rewrite the passage, using the same
Elaborate there was no moon he couldn 't see anythling, t would be just blact language resources. This both reinforces students' control of the reading text and
But he could see a litle bit so he knew it was shining someivhere.
prepares them for writing their own texts. Thc place of Joint and Individual
Rewriting is shown in Figure 4.8.
In this elaboration, the teacher guides the class to interpret the implicit meaning
of somewhere in the sky. The phrase itself is easy to read so it is just prepared Prenaring
for neading
with where, but its significance would be invisible to many readers. Notice that
the student responds with words the teacher used in discussing the previous Detalled
Reading
sentence, could see a little bit. This information is important for the next sen- Sentence
tence, in which he sees something shining, but at first cannot tell what it is.
Although this has been a long discussion about Detailed Reading of just one
paragraph, the actual time taken for the interaction cycle in the classroom is just a
few minutes. There is no need to labour any of the learming points, as the same cn
types of language features will be encountered again and again, in this and other
Vidi.
Detailed Reading sessions.
Ater completing each sentence, it can be read aloud by the class, and the
whole passage can be read again when the Detailed Reading is complete. The
teacher can then label the phases on a projected version of the passage that the Jolnt and Individual Rewrlting In the R2L program
Flgure 4.8:
whole class can see, as students label the phases in their own copies. This
162 LEARNING TO WRITE, READING TO LEARN READING TO LEARN 163
t andneivduaiRewrtingapropmating language resources writing. A key resource for this leaming process is metalanguage that is upplied
to language features as texts are rewritten. Metalanguage can be introduced in
The aim of Rewriting is to guide students to appropriate the language resources
Joint Rewriting, or terms which have been introduced previously can be applied
of sccomplished authors into their own writing. Experienced authors do this Cu lafciany
and reinforced here.
themselves, more or less intuitively. Rewriting makes this process conscious, by
focusing on the language feanures that have been discussed in Detailed Reading.
ento
To illustrate how Rewriting works, here is the Complication again, with
Rewriting with stones involves following the same language pattems as the
sentences analysed in Detailed Reading, but with a new field i.e. new
acters, events, settings. This strategy supports students to practise the complex
char
uOvYfAtO)
ucuu/ewuc
significant boundaries marked
with punctuation.
with a slash, where thocy are not already marked
Just then, his sharp nighl-oyes/ caught a glinU of somathing brlghU tehind a trae not far away.
task of writing a new text by using the language patterns of a familiar text. The
Il wasl a small silver speck of moonligh shining an a pclishod surface.
process begins with Joint Rewriting, in which the teacher guides students to Capto Mr Fox lay sull, watchingo it
apply a new ficld to the sentence patems. The teacher's role in Joint Rewriting is What an earth was it?
criucal, as an authoritative guide for language choices. But because the class has Now It was moving.
already thoroughly discussed the author's language choices in Detailed Reading,
I was coming up and up -
it is easy for all to see how the process works, and to actively participate.
Graat heavensl It was the barrel of a gunl
The field is chosen by the class, after brainstorming a range of ideas, each of Quick as o whip, Mr Fox jumped bock into his holel
which may be written on the board. As many ideas as possible are listed on the and at that same instanu the enure wood/ seemed to explode around him.
board, for later Individual Rewrites, and one is chosen for the Joint Rewrite. The Bang-bangl Bang-bang! Bang-bangl
the class
onginal passage is projected so that all can see, and the teacher guides
to choose new details for each segment of the text. The teacher prepares
students
To do a Rewrite of Fantastic Mr Fox, the starting point is to select a character
for selecting ideas, by pointing out what the author has done at each step in the that is a likeable rogue, who could be in danger from an enemy. Popular choices
model text, and asking what choices could be made for the class text. Students'
responses may then be evaluated and elaborated, by rephrasing
or extending, to
for this type of character have included animals such as a cat, or or
lizard saake,
cartoon characters like Sylvester the Cat, the Roadrunner or Bart Simpson. One
fit the requirements of the developing Rewrite. The teacher, in otber words, gives
idea chosen to Rewrite the Detailed Reading passage above was to substitute
needed for the text, incorporating the
the class whate ver language resources are
Peter Rabbit for Mr Fox, as follows.
students' ideas into a coherent product. Joint writing does not mean trying to gel
ideas out of students that they do not have; rather the purpose is for the teacher to Rewrite using sentence patterns from Text [4.6]
they need to leam, drawing on their own reper-
provide the language resources
toires as much as possible. Al of a sudden, his long nvitching ears/ caught the sound of something moving behlnd the
As ideas are generated for each segment, they may be written on the board, garden close by.
and aranged in groups that can be added to as the text unfolds. These word t was 3 squeaking and rumbing sound rolling along the gravol path.
banks' become a resource for students in their Individual Rewriting, along with Peter Rabbit froze stiff, listening.
ideas for new ficlds. They can also be written down and expanded later, as more What could ii be?
pemanent resources to draw on for writing. In Joint Rewriting, srudents are
t kept roling slong.
the
encouraged to take ums scribing the new text on the board, rather than Gerting closer and closer
teacher. Tbis gives all students ownership of the text, and prepares them directly Desr Lordl t was Mr Mac@regor's wheelbarow
for the individual Rewriting task. It also enables issues such as grammar, spel- Like a shot, Peter lesped towarods the garden gate
ing, punctuation and letter formation to be addressed collectively as the text is but almost ot once/ Mr MacGregors rake/ came crashing down towards him.
written. Whoosh-8ang! Swish-Smash! Swipe-Crunch
Crucially the practice of Rewriting does not merely support students to use the
is illustrated as follows.
particular language features of each Detailed Reading passage. Rather repeated The teacher-student exchange in Joint Rewriting
terms shared by
practice following Detailed Reading teaches then how to recognise interesting Again the nucleus of each exchange is outlined. Metalanguage
and useful language features in their reading, and to borrow them into their the class are in bold.