Using Authorship to promote better writers - Part 2

WHAT?

 So I planned my first lesson using the framework from Verity. I copied out and wrote up the verse for ready for the children to glue in their books. The children were seated in the writing circle which is what I had been using previously. As they glued it in, I asked them questions about how they were feeling before the Cross country. Where their arms shaking because they were nervous. One child, said that they had butterflies in their tummy. I quickly recorded this onto the whiteboard.

The children read through the text as I read it aloud. Using the prompts, I asked them what they thought it means at each sentence – include Sharp reading scaffolding.  After we read it through I used the questions that I had written to prompt thinking around how the exemplar was written. Who was it written for? How did the author create a picture in your head? Is there a pattern in the text?

There were a range of thoughtful answers and a few lost faces. I lead the children to recognise the different body parts in the exemplar, as well as how the verbs were used to activate the nouns. One children realised that there was a metaphor to tell the reader how he was feeling as he faced the bowler.

Next, I made the children face a partner and share their feelings before the Cross country. This was a timed talk, I then recorded what some of them shared in regards to the body parts and verbs. I then asked the children to close their eyes and visualise what happened to them as they were getting ready to run.

The questions I had written were gold and I even saw one child jump as I shouted go.  To create the success criteria, the class gave me the usual full stops and capital letters but there were glimmers of  understanding when one child said my tummy was ‘full of butterflies’ – with prompting we created a set of bullet points.

·      Activate the nouns

·      Choose specific verbs

·      Decribe what is happening to your body

·      Include a metaphor.

The children were given time to write. As I walked around to individuals I could see that the children had missed the mark as far as activating the nouns although one child who taken herself away from others had ‘got it’ perfectly. I helped out a few who chose to stay in the workshop and used the whiteboard to record the spellings of words they needed.

After writing, the children were asked to return to the mat and share. I used the ice block sticks to ensure that I wasn’t sticking to same children each time. Finally I encouraged the one child who ‘got it’ to share her piece of writing with the class. The children  paid her high compliments and I specifically stated how she had used the success criteria successfully. Using the reflection sheet that I have in my class with numbers from 1 to 4, 1 being that I really need heaps more help to 4 being that I could help someone else do this, I asked the children to rate their performance. I recorded these.

SO WHAT?

During marking I also rated the children on the same scale, I was pleasantly surprised to see that all but 5 children had rated their writing skills accurately. What I did notice was that the children had been unable to activate the nouns.

Activation of the nouns is getting the noun to do something but also be more deliberate in the choice of verb so that reader is able to understand what you (the author) is trying to convey.

All in all I was happy with the structure of the lesson, how the children had wanted to write and the use of simles not metaphors to show how they were feeling before the race.

NOW WHAT?

Because the children had missed the mark in regards to how to activate the nouns I read through the folder that Verity had provided and looked carefully into how to activate the nouns. I had also remembered that Gareth ( a colleague using the same PD) had been successful with his Autumn lesson so I decided to incorporate some of these ideas as a stimulus for the next lesson.

Again I used the planning template and copied and redeveloped ideas that Verity had provided. I had also sent Verity an email asking if I was on the right track to use the poem “The Sea by Laura Ranger”. It is a four line poem that starts with a noun and the verb is next. She was very quick to confirm my thoughts.

I was looking forward to seeing how this would pan out with the class. I found the planning easier than the first time as I knew the direction I wanted to take the children.

"You can make anything by writing."- C.S. Lewis