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)