Popping in...

On Tuesday 16th, we visited Year 6 again to feedback what we had gathered from our last visit. We discussed what they had told us about writing and that we planned to change the negatives into positives and really try to change the way they felt about writing. The class seemed excited at the prospect of a new way of teaching and learning, and we can only hope that we keep that excitement going.

We also delivered new gifts into the classroom; a pack of literacy games filled with short, snappy starters or filler games that encourage vocabulary development, grammar skills or imagination. A set of word mats that are bursting with explanations on punctuation, grammar and prefix's and suffix's, as well as a range of connectives and tricky 'wow words'. We feel that both these resources will really benefit the children and their writing in the long run, here is hoping they get a lot of use out of them!

Furthermore we asked for their updates on how their Magpie Books and reading books were going. We were very pleased to find that both were being used brilliantly, and the vast majority of children had their Magpie Books covered and slowly filling up with insightful and interesting ideas. The reading books are going just as well as we had hoped, with most of the class having read at least one book already.

However, as we had predicted the children seemed to struggle to discuss the books in a useful and knowledgeable way. Because we had anticipated this, Emi and I had prepared a short role-play on 'book talk', to give the class a feel for how it is done. We quickly discussed the classes current fiction text 'Kensuke's Kingdom', considering our favourite parts of the story and what made those parts so engaging, speculating what might happen next, as well as contemplating on how we might feel if we were the main character. We then set the class off to discuss (hopefully in the same manner as we did) one of the reading books they had read, giving their opinion as to whether it should be recommended or not. This was a really useful activity for us too, as we were able to find out what genre of books seemed to be the most popular and therefore, try to find some more for the class (comics).

The principles of 'book talk' can encourage children's deduction, inference and awareness of text-types, whilst also fostering a love of books. For us to understand the main issues and themes of a text we need to be able to discuss them (Bunting et al., 2005). Debating ideas in a text promotes children's critical responses and allows us to questions how a writer has made us feel and how we can do the same in our own writing (ibid). In this sense, no matter in what context we write, we are always borrowing the bits of books we have read (Booth, 2001).

Although only a short visit, we really enjoyed seeing how the class was getting on and seeing our small introductions flourish and begin to impact upon the group. We have high expectations of this project and we hope to fulfil them!

Here are a few of the decorated 'Magpie Books' given with permission from their owners. We were extremely pleased to see that the majority of the class wanted to have their book photographed and to show-off what they had done.

"He who has imagination without learning, has wings and no feet."

Joseph Joubert

(http://www.inspirational-quotes.info/imagination.html Accessed 21/10/2012)

I noticed this quote and it made me think about the relationship between imagination and learning. In a seminar the other week, me and the cohort had a debate as to whether imagination is a skill or not. I believe it is, as it's something that is grown and developed over time. Yet, the lecturer raised a valid point, that most very young children have an imagination of their own. Maybe it's a gift, that if lost, must be relearned, and strengthened through practise and use. 

In relation to this project I think this debate is a useful one, the class teacher mentioned to us on our first visit that his class, although a young Year 6, were lacking in imagination. This was evident in one of our literacy games, 'Excuses'. We asked the class to finish the sentence 'I was late for school because...' to be completed with the most ludicrous and unbelievable excuse they could think of. Thus, demonstrating their creativity and imagination. 

Some found the task easy and were able to really get going, yet others struggled to extend their ideas or even begin. I believe that this is going to be one hurdle we might struggle with. If imagination is a skill to be learnt, do we have the time or chance to develop it? And what if we don't? How can we expect their writing and feelings towards writing to improve if they don't have one of the corner stones of writing?Looks like this is a debate that needs to be continued... (Rosie)

A Creative Thought...

Available at: http://thisisnthappiness.com/ 

'Magpie Books'

A further notorious idea of Pie Corbett's is 'magpie-ing', whereby writers should take ideas from their surroundings and note them down for future reference. As the class often have trouble with inspiration for their writing we thought this would be an excellent device to employ. Furthermore, we wanted the books to be special and different from a normal school notebook in order to encourage their use. As a group we decided to put our own money towards buying a set of 'Magpie Books' for the class of 32. We scoured the shops of Bognor Regis for the right journal, and eventually settled on a smart A5 black hardback journal with lines. We purchased the set from a local stationers and even managed to haggle a discount as we bought so many and pledged our good cause to inspire writing through using them!

On the 10th Ocober we vsited the class and introduced the children to the 'Magpie Books' or 'Writing journals' we had bought them. We demonstrated that the 'Magpie Books' are for the children to use to 'steal' ideas to help them with their writing. If they see or hear a great story opener, a fantastic word or if something really interesting happens to them, they can write it in their books to use at a later date. Collecting and building up ideas just like real authors do. We have tried to leave the choice of when and how the children use them quite open. As we would really like to encourage the children to take ownership of their books.

This strategy is supported by the UKLA (2011) who sate that writing journals (another term) allow children to become authors in their own right. By providing time and space for children to write about their own interests and desires they are more likely to engage in the writing process. The space of a writing journal permits children to develop their confidence as writers, adapting narratives or playing with story lines (Graham, 2003). One aspect we considered was that often as teachers we dictate what is written in the classroom, therefore a writing journal becomes the child's space, away from the teacher and the curriculum (Johnson, 2003). Additionally, it is recommended that the children personalise their journals for a sense of ownership.

We have asked the children to make the books individual by decorating them. We hope to have some pictures of them next week. 

  

Chidren's Responses

Responses from the Post-it-note Survey

How do you feel about writing?

Purpose/context

It depends on what we are writing

It depends on what we are writing about

Well it depends what type of writing it is

I love writing but it depends what I’m writing about

It depends on what kind of writing

Positive thoughts

I think it’s fun and exciting

Sometimes it’s ok

Writing makes me feel happy but sometimes it’s a pain and pants!

Very good

When I’m writing I feel happy because I like writing

I feel fine about it

I feel free to put my thoughts from my brain down my arm into my pencil and onto paper

Negative thoughts

It is rubbish

Sometimes boring

I do not like writing

Writing is not my favourite subject

I like writing but sometimes it can be a bit boring

Genre specific

I like it when it’s fantasy otherwise it’s utterly boring

I love reports I think writing can be fun when you write stories and I like reading David Williams’ books because they are funny.

I like writing stories but not information

I feel happy about writing because it brings out your imagination when you write stories

Depends on what sort of writing

I find story writing fun but any other kind of writing quite boring

It depends on what kind of writing but I would feel quite happy!

I like writing and making posters

I like writing if it’s a story or play script, no other type of writing

I like writing stories but sometimes writing is boring

I just like writing stories

I love writing and I write books at home

Un-specified barriers to writing

I like it but sometimes it’s difficult for me

I feel happy but would be better to do something else

I like writing sometimes

Length of task

I feel writing is a bit boring because it takes a long time to finish

Using ICT

Writing is fine but I prefer typing

I would rather type it on the computer

What do you like most about writing?

Genre specific

I like poems

The type of writing I like is adventure story writing because it’s exciting

I like story writing because it uses your imagination

Story writing because you can do anything because it’s your story

Writing poems and stories

I like writing adventure stories and planning for technical projects

I love writing reports, stories, information and poetry because they’re all fun

I love writing stories.

I enjoy writing poetry

I enjoy writing my own stories

Writing stories

I like writing poems

I like recounts because I know what to write but with story writing you’re sitting there thinking what to write for ages

Writing up a story completely made up from scratch

I enjoy writing stories that I make up

I mostly like writing stories because they are fun

Making my own stories

I like writing stories

I like writing poems and stories

I like free writing because you can use your imagination

It’s fun and free to do but can be perplexing and I like fiction

Reports and stories

Story writing is my favourite writing and diary writing

I like to write stories and poems

I like writing stories and poems

Freedom to be creative and express yourself

I like it that I can write in different ways

I like writing everything in my own language

I like all types of writing but as long as teachers are not bossy!

That you can express yourself

I enjoy everything about writing and my own book

Barriers to writing

I hate when I’m writing and I’m really into it and the teacher says stop

I don’t really like writing

What do you not like about writing?

Speed

I am a very slow writer

Writing hurts my arm

Writing hurts my arm after a while

I don’t like spelling and hand writing because it hurts

Writing hurts my hand

Sometimes I am a bit slow and I am going to miss my play

Sometimes I am a bit slow and because I don’t like writing

Spellings/Grammar/Handwriting

Spelling and hand writing

Handwriting is boring and it aches after a while

Grammar

I don’t like writing grammar because I get confused where to put comas sometimes

Joined up hand writing and my hand aches

I don’t know all the spellings

Spelling because I get it wrong

I don’t like spelling

I hate grammar and when the teacher says stop

Length

I don’t enjoy writing lots

It’s too much and my hand hurts sometimes

I don’t like it because it hurts my hand and it’s sometimes boring

Writing is too long

It takes a long time

Writing paragraphs and paragraphs of writing

Genre

I hate play scripts because you have to read so many lines

I don’t like grammar, reports, poems and being told what type of writing but not what subject

I also don’t like poems

I hate play scripts and recounts and reports and poems

When we do questions about books I get bored and my hand hurts and gets tired

Information writing

I don’t like grammar and recounts

I hate report writing its rubbish!

I hate reports

Restriction of creativity

I don’t like people telling you what to write

Misc

I love writing and do not hate anything

I don’t like it

Limited ICT

I don’t like pens running out and I want to use a computer instead of writing

What would you change about writing?

Format

I wish my hand writing was better

I would like to use computers for writing more

I hate using pens to write

I like writing on different colour paper and do more on computers

That you can write in comic book way

I love writing on different sizes of paper and colours

Draw a picture at the end

ICT!!!

Option to use ICT

ICT option to improve typing

Make writing more fun and ICT

Have an option to use a computer and more fun poems and story writing and be able to talk about your writing

Describe something you like sometimes and then draw it

Miscellaneous barriers to writing

I would like to change language I can write in

You should get to live it first and then you get to fantasize

Freedom to select the purpose/context/genre

Not to be told what to write

I would like to write in pencil not pen and unlimited time

Writing more stories

Make it fun and make poems rhyme

Make it more fun and writing stories

I would like to write more poetry

We only write play scripts and our own stories

I would like to do more of my own stories

Less focus on spellings/grammar/punctuation and handwriting

I hate getting spellings checked and punctuation and my hand writing

I would like to be told how to spell a word instead of being told to look it up in a dictionary

I would like to change spelling

I would like to change having to join up my hand writing and do more story writing

Quantity

So it can’t take too long

I would like to have more time

To have a talk about writing and have your own amount of work

Technical skills

I would like to expand my sentences

I would like to be more interesting when I am writing and have better ideas

Talk for Writing

I would like to talk about it

Be able to talk about your writing

Where do we go from here?

In response to the feedback which we categorised into groups, we decided upon the action that needed to be taken in order to address some of the difficulties or drawbacks of writing some of the children were experiencing. The following flow charts depict how the area of improvement were highlighted, the theory to support our understanding of how to best overcome the issue and finally, the action we took to hopefully alleviate the issue.

Setting the ball rolling...

Identifying the Key Themes 

On Wednesday we visited the school and met the Year 6 class we are working with for the first time. It was a very busy and productive hour!

We did some brief introductions, played an icebreaker game to get to know the children a little and then worked in small focus-groups to find out what they thought about writing. 

We asked them:

How they felt about writng
What they enjoyed about writing
What they didn't like about writing
What they would change about writing in school

We received some very interesting feedback which we will take some time reflecting on and then see how we can address the issues that came up.

We also spent some time discussing the current book they were reading which is called 'Kensuke's Kingdom' by Michael Morpurgo. After reading the book ourselves we were able to take part and talk about the story so far and find out what the children thought of the story and what they think will happen next. 

We modelled how to engage in effective 'Book Talk' to encourage the class to discuss their texts more comprehensively. We hoped this strategy is something we can build upon. 


So....the ball is rolling and the different aspects of our project are set in motion. Here are some of our thoughts from the first meeting:

It was really good to identify what the children in Year 6 truly thought about writing. There weren't a great deal of surprises having read widely on the subject, but there were some simple strategies that we can easily adapt into our project's aims. Some children wanted more time, autonomy, coloured paper and different sized paper; which all seem like pretty simple adjustments we can make in the near future. We are developing a word mat which highlights connectives, grammar and punctuation rules and a word bank of tricky spellings for the class to use on each of their tables. We felt this really catered for the children's concerns over spelling their work correctly or knowing when to use a comma. These secretarial aspects of writing often put children off writing creatively and constrain their ability to write fluently. Moreover the use of talk-partners (chatting chums, response partners) can improve fluency and confidence by utilizing the strengths of 'Talk for Writing'. Therefore, we are going to try and encourage the use of talk-partners more in this classroom as children really wanted to talk about their ideas. (Emi)

After our first visit to Year 6, I felt really positive that we can hopefully make a difference to their views' on writing. It was refreshing to be back in the classroom again and reaffirm our passion for teaching and give us the motivation to really get our project going! The outcomes from our questions were interesting to hear, and as Emi has outlined, weren't too surprising. However, during our time in the classroom and in discussion with each other, it has become apparent that we are undertaking a huge task that will not have a definitive outcome. Our overall aim will be to alter the attitudes that the children hold towards writing and hope that this will enable them to feel more positively towards writing, as opposed to 'something they have to do at school'. Yet, it is still a challenging task that is difficult to measure, although, I am hopeful that we will make a difference, however small. (Hayley)

After visiting the class and discussing with the children their opinions' on writing, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they weren't the classic 'anti-writing 11 year olds' we were expecting. It wasn't writing that they disliked, it was the writing they were being asked to do. They wanted it to be personal and purposeful; to feel as if what they were writing meant something rather than an opportunity to be marked against certain criteria. This therefore has become a big focus for us, to show the class that writing is not just to be assessed, it is an expressive and meaningful process that is used by millions of people every day in a variety of contexts. This we believe should help combat their motivational issues and allow ample opportunity for them to develop their writing for the reader rather than the teacher. (Rosie)

I was looking forward to our visit to the class and excited about getting the ball rolling on our project. For me this is the first time I have worked in a Year 6 class so it was really interesting to work with children this age. It was very interesting listening to the children's responses during our discussions about writing. I agree with my colleagues that some responses were not surprising, however, it was lovely to hear children talking positively about writing. It was also wonderful to see the children excited about the Magpie Books and reading books that we had brought in for them, and I hope we can keep that level of excitement going as the project continues. Here is looking forward to the months ahead!(Paul)