When the assignment was initially given, it was immediately understood that the

content and context needs to be substantial enough to carry ten whole lessons.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Dahl & Blake, 2005) uses and depends on

descriptive language throughout to enable an understanding or adequate visualisation

of the whimsical confectionary and extravagant settings. The characters are

presented in a way where readers will instantly favour or despise them according to

Dahl’s intent, an integral part of persuasive writing. The themes and plot in

conjunction with the mentioned conventions and features provide ample

opportunities to contextualise the writing tasks and engage students within this

lesson sequence.

Looking at both the achievement standards expected of Year 4 in Western Australia

("k10outline - English v8.1", 2014) and the Writing Map of Development (Annadale

et al., 2005), Year 4 students should theoretically be between the Transitional and

Conventional Phase of writing. These phases call for students to experiment within

their writing and continually refine and edit their own writing as well, influencing

the decision to plan this sequence with the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model

(Pearson & Gallagher, 1983) (GRRM) and Vygotsky’s Constructivist (Marsh, Clarke

& Pittaway, 2014) approaches in mind. Modelling and scaffolding is conducted

where needed to link in with formative assessment practices, however, students may

observe these and then refine or redirect their focus accordingly which also connects

to self-assessment and editing practices outlined in the curriculum and first steps

program.
These lessons have been planned in a way that aims to build or consolidate

knowledge before formally applying, keeping the ordered stages of GRRM (Pearson

& Gallagher, 1983) with familiarising and analysing as a starting point before

jumping into modelled, shared, guided or independent per the task. There are few

instances of modelling, enabling collaborative or social elements through

constructivism while also allowing students to develop more of their own personal

style as part of the teaching emphases addressed in the Transitional and

Conventional writing phases (Annadale et al., 2005).

References
Annadale, K., Bindon, R., Handley, K., Johnston, A., Lockett, L., & Lynch, P.
(2005). First Steps: Writing Map of Development (2nd ed.). Melbourne: Rigby
Heinemann.
Cameron, s., & Dempsey, L. (2013). The Writing Book (1st ed.). Auckland: S&L
Publishing Ltd.
Dahl, R., & Blake, Q. (2005). Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. London,
England: Puffin.
k10outline - English v8.1. (2014). K10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au. Retrieved 27 March
2018, from https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/teaching/curriculum-
browser/english-v8
Kahoot!. (2017). Kahoot!. Retrieved 27 March 2018, from https://kahoot.it/
Marsh, C., Clarke, M., & Pittaway, S. (2014). Marsh's Becoming a Teacher (6th
ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Australia.
Pearson, P., & Gallagher, M. (1983). The instruction of reading
comprehension. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 8(3), 317-344.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0361-476x(83)90019-x