IMPROVING WRITING THROUGH THE VIEWING AND PRESENTING ASPECT OF THE ENGLISH CURRICULUM

Literacy and ICT

The use of e-learning and digital tools is already well embedded in all the learning we do in my class, but this year I am curious to investigate ways to enhance my writing through the use of these tools.
One question I have is, can I improve my children's writing without much actual writing? Can I teach all the things the students need to learn in another context and will these then transfer into their writing.
Let me explain what I mean here....
I have chosen to focus on the writing purpose: to inform.
I would like to use the format of a documentary as a method for not only presenting our learning as an end product, but actually developing our understanding, knowledge and skills within this purpose.  How can I transfer all the things that would be learned when writing a traditional information report into this documentary format?

We will not be writing everyday. We will be learning the features of a good documentary. If we are not writing, can the learning we are doing still positively impact on our writing? I think many of the skills are transferable but will my students make the necessary connections?

WILL THE STUDENTS WRITE BETTER AFTER MAKING AN INFORMATIVE DOCUMENTARY ABOUT A TOPIC OF THEIR CHOICE?

First I need to think about what types of things would students learn if they were going to write a traditional report and then I can work out how to cover these aspects through the context of our documentaries.

1) Structure- Intro, 3 main points, conclusion
This is the main outline for a report. Introduce the topic. Choose three things to share about this topic. Write a topic sentence for each paragraph and then elaborate on these points with supporting information, data, evidence etc. Conclude topic. Sum it up and bring it back to the introduction. Did we share what we set out to share in an informative way?
I think yes this will transfer very nicely into a documentary. My question is, will the skills developed here then transfer into their ability to actually WRITE an informative piece though. The same thinking will occur when planning the piece whether it is written or visual. How do I introduce my topic? What are the main aspects I would to include and how can I sum this up? Will the students see this connection? I guess it is my job to explicitly teach this connection and ensure they do see it as the same thing.

2) Sentences- Use a variety of different sentence structures for effect.
Vary beginnings and lengths of sentences and use a combination of simple, compound and complex sentences.
I am unsure if this skill will transfer from a documentary into writing. Students may think about sentences if writing a script but it is not likely. Any learning we do on documentaries will probably not focus on this aspect so I am not hopeful that students will improve the sentences aspect of their writing after completing this unit of work. This is also a very crucial area of writing that my students in particular actually need to work on too. Perhaps I can teach this aspect better using another writing purpose such as through story telling or something later in the year.

3) Vocabulary- Use sophisticated vocabulary to enhance the piece
Students need to inform using the write words. This includes technical and precise language.
I think that the technical language will naturally come along with the topic but how can I encourage students to extend their vocabulary and push themselves to write using more sophisticated language?
In a written language context, you may encourage students to utilise a Thesaurus or use peer assessment to try and improve the language used. How would this work in a documentary context? They may be a small element of scripting as part of the process I suppose, so this is possibly a way to encourage the vocabulary development. I will have to think about this some more.

4) Language features- Use appropriate language features for the text type.
Which language features feature in an informative piece?
Present tense, factual information (the audience forms their own opinion based on the facts you present), definition of topic specific technical language or terms,  clear and easy to understand, site sources where possible,
This will be very relevant to a documentary format. No problems there.

5) Ideas- Maintain audience engagement in topic
Students need to choose which ideas are relevant to include and sequence these ideas logically. They also need to take into account their audience and deliberately try to maintain their interest in their topic.
The ideas aspect will be the area that I believe will gain the most benefit from the documentary learning. It is important to choose which aspects are important and which are not when presenting in the documentary format. Sequencing is crucial to ensure the documentary flows.s