Using Authorship to promote better writers – Part 21

WHAT?

I asked Verity for some help. I had thought about writing letters to Santa but the time frame doesn’t work, that will work better later in the term. Verity was quick to offer help and suggested that Santa letters need a range of genre. I put this to one side and investigated the other plan she gave me on writing letters to influence others.

This was just what I needed as it used a letter written to Mr Cunliffe, our Deputy Principal) on the options for wet days. Not quite the letter I was looking for so I wrote a letter to Mrs Taylor on the inclusion of the Year 3s in the Senior School Athletics event. Thinking about what Verity had said in her PD, that it is essential that the children connect to the text, I thought that this would work.

I began the lesson by reading the letter out to the class and asking what we learning to do, as a class, we analysed the letter and reverting back to the old technique of highlighting the structure of the argument.

The next lesson started with the the children watching a video on youtube on plastic pollution and the effects that it was having on animal and bird life in the oceans. I asked the children if they thought plastic pollution was a problem at school. After discussing this, I asked the children to go outside, only for 1 minute, and find a piece of plastic. It was very scary to see that all 25 children retrieved a piece of plastic from just outside our class. We used this to form our rhetorical question and begin our introduction. During this I emphasised what a paragraph needs in the way of sentences and facts.

We continued the next lesson by reviewing what a paragraph needed. That a paragraph needs beginning (topic sentence), middle (2 sentences with facts) and an end (topic sentence). We crafted 3 paragraphs for our letter to the school that we will make iMovies on to get the message out to a wider audience. Using the idea of making an iMovie has motivated the children to write more.

SO WHAT?

By using the highlighters, the ’buy-in’ was much better and our authorship lesson was completed well within time. I think this was because that the children saw this as an easy option rather than writing. But this was what I needed to do to get the children back on board to write an argument, they had been very confused with the stop start of the previous lessons.

I used a shared writing approach as I know this enables my less able writers. During this 2nd lesson, I had the RTLB working and observing the lesson. She wrote, “The writing session brought out some interesting and thoughtful ideas in the brainstorm. Some really thoughtful and individualised ideas were developing.  A lot of students completed 2 or 3 paragraphs and used persuasive techniques; questions, evidence. Useful sentences starters for paragraphs were brainstormed and written up on small whiteboard.” She also wrote, “Target students appear to need the follow up group time as soon as teacher can be available - as they are finding it hard to concentrate and think carefully where they are at, with the others being taught ahead of them, and them needing a slower pace and more support. It seemed the higher students were ready to go to desks to work independently, after the instructions and teacher modelling. This would allow for the lower ones to get their follow up group time.”

NOW WHAT?

I need to change it up for these struggling writers as my more capable writers ‘get it’. I wonder if the desks were rearranged would work so that I can rove around the class and give those who need more support. The RTLB teachers have provided files for these children that have spelling booklets, prompt cards and buddy feedback cards that they plan to teach ‘buddies’ in the class with.

I am still keen to work with the idea of an iMovie to support and motivate the children to write for an audience. I have given them storyboards to plan their recordings so I am looking forward to how this develops.

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”

- Thomas A. Edison

Using Authorship to promote better writers – Part 20

WHAT?

My next step was to find the perfect genre that adds detail and makes connections to the audience. Thinking about this made me gravititate towards persuasive writing. I searched numerous lesson plans on the internet and I found a blog from a teacher in America who had used an internet platform to give her students a voice. I read the pieces from the site and copied one for an exemplar and began to plan the lesson.

I used the planning template and looked into what my students needed to learn. I knew that my focus was going to be more about the structure of a piece of persuasive writing, in the analysis phase, I planned for the children to be focussed on a rhetorical question and the setting of the piece. This would help the children to add details and to connect with their audience.

To connect with their lives, I planned for the children to think of something that they wanted from their parents – a new iPad, going to a friend’s place, staying up late. During this part, the children would THINK-PAIR-SHARE, what they would say to convince their parents to get what they wanted. My plan required the class to make a list of things that they wanted change in the school and who we needed to persuade.

SO WHAT?

I had carefully planned this part of the lesson but unfortunately I didn’t take this lesson, my release teacher did. She was very enthusiastic and created a list of things that they wanted to change in the school. But for the following lesson I felt that the children were missing to the point of the lesson and I needed to change/ respond to their needs.

My next step involved using more of a scaffolding for the text and use bare bones boxes to help the children see what they needed to do. Because the point of the lesson was lost I needed to refresh my ideas and look for another way to achieve what the needs of the children.

NOW WHAT?

How can I find a scaffolding that works for my class, especially my priority learners? Who can help me to help me get on the right track again? I know that an argument will create success for my learners so I need persevere with this genre and find purpose for the writing.

Back to the drawing board…

“Failing doesn't make us a failure. But not trying to do better, to be better, does make us fools.” 
― Wes Moore

Using Authorship to promote better writers – Part 19

WHAT?

As part of my assessment and to see where my next steps are for my learners, I decided it was time to mark my children’s writing in their books against the writing rubric and gather data on my hunches. The writing rubric has been created using the literacy progressions and was used extensively when we marked for National Standards. The children also have a ‘children friendly’ version in their writing books.

I have been teaching is mostly guided writing with the class in their writing books and using the exemplar, scaffolding ideas for the children. The success of this helps the children to structure the writing. I took some leave before the holidays and while I was out of class, the children had written using the ideas from their ‘seed’ notebooks to describe their own ‘object’ that they had outgrown and maybe still has special memories for them.

To make the job more do-able, I decided to mark 9 books at a time. I focussed on the pieces that the children had written independently and took my time to be fair and highlight their success on the writing rubric. I systematically worked through the criteria – Planning, Audience & Purposes, Content & Ideas, Structure, Grammar, Spelling, Punctuation, Revising and Publishing.

Due to the explicit teaching of precise language choice and using different sentence starters and other language devices, the children’s writing has made shift in the deeper features of structure and language features. One child (who is one of my low ability writers) had written without any errors and sequenced correctly – “My mum knows this book off by heart because she has read it so often.” Another low writer had written, “This is so special to me because I’ve had it since I was born, and my friend Ruby gave it to me.”

I also shared the children’s successes with them in the next teaching session and showed them where they had made shift on their own rubric. As well as I messaged a couple of families to share how impressed I was with the improvement in their child’s writing. From one parent – “That is a big improvement and a lovely and very correct story about her snuggle. She did sit down at home over 2 nights I think last term and wrote down all her ideas about her snuggle blanket and got my help with the spelling. She wrote the words she couldn't spell either in her note book or on a piece of paper and took it to school. So maybe not the huge improvement in spelling but I am sure there is still improvement and certainly with initiative as she knew all about what she was to do!”

SO WHAT?

Using the rubric help me to evaluate the children’s success and identify where I show be taking their writing as we move onwards. It has highlighted that we need to use to work on the deeper features of Structure especially on sequenced events with time connectives, e.g. first, next, after that, finally and using linking to show cause & effect, e.g. so, so that, as a result, this means that. Another area of need is Audience and Purpose - Recognises they are writing for others.

Another reason for marking using the writing rubric was have evidence for my PaCT judgements, that are needing to be done before the middle of the this term. As a team, we are going to moderate our judgements to have a clear picture of our cohort and where to next. I have spoken to Verity on how I have marked my writing and gave her a couple of pieces to check through and to see if I am on the ‘right’ track. She also suggested that I use the exemplars from tki as they are a great way to check.

NOW WHAT?

The writing genre that I have yet to teach with purpose is persuasive writing. Luckily for me, this is also the type of writing that needs good sequencing with time connectives and uses words that show cause and effect. Also this is the perfect genre for audience purpose.

I need to gather a range of my children’s writing for moderation with the team – a couple high, mid-range and low. Armed with the tki exemplars and the Teacher’s Support Material so that I can guide my team on where to next.

“No matter how much experience you have, there’s always something new you can learn and room for improvement.” 

― Roy T. Bennett