The Tow Way of Functional Grammar

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The T-ow! (Way) of Functional Grammar
The Tao of Pooh To know the Way, We go the
Way We do the Way The way we do The things we
do. Its all there in front of you, But if you
try too hard to see it, Youll become Confused.
I am me, And you are you, As you can see But
when you do The things that you can do, You will
find the Way, And the Way will follow you. The
Tao of Pooh The Te of Piglet by B. Hoff, page
170
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How can I help my students write more descriptive
narratives?
Narrative Generic structure Grammatical
choices Noun groups Adjectives Adjectival phrases
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• What we say or write is always a matter of
  exercising choices, designing our texts with
  some purpose in mind.
• David Butt et al, Using Functional Grammar An
  Explorers Guide,1995, page 5
• Text
• Purpose
• Choices

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Text type Narrative Purpose To tell a story as
a as a means of making sense of
events and happenings in the
world Choices Writing and shaping
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Text When writing and shaping students
- develop simple plots, character
descriptions and settings - develop real
or imagined settings by using some
elaboration to describe time and place
in which the story is set

Level 3 Elaborations Draft Oct 05
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Purpose to entertain or amuse to inform or
instruct to describe or create
to emotionally move the reader
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Choices Using noun groups with more than one
adjective or adjectival phrase we
need grammatical metalanguage to exploretexts.
David Butt et al, Using
Functional Grammar An Explorers Guide,1995,
page 22
B. Derewianka, A Grammar Companion for Primary
Teachers,1998, page 10
It was interesting to watch the students
recognise that if a pattern was used for every
noun, the writing became slow-moving and
predictable. It followed, then, that writers
needed to be selective about how they built up
their nominal groups, just as they needed to
select their nominal groups with care. M.
Williams, In the past I was clueless. Writing
scary stories in the middle school. Pen 136,
PETA, page 5
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Observational Writing Select a location Observe
and write We want to Use our senses
Show not just tell
Artists Tools Paintbrush Materials Canvas Colour C
hoose and mix
Writers Tools Pencil Materials Paper Words Choose
and mix
To create a vivid image or picture in the
readers mind
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Sharing ideas What is the same about the jobs
these words are doing? Who or what? Naming things
such as sights, sounds, smells, feelings and
taste Nouns or things (participants)
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Thing Noun Naming word
Determiners Articles
Numerative
Describers (Epithets)
Th
oo
a
low
flat
swishing
see through
wind
The only little round
wet clear puddle The
group of tiny oval smooth
green leaves The
short fluffy
rainbow bird The bunch of
tall skinny frizzy
teachers The many elliptical
green
leaves
Multiple describers, classifiers and qualifiers
makes reading text so difficult. Workshop Two -
Nominal Groups, Greenbank State School Dr Beryl
Exley, 7/2/07
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Noun groups - Adjectival phrases The large tall
rectangular piece of bark laid on the
ground. The lonely, slim person with the
Greenbank uniform was sitting down.
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4Ds PMI
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we are viewing grammar as a resource an
array of possibilities from which we can choose
as well as a way of extending a learners
potential to make and produce meaning. B.
Derewianka, A Grammar Companion for Primary
Teachers,1998, page 2
grammar is a loaded weapon and youd better
handle it gingerly while youre getting the
knack. David Butt et al, Using Functional
Grammar an Explorers Guide,1995, page
7.