WHAT?
To
follow up on the previous lesson, the children were brought back to the
‘helping circle’, I started the lesson by writing up the success criteria onto
the whiteboard. The children were then encouraged to ‘point to’ where they had
activated the nouns and use precise word choice to show what the noun was
doing.
I also
asked the children to show their partner where they had added more to the
sentence to give a sense of what, where and how, to add more detail to the
sentence. Looking around I could see the faces of the children and there was a
range of disappointment and regret.
Congratulating
the children on now being able to activate nouns, use precise word choice and
follow their suggestion of 5 sentences, they had had success with their
writing. I asked the children to tell their partner what they thought structure
meant. The murmers around the class were about buildings and how it is built. I
told the children that structure helps us to write with the correct setting out
as well.
I used
their exemplar and pointed out how the noun was on the line above the verb and
that becauseit was a poem, they both began with capital letters. I drew a
visual representation to show the children how each verse/stanza was set out. I
asked the children if they had any questions, there was a number of clarifying
questions.
I lead
the children to think about two events that happened the previous day – the
unexpected fire drill and the thunderstorm. The children were encouraged to
discuss the events with their partner and the discussion was very animated. I
could hear them using elaborate word choice. I directed the children to extend
themselves by adding more detail to the when, what, and how.
The
children were given time to visualise and then time to write. There was a
number of children working with myself and another group working in a small
group with another teacher at a table. The children were highly engaged and
wrote with some ease. One reluctant writer working with me, wanted to write,
and was animated to record his ideas.
Once the
time for the lesson was coming t an end, I recalled the children back to the
helping circle and shared what they had written with each other. I also
reminded the children to change their writing when they heard a good idea as
this was a helping circle – a way to help them to change and improve their
writing.
SO WHAT?
The
children realised where they hadn’t followed the structure and how they could
add more detail to their writing. I also feel that the visual representation
help set up the children for success. Another focus for the children based on
the writing rubric is to give and respond to feedback. The helping circle is a
correct vehicle to establish this practice.
Having
an event that provoked many ideas created engagement and a willingness to take
more risks with their writing. I also realise that it is ‘ok’ to rework the
same lesson but to work on making the children more aware of the structure and
how they can extend their writing to improve from one lesson to the next.
NOW WHAT?
My next
step to check in with those few children who still haven’t achieved the correct
structure and setting out. There were a couple of children who weren’t
activating their nouns using verbs but are using similes. The helping circle
is getting there but I still need to be more persistent to make this work.
I will
be encouraging the children to publish these poems and I will make an effort to
try to get some of the poems published into the school’s newletter as well.
Everybody walks past a thousand story
ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them.
Most people don’t see any.
-
Orson Scott
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