How to Write What You Want to Say

Students who struggle with putting their ideas into writing need the language that mature writers use. This book provides that language in the form of sentence starters and linking words and phrases. It gives parents, teachers and students a unique tool for improving writing and suits students from the middle years of schooling to tertiary level.

How to write what you want to say: a guide for secondary students who know what they want to say but can't find the words provides parents, teachers and students with a unique tool for improving writing and suits students from Year 7 to university level.

Patricia Hipwell is an independent literacy consultant for her own company, logonliteracy. She delivers literacy professional development to teachers in Australia, and works predominantly in Queensland schools. Patricia has specialised in assisting all teachers to be literacy teachers, especially high school subject specialists who often struggle with what it means to be content area teacher and a literacy teacher. Assessment has been an area of interest for many years and much of Patricia's work enables teachers to create assessment that is "do-able." Students often have very little idea of what they are required to do and rely heavily on parents/caregivers to assist them. The idea for this book came from the author's experiences with her own children, especially Elizabeth, who was pursuing tertiary studies at the time of writing. Students struggle with putting into words what they want to say, especially when the "saying" involves writing. It has been Patricia's experience that students need help to develop the language that mature writers use. In this book there are sentence starters and key connectives that students should use when demonstrating a particular writing skill. Language is the way it is because of the job it does, and letting students into the secret of this makes a significant difference to the quality of the work they produce. Patricia was a secondary teacher for years, having worked in Queensland, Australia and the United Kingdom since 1974. As a literacy consultant, Patricia has developed a number of resources to assist student's literacy development. She is available to provide professional development to teachers to support the use of resources, including this one, which she recommends.