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WRITING NON-FICTION 1918 WRITING NON-FICTION

Balanced argumentBalanced argumentDefinitionTo get a good Level 5, you must be able to construct a balanced argument. A balancedargument means looking at an issue or topic from different points of view. It often startswith a question and the arguments are then sorted into those FOR and those AGAINSTthe issue. At the end, you will often have to reach a conclusion. A balanced argument issometimes called a discussion!It is important to plan your balanced argument. Below is an example of how to do this.

Achieved?

Text plan Issue: Should primary school chi ldren walk to school?

Finally, end with your conclusion, based

on the weighing up of the evidence.

Walking is a good thing but we

need safety schemes like parentrotas for escorts.

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State the arguments AGAINST and giveevidence to back them up. This could bemore than one paragraph. To get to Level 5 you must present

ideas in depth and give more thanone argument AGAINST the issue.

Deal with each argument FOR in apoint-for-point way and anticipateobjections.

1) Trafc and stranger danger.2) There are safer places for children

to mix and play together.3) Pollution from the school run

is minimal.

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State the arguments FOR and giveevidence to back them up. This could bemore than one paragraph. To get to Level 5 you must present

ideas in depth and give more thanone argument FOR the issue.

1) Good exercise2) Social development3) Fewer cars/pollution

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Start with a statement of the ISSUEunder discussion and an overview of themain arguments.

Fewer primary-age children walk toschool than ever before. Walking ishealthy. Childrens safety is animportant concern.

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LANGUAGE FEATURES Use simple present tense, e.g. to walk not to be walking . Be impersonal except in the conclusion. Use connectives, e.g.therefore , because , however . Use emotional language to engage the interest and feelings of the readers. Use technical language.

Written exampleShould primary school children walk to school?

Fewer primary-age children walk to school now than ever before.Many children leave primary school never having made their ownway to or from school. Health research suggests that walking couldhave an important role to play in the health of the nation. However,this needs to be balanced against concerns about childrens safety.

There can be no doubt that regular walking aids physical wellbeing.

Indeed the latest Government research shows that those takingregular exercise are more alert, efcient and less prone todaydreaming. Furthermore, schools involved in Walk to Schoolweeks have reported that children improve socially and get onbetter in school. Parents also think that children become moreindependent as they begin to deal with the world outside theirhome.

Environmentalists also campaign in this area. They claim that asmuch as 30% of trafc on the road between 8:30 and 9:00 is dueto parents making short journeys to school. If children walked toschool, trafc would be reduced. Roads would therefore be saferand the air cleaner.

On the other hand, many would say that walking without adultsupervision often puts children at risk. The dangers are twofold from trafc and from strangers. There are many cases of childrenbeing snatched from within shouting distance of their parents.In busy modern life, it is not often practical for adults to spend theirtime walking children to school before rushing off to work. In anycase, children are taking exercise in clubs and after-school classesin a safe, supervised environment.

While acknowledging the environmentalists concerns, otherresearch suggests that short car trips to school are insignicant inthe battle against pollution. Other sources of pollution should belooked at before this one.

There is clearly an issue of child safety in the Walk to Schooldebate, however the arguments for it remain strong. Ways of ensuring walking is supervised (perhaps by adults on a rota) shouldbe explored. The health of children will only be improved if theyexercise at every opportunity.

A statement of the issue and anoverview of the arguments.

Technical language. Connective.

Arguments FOR the issue, with

evidence. Technical language. Connective.

Argument FOR the issue, withevidence and linking of ideas.

Technical language. Connective.

Arguments AGAINST the issue,evidence. Responds to arguments FOR. Emotional language. Connective phrase.

Argument AGAINST the issue, wevidence.

Anticipates argument FOR andresponds to it.

Emotional language.

Conclusion. States the opinion bon a weighing up of the evidenc

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SPELLING 53

Pluralisation (making plurals)There are several different rules when you are making plurals.

5 2 S PE LL ING

SPELLING SPELLING Your spelling will be assessed in the Spelling Test. This is the only time thatyour spelling will be specically marked. The spelling test aims to check yourspelling skills by asking you to spell particular words within a piece of text.

The test will cover:

basic spelling rules that you probably already know;

more difcult or unusual words that might not conform to a rule.

Work through the spelling rules that follow and make sure you understand them.They will help you to do well if you learn them properly.

Achieved?

KEY FACTSThis is a list of the 20 most frequently misspelt words in the National Tests over the last few years.Make sure you get them right this year!

change

advertise

injured

serious

surprise

nastiest

designed

regardless

attempts

individual

technique

swimming

ready

vanishing

known

stripes

perfectly

future

produce

themselves

Practice questions

Make these singular words into plurals:house, jug, phone, lunch, push, box, computer,

mat, penny, half, wall, zoo, pony, packetDesign a table to show which words belong towhich spelling group.

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Collect as many different words asyou can that end with y, x, z, s.Write them down in their singularform and then as plurals.

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Most words just need you to add s . For example:dog dogs , hat hats , table tables .

Words that end with a hissing or buzzing sound needyou to add es , or they sound and look funny. Forexample: fox foxes , church churches , wish wishes ,guess guesses , buzz buzzes . So, words ending inx , z ,ch, sh or s normally follow this rule.

Words that end in y have their own rules. If the letterbefore the y is a VOWEL (a , e , i , o, u), you just add s .For example:boy boys , toy toys , key keys . But, if the word ends in y and has a CONSONANT (all theother letters that arent vowels) before the y you needto drop the y and add ies . For example:baby babies ,story stories , y ies .

Words that end in lf sometimes need you to change thef to ves . For example:wolf wolves , self selves , butnot gulf gulfs .

You need to be aware of the irregular plurals too, e.g.child children , woman and man women and men ,mouse mice .

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Use this method to help you learn new words.

LOOK Look carefully at the word.

SAY Say each word aloud.

COVER Cover the word and remember how it looks.

WRITE Write the word.

CHECK Check that you have spelled the word correctly.