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Author's word choices

META
English›English Thinking|Ages 7—9|ID: mt_QB4qIGJIIj

Recognise how an author's deliberate choices — of words, structure, tone, and perspective — create particular effects on you as a reader

Mastery Evidence

  • authorial awareness research
  • Understanding Author's Purpose (Firkins)
  • collaborative multilayered text interpretation in 5-8 year olds

Assessment Prompt

“When [child] reads a book or article, do they ever notice and comment on why the author chose to write it a certain way — and what effect that has on them as a reader?”

Prerequisites2

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  • Connecting New & Old Ideas soft

    Recognising how authorial choices create effects requires connecting your reading experience to existing knowledge of how language and texts work

    • Thinking Before Starting hard

      Making connections between new and old ideas requires the habit of activating prior knowledge first

      • Persisting When It's Hard hard

        Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material

  • Monitoring Comprehension hard

    Recognising authorial effects requires reading for meaning rather than just decoding — you can only notice the effect of a word choice if you are genuinely engaging with meaning

    • Feeling of not understanding soft

      Noticing the decoding/understanding gap is the English-specific form of the universal comprehension-monitoring habit

      • Asking for Help hard

        Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck

    • Reading for Meaning hard

      Noticing the gap between decoding and understanding requires first having the foundational idea that reading means making meaning

      • Feeling of not understanding soft

        Understanding that reading means making meaning is the English-domain grounding of the universal habit of noticing when you don't understand

        • Asking for Help hard

          Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck

Unlocks2