Lancashire Primary Strategy: Literacy
Boys’ Writing Project 2006-2007
A Lancashire project to develop
Boys’ Writing
through Visual Literacy, ICT and Drama
Developed by Sarah Sinclair,
Nicola Tomlinson and Edwina Maskell
Contents
Chapter One – Introduction
2
Chapter Two – Overview of the Lancashire Project
4
Chapter Three – ICT Approaches
8
Chapter Four – Use of still and moving images
11
Chapter Five – Art, Role Play and Story Boxes
17
Chapter Six – Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
19
Chapter Seven – Impact on writing
30
Chapter Eight – Questionnaires
41
Chapter Nine – Conclusion and findings
43
1
Chapter One
Introduction
Boys’ underachievement in writing continues to be a national issue, and despite
several initiatives to address the situation over the past few years, there is still a
significant gap between the level of attainment achieved by girls and boys.
The table below demonstrates that overall English results in Lancashire have
improved for both girls and boys by 4% and 6% respectively since 2003. However
there is still a large gender gap of 9% with girls achieving 85% and boys achieving
77%.
This gap is even greater when looking at writing. Girls’ writing has improved by 5%
over the last five years with 69% achieving level 4 or above in 2003 to 74% in 2007.
Boys’ writing has improved by 7% from 53% in 2003 to 60% in 2007.
However, the gap between boys and girls writing is still unacceptably large. It was
16% in 2003 and in 2007 it was 14%, despite a large number of national and local
projects designed to address this imbalance. Part of the reason for this is that
anything that is done to address boys’ writing has a similar impact on girls.
There is very little difference in the achievement of boys and girls in maths (currently
2%) – however this is greater than it has been over the least 4 years and needs to be
watched.
This information suggests that it is something to do with approaches to English, in
particular writing, and to boys’ motivation which is hindering the writing process,
since clearly ability is not the main issue here.
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Girls
Boys
Girls
Boys
Girls
Boys
Girls
Boys
Girls
Boys
L4+
L4+
L4+
L4+
L4+
L4+
L4+
L4+
L4+
L4+
English
81
71
84
74
85
76
85
76
85
77
Reading
85
78
88
81
88
83
87
81
88
82
Writing
69
53
72
57
74
57
75
61
74
60
Maths
75
76
77
77
77
78
77
79
78
80
In previous years, Lancashire has carried out a boys’ writing project focusing on
specific year groups, firstly Y5 and then Y4. These projects have been effective and
the children in the classes that have been supported have made great strides in their
writing.
However, we noted that although impact in the specific classrooms of these teachers
was good, across the schools it was limited. They often did not have the opportunity
to feedback findings to the rest of the staff and were not always in a position to lead
staff to implement changes in approach across the school. Therefore, this year the
project was focused upon Literacy subject leaders. Overall this was a positive move
although there were some drawbacks:
2
Strengths
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
Subject leaders took ideas and
developed them.
Information was shared across
schools.
All SLs were able to lead a staff
meeting in their schools.
The project supported the
implementation of the renewed
framework.
Creative approaches were a strength.
There was already very good
understanding about the best
approaches to use in Literacy.
Weaknesses
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
Teachers on the project did not have a
shared understanding of the same
year group
Teachers could not work together to
develop a unit of work – they were in
classes from Reception to Y6
As teachers were full of their own
ideas, the creative aspect took over
and there was not as much rigour in
relation to tracking and assessment
Another issue was the fact that the project took place over two terms. Teachers were
invited to three meetings over this period, but time to trial strategies between
meetings was limited. This did not really give the teachers or the children enough
opportunity to embed the ideas and strategies. Although there was an impact on
children’s writing, in future projects, the time will be extended to include three
meetings over a year, one per term.
3
Chapter Two
Overview of the Lancashire Project
The aim of the project was to focus on boys’ interests and to use these to stimulate
boys to write.
Research shows that boys enjoy the following activities:
ƒ Speaking and listening
ƒ Role play
ƒ Drama
ƒ ICT
ƒ Films and visual images
These areas then became the focus for the project and teachers were asked to
consider ways of using these approaches within a unit of work.
Organisation of the project
Thirteen schools were chosen where boys writing had been identified as an issue.
These were split into three clusters in the different areas of Lancashire (north, south
and east). Subject leaders from each school were invited to attend the programme.
The aims were very clear. Each subject leader would be asked to trial approaches in
their own classroom, measure the progress made by the focus group of boys and
then disseminate the information to the teachers in their schools.
•
•
•
•
•
Day 1
- An introduction to the project along with an overview of the timescale
and content of the project.
- Poetry and Drama unit of work ‘What has happened to Lulu?’ (see
“See it, Do it, Write it” – Boys’ Writing Project 2005-2006).
Use of interactive and multimedia texts.
Gap task
- Identify a group of 6 underachieving boys.
- Focus group of boys to complete an attitudes to writing questionnaire.
- Collect a sample of levelled writing for focus group.
Trial teaching approaches discussed on Day 1.
Day 2
- Feedback from gap tasks.
- Use of art, role play and story boxes.
- Use of Photostory (ICT programme) to support the writing process.
Using film at KS2.
Gap task
- Plan and deliver another unit of work from the renewed framework,
using strategies and approaches discussed.
- Complete an action research form.
- Level children’s writing again at end of unit.
- Collect further writing samples.
Redo the questionnaire.
Day 3
- Evaluation of the project.
- Comparison of pre and post project writing.
- Comparison of pre and post attitudes using questionnaires.
- Using film KS1.
- Other approaches to film clips.
4
The sample group
The units of work were designed to be delivered to the whole class but the aim of the
project was to track the impact of the teaching approaches on a specific group of
boys. Therefore the teachers identified a group of underachieving boys and tracked
their progress throughout the project. The children completed a piece of writing which
was the baseline for comparison and these were levelled. Samples of writing were
gathered at the end of the project to analyse development.
The children were also given a questionnaire to examine their attitude to writing. This
was followed up at the end of the project to see how the children’s attitudes had
changed.
Planning
Planning was linked very closely to the renewed framework. This emphasises very
clearly the teaching sequence from reading to writing and we reviewed this at the
start of the project.
We looked at the different ‘phases’ and discussed how these linked to the teaching
sequence. We gave some exemplar planning and then teachers were asked to
develop their own, within the same structures. No planning format was given but the
approaches were recommended.
Planning circles were used as a way of developing a three/ four week plan. (See
following page.) The diagram demonstrates the process from reading
comprehension, analysis, gathering ideas to writing. In the renewed framework there
is a greater emphasis on the use of visual literacy, speaking, listening and drama
approaches and the use of ICT. We also gave a lot of emphasis to these areas and
supported the teachers to develop these ideas.
Feedback from the teachers indicated that they found this approach to planning very
supportive in developing their own practice. They appreciated the structure of using a
unit plan from the renewed framework, but liked the flexibility of incorporating visual
images or drama at various points in the planning and teaching process.
Recommendations for planning
-
Be flexible – develop the planning over three to four weeks to ensure that there is
enough time to explore and develop understanding through speaking and
listening, drama and discussion.
Use the renewed framework as a tool to give ideas for planning in different
phases
Spend time training the children in new approaches eg. hotseating, freeze
framing, conscience alley, to ensure they understand the approaches and are
confident in their responses
Ensure the children are supported through demonstration, shared and supported
composition, to develop the understanding of writing
Identify opportunities for short, ‘incidental’ writing tasks throughout the unit as well
as the more formal outcome at the end.
Integrate the drama, discussion, visual image and use the approaches flexibly to
support the whole process
Use ICT to support children throughout the unit and sometimes as the main
outcome at the end of the unit
Ensure there is a unit outcome, learning outcomes at the end of each phase and
daily objectives and success criteria.
5
•
•
•
Build on planning to
produce a final written
outcome
Work on different aspects
of the writing process:
drafting, revising, editing
and presenting
Develop and collect ideas
Shape ideas for writing,
orally and/or on paper
Clarify and refine ideas
using planning models
•
•
•
•
Enjoy and explore text
Develop comprehension
skills
Identify elements that may
support later writing
Develop success criteria
for writing
•
•
CHILDREN’S ROLE
Primary National Strategy
Enjoy it, get excited
by it, engage with it,
get immersed in it
Phases of the Planning Model
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
evaluate progress
against learning
outcomes for writing
process
Adjust planning to meet
learning needs of the
pupils
assess final outcome
against class success
6
criteria
evaluate progress
against learning
outcomes for second
phase
Adjust planning to meet
learning needs of the
pupils
evaluate progress
against learning
outcomes for first
phase
Adjust planning to meet
learning needs of the
pupils
Assess prior learning
Decide on appropriate
learning objectives for
text type and learning
needs of the class
Decide on approximate
timings for each
learning phase
TEACHER’S ROLE
Issues around boys’ underachievement in writing
At the start of the project we asked subject leaders for some of their views about the
causes of boys’ underachievement in writing. These are some of the ideas that they
came up with:
-
Boys find writing physically hard – they often complain that their hand hurts.
Vocabulary needs developing through speaking and listening so they know how
to express themselves more clearly.
Sometimes they don’t know what to write about.
Sometimes they have too many ideas and don’t know how to organise these.
They often get worried about the secretarial skills eg handwriting and spelling.
They are concerned with ‘how much’ they need to write, rather than what the
content should be.
They like to have an understanding of why they are doing their writing – to see
the bigger picture.
Their concentration span can be limited – (although not when it is something they
enjoy e.g. play station, game boys).
*Gary Wilson, a well respected researcher and author, has identified several barriers
to boys’ achievement. These include:
-
Lack of independence prior to starting school
Less developed linguistically on entry to school
English is perceived to be a feminine subject
Lack of male role model (at home or school)
Lower expectations for boys
Poorer presentation skills
Peer pressure
Many writing activities perceived as irrelevant and pointless
Boys cannot see the overall purpose for their work (the big picture)
Boys sometimes believe girls are treated better than they are in the classroom
Ability grouping
Teaching and learning styles are more suited to girls’ way of working
Exams and tests are more suited to girls’ learning styles
As part of the project, the teachers were encouraged to consider these issues and
barriers when planning the units of work and try to identify strategies to address
these in the classroom.
* See ‘Breaking through barriers to boys’ achievement’ by Gary Wilson
7
Chapter Three
ICT Approaches
A range of approaches to ICT were explored in order to motivate and engage boys at
the beginning of the project.
1. the use of interactive and multimedia texts as reading material
2. the use of interactive and multimedia texts as a model for writing
3. the use of film and moving image to promote speaking, listening, drama,
reading, writing and ICT
Interactive and multimedia texts
The use of interactive and multimedia texts were examined to promote motivation
and engagement, develop traditional reading skills and introduce new reading skills,
such as the use of non-linear reading and use of hyperlinks to access information. In
addition, the use of these texts were looked at to provide a model for producing
multimodal outcomes using powerpoint.
Several examples of interactive and multimedia texts are available on the Lancashire
Literacy Website and in the Primary National Strategy CPD materials ‘Keys to
Learning’.
Example 1 – Interactive and multimedia text as reading material
One teacher used two multimodal texts from the internet as reading material and
asked pupils in Year 2 to compare them using a talking partner.
A version of Little Red Riding Hood is available at www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories.
We liked it
because the
characters move
around.
We liked clicking
buttons to move
the pages.
We loved it
because the sound
effects are
fantastic.
We liked Little
Red Riding Hood
because of the
moving pictures.
8
A Year 1 example for shared reading using The Lost Teddy Powerpoint (available on
Lancashire Literacy Website) illustrated non-linear reading via hyperlinks. Further
guidance for using the resource in shared reading was provided with a CD for all
teachers in the project, with advice on how to adapt or innovate the Powerpoint file.
A few teachers experimented in using the approaches with pupils.
Example 2 – Interactive and multimedia text as writing model
Year 2 pupils produced a powerpoint text, innovating on The Lost Teddy. The pupils
dramatised their new story before composition, took digital photographs and created
hyperlinks.
The L0st Ball
I am really upset.
I have lost my favourite
ball.
9
One of the most successful ICT programs used on this year’s Boys’ Project was
Photostory 3. This is a free download from Microsoft.
In brief, it is a program which enables you to create a slide show which can include
text, narration, music and special effects. Better still, it is very simple to use!
To download the program go to:
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx
If you scroll down on the home page you will see a link ‘create your first Photostory’.
Click on this and print off the step by step instructions, (although the program is
pretty much self-explanatory when you use it.)
The Process;
1. Read lots of examples of the text-form being taught.
2. Role-play the stories.
3. ‘Chunk’ the story into scenes – see example on page 20.
4. Take photographs of children acting out each scene in the story – traditional tales
work particularly well for this.
5. Import the photographs into Photostory.
6. Write the story, using the photographs to sequence and recall plot, dialogue,
feelings etc.
7. Write a scene summary onto each slide and/or…
8. Narrate the story using a microphone.
9. Create different effects using the easy tools to fade in and out of each scene or
focus upon certain areas of each photo.
10. Select music from the Photostory choices or import your own.
11. Present the Photostory to the whole school!
Year One – St Maria Goretti – Preston
10
Chapter Four
Use of still and moving images
Use of visual images is an exciting and creative way to develop composition and
effect in boys’ writing. Images can stimulate boys to write and give them
something concrete to write about. Linked to this it is important to have clear
success criteria so they know what the writing needs to include. The following
example could be developed using a range of different pictures or film extracts.
Still images are a good way in to the use of visual images. These could include
photographs (children’s / teacher’s own, or taken during a school activity) pictures
from magazines, websites or paintings (see chapter on art and role play). Using
prompts such as the question hand, children can begin to read these images,
discuss them with their peers and begin to create stories.
The next step is to add sounds. The renewed framework website has many
sound files (see Library- resources – ICT – narrative KS2) and there are also
some available on the Lancashire Literacy website. These can help stimulate the
children’s senses further by adding a sound onto a picture. See the example
below which is available on Lancashire Literacy website – ICT bundle, Autumn.
This could be an introduction to a short piece of suspense writing called ‘A walk in
the woods’.
Next a clip from a film could help enhance this. Using ‘The Iron Giant’ (Scene 4) –
a small boy is walking through the woods at night and the tension builds as he
follows a trail until he comes to… ‘The Iron Giant’.
Children could watch this extract considering how the film builds up atmosphere
using prompt cards (see appendix):
–
–
–
–
Lighting
Sound
Colour
Camera angle
11
The zone of relevance is an exciting activity to introduce at this point to help develop
children’s vocabulary and ability to describe the film. A version for the IWB is
available on the renewed framework in Library – Literacy – ICT – Year 3.
violent
peaceful
exciting
sneaky
threatening
thoughtful
Children consider how relevant the word is to the extract they have just seen. The
more appropriate the word is, the closer to the centre of the target it goes. This is a
useful way of developing vocabulary.
Drama can be introduced at this point, for example:
Hot seating – the boy, the giant, his mum
Freeze framing – to emphasise feelings
Role play – what happens next?
Conscience alley – what should the boy do now?
Overheard conversation – what does he say to his friends?
Following on from all this input, the children could now be asked to write the opening
paragraph to’ A walk in the woods’. Depending on the age / ability of the children,
success criteria could include using the following types of sentence:
–
–
–
–
–
Starting with ing
Starting with ed
Dropping in a clause
Starting with a simile
Starting with a preposition
Example from a Y6 borderline boy
Moving through the forest, John looked around at the gnarled, wrecked
trees. As he went through he could hear crickets and birds, but as he got
further in, it was just silence all around. A shiver went right through his
spine. Suddenly he realised that most of the trees were annihilated. He knew
this was a bad idea. As huge as a house, a metal monster appeared out of
nowhere. Terrified, John could do nothing but watch. Was he going to be
destroyed?
12
Other extracts used successfully by colleagues on the project:
-
Stuart Little - when Stuart gets stuck in the washing machine
Ice age -when sabre tooth tigers attack the camp
Shrek – when his home gets invaded by visitors
Cinderella – when the prince is at the ball waiting for the guests to arrive
Finding Nemo – when Nemo runs away from his dad
Using moving image and film
Using moving image and film can provide excellent opportunities in providing
contexts for talk, developing comprehension and inference, can maximise short
writing opportunities and lead to a writing outcome or ICT outcome.
Several examples and approaches to using film were explored using films provided
by The British Film Institute (www.bfi.org.uk).
Benefits of using film
-
Promoting understanding, appreciation and experience of a diverse range of
moving image material.
Extending pupils’ cultural experiences.
Awareness and familiarity of film as a genre.
Telling stories in a medium that is closer to the everyday experience of many
children.
Studying print and film alongside each other.
Making connections with other films pupils have seen.
Maximising speaking and listening opportunities linked to films.
Drawing inferences and discussing how characters are presented – using high
order reading skills without the need for decoding.
Providing a stimulus for writing.
Developing film as a creative outcome.
Using film in Foundation stage and Key Stage 1
Tom Sweep – F/KS1
Ideas for using the above film based on the teaching sequence from
reading to writing.
Speaking, listening, drama, reading and response
-
-
Listen to the soundtrack for music, dialogue, sound effects or silence.
Focused listening to the mood of the music – sorting pre-prepared cards e.g.
happy, sad, tired, excited.
Movement and dance to reflect mood - tapping or clapping to the rhythm,
travelling in a space, making pathways in response to the music, changing
speeds to suit the music, changes in levels and directions to show awareness of
patterns and changes in the music.
Listen and draw specific sounds - talking to a partner about sounds and what is
happening.
Explore the genre – how the soundtrack makes you feel and what the story might
be in pairs/groups.
Focus boxes – character, setting, mood and story. Pupils respond using the
headings in pairs/groups/whole class during listening to the soundtrack.
13
character setting
story
mood
Viewing, speaking, listening and drama
-
Watch the whole film and encourage children to make an initial response.
Emphasise that they do not have to like it, but they need to try to justify their
opinion.
Discuss what children liked or didn’t like. Record responses on IWB or flipchart
under 2 headings: likes / dislikes.
Save for future reference to see whether opinions change after further viewings
Watch the introduction and discuss the main character, Tom sweep, what his job
is…etc.
Watch the whole film again and answer key questions:
Who is the character?
What is the setting?
What happens?
What is the problem?
-
Put children in role as Tom (gesture, actions, feelings, etc.).
Brainstorm Tom Sweep (external physical appearance, clothes, movement,
expressions, behaviour…) build on first-hand experience generated through
drama. How does the film tell us about this character?
Character map – Sort pre-written word cards into hoops to describe Tom, or write
words or phrases around a picture of Tom.
Use speaking frames: ‘Tom is thinking…’ ‘I think Tom would say…’ ‘I think Tom
feels…’.
Hot-Seating Tom Sweep - teacher in role initially to model and support skills and
build confidence - children generate questions to ask Tom. Use of simple props
to develop role (e.g. brush, bin).
Provide simple props and costumes with which the children could re-enact the
story.
Allow children the opportunity to role play with or without dialogue. Consider how
emotions are shown when there is no dialogue. Use of mime.
Discuss how the film tells us about characters, as there is no dialogue and
characters have no facial features.
Story boxes - provide small world figures and props for the children to retell the
story. Maximise opportunities to explore characterisation and alternative endings,
and innovation on aspects of the narrative.
Speaking, listening, drama and writing
-
Create freeze frames of scenes in groups from role play or small world play.
Thought Tracking. Consider the feelings of characters at different points.
Planning for writing – shared session. Map out the cycle of the story using IWB
and digital photographs or still images form the film, from various scenes.
Demonstration writing, shared writing and supported composition.
14
Possible unit outcomes
-
Oral retelling of the story
Character profile
Class big book with captions or sentences for scenes
Zig-zag books to retell story or tell own version
Simple narrative stories
Anti-litter posters – environmental campaign
Simple film-making (‘Photostory’ & ‘Digital Blue’) to create own versions of the
film.
Using film in Key Stage 2
Between Us – Y4/5
Ideas based on the teaching sequence from reading to writing.
Speaking, listening and response
-
Listen to the soundtrack without prompts – no discussion.
Listen to the soundtrack again - predict and summarise
storyline through pictures, story mapping etc.
Talk partners or small groups to share predictions and
summarise own interpretations.
Watch – enjoy – respond. Think, pair, share.
What do you think
will happen?
What do you want to
happen?
What do you think of the
film so far?
Does it remind you of
anything? Other films?
How does it make you
feel?
Viewing, drama and incidental writing opportunities
-
Generate questions for hot seating using the question hand.
Hot seat main and minor characters.
Introduce focus viewing boxes on IWB – character, setting, story, mood. Each
group to focus on a different aspect. View the whole film. Whole class feedback.
Drama – consider the conversation between the boy and girl? Shared writing –
teacher modelling sentence conventions.
Paired writing – role play and write dialogue.
Planning for writing – main or minor character focus – story map character
thoughts and actions throughout the film.
Develop characterisation through the character challenge.
Provide the film on laptops or computer suite for pupils to ‘scroll’ through to
collect responses to support developing characterisation.
15
Name _______________________
Age _______________________
Character Challenge
Occupation
Other
Dislikes
Hobbies
Planning and writing
-
Pupils freeze frame significant actions of the father – take digital photos or screen
capture actions from the film.
Thought track the minor character.
Import photos to IWB – annotate ready for writing to provide a planning structure
for writing.
Demonstration writing, shared writing and supported composition towards a final
outcome of a first person narrative or monologue.
Possible outcomes
-
First person narrative or monologue
Video performance of monologue
Voice over for the film
Film making (Photostory or digital blue) narrative or thought tracking of main or
minor character
Playscript (performance or filmed)
16
Chapter Five
Art, Role Play and Story Boxes
It is always a good idea to develop cross curricular links where appropriate and art
can be an excellent stimulus to develop speaking, listening, drama and writing in the
classroom. Various art galleries (eg Manchester art gallery, Walker art gallery in
Liverpool), provide INSET for teachers or welcome school trips to demonstrate the
use of art to promote a range of skills and approaches.
Art is a good way into stimulating children to write, because it helps to provide them
with something to write about and supports them to channel their own experiences
into writing.
Using a question hand, children can begin to ask questions about a picture with their
talk partners.
•
•
•
•
•
•
What can you see?
What can you hear?
Who are the characters?
What is happening?
When did it happen?
Why did it happen?
This can then lead into the beginning of a story being told about a picture. The
process can now be developed by introducing some drama techniques:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Freeze frame
Hot seating
Overheard conversation
Conscience alley
Forum theatre
Role play what happens next
Incidental writing is a key part of developing a unit of work. Art and drama can
stimulate a range of writing opportunities:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Thought or speech bubbles
Think, say, feel post-it notes
Letter of apology
Annotate the picture
Police report
Journalistic writing
It is important within a unit of work that there is a planned written outcome that is
modelled and demonstrated for the children. However, within the unit of work, there
should be opportunities for children to make choices about what they want to write
17
and how they want to present their work. Boys in particular, like to feel ownership of
the work they are doing.
In order to stimulate the writing process, it is good to introduce role play. Some
classrooms are not big enough to have role play areas, or the teacher maybe wants
to develop a smaller group interaction. ‘Story boxes’ can be very helpful for this.
These are boxes which contain a reproduction of the art work along with figures so
that children can retell ‘the story’ of the picture. ‘Story mats’ or prompts can then be
included so that children have some support with their story telling. These can
enhance children’s writing enormously.
An example of a story map:
1.Characters
and setting
4.What
happens in the
end?
2.Problem
3.Setting/events
Pictures and images are available on the internet and a useful site is ‘Google images’
Figures for the story boxes are easy to obtain from toy shops such as Toys R Us or
Early Learning Centres.
18
Chapter Six
Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
The teachers who attended the Boys’ Writing workshops were shown several
creative techniques to try with their classes or to disseminate throughout their
schools.
The teachers and children’s responses to the trialling of these techniques are listed
below.
Name
School
Year Group
Helen Crone
St Mary’s, Morecambe
6
Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Unit:
Using Interactive Texts – ‘Left Out’
Outcome:
Interactive text written by Year 6 for use during Ant-Bullying Week.
Specific reading skills taught and applied:
Prediction; empathy with characters
Creative techniques and approaches for reading:
Modelled reading of ‘No Way’- encouraging children’s prediction about character’s
thoughts and feelings. Paired work on whiteboards with whole-class feedback.
Specific writing skills taught and applied:
Use of past tense in recount, including description of character’s feelings/interaction
between characters. Editing.
Creative techniques and approaches for writing:
Children given photos from the ‘Left Out’ Powerpoint as stimulus – groups of 4 to 5
worked on different stages of the story. These were typed up, discussed by whole
class and edited.
Comments and Impact:
Children really enjoyed this – very good for speaking and listening opportunities. Also
proud that the finished product was viewed by other classes in school. Boys positive!
Name
School
Year Group
Helen Crone
St Mary’s, Morecambe
6
Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Unit:
Using Photostory based upon Cinderella plot – modern day setting and characters.
(See below)
Outcome:
Photostory of modern day version of Cinderella
Specific writing skills taught and applied:
Planning, story structure, paired writing, editing
Creative techniques and approaches for writing:
Mixed ability pairs given basic text structure to plan their version of Cinderella –
continued to work together in writing the story. Each scene put into Photostory.
Comments and Impact:
Great enthusiasm for this! Paired planning/writing worked really well – ideas flowed.
Structure of known story gave support when writing – e.g. use of paragraphs,
development of plot. Children really looked forward to finished product!
19
Extract the basic plot – Cinderella
Your Story
Messenger arrives with
invitation to the palace for
a ball.
It looks as if main
character might have an
opportunity to get away
from his/her bullies.
The bullies find out and
spoil everything. There
seems to be no hope for
the main character.
Prince searches kingdom
for girl who fits shoe.
Hero searches for main
character.
Cinderella locked in cellar,
sisters try to fit their feet
into shoes.
Bullies spoil things for
main character again.
Guard search house, find
Cinders, shoe fits. All live
happily ever after . . .
Help is at hand for main
character and everything
ends happily.
Scene 4
Scene 5
Main character happy, but
this is short-lived.
Scene 6
Kind stranger helps main
character get away from
bullies. However, there is
a condition.
Scene 3
Cinders makes a dress
bur the sisters tear it and
tell her she isn’t gong to
the ball.
Fairy-Godmother turns up
– waves magic wand –
Cinders has clothes and
carriage but must leave at
midnight.
Goes to ball, dances with
prince. Clock strikes
midnight, runs off leaving
glass slipper . . . .
Scene 7
Main character is being
bullied and is unhappy.
Scene 8
Cinders lives with bullying
stepmother and sisters
and is unhappy.
Scene 1
Basic plot in general
terms
Scene 2
Original Story
20
Name
School
Year Group
Claire Byrne
St Maria Goretti Primary School
1
Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Unit:
Narrative: Traditional Tales
Outcome:
Video story and group story books.
Specific reading skills taught and applied:
Blending and segmenting: phonics
Creative techniques and approaches for reading:
The Children were introduced to an extensive range of Traditional Tales using big
books, interactive big books, guided reading books and Internet stories
(www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies) The children donned a variety of costumes and used
many props to retell their favourite stories as the role play was turned into a cottage,
castle, house of sticks and a princess’s tower! The children took on the role of the
characters from each traditional tale and were encouraged to think about the
feelings, mood and the voice they should use. Other techniques such as Hot
Seating, Freeze-Framing and Speaking Thoughts were used, although each were
modelled by the teacher first (exiting the room and returning as a fierce giant with
green wellies on really caught the children’s attention!) The children were
enthusiastic throughout this unit and took the lead role in photographing their peers
whilst acting out the stories and deciding which events were key to the plot. Activities
such as wanted posters for the wolf, character profiles, ‘missing’ signs and baking
gingerbread men were all activities which helped bring the unit to life and strengthen
their understanding of the text type.
Specific writing skills taught and applied:
Sentence Structure, Spelling new words using phonics as the prime approach.
Segmenting sounds into their constituent phonemes in order to spell them correctly
and recognising and using alternative ways to spell the graphemes already taught.
Creative techniques and approaches for writing:
The children were photographed whilst acting out their favourite story in the role-play
area with their peers in costume. The lower ability children were guided by the higher
ability and emphasis was put upon their feelings and facial expressions throughout.
The photographs were up loaded onto the computer and imported into PhotoStory3.
The children discussed each picture and as a group they constructed a number of
sentences to explain each part of the story, keeping in mind the key features of a
traditional tale (compiled in the first week of the unit). The children chose some music
to accompany their mini video and the final product was shown to the whole school in
assembly. Each group in turn, created their own PhotoStory using a different
Traditional Tale. The outcomes were purposeful, engaging, and most of all
thoroughly impressive!
Comments and impact:
The impact this unit had on the children’s development was incredible. All of my
reluctant writers (funnily enough all boys!) were not only extremely keen to put on the
wolf mask and scare all the girls, but they were very motivated when it came to
uploading, importing and writing sentences on the laptop to accompany their own
video productions! The children were keen to delve into the writing process because
they were given a real purpose: to make a video of themselves as the stars! Not only
had they enjoyed themselves but they had produced a whole story, not just a few
words. The class as a whole were high in confidence and keen to show their work to
anyone who stood still long enough! What a great experience for all!
21
Name
School
Year Group
Erin Hales
Poulton-le-Sands C of E Primary School
1
Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Unit:
Year 1 - Narrative – Unit 3. Traditional and Fairy Stories.
Outcome:
Photostory, Class assembly, Traditional Tale.
Specific reading skills taught and applied:
Story Language. Sequencing language
Creative techniques and approaches for reading:
Children read a traditional story onto a tape. Speaking and listening – drama: hotseating, role play, acting out stories with puppets, home corner with traditional story
costumes, visual literacy.
Specific writing skills taught and applied:
Writing beginnings, middle and end of stories.
Creative techniques and approaches for writing:
Wrote sentences in groups to go with the photos taken for Photostory. Wrote letters
to Little Red Riding Hood. Wrote beginnings, middles and ends of lots of traditional
tales.
Comments and Impact:
All children really enjoyed doing the Photostory and showing it in assembly. Boys
seemed very eager to write traditional stories – but time seemed to be the limiting
factor as the boys seemed to write more slowly than the girls. All boys progressed
really well and moved up levels in reading and writing.
Had lots of cross-curricular links, too – which seemed to make so much sense to the
children, e.g. DT – homes linked to stories like Three Little Pigs, Hansel and Gretel
and Goldilocks. Made own houses and stuck sweets on the outside like house in
Hansel and Gretel.
22
Name
School
Year Group
Erin Hales
Poulton-le-Sands C of E Primary School
1
Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Unit:
Non-fiction – Wheels, Cars, things that move. Linked to Science – pushes and
pulls/DEW.
Outcome:
Character profiles, Captions and Labels to go with the photos of children on bikes
and scooters.
Specific reading skills taught and applied:
Reading non-fiction books – contents, index, page numbers, captions and labels.
Creative techniques and approaches for reading:
Watched Disney film ‘Cars’ and discussed film and characters. Used non-fiction
books to help us label our favourite characters and write captions.
Specific writing skills taught and applied:
Labels and captions
Creative techniques and approaches for writing:
Character profiles of their favourite character from the ‘Cars’ film. Labelling pictures
of cars from film Writing captions to go with their pictures of cars. Writing captions to
go with photos of themselves on their bikes and scooters
Comments and impact:
The children loved this topic – boys and girls. They really enjoyed ‘Cars’ and it helped
that so many things linked together. The boys loved writing about their favourite
‘Cars’ characters. The children also loved going out on bikes and scooters – linked to
science, DT – pushes and pulls/ wheels/things that move. The children also looked at
my car – inside and under the bonnet and then labelled parts of a car, e.g. engine,
battery, oil, tyres, steering wheel, etc. Again, the cross-curricular links helped and the
boys seemed very eager to write.
23
Name
School
Year Group
Ros Bunting
Strike Lane, Freckleton
2
Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Unit:
Narrative: Little Red Riding Hood
Outcome:
Story based upon same structure – invent new characters.
Specific reading skills taught and applied:
Use of dialogue in stories. Character profiles.
Creative techniques and approaches for reading:
Hot seating, Role Play, Freeze-frame, Reading partners, Use of puppets to develop
language.
Specific writing skills taught and applied:
Writing process – Think it, Say it, Write it, Read it. Speech bubbles – captions and
feelings.
Creative techniques and approaches for writing:
Role play/drama: Forum theatre, thought/speech bubbles. Photographs taken – used
as stimulus for story work to produce class book.
Comments and impact:
Children much more confident in their writing. Use of language more interesting and
colourful. Speaking and listening skills much improved. Children’s attitude towards
writing has changed considerable – much more positive.
Name
School
Year Group
Ros Bunting
Strike Lane, Freckleton
2
Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Unit:
Narrative – ‘Lost Teddy’ Interactive text.
Outcome:
Simple story based on similar structure of interactive text presented on Powerpoint.
Specific reading skills taught and applied:
Daily phonics games. Creating word banks of different story language.
Creative techniques and approaches for reading:
Interactive and multi-media texts. Reading partners. Story sacks.
Specific writing skills taught and applied:
Teacher modelling good examples. Self-assessment using two stars and a wish.
Creative techniques and approaches for writing:
Role play – photos taken and used for Powerpoint presentation. Hot seating, forum
theatre. Still images of children in character.
Comments and impact:
Greater level of concentration. Children appeared more motivated. Improved
speaking and listening – more responsive during class discussion. Increased output
– higher standard of work.
24
Name
School
Year Group
Lynn Taylor
Clayton Brook Primary
1
Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Unit:
Narrative
Outcome:
Writing a story about a character from a picture.
Specific reading skills taught and applied:
N/A Used picture/painting as text.
Creative techniques and approaches for reading:
Speaking and listening main focus.
Specific writing skills taught and applied:
Labelling and annotating pictures. Writing a story about one character.
Creative techniques and approaches for writing:
Describing what they can see in a picture, then labelling another picture. Describing
what they would be able to hear if they were in the picture. Freeze frame the picture
taking on the role of someone in the picture. Developing the character in their own
story. Drawing what might be the next picture after role playing the scene in a group
and freeze-framing.
Comments and impact:
Fantastic for developing, in particular, speaking and listening and also social skills
through working in a group. Pictures chosen specifically to match each group’s
interests fired their enthusiasm and gave them material to write about. The TA
working with one of the groups was also stimulated and enthusiastic.
Name
School
Year Group
Lynn Taylor
Clayton Brook Primary
1
Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Unit:
Narrative Unit 3 – Fairy Tales
Outcome:
Letters and Questions
Specific reading skills taught and applied:
Using knowledge of story language, basic story elements, features of fairy tales, to
read fluently and with expression. Children changing their voices for characters and
specific events, e.g. when reading a scary part.
Creative techniques and approaches for reading:
Retelling stories in role play – Three Bears’ Cottage – and using puppets. Hot seating
adults in role. Focus on similarities in fairy tales – sorting and matching characters.
Letters from Goldilocks to the children encouraging them to write.
Specific writing skills taught and applied:
Writing questions. letters, lists. Say it, Write it, Read it. Using capital letters, full stops,
question marks, exclamation marks. Using knowledge of stories in own writing.
Creative techniques and approaches for writing:
Children writing questions and then asking the adults in role the questions.
Comments and impact:
The children have been very excited about the whole topic. They love to read the
wide range of fairy tales. Each time we read a fairy tale they automatically compare
and contrast it to other fairy tales. Absolutely loved visits from Goldilocks and the
Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood. The letters ‘from’ the characters really encouraged
them to write and also encouraged some originality in their writing. All the children
have been really engaged and motivated.
25
Name
School
Year Group
Jackie Nuttall
Highfield Primary, Chorley
2
Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Unit:
Poetry – The Two Infants by Fred Sedgwick – School and Family Poems Big Book.
Outcome:
Final verse
Specific reading skills taught and applied:
Understanding poetry layout, punctuation, expression, vocabulary.
Creative techniques and approaches for reading:
Discuss picture using question hand. Predict from picture. Relate to own experiences
– talk-partners. Discuss layout and what they notice about the poem. Who was ‘I’?
Specific writing skills taught and applied:
Annotating. Labelling. Poetry layout for final verse. Punctuation for poetry.
Creative techniques and approaches for writing:
Annotating poem with thoughts and feelings. Draw and label pictures. Hot seat boy
characters. Freeze-frame being friends/not being friends/looking down drain. Write
final verse – would they stay friends or not?
Comments and impact:
Children loved the freeze frame. Lots of discussion. Raised confidence level in
writing poetry as opposed to narrative.
Name
School
Year Group
Janet Wright
Woodland Primary, Skelmersdale
5
Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Unit:
Narrative poetry – The Highwayman.
Outcome:
An extra verse for a narrative poem. Choral reading.
Specific reading skills taught and applied:
Reading for meaning. Empathy.
Creative techniques and approaches for reading:
Hot seating – Bess; ‘Why did you sacrifice yourself for the Highwayman?’ Landlord:
‘How do you feel about what happened?’ Tim the ostler: How did you feel about the
Highwayman and Bess, whom you love?’ Conscience Alley: Should Tim inform the
soldiers about the Highwayman’s plan? Choral reading: Use of sound effects/voices;
individuals and in groups. Visualisation of characters from descriptions read.
Specific writing skills taught and applied:
Features of diary writing/notes/letters. Skills: Sentence construction, punctuation . . .
Creative techniques and approaches for writing:
Diary writing – Tim the Ostler when he heard the Highwayman’s plans. Note-writing –
Tim to the soldiers telling of the plan. Questions – to Bess about why she made her
decision. Letter writing – Landlord to problem page after his daughter’s death.
Labelling of drawings – Highwayman in response to descriptions in poem.
Comments and impact:
Children enthused – both boys and girls – adventure and love story! Enjoyment when
responding. Lots of opportunities for speaking/listening/group interaction.
Lots of opportunities for short independent writing tasks. Children really remembered
poem – it has made a lasting impression on them.
26
Name
School
Year Group
Janet Wright
Woodland Primary, Skelmersdale
5
Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Unit:
Traditional Tales
Outcome:
Own version of a traditional Tale
Specific reading skills taught and applied:
Reading for meaning. How texts are adapted for specific audiences.
Creative techniques and approaches for reading:
Question hand. Hot-seating the prince. Film clip – Cinderellas running away from the
ball. Interview – newspaper reporters asking Prince what he will do to find the girl.
Forum theatre – in Cinderella’s kitchen when trying to find girl.
Target game – zones of relevance.
Specific writing skills taught and applied:
Sentence structure and punctuation applied to different types of writing.
Creative techniques and approaches for writing:
Questions for prince – ‘How does he feel about the girl running away?’ Newspaper
report – Prince Sees Mystery Girl. Character studies.
Comments and impact:
Drama techniques impacting on children’s depth of understanding of characters.
Children, especially boys, have ideas for their writing as a result of drama
techniques. Children’s developing empathy, inference and deduction as a result of indepth study.
Name
School
Year Group
Frances Gore
Farington Primary, Leyland
2
Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Unit:
Traditional Stories
Outcome:
Alternative text version of Little Red Riding Hood. Comparison between two multimodal written texts.
Specific reading skills taught and applied:
Sequencing of story: Quest – warning – cliff hanger- rescue – resolution. Concepts of
elements of a story. Comparing range of written multi-modal texts. Characterisation –
text-marking – features of baddie/victim/hero. All basic reading skills integrated.
Creative techniques and approaches for reading:
Role play. Puppets and costumes galore! Hot seating characters. Story maps of
journey. Post-its – labelling personalities/characteristics. Question hand to stimulate
discussion.
Specific writing skills taught and applied:
Features of openings of traditional tales. Use of capital letters for effect. Speech
marks. Text layout. Compiling word banks to describe characters in action.
Creative techniques and approaches for writing:
Hot seating. Character planning – drawing labelling physical and special
features/possessions. Comparing profiles: victim/baddie/hero. Use of senses as a
model for developing writing – effective.
Comments and impact:
Incidental writing – very effective – children returned to it as a framework. Hot-seating
– most powerful tool – prior to writing. ICT texts – comparing and analysing –
transferred to writing across all ability levels. Longer time spent breaking story into
smaller chunks. Effective in producing clear structure. Drawing and labelling
characters – limited/mixed impact.
27
Name
School
Year Group
Frances Gore
Farington Primary, Leyland
2
Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Unit:
Non-fiction Unit 3: Explanation/Information texts
Outcome:
Ask and answer questions about The Great Fire of London and Samuel Pepys.
Photostory – Samuel Pepys Dilemma.
Specific reading skills taught and applied:
Investigating different sources of information: books, videos, ICT, internet and asking
important individuals. Locate explanations. Scanning for key-words, phrases,
subheadings. Find meaning of unknown words. Difference between fact and
speculation.
Creative techniques and approaches for reading:
Received a letter from the queen. Investigating hyperlinks, navigating search engines
and sites. Hot seating, Conscience alley.
Specific writing skills taught and applied:
Pose questions and record in writing. Make notes, headings, key-words. Write simple
information texts – facts about Samuel Pepys. Comparisons between then and now.
Creative techniques and approaches for writing:
Debate – who will know more today? Chief Fire Officer of London, Mayor, Queen.
Reconstructing streets of London with model timber framed housing. (Year 4/5 model
making) Using photos for speaking and listening to inform writing. Post-it notes for
incidental writing.
Comments and impact:
Children realise that information can be presented differently – children keen to prove
difference between fact and speculation – inference. Children understand the
difference between fact and fiction.. Role play – rooftop scene with Thomas Farynar
– vivid – clearly described in writing. Individual research about Pepys – children
motivated by incidental extra information about him and his life. Conscience alleybrutal honesty of children. Debate to persuade made reasoning become more
persuasive. Letter to, and answer from the Queen and subsequent publicity – real
audience/purpose/kudos for children! The children would cheat when it was Great
Fire of London time!!!
Name
School
Year Group
Gill Woods
Moor End CP School
2
Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Unit:
Narrative
Outcome:
Sustained story
Creative techniques and approaches:
Music. Drama. Hot seating. Conscience Alley. Images.
Comments and impact:
The biggest impact so far has been the children’s growing enthusiasm for writing
activities as a result of the creative approaches. They are no longer afraid of writing
and their skills are beginning to show signs of improvement.
28
Name
School
Year Group
Fiona Balchin
Casterton Primary School
4/5
Creative Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Unit:
Narrative
Outcome:
Sustained story. Speaking and Listening.
Specific reading skills taught and applied:
Points of view. Inference
Creative techniques and approaches for reading:
Children introduced to ‘Reading Mission’.
Use of role play, children in role. Children become Reading Spies. Different
techniques like Hot Seating, Six-Line Dialogues, Freeze-Framing, Body Sculpting,
Speaking Thoughts, etc.
Children involved in different activities along the way – wrote e-mails, drew maps,
chose gadgets, decided upon what a reading enemy might be like. Worked on codes,
diary entries.
Specific writing skills taught and applied:
Creative techniques and approaches for writing:
Over a series of lessons, a story outline was built up where the Spy Master was
kidnapped and had to be rescued. Children wrote their own stories/books based
upon the drama work they had produced. Books also contained maps, letters wanted
posters and minutes of meetings. Photos were used to help to tell the story. Stories
allowed children to put in their own ideas and many used their imagination to take the
ideas in unusual directions.
Comments and impact:
Impact was fantastic. Children wanted to write because they had a real purpose.
Many of the reluctant boy writers, who were writing a few lines previously, now
produced a whole story and were very, very proud of themselves. Confidence was
much higher and many children now believe that they can write. They also enjoyed
the experience.
29
Chapter Seven
Impact on writing
In order to achieve a measure of comparability of progress during the course of the
project, assessments of two writing samples occurred at the beginning and end of the
project.
Teachers were asked to assess pupils’ current writing levels using the Lancashire
Levelling Narrative/Non-narrative document in November 2006. The samples were
levelled with some degree of moderation; teachers were asked to bring samples of
writing and level certain samples with another participant involved in the project and
the final levels were all representative of either teacher assessment in March 2007.
The levelling process took account of:
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
Sentence structure and punctuation
Text structure and organisation
Composition and effect
Spelling
Handwriting
According to the QCA strands of assessment and eight Assessment Focuses for
writing in line with NC tests.
The pupils selected were a cohort of boys who were deemed to be underachieving
within each subject leaders’ year group. For example, the brick wall was one of the
vehicles used to identify and track progress during the project and by using the
current levels of teacher assessment, a cohort of boys could be chosen.
After a period of approximately 4 months, the majority of pupils appeared to have
made progress in all three strands of sentence structure and punctuation, text
structure and organisation and composition and effect and had greater motivation in
presentation and attempts at more accurate spelling. The most significant progress
is evident in the three main strands with pupils having:
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
Greater control of a variety of sentence constructions
Clearer understanding and handle of narrative structure
Wider use of vocabulary
Stimulus from drama and visual approaches has also resulted in a greater control of
voice, style and pace, noticeable progress in sub-levels across the strands and a
positive attitude to writing for specific purposes.
The following case studies illustrate good and significant progress in writing.
30
Sample 1 – Pre-project writing
Narrative
Pupil’s writing
The grl wos woln the dog suddenly the dog ran awy. the dog an frw the brk. The grl
wos cross and wn the farmer fnd the dog hiy tuc the dog hom the grl wa hopi.
Transcript
The girl was walking the dog suddenly the dog ran away. The dog ran through the
brook. The girl was cross and when the farmer found the dog he took the dog home.
The girl was happy.
At this stage the writing demonstrates:
-
Some accurate use of capital letters and full stops
Simple sentence structures
Characteristic forms of narrative are beginning to be developed
A simple story structure with a series of events
Vocabulary choices relevant to the narrative
Sample 1 – Post Project writing
Pupil’s writing
The stome sea
Captin shtd sevent tom wat tris a storm. Com on sed sevent tom jump the bot is fallin
ofer. Captin I want to go hom. Sevent tom dot be a babi.
Rite ab ship. Captin Joni the bot is roc. When the wok op tha did not no wer tha wer.
Joni lets tri to mak a raf wat wiv saed Captin. Yes how saed tom. Find som gras. Iv
got the gras saed tom. Gow and get som wod of the tres.
How do I do it captin wiv this sowd. I af got the sowd now I can med a raf. So tha
sald the raff row dip byowtifo blew sea. Then tha gor der. Com on sed joni giv me a
hug.
31
Transcript
The Stormy Sea
Captain shouted Servant Tom watch there’s a storm. Come on said Servant Tom
jump the boat is falling over. Captain I want to go home. Servant Tom don’t be a
baby.
Right abandon ship. Captain Jonny the boat is rocking. When they woke up they did
not know where they were. Jonny lets try to make a raft what with said Captain. Yes
how said Tom. Find some grass. I’ve got the grass said Tom. Go and get some
wood off the trees.
How do I do it Captain with this sword. I have got the sword now I can make a raft.
So they sailed the raft through the deep beautiful blue sea. Then they got there.
Come on said Jonny give me a hug.
Writing demonstrates improvements in:
-
Use of simple sentence structures and attempts at compound / complex
sentences.
Use of dialogue to develop characterisation.
More consistent use of full stops and capital letters.
Some use of connectives.
A clearly structured narrative with an opening, events and a clear ending
More adventurous use of vocabulary.
Increased motivation to write a more detailed narrative.
The teacher reported that this child was previously the most reluctant writer in the Y2
class. Following the use of sound, images and drama techniques the child now has
great enthusiasm for writing and completes his own initiated writing tasks at home
which he brings to share in class.
32
Sample 2 – Pre-project writing
Pupil’s writing
I lic mqween. He is fast. I lic he Red cul.
Transcript
I like McQueen. He is fast. I like his red colour.
At this stage the writing demonstrates evidence of:
-
Simple sentence structure
Use of accurate full stops and capital letters
Simple structure
Appropriate vocabulary for the task
Sample 2 – Post-project writing
Child’s writing
To Gran I am soree for trorees to eat yow and nan and I will nev av ett peepl age sow
am soree and I wil never dow it a gen sow I will sebrat wiv a prtee.
Luv from Wufe
Transcript
To Gran I am sorry for trying to eat you and nan and I will never ever eat people
again so I am sorry and I will never do it again so I will celebrate with a party.
Love from Wolf.
Writing demonstrates evidence of:
-
Improved use of sentence structure
Use of capital letters and full stops
Connectives e.g. so
Clear structure of a letter
Interesting use of vocabulary appropriate to the subject matter
Consistency in writing in the first person from a character point of view
Increased motivation in writing
33
Sample 3 – Pre-project writing
Pupil’s writing
This was the most specetive day ever. I was in my room playing on my ps2 as alien
space ship and an alien came out with a sniper and I told everyone in my house but
they did not believe me. So I got my pHone and took an imag of the Alien and so I
proved them wrong.
Writing demonstrates evidence of:
-
Accurate use of full stops and capital letters
Use of connectives
Consistent past tense
Simple structure of a recount
Specific vocabulary chosen to convey ideas
Ideas chosen to entertain or amuse the reader
Sample 3 – Post-project writing
one summer’s day in 2006 liVed The RoBinsons. Danielle, Tony, Catline, RoB are
the children.
They set of camping In the woods for two night’s
“Wilst ther having a Romantic time by the television that dosn’t stop us from having
fun” Tony said prodly.
As the Kids were setting up there tents Dad came and mutard “are you sure your
safe”
Everyone said “Yes Dad”.
Soon they were ready to sleep but they were like scout’s first lighting and making
campfires.
Rob and Catline were strong and brave but as tony is the youngest kid he was
scared.
The next morning tony got brave and said “I love it here” as usual they grined and
laughed but a day later as they were packing It all went wrong. Catline, Tony, Rob all
got lost going home. Eventually Catline said “holy smoke is that our house come on
let’s see” in the end they got home and safe.
Writing demonstrates evidence of:
-
Mostly accurate capital letters and full stops
Accurate use of commas in a list
Accurate use of speech marks to demarcate dialogue
Developing range of connectives
Developing narrative structure with an opening, events, problem
and resolution
Use of action and dialogue
Words chosen for effect
Awareness of audience with attempts to entertain
Enthusiasm for writing
34
Overall progress of pupils in the project
Percentage progress
The following figures are indicative of teacher assessments. Expected progress
according to National Curriculum is two sub levels per year. In four months there
is obviously evidence to suggest the approaches used have had impact on pupils’
reading and writing levels.
Percentages based on the results of 50 pupils.
Reading
No
change
+ 1 sub
level
+ 2 sub
levels
+ 3 sub levels
Number of pupils
5
34
8
3
Percentage of pupils
- increase in sub
level
10%
68%
16%
6%
No
change
+ 1 sub
level
+ 2 sub
levels
+ 3 sub levels
Number of pupil
0
28
18
4
Percentage of pupils
- increase in sub
level
0%
56%
36%
8%
Writing
Summary
Following the delivery of the units of work all teachers reported that they felt the
children had made progress in a variety of ways. Overall the movement to higher sub
levels was evident in writing and there was also an improvement in enthusiasm,
motivation and achievement in reading. Teachers reported an intuitive feeling that the
children had improved and noted that pupils required less adult intervention and
support on task, pupils were writing at length and were more eager to proceed with
activities, wanted to begin writing, sustain tasks and complete to produce a quality
piece of work. In addition, they felt all children in the class had improved and not
merely the target group. Subject Leaders also commented that they would continue
to use the approach in the future and wanted to disseminate the approaches across
the whole school.
35
Fire of London Year 2
The unit of work begins with a story about a boy Thomas Farynor, the baker from
Pudding Lane who climbs onto the roof tops with his family as his bakery burns to the
ground. Pupils were asked to consider what characters would be thinking, saying or
feeling using a picture of the family on the rooftops. Subsequent activities included
hot seating each character, considering how did the Great Fire of London start,
incidental writing using ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘when’, ‘why’ and conscience alley.
Writing outcomes from Fire of London unit
In Thomas Farynor bakry ther wus a fiy. In 1666 September. Thomas Farynor iscapt
biy gowig on the roof but the man was to scad to go on the roof. Un for shtly the mad
did. The fiy sprd bicos the hasis wos wud. The al had to go to the riv tems. they go
on to a iylund. Soon the fiy gon but theer was no hasis. the sitee wos in shreds.
The peepul wus sleeping in tents.
Transcript
In Thomas Farynor’s bakery there was a fire. In 1666 September. Thomas Farynor
escaped by going on the roof but the man was too scared to go on the roof.
Unfortunately the man died. The fire spread because the houses were wood. They
all had to go to the river Thames. They go on to an island. Soon the fire was gone
but there were no houses. The city was in shreds. The people were sleeping in
tents.
Jack
It was 2nd September 1666 in Pudding Lane one werck has smeld smok a fire had
stortid son it in posodule to asckape dawn sters they lucaliy ascapte they ascapte
foor a windo and Dad said come on the roof but sadly the die. But that wast all homs
was berning dawn to the grawn
The Lord Mayor came pepul divd in the river Thames because they didant have anuf
for a bot. the Lord Mayor disidid to bloo the hasis up som epul dident have anuf for a
bot ar cart so sum shelt in ston cherchis or tents. Bot the king disidid to ree bildins it.
Transcript
It was 2nd September 1666 in Pudding Lane. One worker had smelled smoke. A fire
had started. Soon it was impossible to escape down stairs. They luckily escaped
through a window and Dad said “come on the roof” but sadly she died. But that
wasn’t all, homes were burning down to the ground. The Lord Mayor came. People
dived in the river Thames because they didn’t have enough for a boat. The Lord
Mayor decided to blow the houses up. Some people didn’t have enough for a boat or
a cart so some sheltered in stone churches or tents. But the king decided to rebuild
it.
36
37
A KS2 example
The Highwayman
This unit was planned using the Year 5 narrative poetry unit plan from the renewed
framework. It focused on using drama techniques and incidental writing opportunities
to extend and develop the children’s knowledge and understanding.
Following an initial reading of the poem, the children were asked to visualise, draw
and label the highwayman, using the text.
Thought tracking was used to find out how Tim the ostler was feeling. This led onto
diary entries.
38
Hotseating was used so the children could ‘talk’ to the Ostler. This was followed up
by using the conscience alley technique, to consider whether the ostler should inform
on the highwayman or not. This led to letter writing to the soldiers.
The innkeeper was also hot seated, leading to letters from him to a problem page.
Error!
39
When Bess was hot-seated, children worked in pairs to devise questions to ask her.
The children then carried out some incidental writing, completing a ‘Think, say, feel’
chart for Bess.
Error!
Finally, the children wrote an extra verse.
40
Chapter Eight
Questionnaires
Questionnaires were given out at the beginning and at the end of the project to
assess if the variety of teaching and learning approaches would have an impact on
the boys’ attitudes.
Sixty questionnaires were analysed and the results clearly show a significant change
in attitudes towards writing.
The most notable change, is that before the project started, many of the children’s
comments were about the secretarial skills or the physical effort of writing. After the
project, the majority of comments were about being praised, the process of
composition and satisfaction in the outcomes.
It should be pointed out, however, that as the teachers taking part in this project were
subject leaders, rather than from one specific year group, some of the questionnaires
for the younger children had been scribed by the teacher. The responses were much
fuller after the project than at the beginning, and much fuller, too, in some cases,
than in previous years when all of the children had been old enough to complete their
own questionnaires. Whether the teachers had prompted the children to elaborate
upon their answers, and whether their presence prompted a wish to please is
something to be considered. Although, as just over half of the responses at the
beginning of the project were negative, this may not be the case.
Questionnaires: % positive and negative responses
Start of project
End of project
Positive
Negative
Positive
Negative
46%
54%
97%
3%
41
What advice would you give
to someone in the year
below to help them get
better at writing?
Do you ever write at home
for fun? What do you write?
What is the best piece of
writing you’ve ever done?
What was good about it?
Are you a good writer?
What do you find hard about
writing?
Question
Do you enjoy writing? Why?
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
No
Yes
I’m ok
I ma a goob writiing some tims
‘Definitely’
‘no I am not’
I don’t know
When we do poetry sometimes its funny
When we done the poems Because I could do more than usuall
Goob anb bad charaters
‘The only thing was when I wrote about a science experiment because I
liked what I was writing about’
‘About my favourite holiday in France. It was good because my writing
was small’
No
Yes funny and stupped things
No
No
‘Once. A story about a boy in a stream.’’
‘Yes. I write about my brothers. Happy stories about them.’
Just keep on trying your best
Just keep on trying and get on with work
To just try and you will get better
Split tha wrs up.
‘I don’t know what I’d say. I don’t know myself’
‘You need to think about your shape of letters and practise.’
Response at start of project
™ No because its boring
™ No because it’s normally hard and long
™ No Becouse I get bored
™ No bacause I get thgn rog
™ ‘No it’s boring. It makes me feel tired and I don’t like doing it at all.’
™ ‘Sometimes. I don’t like the way it hurts my hand, but I like handwriting’
™ When I have to write a lot.
™ Sometimes it’s hard and I don’t like writeing
™ When I can’t think of the words
™ Hadwrtng
™ ‘It spends time when I could be doing something better’
™ ‘It takes too long, I like to do stories with puppets’
The colours represent the same child’s initial and final responses.
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
™
Yes, I like dragon stories
Yes funny things
Yes I do spellings
No
‘Sometimes. Cards for people.’
‘Yes I do. Stories about lost things in my own book.’
never give up.
Get on and don’ talk/never give up
Never give up
Mac it exsitine
‘\Make your letters the right way round and neat.’
‘By making it interesting.’
42
Response at end of project
™ Yes, because I am much better than last time and I like to write stories.
™ Yes Because it is fun
™ I love to write, everytime I thinck of something I write it down.
™ yes because it is fun
™ ‘No I just don’t enjoy’
™ ‘Yes I just like it’
™ nothing it is sort of easy sometimes
™ spelling words
™ I find nothing hard about writing
™ Spline wrbs’
™ ‘It’s difficult for me and I make lots of mistakes. It takes too long and I get
told off’
™ ‘It’s hard to spell words properly’
™ I think I am good at writing and I don’t know about my teacher
™ Yes
™ I don’t know
™ Yes
™ ‘Maybe – not very good’
™ ‘a bit good’
™ The Highwayman because what I done in it and what I said in it.
™ Highwayman it was interesting
™ The Highwayman. I can’t remember
™ The boaf were the characters
™ ‘Writing a card. It was good because it didn’t take long’
™ ‘My story about a lost teddy. It was good because it made it interesting.’
The children in the project schools were given writing attitude questionnaires at the start and end of the project.
Attitude Questionnaires
Chapter Nine
Conclusion and findings
The outcome of the Boys’ Project was very positive and had a measurable impact on
the writing of those children involved. In addition, pupils’ attitudes and motivation
improved significantly. The teachers who took part in the project all reported an
increased enjoyment and engagement in teaching.
Teachers were offered a range of strategies and techniques to trial and develop in
their classroom and to disseminate throughout the school. The techniques promoted
were:
Drama:
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
Freeze Frames
Thought Tracking
Conscience Alley
Hot Seating
Forum Theatre
Meetings
Paired Improvisation
Flash Backs and Flash Forwards
(See Speaking, Listening, Learning: Working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2.
Ref: DfES 0626-2003 G for details).
Visual Literacy:
ƒ
Use of moving image and still image
ICT:
ƒ
ƒ
Using interactive texts
Presenting outcomes on Powerpoint and Photostory.
Subject leaders were involved in this project and they responded in a range of
creative and inspiring ways, developing and extending ideas. They also disseminated
the information to the staff in their schools and shared good practice.
Although it is good to get children (and teachers) excited about the writing process, it
is clear that motivating children to write is not enough; there also needs to be a clear
focus upon skills and standards. Motivation needs to be linked to close tracking, clear
objectives, focused marking with identified next steps for improvement.
The teachers reported on the progress of the boys, but also noted that the progress
of all pupils, boys and girls, was good and therefore the gap between boys and girls
did not necessarily narrow.
General principles:
-
Children’s writing needs to be levelled accurately so they know what their
strengths and weaknesses are.
Units of work should have a meaningful written outcome.
Writing objectives need to be specific with focused success criteria.
43
-
Children need to be clear about exactly what they need to do to get better.
Approaches to writing which stimulate the imagination all support the writing
process. Units of work should include speaking, listening and drama activities as
well as the use of film and ICT where appropriate.
Where the teachers are more excited and creative, the children are likely to be as
well.
Boys write better when they:
-
are engaged and involved
can discuss ideas
can see the big picture
have a clear purpose for writing
are active in gathering content
have opportunities for incidental writing
can choose how to present their work
respond to a variety of approaches
are interested in the subject matter
tasks are clearly defined in objective, time and quantity
44
We are very grateful to subject leaders from the following schools for taking part in
the project:
St Mary’s R.C. Primary School, Morecambe
Poulton-le-Sands C.E. Primary School
Strike Lane Primary School, Freckleton
St Maria Goretti R.C. Primary School, Preston
Farington Primary School, Leyland
Clayton Brook Primary School
Highfield Primary School, Chorley
Woodland Primary School, Skelmersdale
Moor End Primary School
Casterton Primary School
Rawtenstall St Paul’s Constable Lee
Oswaldtwistle St Andrew’s C. E
Oswaldtwistle Moor End Primary School
45
as
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yone
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use in class, which the ch
joy.
and staff will really en
Janet
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enthus a wonderfu e children an ivities
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o!
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t time, the b
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actually lo
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k! They sha
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the writing
sm both in
of our inter
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and in usin
Left Out! g the struct
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write their o
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.
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The boys in my clas
estions wh
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S
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wri
oaches.
pproaching
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id
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d
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id
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.
E
It has been a joy to
N.
see their willingness
o
t
s
t
to participate in clas
s
xtrac ing.
e
di
sc
us
si
on
g
m
ro
w
and see their own
t
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i
f
r
g
w
n
o
enjoyment develop as
r usi fun int iately
o
f
they share their
s
d
a
d
e
e
n
d
m
a
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o
‘p
ro
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’
r
pieces of writing wit
m
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h the rest of the
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cl
as
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s.
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ti
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/
for them at last is fu
brin a med
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ce — 1
n
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k
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.
Ros Bunting
a
U
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v
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m
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a
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ow hav
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little af
e the es to life. The m room
e enthus al piece
h
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t
u
I wa s a
b
a succ
essful sential comp ajority
in books ality of the fin
g
writer—
u
writing
onents
n
self-be
the q
liv e r i
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d
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f
of
a
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f
husias
.
c hi l d r
tive wa
a
e
m
r
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a
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justified
.
ampbell
literacy
Dawn C