WAGOLL: Using Exemplars to Improve Student Writing

What is Wagoll?

The term "WAGOLL," which stands for "What A Good One Looks Like," refers to high-quality models or examples that teachers use to guide students toward producing exceptional writing. These models are integral in teaching various forms of writing, such as explanation texts and non-chronological reports, and are particularly valuable in developing effective literacy skills. By clearly demonstrating what excellent writing entails, WAGOLLs enable students to grasp the essential attributes of strong, effective writing.

Primarily employed as a tool in writing instruction, WAGOLLs facilitate a deeper understanding by providing concrete examples of successful work. This practice helps students identify and internalize the specific skills and knowledge necessary to excel in writing tasks. By integrating these exemplary models into classroom activities, educators give students the chance to dissect and comprehend the components of quality writing, enhancing their learning process.

WAGOLLs also serve a critical role in setting clear academic standards and expectations. They outline the level of achievement that students should strive for in order to meet the objectives of the lesson. Regarded as a foundational element in literacy education, these models offer rich opportunities for students to engage more profoundly with the lesson's goals and allow for meaningful exploration through comprehension questions. This strategic use of WAGOLLs not only improves students' writing capabilities but also boosts their confidence in applying these skills independently.

‍

How do you use Wagoll in teaching?

Teachers may use WAGOLL as a visual aid to bring creativity in class at any time during lessons. Following are some of the ways teachers can use WAGOLL in their day to day teaching:

Success Criteria: WAGOLL can be used to give students a 'Success Criteria' or to show them what worked well in creating a piece of writing. By doing so, teachers would help their students understand the steps they must take for effective writing.

Self-assessment: WAGOLL resources can be used to help students perform peer and self-assessment. This would help students to mark their work and they would be able to identify what exactly is needed to create a WAGOLL.

Motivation: Teachers may use WAGOLL to help motivate their students to improve their work. Teachers may use their highest-quality model texts, what they have composed as a WAGOLL example, to show that their students are doing great.

Creativity: If their students show a lack of inspiration, teachers may show WAGOLL resources to the students. By doing so, they would help students to adapt ideas and bring creativity to their writing skills.

Better Understanding: Teachers may use WAGOLL resources while introducing their students to a new style of writing. By showing it to the students, teachers would help their students to visualise and understand it better.

‍

What are the implications of Wagoll for literacy?

An abundance of aspiration, powerful success criteria and detailed model texts, will help children create the best of their work.

• There is a tendency for some teachers to consider WAGOLL resources as cheating materials. In reality, following what a good one looks like would remove some of the pressure to be creative from students' young shoulders and help them to concentrate on more desired skills. If pupils' work resembles the example they were provided with at the beginning, it would also give them a sense of satisfaction.
• Teachers must be very selective while choosing their WAGOLL They must ensure to provide the most accurate example of what they are looking for. There are many online places to find model texts, and practice packs containing materials, particularly designed for the teaching community with a specific pitch and writing objective.
• Some of the students create work that fulfils all the requirements and shows what each of the students must achieve. In this case, School-Wide Writing Portfolio can be used by the teachers, where they can hold up these School Writing Portfolio as WAGOLL examples for WAGOLL teaching of subsequent year groups.
• It is not right to expect a learner to get it right in the first attempt. Teachers may use simple teaching ideas and model instruction to help students through the curriculum effectively. This approach reduces cognitive load while maintaining student engagement and providing meaningful feedback throughout the learning process.

‍

WAGOLL has profound implications for literacy development across all subjects. When students regularly encounter high-quality exemplars, they internalise sophisticated vocabulary, sentence structures, and genre conventions that might otherwise take years to develop naturally. This accelerated exposure to academic language patterns is particularly beneficial for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds who may have limited access to rich literacy experiences outside school.

The approach supports both reading and writing development simultaneously. As students analyse exemplars, they develop critical reading skills whilst building their understanding of how effective texts are constructed. This dual benefit makes WAGOLL particularly powerful for struggling writers who often lack the foundational knowledge of text structure and language patterns that confident writers possess.

Furthermore, WAGOLL enables teachers to make abstract literacy concepts concrete. Rather than explaining what 'sophisticated vocabulary' or 'varied sentence structure' means in isolation, teachers can point to specific examples within exemplars. This explicit modelling helps demystify the writing process and makes high-quality literacy accessible to all students, regardless of their starting point.

‍

Research Evidence: Why WAGOLL Works

Research consistently demonstrates that exemplar-based teaching approaches like WAGOLL significantly enhance student writing outcomes. John Sweller's cognitive load theory provides compelling evidence for why this approach works: when students examine high-quality examples, they can focus their mental resources on understanding the structure and features of effective writing, rather than struggling to generate ideas from scratch. This scaffolded approach reduces the cognitive burden on learners, particularly benefiting those who find writing challenging.

Studies in modelling and imitation learning further support WAGOLL's effectiveness. Research by Bereiter and Scardamalia reveals that students learn writing conventions more rapidly when they can observe and analyse successful examples before attempting their own work. The visual nature of exemplars helps students internalise the implicit rules of different text types, from persuasive essays to narrative writing, making abstract concepts concrete and achievable.

Classroom-based research reinforces these theoretical foundations. Teachers implementing WAGOLL consistently report improved student confidence, clearer understanding of success criteria, and higher quality written outcomes across ability levels. The approach proves particularly effective for developing writers who benefit from explicit modelling before independent practice, creating a bridge between teacher demonstration and student application.

‍

WAGOLL Examples Across the Curriculum

WAGOLL exemplars extend far beyond traditional English lessons, offering powerful scaffolding across every curriculum area. In science, teachers might share exemplar lab reports that demonstrate precise methodology descriptions and analytical conclusions, whilst history educators can model essay structures that effectively integrate evidence with historical argument. Mathematics teachers increasingly use exemplar problem-solving approaches, showing students how to articulate mathematical reasoning clearly. Graham and Perin's research on writing instruction emphasises that subject-specific modelling significantly improves students' ability to communicate disciplinary knowledge, making WAGOLL particularly valuable in content-rich subjects.

Effective cross-curricular WAGOLL implementation requires careful consideration of genre and audience. Geography teachers might model report writing for environmental impact assessments, demonstrating how to synthesise data with geographical concepts. Religious studies educators can share exemplar comparative essays that respectfully analyse different belief systems. The key lies in selecting exemplars that illuminate both content understanding and the specific literacy demands of each subject. Rosenshine's principles of instruction highlight how worked examples reduce cognitive load, allowing students to focus on understanding disciplinary conventions rather than struggling with unfamiliar formats.

Successful implementation involves collaborative planning between subject teachers and literacy coordinators to identify the most impactful writing genres within each discipline. Regular sharing of student exemplars across departments creates a school-wide culture of literacy excellence.

‍

Overcoming Common WAGOLL Challenges

Despite their proven effectiveness, WAGOLL implementation often encounters three persistent challenges that can undermine learning outcomes. The most common obstacle is student over-dependency, where learners become reliant on exemplars rather than developing independent writing skills. This occurs when teachers provide exemplars without sufficient scaffolding to help students understand why the writing works effectively, leading to superficial copying rather than deep learning.

Finding high-quality exemplars presents another significant hurdle, particularly for specific text types or curriculum requirements. Many teachers struggle to locate authentic examples that match their students' developmental stage whilst demonstrating excellent craft. The solution lies in building collaborative exemplar banks within departments and gradually developing a curated collection over time, rather than seeking perfect examples immediately.

To address these challenges, successful practitioners implement a structured approach: introduce exemplars with explicit discussion of techniques, provide multiple examples showing variation within quality, and systematically withdraw support as students internalise the standards. Graham and Perin's research on effective writing instruction emphasises that exemplars must be combined with strategy instruction and guided practice to prevent passive consumption and promote active learning.

‍

Creating and Selecting Effective WAGOLL Materials

Creating effective WAGOLL materials requires careful consideration of both learning objectives and student needs. Exemplars must demonstrate clear features of the target writing form whilst remaining accessible to learners at their current developmental stage. Ruth Culham's research on trait-based writing instruction emphasises that effective models showcase specific, observable qualities that students can identify and replicate in their own work. Teachers should select or adapt exemplars that highlight particular writing features, whether structural elements like paragraph organisation or stylistic choices such as varied sentence openings.

The most powerful WAGOLL materials often combine multiple examples at different quality levels, allowing students to make comparisons and develop critical evaluation skills. Penny Kittle's classroom research demonstrates that presenting a range of exemplars, from developing to proficient, helps students understand the progression of writing quality rather than viewing excellence as an unattainable standard. When creating original exemplars, teachers should deliberately incorporate both strengths and areas for improvement, making the writing feel authentic and achievable whilst maintaining clear learning targets.

Successful implementation relies on matching exemplar complexity to classroom context and learning intentions. Teachers might begin with simpler models for introducing new concepts, then progress to more sophisticated examples as student confidence develops. Regular review and updating of WAGOLL collections ensures materials remain relevant and engaging, reflecting current curriculum expectations whilst addressing the specific writing challenges observed in student work.

‍