Duration 25–35 minutes
Grouping Individual + class discussion
Strategy Skills
Materials
- Multiple mentor texts showing different voices
- Voice analysis worksheet
Teacher Instructions
- Introduce the concept of "voice" in writing – the unique way an author sounds on the page.
- Provide students with two or three short texts that demonstrate distinctly different voices.
- Students read and analyse each text, identifying what makes each voice unique.
- As a class, create a list of features that contribute to voice: word choice, sentence length, formality, rhythm, etc.
- Students experiment with adopting different voices in their own short writing samples.
Teaching Tips
- This works well to explore the "voices" of academic writing across different subjects.
- Pair contrasting voices for maximum impact – a formal report vs a personal blog, for example.
- Encourage students to find their own writing voice through experimentation.
Student Handout
Analyse the voices in the mentor texts. What makes each author sound different?