T4+Writing

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** Context for Learning and What I Did **
The students are involved in a writing session daily. I use motivational techniques, as discussed below, from Dave Burgess and Tony Ryan’s thinking keys. I also use experiences that the students have been involved in and Inquiry, as well as other areas of the curriculum eg shapes in Maths. One of my main goals was to get the students to be writing and spelling words independently. I was encouraging them to extend their thinking and lengthen sentences and attempt new ideas and words. Students were encouraged to either spell their own words or locate them from resources around the room eg word cards, dictionaries, alphabet cards and such like One of the main WALTs is : I am learning to: Write and spell words. Success Criteria: I know I can do this when I- -Can show or read my story and words to a buddy or the teacher I also model a sentence for the students as a story starter. This is on a Story writing chart and involves a class planning and sharing session. I chose 4 students to focus on with a skill and tick it off at the end of the lesson if they have achieved that skill eg using full stops or spacing between words. The students have the option to use the story starter or do their own. One student (new to school) who is not yet writing stories independently can dictate a caption to copy the words .She may attempt to write a starter sentence too. Students are then expected to attempt their own words. Newer students may also be at emergent stage where they are learning to form letters and trace over the top of words but can orally tell their stories. All students are learning to use ipad apps such as Puppet Pals, Tellagami, Write about it, Comic Life and Book Creator to write, record, publish stories as well. They do so independently or with buddies. I use a 'Go for Gold' pen to highlight children's valid attempts at or correct spelling of words, sentence structure, correct copying of words, use of full stops etc. I use ‘Pink for think’ so that students can think about and edit mistakes. We do not focus on mistakes, but praise attempts. Anne Giles Literacy advisor took some PLD with our staff this year. I then reintroduced picture plans for the students to plan their stories and add vocabulary etc before they started to write.I had stopped this for a while as it had taken too long. Anne encouraged me to use a timer where students had 3 minutes to plan and when the buzzer goes off they begin writing. This time factor was a GREAT idea and the students use it well daily to initially plan their story.

** What the students did and impact on their learning **
The students have been writing lots of different stories. Excellent progress has been made with most students and they are writing longer stories eg Whiore can independently write 2 or 3 pages now. They are all writing their own stories instead of copying the words of their dictated captions (with the exception of K who recently started school) One of my teacher classroom goals for 2015 was to extend the children's writing in the class and so I focussed on ways and methods to help accelerate the progress of the children.( As I mentioned briefly above) I use motivational writing such as Dave Burgesses Hooks eg Mystery bag hook. One student selects a mystery parcel from a bag wrapped up. The students have to describe the object eg what it looks like and what it does and guess what they think it is. The closest person gets to keep the prize. Tony Ryan’s thinking keys was another method I used eg My plate is a hat or a shoe. What could your plate be? (I put the plate on my head and foot).The students wrote about their plate being a flying saucer, a book, a skateboard etc. The student's self confidence in writing has increased and they are trying to write more and get better all the time. I often take the students to the Principal to read their stories and get a Principal's sticker. They read to their buddies, other class memebers, to the class and at school assembly. They also write stories on ipad apps confidently now such as Comic Life, Explain Everything and writing pad. Some examples of student's writing are below.

** Evaluation and where to next? **
There has been great progress with most of the student's writing in Room 1 in Term 4.By having a Teacher's aide to help for half an hour the independence of the students has increased immensely. Most can locate or spell their own words. I am using phonics and spelling programmes as well as modelling and 1 to 1 assistance. I have had success with Dave Burgess's hooks for writing such as Mystery Hook and using Imaginative words and props eg using a plate as a hat or a shoe and students had to describe what they could use it for I will continue to use and extend these as well as use ipads more for writing eg Write about it, Puppet Pals,Comic Life, Explain Everything, Quiver. I have introduced Tony Ryan's Thinking keys eg Different uses eg a shoe a plate, a flying saucer, a hat etc. Most students are largely writing independently as required by National Standards. I got more ideas from #ulearn15 and from educational Twitter connections online. My goal was 85% of students to be at or above in Writing.I think this was a bit high but then I wanted to aim high rather than an easier achievable goal. We reached 79% which meant 3 students were below. One was a special needs child who went from well below to below with support also from a Teacher’s aide under RTLB. Another was a child who was not ready for school. She has undergone an alphabet programme and Early words phonics programme and is now at the stage of school readiness to a start progressing more rapidly. The other child has major behaviour problems,at times, which have affected his attention and learning. He is starting to settle in Reading and Maths and also to some extent Writing and progress closer to National standard in writing. The students are being assessed against National Writing Exemplars and the National Standards. I will continue to enhance the progress of the student's writing by encouraging them to 'write write write." I hope to motivate the students to have a passion for writing and confidence in their ability to produce amazing work. I will continue to use a variety of resources and assess the individual needs of each child and cater for them. I have now majority of the class to be at or above National Standards by the end of Term 4. Next year (2016)I want to reinforce and extend this goal.
 * (I was appraised on this lesson by Literacy advisor Anne Giles –refer to appraisal notes on wiki) **

** Examples of students's writing **



 * Van reading his story to the whole school Assembly. The students love the new writing table.**


 * Nevaeyah and Whiore's Inquiry presentations on the Expalin Everything ipad app.**

** Making Connections to prior learning and experiences **
Students were able to integrate new learning with what they already know and understand. I was able to then build on what students knew and experienced and extend that learning.

** Enhancing the relevance of new learning. **
Students were then able to enhance the relevance of their new learning, make connections across learning areas and further extend, modify and adapt their learning.