How can I improve my practice to improve the writing of those children who are struggling to record their ideas? Part 6

 

WHAT?
As suggested by Verity, my following writing lesson was all about encouraging

the children to use a poet’s eye when looking at everyday objects. The lesson

started as all my lessons do with the children seated in a circle, I gushed with

enthusiasm about how Mrs Short had really enjoyed working with them and

how they had impressed her with their language choices and that she was

looking forward to seeing and reading their poems later.
 
I provided the children with random objects from my science table, hidden

under the sink, my back room and encouraged them to look at items in and

around the classroom, such as their own pencil case and even an old pencil,

anything that appealed to them. Their choice. The children were then set the

task of writing about it, some children couldn’t decide on an object to choose

so I said take two and write about one then pick another, no limit.
 
Some of the children had asked whether or not they could go back and write

more about the first object from when they worked with Mrs Short. I gave the

children ownership on choice and what to write, encouraging the use of the

writing tools we have used before. The class was a bit noisy to start with and I

encouraged them to work without talking as they need to think and really use

a poet’s eye to capture that image so others could see what they could see.
 
After about 15 minutes I brought the children back to the Helping Circle and

asked who would like to share, there was a mass of hands up so I used the

named sticks to pull out the children randomly. I used this strategy with the

class so this something that they are used to. The children who were chosen

were excited to share and the other’s response was heartwarming. I used

specific feedback as Verity had and encouraged the children to offer ideas to

improve as well. Verity had suggested using the prompt, “What would happen

if…” I tried this with some success.
 
When looking through the children’s book later, I noticed that some had

written end to end, line upon line of great imagery and that one of my boys

had structured his writing like a poem. This would be my next place to start.

My next lesson started with me sharing a poem written by a very shy girl in

the class, I asked for permission to share first, I forewarned her what I was

going to do with her work. I read her writing with the class, a huge round of

applause and congratulations, I read the structured poem as well, another

round of applause. I turned the books round and showed the children the

difference in the writing, knowing full well that everyone else's looked like the

girl’s. I asked them to tell me what they noticed.
 
Because I have taught structure, the setting out, the children quickly told me

what I was asking for. I asked the children to now focus on one object and

stretch out their ideas and try thinking about their setting out, and where they

thought the line breaks needed to go. Again the children were very engaged, I

worked with one child who is in my priority group and supported her to draw

out her ideas about a shadow. She was visibly delighted that I was amazed

with her ideas and what she had imagined. I felt like this was a breakthrough

for her.
 
The children worked well and were quickly ready to share with each other

their poems. I provided an opportunity for this picking only four children to

share. The results were amazing, we also had before the writing started, set a

success criteria of three to four ideas, setting out like a poem and activating

nouns. The Helping Circle started with the children finding their successes

very powerful. I enjoyed this lesson and the following one working on structure

and the best choice of words.
 
 
SO WHAT?
 
The children in the class, the next two sessions were all at different stages,

some still exploring ideas, some stretching ideas and really being critical,

others redrafting working on line breaks and others actually publishing their

poems. I buddied up children to share their work, find their errors, support

others to record their ideas. I mostly worked with those who struggled to

record, sometimes being a scribe or just keeping them on task.
 
My heart was swelling with pride as I was sharing these amazing poems later

with Verity and other colleagues. They were surprised and visibly pleased

reading the children’s work. As part of our classroom practice, the children

are encouraged to share their work on a portfolio internet platform for the

parents. This just confirmed my thinking that writing needs an audience and

that the children are be achieve success in writing with poetry.
 
 
NOW WHAT?
 
Where to now? More poetry writing. I hope to redo a lesson that I worked on

last year. A lesson about a moment in time during a child’s holiday that is

written as a poem, some of my children have done this before but I know they

will do a far better job of it after this latest poetry session.
 
I will need to fill my head with some more ideas from Verity and clone some of

her thinking. Not that I think I will ever be as good as her at it, as she lives and

breathes the teaching of writing, although I do know that my teaching of

writing is way better than it was.
 

“In order to grow in life, we need to be able to accept that we do not know everything. When you become flexible in your beliefs, you become open to learning and receiving.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

How can I use poetry writing to encourage success in my emergent writers? Part 1

WHAT?

As part of my writing development, I took part in the PD from Terry Locke provided during the Lockdown. I was very apprehensive due to the quality of the other staff members who took part as well. I don’t consider myself a good writer although I know since doing blog posts and working with Verity Short, there has been some improvement.

 

We were given the Powerpoint and exemplars before the writing lessons with Terry at 7.30 – 9.30pm on a Thursday night via a Zoom conference. The team of teachers had some management, beginning teachers, and even the principal. We also were put into peer groups to discuss our thoughts and findings during the PD. The main aim of the sessions is that the teachers were to become the writers so that we could experience the feelings and anxieties that the children experience during writing.

In the first half of our first lesson, Terry asked us to complete a questionnaire about our own writing apprehension and asked us to share if we wished what sort of results we had. These were to include our positive and negative experiences (mainly from school) around our own experiences as developing writers. Terry asked us to connect our feelings about ourselves as writers to these experiences. I totally got it, not that I shared my experience I was able to align myself with the feeling of others in the group.

The next part of the lesson was where Terry asked and explained what poetry is and how it transforms the reader to ‘see’ what the author sees through their choice of words and create a picture for the reader. Terry explained that our central role as teachers had some aspects to think about:

·      Can we connect this issue with our previous sharings around our experiences of learning to write?

·      Most teachers don’t know how to respond to pupils’ writing, in part because they are not writers themselves.

·      They are insecure in their knowledge of what to say.

Terry then went on to say that he would facilitate our confidence in using metalanguage related to poetry over the next four sessions. He went on to discuss what ‘concrete and abstract’ vocabulary is and that we were to complete a writing task.

Concrete language refers to words that enable a reader to respond sensuously to an experience. Sensuous experience can be visual (sight images), aural (hearing images), tactile (touch images), gustatory (taste images) or olfactory (smell images).

 

Example: The old man lay huddled on the pitted surface of the dusty and rutted road. His skinny arms clasped a ragged and dirty child. Its head lolled back and its eyes had a marble stillness. Near its open mouth, buzzed a large, blue fly.

Abstract language: The language of ideas or concepts. Its main purpose is to reason through generalization and argument.

Example: There is no such thing as a just war. There may be just causes. But there can be no justification for the notion that arguments can be solved by force.

Our task was to write about a place, there weren’t any parameters but to write to describe for 20 minutes uninterrupted and then before sharing underline or highlight the concrete and abstract language we used. We were put into break out rooms to share with others in our teams. I wrote mine by hand out the swimming pool but I was awe struck by the cleverness of the others.

 

Our session finished with Terry outlining the homework task which was an outline a brief ( a set of instructions) to complete a writing task. My breakout team met on the Tuesday before to create a brief in preparation for the following Thursday session. Also as part of the small group meeting we had to decide who would share their writing with Terry for feedback.

 

SO WHAT?

I experienced some doubts and uncertainty of my abilities to write considering the calibre of my colleagues but Terry had set up guidelines for peer responses and how that we were to respond to the work of others. I found this easy as a responder as I was amazed what my colleagues could write in such a short time.

When it came for me to share, I feel that my piece was clunky compared and I had possibly missed the main intention of the writing task set by Terry. I was blown away by what the others could ‘see’ in my writing. I struggled with the rule – During these responses, for at least the first round, the writer does not say anything and should let the writing stand alone and speak for itself. The writer may take notes.  I really wanted to say “thank you”.

 

NOW WHAT?

 

This has made me think about my responses to my children’s writing and how simple but effective specific feedback can be. As part of the Lockdown I am swapped by the children’s work on Seesaw and now I need to use this platform to create writers who want to write.

 

Also I happier to share in my next session of writing with Terry. I do find his voice very droning but I will make myself listen. I really enjoyed the break out sessions where I could bounce back ideas with my colleagues.

 “I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.” Elon Musk

Using provocations to promote children leading their own learning – Part 5

WHAT?

One session for my class in the Makerspace was to be earlier in the day due the fact we were going to be having a longer Team Assembly and the Spelling and phonics programme was now underway 4 days a week, starting straight after lunch eating time. Also as part of my Incredible Years training I was going to be observed.

The children returned from PE, a session run by soccer coaches and the children were very animated when they returned. I spoke to my observer before the children returned to class saying that there was a change in plans and we were going into the Makerspace using play-based learning instead of the planned writing lesson. I had written a behavioural plan for one child who I am struggling to motivate.

Before going into the Makerspace the children had a brain break, a time to eat and rehydrate, I used this time to say that I had noticed a problem and that not all the children had been wearing hats as was the requirement of the PE teacher. Some children complained that they had lost their hats, or hadn’t brought a hat to school. I was hoping that this may create more purpose for my provocation of what is a hat, and why do we wear one? Again the children came up with a substantial list about hats and the point of them.

When we arrived at the Makerspace, I wrote the Learning intention on the whiteboard and instructed the children that at the end of the session they would need upload a photo and an explanation up to Seesaw. As when you are observed, you tend to be more attentive than usual. My goal for Incredible Years was to use 4 statements and one question when interacting with the children.

Initially the class was very noisy but soon settled and the children were interacting with each other and I roved using statements and one question. I really had to think but it was great practise. The observer agreed that this was a difficult skill to practise in this environment as the activity was very much inquiry, and questions are the perfect tool to promote thinking and problem solving.

Some children found the task easy and were finished and needed to explain why their hat was better or an improvement of the school hats, some had slap dash answers. There were some children who added different attachments to their hat to make it more purposeful and when others saw their ideas there was more ‘buy-in’.

The observer left half way through the session as she was only booked for half an hour, she really wanted to stay and see what happened towards the end. Her observations were positive and she made notes – “What a great session…the freedom to explore and solve the ‘hat’ problem creatively was brilliant!”

SO WHAT?

Having a purpose did help with the engagement and the children used problem solving skills and creative thinking. My role is to provoke thought and step away to encourage the children to make their own decisions although some decisions made by some of the children were only surface deep. I need to instigate a depth of thinking and the children to ask themselves good reflective questions such as does this product meet the brief, and have I made it as well as I could.

Also the teachers were asked again to reflect on how the Makerspace is working for them. The response is in the table below.

Positives	Minus/Interesting
Excellent sharing of equipment Students actively asking each week when we are going into the room Students bringing provocation ideas from home to work on in the room  Students problem solving when things don’t go to plan Students asking for extra time in the Makerspace Room Some creations being started in the classroom and continued when we go to the room Donations of equipment continue to flood in	Students knowing where to put things during tidy-up (NB: We haven’t been in since the labels were made yet) Is there too much of some equipment?  Some students finding that an hour is not long enough but then they want to do the new provocation the following week Tidy up takes a while (had a competition between boys and girls which worked well) Burns from hot glue gun - a couple in the same week - some teaching done around this Unpacking provocations prior to going to the room gives more creation time but often I need to repeat for some students when we get there
-Students who don’t traditionally have much success in mainstream literacy and maths are often the most creative in this space and can experience success.  -Lots of opportunity for children to make social relationships	-the state of tidiness of the room changes  -Burns with hot glue guns- education around this and expectation maybe if you have a reliever they understand expectations etc  -not enough time in my weekly timetable to get maths/literacy/systems covered
Same as above really. Lots of awesome stuff going on in there. Chn are beginning to reflect on their work well for Seesaw.   Learning to work in groups collaboratively and successfully, and find their place with their peers for their combined work.	·       Disorder/general untidiness - obviously diff levels of expectations. :-( ·       Bits & Bobs area that Karen had originally sorted needs less stuff in it? Far too much has been dumped in/on there, esp ripped bits of cardboard.  ·       Too much cardboard perhaps? ·       Hot glue guns dripping all over the yellow table. Was this table going to be for use of iPads? (Clean table?) ·       Parents donating stuff and leaving it outside the door - perhaps a Seesaw message (eg on Mahuri Tahi’s weekly message?) reminding them to deliver to classrooms, otherwise it might not find its way to the correct location?
-higgly engaged -starting to see different groupings (may try to encourage this a bit more) -discussion of provocation before going to the space is working well -donations are awesome!	-some area such as the sink is hard to access because there is too much stuff in or around it  -
-students are engaged but not so much when it comes to tidying up - Some students making similar things every week. Need encouragement to move out of their comfort zone.	Really interested to see some of the boys doing artwork around the theme very detailed Maybe we should be making powdered paint as cheaper
Children having fun and engaged Like the idea of challenges/provocation we give to the kids Good to see children working collaboratively and problem solving	Lack of exciting and new resources Children working with their own friends.  No sellotape
Children are more engaged as we visit now More stuff to work with Parents happy with the feedback from children Provocations - brainstorming beforehand has given children greater motivation My lesser academic children are excelling - imagination, co-operation, leadership etc Using questions as they are working helps them justify what they are doing Using the iPad to record their creation has increased the ‘buy-in’	·  The state of tidiness or untidiness of the room changes - I spent most of my time cleaning up paint and paint area ·  Burns with hot glue guns ·  Feeling that I’m not doing justice to my literacy and numeracy and inquiry ·  The PACK UP does my head in!
Kids engaged,  Kids enjoy it, Kids collaborate and cooperate I’d love it if I were kid	Too much stuff left everywhere and not taken home No sellotape or staples on my last visit Kids should already have these construction skills I struggle to see their learning except for key competencies

NOW WHAT?

I am wondering how I can use some of the Digital Circus – unplugged ideas in the Makerspace for the provocation and engagement. I will need to investigate this further and hopefully it will be a way I can get two for the price of one. The school has undertaken a contract with the Digital Circus, for our school to work on their Digital competency and they have shared numerous resources that we can dig into.

“Place-Based Education complements digital platforms that tend towards globalization. While it is tempting for learners to constantly connect with exotic ideas in equally exotic locations, authentic learning experiences allow learners to self-direct personal change in pursuit of social change–and that starts small, at home and surrounding intimate communities.”– Terry Heick