Teaching and Learning Handbook (A Best Practice Guide): Writing Frames

Writing Frames

Writing frames can be a good way to provide our students with a support of ‘scaffold’ when carrying out a writing task. They are particularly useful for students who struggle with extended writing, or for those who struggle with planning and organisation.

Benefits of using writing frames include:

Helping students understand the structure of the task.
Giving guidance on style for different parts of the task.
Leading students to cope with more sophisticated writing tasks.
Building confidence for some students.

Dangers of using writing frames include:

Limiting creativity and originality of approach.
Reducing a writing task to a box filling exercise.
Making students to dependant on frames.
Becoming too generic and not linked to a specific task.

Here is an example of a writing frame from the National Literacy Trust.

Art-Writing Frame for a Critical Study

Structure

Useful Starters

Used Vocabulary

Introduction:

Describe the work – pretend you are telling someone who cannot see it

………………………..was completed by …………….. in……………..

The work portrays……………………

Suggests, conveys, conjures up, recalls, recreates, when looked at closely, from a distance

Artist’s intention

I think the artist is trying to………………………………..

The reason I think this is because………………………..

Exaggerate, distort, conjure up, recreate, observe, reflect, express, mood or ideas, explore material, line, tone, texture, colour, shape, see, feel, think, imagine

Source of inspiration and influences

I think the artist worked from ………because………………………

The artist prepared for this work by…………………………………………

Observation, memory, imagination, supporting sketches, photographs

Your reaction

The work makes me feel………..

Because…………………………………

Happy, sad, suggests, evokes, conveys, mood, feeling, atmosphere, recalls, reminds me of

Use of form

This work has been composed to …………………………

Balanced, symmetrical, foreground, background, arrangement, composition, design, strong lines, lead the eye, shapes, small, large, angular, curved

Use of colour, tone and texture

The artist’s use of ………………….

Suggests……………………………….

I think he/she has done this to suggest……………………………………..

Hot, cold, bright, dull, vivid, sombre, pastel, clashing, matching, range, variety, rough, smooth, broken

Style

The artists style is ………………..

I can tell this by …………………….

Technique, abstract, realistic, surrealistic

Conclusion

I like/dislike this work because………………..