🇦🇺 NAPLAN writing · Years 3, 5, 7 and 9

NAPLAN Writing

One prompt, narrative or persuasive, marked on ten criteria. Here is what the markers look for, and how to practise it at home.

10 criteria Narrative or persuasive Year 3 on paper
NAPLAN yearYear 3Year 5Year 7Year 9All years
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How the NAPLAN writing test is marked — and what to practise

One prompt, narrative or persuasive, revealed on the day. Every response is marked on the same ten criteria (ACARA's marking guides): audience, text structure, ideas, character and setting (narrative) or persuasive devices (persuasive), vocabulary, cohesion, paragraphing, sentence structure, punctuation and spelling. In the narrative guide those score out of 6, 4, 5, 4, 5, 4, 2, 6, 5 and 6 — 47 marks, and the sentence-level criteria (sentence structure, punctuation and spelling) are a third of them.

The Writing Coach checks six of the ten on your child's own writing — spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, paragraphing, cohesion and vocabulary — and quotes the sentences back. The other four — audience, text structure, ideas, and character and setting or persuasive devices — are judgements a reader makes, so read the piece together and ask:

  • Audience: would a reader who was not in the room understand and want to keep reading?
  • Text structure: narrative — an orientation, a complication and a resolution; persuasive — a clear position, reasons in paragraphs, and a conclusion that returns to the position.
  • Ideas: are they developed, not just listed? One idea explored beats five mentioned.
  • Character and setting / persuasive devices: can you picture the character and the place; or does the writing use evidence, rhetorical questions, repetition and appeals to the reader?

Year 3 sits writing on paper: practise a timed, handwritten piece as well — 40 minutes at Year 3, 42 at Years 5, 7 and 9.

Sit a NAPLAN writing test

One prompt, narrative or persuasive, revealed when your child presses Start, against the real clock — then the Writing Coach checks it and shows where it sits on these ten criteria: a range for the six the Coach can measure, and a guided self-mark for the four a reader judges. Year 3 can print a paper test.

Year 3 → Year 5 → Year 7 → Year 9 →

Open the ordinary Writing Coach  ·  ← Back to NAPLAN papers

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