Sheena Cameron and Louise Dempsey Writing PD

Friday 29th September 2017

• Shorter more frequent blocks of writing.
• Many features of writing remain the same regardless of text type. Especially within the same fiction or non fiction types.ie: introduction, conclusion, variety of sentences etc.
• Kids need to ‘Notice’ and analyse text in reading before writing.
• Notice sentences in reading as exemplars for writing.
• Read a sentence and clap the full stop. Get kids to notice the capital letters and full stops.
• Type of text - what are the clues?
• Notice sentence starters, punctuation, paragraphs, hooks, titles, sub titles.
• Use text types in reading time to warm up students into reading.
• Students in year 3 beyond should start looking at text structures. Once their writing starts to flow etc, from a 2b onwards, start looking at text structure and organisation.  Prior to this, students need to learn the biomechanics of writing.
• Text analysis should be in reading time.
• Students should write everyday.
• Use 10 minute shared reading sessions to get kids familiar with text types they will be writing.
• Students use these times to create a writers checklist and word list based on a range of exemplars
• Spelling routines are important. Give students plenty of time to have a go and learn how to spell.
• Students need to understand the reason for punctuation.
• Good word choices are important
• Editing = proofreading the re-crafting . Important to model how to edit and make improvements.
• Give status to the idea of changing your writing and improving the language used. Crossing out a word and replacing it with a better one isn’t messy, it is being clever.
• Modelled writing= I do
• Shared and guided writing = we do
• Independent writing= you do
• Don’t underestimate the power of roaming and quick stops to remind or praise students in the moment
• Mixed ability writing but pull children depending on abilities or needs.
• Relevant and real
• Stem from language experience or a known topic
• Real audience and purpose
• Bite sized chunks
• Do something, view something, listen to something
• Union of strength video-use of drama to help students organise the timeline of events in the story.
  
  
  
  
• Ways to organise ideas
• Discussion
• List or notes
• Criteria
• Talking frames
• Picture plans
• Brainstorms
• Symbols
• T charts/ Y charts
• Planning sheets

• Planning needs to be carefully modelled and kids need to be taught how to plan.
• When planning and writing - have students say their sentence, write their sentence, then check their sentence. This helps them to check their punctuation and sense.
• Planning sheets: only use them occasionally. Don’t over do them. You need to teach them how to use the template. They need to have a purpose.  
• Collaborative planning is best. You can share ideas and learn from others, Poppet app allows you to plan online and print the plan off.
• Pallet is also a collaborative planning tool.
• Post it notes are a great way to collaboratively plan and brainstorm.
• Punctuation mime is cool for getting kids to think about the punctuation in a sentence.
• Clear criteria that is visual, memorable and measurable

Developing literacy - modelled writing lesson.

Today I modelled the new writing approach we are trying to implement across the school. Several colleagues came to observe me teach writing to a Year 3 class paired with a Year 5 class. In the previous lesson I had taught the children how to use 3 good (or bad) statements and worked on NOTICING what was in the writing. The children worked with their buddies on IMITATING the exemplar and working on using the writing skills as part of their own practice.

When my observers arrived I was unpacking the next part of the lesson - sharing the aim with the children, which was to create a Monster Menu. I shared menus and asked them what they noticed. The most powerful part for the observer was noticing the range of exemplars I used, as this made them think that they am not giving enough time to the discussion and the noticing phase. I used prompting and modelling and asked hinge questions to see what the children could tell me about the exemplars. I praised the children when they gave me the answers I was looking for and revoiced what they had said. To finish that part of the lesson I gave them paper copies of the exemplars for their books and asked them to compare and contrast by highlighting all the things that were the same across the exemplars.
   “If I was going to highlight I need to look and find what is the same in both.” I told the children that I would be giving them only 4 minutes to do the activity before they had to share with the rest of the group. I also shared the fact that this was going to help them to write their success criteria for their own writing.

What did the observers learn?

• That it is important to have a range of exemplars ready so the children can discuss (Notice/Think) what they are trying to achieve with their own writing. 
• That there needs to be time given to practising the writing craft.
• By using questions I can ensure that everyone knows what to do

Where to next for developing literacy in other rooms?

• Ensure teachers give more time to the discussion. 
• Ensure students have exemplars of writing to refer too.
• Share the why and relate it back to the student's writing goals.
• Constantly share and revoice what has been said and make it relevant.
• Be explicit with the use of visual success criteria.
• When giving the children an activity, give them a time frame and tell them for how long in order to move on with the lesson.
• Actively rove and give the children feedback.  
• Give students time to self-reflect during the writing time and direct students them to the success criteria.