Grammar · Text level
Noticing tasks with model texts
Give students a model text and a focused task to spot one grammar feature, such as every past tense verb or every connective. Students notice how the feature works before using it themselves.
- Bands
- 2 to 5
- Stages
- Upper elementary, Middle school and High school
- Settings
- Mainstream class, Push-in support and Small group
- Prep
- Medium prep
How to do it
- Choose a model text in the genre students are about to write.
- Choose one feature for students to notice.
- Students highlight every example of it.
- Discuss what the examples have in common and why the writer used them.
- Students use the feature in their own writing, checking against the model.
In a lesson
History (high school)
Before writing a source analysis, students highlight every reporting verb in a model paragraph: argues, suggests, implies, admits. They discuss which verbs show the historian is certain, then choose reporting verbs for their own analysis.
What commonly goes wrong
- Students are asked to notice several features at once.
- The task stops at highlighting, with no discussion.
- The model text is far above what students will write.
Adapting it
For a lower band
Use a short, simple model with one very visible feature, such as past tense -ed endings.
For a higher band
Ask students to compare two models and explain which is more effective.