Grade by Grade
D. Composition: Expressing Ideas and Creating Texts · Writing with Purpose and Voice

Publishing, Presenting and Reflecting

D3.1 D3.2 D3.3 D2.2 D1.5 A1.2About 40 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can make a final copy that looks neat and uses simple techniques to make my message stronger.
  • I can read my writing aloud with expression.
  • I can tell which strategies helped me present my work.
  • I can explain how I have grown as a writer and set a new goal.

Words to know

publish
To make a final copy of your writing to share with an audience.
final copy
The neat, finished version after revising and editing.
layout
How the title, words and pictures are arranged on the page or screen.
expression
Changing your voice to show feelings and meaning when you read aloud.
pace
How fast or slow you read.
reflect
To think back about what you did and what you learned.
portfolio
A collection of your writing that shows how you have grown.

Remember from Grade 2

In Grade 2 you made neat final copies, read your work aloud with expression, and named the strategies that helped you present. In Grade 3 you will choose techniques on purpose to make your final copy work better for your reader, and you will explain how your strategies helped you grow.

The writing process

You've done a lot of work to get here!

  1. Plan (purpose, audience, form, ideas, research, organizer)
  2. Draft
  3. Revise (clarity, focus, coherence)
  4. Edit and proofread
  5. Publish and present
  6. Reflect

Not every piece of writing needs to be published. Choose your best pieces, or the ones that have a real audience waiting.

1. Plan2. Draft3. Revise4. Edit and proofread5. Publish and present6. ReflectThen starta new piece!
The writing process goes in a loop: plan, draft, revise, edit, publish and reflect. Reflecting helps you plan your next piece even better.

Publishing techniques

When you publish, you choose simple techniques to make your text clearer and stronger for your audience:

  • Layout: title at the top, pictures near the words they match, space between paragraphs.
  • Illustrations and diagrams with captions.
  • Text features: headings, bold words, a cover, a table of contents for a long piece.
  • Handwriting: your neatest printing. If you are learning cursive, you could write a short piece, like a card or a poem, in cursive.
  • Digital tools: a font that is easy to read, one or two pictures per page or slide, and not too many effects.
How They Help the Soilpicturecaption
A published report page: a heading on top, a picture with a caption, and neat lines of text beside it.
Worked example

Let's choose techniques for an effect

Zoe is publishing her poem Snow Day to hang in the school hallway. She wants readers to feel the quiet, sparkly feeling of snow.

  1. Handwriting: her neatest work, with space between lines so each line of the poem stands out. Because it's short, she tries the title in cursive.
  2. Layout: the poem in the middle of the page, with lots of empty space around it, like a snowy field.
  3. Illustration: small snowflakes drawn around the border.
  4. Check the effect: she asks a friend, "How does this make you feel?" Her friend says, "Calm and wintry." It worked!

Zoe chose layout, handwriting and pictures on purpose to create the feeling she wanted.

Presenting: reading aloud with expression

When you read your writing to an audience, your voice is a tool.

ToolHow to use it
VolumeLoud enough for the person at the back to hear. Softer for quiet or sad parts.
PaceNot too fast! Slow down for important parts.
PausesShort pause at a comma ( , ). Longer stop at a period ( . ).
Questions ( ? )Let your voice go up at the end.
Exclamations ( ! )Show excitement or surprise.
Character voicesChange your voice a little for each character's dialogue.
Eye contactLook up at your audience now and then.
PostureStand tall, feet still, hold your paper below your chin.
Presenting tools
Worked example

Let's practise expression

Read this line from The Runaway Toque: "Oh no!" Kofi gasped. "Grandma made that for me!"

  1. The exclamation marks tell us Kofi is upset and surprised.
  2. Read "Oh no!" with a gasp in your voice, a little louder.
  3. Pause after Kofi gasped.
  4. Read "Grandma made that for me!" sounding worried, maybe a bit shaky.
  5. Practise it three times, then read it to someone.

Expression makes the audience feel what the characters feel.

Just for fun

Practise reading aloud in front of a mirror. It's the only audience that copies your expression perfectly... and it never yawns!

Reflecting: thinking about your growth

Good writers look back to see what helped them. Ask yourself:

  • Which strategy helped me plan? (a web, talking first, an organizer)
  • Which strategy helped me present? (practising out loud, marking pauses, looking up)
  • How have I improved? Compare a piece from the start of the year with one from now.
  • What is my next goal?

Example: "Practising in front of my mirror helped me feel calm, so I looked up at the audience more. My stories used to have no problem. Now they have a problem and a solution! My next goal is to use more dialogue."

Being a great audience

When others present: look at the speaker, listen quietly, clap at the end, and give one kind, specific comment: "I liked the part where..."

Hands-on activity

Author's celebration

You need: one finished piece of your writing from this unit, art supplies, and an audience (family, friends, or stuffed animals!).

  1. Publish it: make a neat final copy with a cover or title, an illustration or diagram with a caption, and a layout that is easy to read.
  2. Mark your script: draw a small / where you will pause and underline words to read with extra expression.
  3. Practise reading aloud 3 times, once in front of a mirror.
  4. Present in your "author's chair." Ask your audience for one I liked... comment.
  5. Reflect in writing: One strategy that helped me present was ___ because ___. I have grown as a writer because ___. My next goal is ___.
  6. Start a portfolio folder and put your piece and reflection inside.

Your turn

1

Put in order: edit, plan, publish, draft, revise.

2

Name two publishing techniques.

3

What should your voice do at a question mark?

4

What should you do at a period when reading aloud?

5

Why do we look up at the audience sometimes?

6

Finish this reflection: "One strategy that helped me present was..."

7

What does a good audience do?

More practice: warm-up

1

What does publish mean?

2

What does pace mean?

3

What is a portfolio?

4

Should you read very fast when presenting?

5

What does reflect mean?

More practice: on your own

1

You are publishing a report about frogs. Name two text features that would help readers.

2

How would you read this aloud? "Watch out!" yelled Sam.

3

Your poem is about a sad day. What volume and pace would you use?

4

Why might a writer choose to write a short poem in cursive for the final copy?

5

Write a goal for your next piece of writing.

Challenge

1

Compare: Liam reads his story fast, looking only at his paper, in the same voice the whole time. What three tips would you give him?

2

You are publishing a persuasive poster for a park clean-up. Which techniques would you choose, and what effect would each have?

3

Write a 3-sentence reflection about how you have grown as a writer in this unit.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

What is the right order of the writing process?

2.

What should you do at a comma when reading aloud?

3.

Why might Zoe leave lots of empty space around her snow poem?

4.

Which is a good reflection?

5.

Which shows good expression?

6.

What does a good audience do?

For parents and teachers

Big idea (D3.1, D3.2, D3.3): Grade 3 writers produce final texts using simple techniques to achieve an effect, present them (including reading aloud with expression), and reflect on the strategies that helped them present and improve as writers (D1.5, A1.2). Handwriting (D2.2) is taught in the Foundations of Writing unit; here, children may try cursive for a short final copy if they are ready.

How to help at home:

  • Be an enthusiastic audience. Ask your child to read their writing at supper or on a video call with relatives.
  • Keep a portfolio folder. Compare early and recent work together and point out specific growth.
  • Ask reflective questions: "What helped you most? What will you try next time?"

Common difficulties:

  • Rushing when reading aloud. Mark pause slashes on the page and practise.
  • Spending too long decorating. Remind them that the writing is the star and pictures should support it.
  • Vague reflections ("It was good"). Use the sentence frame from the activity.