Do you have enough independent writing to assess your year 6 pupils against the writing Teacher Assessment Framework for the end of Key Stage 2? In this balanced argument KS2 writing task, pupils will write about whether people should shop locally or globally.
Plazoom has created a selection of writing activities, linked to the foundation subjects where possible, to provide opportunities for independent writing. These could be used to assess pupils against the TAF statements for writing, providing vital evidence of the standard that pupils are working which could be used for internal or external moderation.
‘Pupils’ writing, on which teachers base their judgements, must be produced independently by the pupil.’ (Key stage 2 teacher assessment guidance, October 2019). This writing activity provides success criteria to help pupils understand what they have learnt and a stimulus for writing but teachers should ‘avoid modelling or over scaffolding the expected outcome.’ (Key Stage 2 teacher assessment guidance, October 2019)
You can use this resource within a geography topic investigating global trade links and/or the distribution of natural resources. Pupils will discuss differing viewpoints, using their geographical knowledge to explain their ideas.
You can also use this activity to provide an opportunity for cross-curricular writing, allowing pupils to complete independent research, demonstrating their subject knowledge of local and global trade links.
Balanced argument KS2 resource pack contents
Personal writing skills checklist
For pupils to write their own writing checklists to encourage independent editing.
Writing skills checklist
A list of features, without modelled examples, for pupils to use as a checklist for editing writing.
Key phrases for balanced arguments KS2 poster
A poster for display with examples of sentence starts that pupils could use in the balanced argument to create cohesion.
Year 6 punctuation poster
A poster that lists punctuation pupils should use in year 6 with examples.
How to write a balanced argument poster
A poster to display listing features found in a balanced argument.
Discussion cards
A set of PDF cards to prompt discussion about local and global trade links.
A set of PDF cards with information about shopping locally and globally that pupils could use in their writing.
Balanced argument planning sheet
To support pupils when planning and organising their ideas.
Themed writing paper
A PDF writing sheet for pupils to use when writing the final draft of their writing.
TAF Statements the writing could provide evidence for
WTS
- Use paragraphs to organise ideas.
- Use capital letters, full stops, question marks, commas for lists and apostrophes for contraction mostly correctly.
EXS
- Write effectively for a range of purposes and audiences, selecting language that shows good awareness of the reader.
- Use a range of devices to build cohesion (e.g. conjunctions, adverbials of time and place, pronouns, synonyms) within and across paragraphs.
- Use the range of punctuation taught at key stage 2 mostly correctly.
GDS
- Write effectively for a range of purposes and audiences, selecting the appropriate form and drawing independently on what they have read as models for their own writing.
- Use the range of punctuation taught at KS2 correctly and, where necessary, use such punctuation precisely to enhance meaning and avoid ambiguity