Recently as part of my professional readings I have been reading the book "I've got something to say" by Gail Loane. Below are things that I have read and that have captivated my interest and which I will both continue to do and also try to include into my practice.
We demonstrate how readers and writers think and behave - even when we are not consciously modelling it.
Every student has something to say -they might not always realise it though so it is our job to believe it and have our students believe it also. We need to include a variety of ways of doing this - it is important to provide time for reading, talking, listening, non verbal communication and writing daily - all of these aspects form literacy and communication not just one of them.
Lev Vygotsky (1978) describes language as a socially mediated process - where interactions with others play an important role in language development. When we transfer this to our classrooms it is clear that collaboration between students can help provide a way forward - indeed research demonstrates that when students respond to the work of others and seek feedback on their own work they show more definitive progress. Effective ways of applying this within senior classrooms include things such as partner conferencing, peer response, whole class sharing. These ways of working together are effective as they allow immediate feedback, the opportunity to make amends whilst writing, a wider range of opinions not just the teachers, a greater awareness of what works, a less threatening small group audience, chance to take risks and not just try and please the teacher - an opportunity for everyone's voice to be heard.
In order to teach writing effectively we need to ensure that we start with the whole and its meaning, draw out the teaching point for exploration and then return it to the whole. When we are deconstructing texts over a number of days it is important to acknowledge the context of the whole text - yes we may need to put a magnifying glass on a particular aspect of it but we then need to zoom back out for children to truly appreciate the effect of that aspect.
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Monday, 21 September 2015
Sunday, 17 August 2014
Authentic Audience
As a teacher of writing, the importance of having an authentic audience for the students has become extremely clear to me.
The effort that goes into writing and the enthusiasm and excitement levels about writing directly correlate with whether or not the students in my class believe that someone else is going to read, and care about, their writing. When students realise they have a purpose for their writing, and that they are portraying a message through their writing that is going to be heard they want to do their best, not to impress me as their teacher, but for themselves. They want to write something that they will be proud of and that they know their friends and families would be proud of also.
At times it can be difficult to ensure that each child always has an authentic audience for their writing with the crazy timetable that comes along with being in a Year 6 class. However, none of my students are out on Friday mornings and so we have now dedicated a time on Fridays to celebrating and sharing our writing. During this time each child reflects on whether or not they have achieved their writing goals during the week and leads discussions with me if they believe that they should be/want to be working towards a new goal as well. Once this reflection on our success is completed, we share our writing using the two stars and a wish model. Each Friday each child finds a new partner to share their writing with and discuss in pairs, and then in groups of four what they thought was successful in their partners writing that week and what they believe their partner needs to work on. I find this a very successful way to ensure that feedback and feed forward is not coming solely from me, and my students absolutely love it.
Last Friday the students asked if they could make a film about it to share with their families and friends and so we have put together a short film with some students discussing what they have been doing and why they like it. Please enjoy and comment and let me know your thoughts about how I can continue to develop an authentic audience for my budding authors.
Room 3 - Writing - Goals and Two Stars and a Wish
The effort that goes into writing and the enthusiasm and excitement levels about writing directly correlate with whether or not the students in my class believe that someone else is going to read, and care about, their writing. When students realise they have a purpose for their writing, and that they are portraying a message through their writing that is going to be heard they want to do their best, not to impress me as their teacher, but for themselves. They want to write something that they will be proud of and that they know their friends and families would be proud of also.
At times it can be difficult to ensure that each child always has an authentic audience for their writing with the crazy timetable that comes along with being in a Year 6 class. However, none of my students are out on Friday mornings and so we have now dedicated a time on Fridays to celebrating and sharing our writing. During this time each child reflects on whether or not they have achieved their writing goals during the week and leads discussions with me if they believe that they should be/want to be working towards a new goal as well. Once this reflection on our success is completed, we share our writing using the two stars and a wish model. Each Friday each child finds a new partner to share their writing with and discuss in pairs, and then in groups of four what they thought was successful in their partners writing that week and what they believe their partner needs to work on. I find this a very successful way to ensure that feedback and feed forward is not coming solely from me, and my students absolutely love it.
Last Friday the students asked if they could make a film about it to share with their families and friends and so we have put together a short film with some students discussing what they have been doing and why they like it. Please enjoy and comment and let me know your thoughts about how I can continue to develop an authentic audience for my budding authors.
Room 3 - Writing - Goals and Two Stars and a Wish
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