Using Authorship to promote better writers – Part 10

WHAT?

I began my lesson on the “Leap”, using all the prompts that I had written in my planning. I read the poem first without sharing the exemplar and asked the children to tell me what they thought the poem was describing. I used the random sticks to select the children although there were some ‘out’ there responses but one of my reluctant writers (a boy) was totally correct and ‘got it’.

The children were then given their own copy of the exemplar to read along with me as I read it again. This gave them the opportunity to unpack what they noticed and make connections to other texts they have seen and written.

During the analysis the children were quick to notice the listing sentence and the simile within the exemplar. To increase their knowledge of structure, I explained that poems have parts called stanzas, one child piped up, “Like mini paragraphs?” This create a platform for discussion within the class and a better understanding on how poems are constructed.

Once the children were ready and being mindful of what my writing mentor teacher had suggested, I encouraged the children to share with a partner what they did during the holidays and what event stuck in their heads, especially what details they could recall that helped create a picture. The children were highly animated and I could hear them sharing numerous events, skiing, visiting family farms, a trip on a train, snorkeling in Rarotonga and even a trip to Rainbow’s End. To capture this moment I used the random stick again to get them to share the events that stood out for them.

To capitalise on this, I showed the children a spider diagram with details from one of the events shared. The diagram had ‘bare bones’, detailing 2 ‘whens’ – how do you know the event was over, the event, and a listing sentence showing the reader what was there. I also asked the children to activate their nouns as this is a skill they can do. I worked with my more reluctant writers, as did my student teacher who was in the class for the lesson. The children created successful diagrams and are now ready to write their poems.

SO WHAT?

Being a quick write – just creating a spider diagram, the children were able to experience success quickly and were happy to share what they wanted to write about. I was able to support my reluctant writers as well to get them the support they needed to feel successful. A win win.

I believe it helped that I used one of the children’s events and modelled what their spider diagram needed to have. One of my reluctant writers really enjoyed the process and after said, “I now know what to write and where to start. Can I write my poem now?”

NOW WHAT?

I need to encourage the children to shape their writing using the exemplar and their individual points of view as well as the success criteria. My class work well when each step of the writing is do-able and there is quick success.

My planning needs to have more questions that encouarge deeper thinking from my students. I also need to break my writing planning into do-able parts and break the larger task up.

It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge. – Albert Einstein