Chapter 12: Writing Composition

W12.1

Case study: Shared Writing

Working with a class of five year olds, David planned for them to make illustrated group stories after shared writing modelling the process. He began by explaining that they were to write a whole class story and wondered which characters they might like to write about. They had recently been reading a range of fairy stories, including The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks and The Three Bears so it was not surprising that the children were keen to include pigs and bears in the whole class story. As ‘wondering’ is an important part of shared writing, David wondered how the story might start. The general view was that it should start ‘Once upon a time’ which he wrote on the board. Then he asked about which characters might feature in the story first. After a range of suggestions, the class decided on the wolf as a key character. David asked where he lived and the class decided that he lived in a house, so after ‘Once upon a time’, David wrote ‘there was a wolf. He lived in a house.’ At this stage he supplied the full stops, but drew the children’s attention to them as he was writing. His next ‘wonder’ was what the wolf might be doing and together the class decided he was hungry and wanted to eat the pigs. David started a new line and wrote ‘The wolf was hungry and he wanted to eat some pigs.’ This time, he asked the class what needed to be put at the end of the sentence and several suggested a full stop.

The next ‘wonder’ was about the pigs. David asked ‘Where do the pigs come in to the story?’ There were several suggestions and David chose ‘The pigs lived in the pig sty’ and asked where the pig sty was, which prompted the response that it was on a farm. Gradually, by this process of asking for suggestions and writing the story for the class, the children, guided by David, created the following:

At this point David wondered what happened to the farmer and a pair of children suggested that he died. This was a bit of a surprise, but in the spirit of shared writing, David duly recorded

When asked how the farm would be looked after, the children talked about the farmer’s wife, but felt that she would want to sell the farm so they came up with:

‘How did the pigs feel about that?’

In this collaborative mode, the story continued :

At this point of great tension in the story, David said ‘Oh dear, I wonder what will happen next?’ and the story took a different direction because the children decided to introduce a teddy to save the pigs. David’s questions: ‘Where was the teddy? What was he doing?’ elicited:

The story proceeded through a series of questions and wonders:
‘What did he do?’

‘Then what happened?’

‘Oh dear. What happened then?’ There were several suggestions so a couple were used:

‘And what happened to the pigs?’

‘And what happened to the teddy?’

‘Is that the end of the story?’

The children were then invited to illustrate a part of the story they liked best and their pictures and the scribed text were made into a Big Book for the reading area, which was a popular reading choice.

Throughout the process, David was careful to include a contribution from every child who wanted to add to the story, which accounts for the sometimes erratic course of the narrative, but throughout, as is clear, the children’s own voices are central to the story. David did not interrupt the flow by talking about spelling unfamiliar words, although he did ask the children to suggest how to spell ‘pigs’ ‘wolf’ and ‘teddy’, and prompted them to supply the full stops.

W12.2

Case study: Space to write

Wyl Menmuir writes about a project run in Cornwall with the Kernow Education Arts Partnership and The Learning Institute, specifically designed to help children develop a positive mindset towards writing through creating the best conditions in which children develop as writers. Specifically, the project aimed to provide spaces in which dialogue about authentic writing could take place, to encourage teachers and children to talk about their writing preferences, what inspires and encourages them to write.

The project began with a professional development day drawing on the work of innovative organisations such as Arvon Foundation, Ministry of Stories and 826 Valencia, creating models of the ‘perfect’ writing space, exploring the teachers’ own preferences as writers, and activities designed to encourage teachers to consider how to design a space that takes into account the needs of children with differing writing preferences. The teachers went on to use these planning activities with their children to inform the design and development of writing spaces within their schools.

From the outset, it was clear this negotiation of the complex variables involved was going to be key to the project. Whether the space would be permanent or pop up; whether it would run in curriculum time or at other times during the day; how much agency and autonomy the children would have over the space, both in its design and once it was up and running. We wanted the teachers and children to explore whether the children’s independent writing would be private to the child or shared more widely, who the audiences for their writing outcomes would be, and how authors might be involved in the project. This process gave the teachers agency over the projects within their schools, and also allowed for the constraints and freedoms of different contexts to be taken into account.

The writing shed

The class teacher of seven and eight year olds commandeered an abandoned storage shed in the playground and developed a writing hut, over which the children had autonomy, creating their own rules for the space.

The teacher decorated the writing hut with posters, a large whiteboard and a range of materials for inspiration, and following this the space was entirely self-regulated by the children. The children were able to use the space before and after school and during lunch and break times, with only one stipulation, that it was to be used solely for independent writing. Each child was also given an independent writing book in which the children had freedom over what they chose to write, and the books were not marked.

Different spaces

This teacher developed, with her nine- and ten-year old class, a range of writing spaces both within the classroom and in the outside spaces around the school grounds. These included a 13-foot model boat (in which children were observed writing both in the hold and on deck), a writing tower and a ‘secret’ writing space within the classroom, hidden behind a wardrobe. In the school grounds the teacher also developed a writing tent in the school’s ‘secret garden’ and a performance space.

This project ran mainly within curriculum time, and the teacher developed a series of writing workshops (based on Donald Graves’s (1983) approach), to provide a supportive dialogic environment in which the children could develop their writing, discuss their progress, and develop writerly behaviours. For their independent writing, whether they were in a writing workshop or using one of the designated writing spaces, all the children involved had their own private free writing books and the teacher did not access these unless the children gave permission.

What did we learn?

• Children’s independence and autonomy has an impact on their motivation to write.
• Opening a dialogue about writing processes impacts on both the teaching of writing and children’s motivation to write.
• Providing a space for writing that is not constantly monitored and assessed, appears to free up children to develop as writers.
• Space to Write had a strong impact on children who were previously less engaged with writing, as well increasing the writing activity from many of those who were already keen writers.
• Children used their independent writing time to concentrate on improving in areas of writing that matter to them. Some worked on developing writing stamina, others experimented with different forms, while others concentrated on handwriting and presentation skills.
• Writing is at times a collaborative, social activity, and at others a solitary activity for children, and understanding this allows both children and teachers to negotiate the writing space effectively.
• Giving independent writing a higher profile in itself may be a factor in encouraging children to write. As one teacher commented, ‘The space is symbolic as well as literal.’

What is clear from Space to Write is that writing consists not of just one single practice, but of a multiplicity of practices. What works for one child or one set of children may not work for another. Similarly, what works in one setting and context will not necessarily work in another. Attendant to this understanding is the need for multiple approaches to encouraging independent writing, based on awareness of both the teacher’s own preferences and motivations and those of the children.

(From ‘Space to Write: encouraging independent writers’. English 4–11, Spring 2016 pp. 18–20.)

Reference

Graves, D. (1983) Writing: Teachers and children at work. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books.

Links

Arvon Foundation http://www.arvon.org/
Ministry of Stories http://ministryofstories.org/
and 826 Valencia http://826valencia.org/

W12.3

Case study: Working with a professional writer in the classroom

Based on an interview with Stevie as she evaluated her involvement in a Writers in Schools project.

What was your experience of the project?

Last year I was lucky enough to have a professional writer working with my class of nine and ten year olds. Part of the project involved me going to writers’ workshops, and I was a bit anxious at first, but the experience was an eye opener. There were some times when we had to write in role. I thought: ‘Writing in role, this isn’t me’ but then I recalled that we do this to children all the time. We expect the children to write with little input, but we all appreciated having a model for our writing. Lesson Number One learned! Eventually I came to really enjoy the writing sessions as a kind of liberation. It wasn’t about me as a teacher. It was about me as a person. It was great to have the time and space to write at a personal level. (Time and space – Lesson Number 2 learned!)

It altered my own attitude to writing in the classroom so I started to organise time for writing differently. One of the main things was the modelling of the professional writers who visited the workshop. I was keen for my class to have the experience. I had also found teaching play writing rather a challenge, so I was very pleased to have Annette, who’s a playwright, working with the class.

Can you tell me about the organisation?

The ideal time for fitting with the timetable was the second part of the Spring term because there’s an annual local Arts in Schools project, so in January I met with Annette to plan the sessions. I also wanted to involve the senior management in the planning so for the first meeting a member of the Curriculum and Monitoring team joined us. It gave the project status and opened up doors for more school involvement in the work. For the classroom work, I was keen to make our relative roles clear because this had been mentioned in the briefing meetings, so we agreed that I would be alongside Annette all the time and Sharon, the teaching assistant, would also be there, but Annette would lead the sessions. Sharon would also video some of the drama sessions and the final plays. When the children were writing in their groups, Annette, Sharon and I would be supporting them. After each session was over, we worked on fine tuning the next session.

How successful was the work?

It was amazing. After drama work and a lot of discussion and Annette modelling how to write play dialogue (what you can miss out because there’s action etc...) all the groups made really good plays. But for me, the success was not just about what they did but how our attitudes to writing changed – the children’s and mine. I learned a lot about the children that I hadn’t had time to notice before. I enjoyed not having to lead the session, to be able to sit down with them as a member of the group. It was very good to get to know them in a different way. It’s important to get out of a blinkered mind set about particular individuals. Working with Annette gave me a chance to observe the children. You can learn things about them, rather than ‘keeping them on task’. You can see different sides to them.

What do you think were the key outcomes?

Well, they performed their plays one evening for the parents and community as part of the Arts in Schools project – to great acclaim! That was so good for self-esteem and children who had never shone before were able to show what they could do. But in school, the videos made of the drama sessions were really useful. We showed them in a staff development session as a way of talking about how to use drama/hot seating etc. to support writing. The English subject leader has done demo lessons for colleagues and the teachers are getting more confident about using drama to support writing. The school is looking to try to find funding to have a writer in for the younger children now.

Then there’s the effect on writing. Working with Annette (and my experience as a teacher-writer) has given the school impetus to take on a new direction about writing. We’ve made it a focus for the development plan, especially focusing on modelling writing.

Then there’s what the children learned. They learned masses about making careful writing choices, how to write for an audience, about working on their writing until it’s as good as it can be, but they’ve also got hooked on plays! And because I went up with them to the next year I’ve been able to build on the skills and strategies they learned. We read Macbeth as one of the first texts in the year and standard was much higher than I’d have expected before. Their ability to tackle dialogue, discuss the play etc. was of a really high standard.

What do you think are the ingredients for success for a project bringing a professional writer into the classroom?

I think the planning is important – not just making sure that we all knew what we were doing from week to week, though that was crucial, but I think as well, considering the costs, that it’s worth planning to use one class’s experience as part of the school’s development programme, so that means planning for time to share the work with colleagues.

I also think that celebrating what the children have achieved made an impact on the parents and the wider community, so I’d say plan to have events to share with parents and families. Looking back, we could have published the children’s plays and that would have been another way of sharing the work.

I’d also say that because I got such a lot out of the writers’ workshops, it changed my views about a lot of how I taught writing, that’s something that could be developed more, perhaps in the local consortium, because you always have to think about funding.

How do you think your own attitude to teaching writing has changed?

I include much more talk and drama before I ask the children to write. I’ve set up children being ‘critical friends’ for each other’s’ writing. I do more modelling when the writing genre is new to the children. And I plan for more time for the children to work on their writing – homework is quite useful as ‘finishing and polishing’ time.

W12.4 - W12.5

Iyla reading her story

Question

What is the fifth word in the first paragraph after the heading "5.1 Perspectives on reading development"?

Answer *

Submit

W12.6

Case study: Using stories to support narrative structure

W12.7

Case study: The Island

Using Armin Greder’s picturebook The Island, Elle planned a three-week unit of work with her class of nine and ten year olds, designed to help them write narrative from different points of view. She was also keen to continue developing the children’s language choices as writers. She constantly offers her class both choices and challenges and in this unit of work she was keen to develop their understanding of how narrative structures can be played with and how this impacts the reader. In the story, a group of islanders find a man and a shipwrecked raft on the beach. They are reluctant to take him in, but if they send him back to sea he is likely to die. This presents them with a dilemma and the actions they take are disturbing. The fisherman suggests they give him a job and feed him but as fear grows by rumour, the townspeople lock him up. Fear continues to grow and finally the islanders cast the stranger into the sea and build walls so that no-one can get into their community again. In this book, the images carry a good deal of the narrative as well as the atmosphere and themes.

The class spent time predicting what the story might be about from the forbidding cover and end papers, discussing how the colours, line and perspective evoked atmosphere and suggested something about the story. Elle asked them to think about the effect of the white space on the page and the nakedness of the man, asking: ‘Why is he naked? Is he vulnerable?’ and noting that the placing of the man’s image on the page draws the reader’s attention to him. Elle read the opening paragraph asking the class ‘What has happened? What words stand out?’ The class began to identify significant words that were collected and kept on display. As they continued to read, they looked carefully at the images of the man and of the islanders. She asked: ‘What unsettles us about the images?’ and the class commented on the fact that they are shown with pitchforks, looking threatening.

Throughout the preparation for writing, Elle constantly ensure the book made sense to the class, drawing inferences, discussing and evaluating the author’s language. They continued to collect words, particularly those that expressed emotion. Returning to the double page spread beginning “The people grew…” she asked them to freeze frame the islanders, asking: ‘How would you say the thoughts in your head? How are they holding the tools?’ and the class gathered vocabulary that expressed the intensity of feeling. Elle discussed the various points of view with the class and through drama and imagined conversations they put themselves in the shoes of the islanders as they become more agitated and dangerous. As the story develops, Armin Greder builds tension by showing how members of the community inflame the situation by their fears:

Elle discussed with the class the various points of view and through drama and imagined conversations the class discussed the central problem and rehearsed dialogue of the islanders as they become more agitated and dangerous. Anna wrote this conversation between this husband and wife as they eat:

In this conversation, Anna has not only captured the tone and some of the language of the text, but also follows the layout features by using two separate lines for some of the dialogue.

Reading further in the book, the class role played children from the island who had seen and heard the discussion where the islanders, unsure about how to deal with him, had put the stranger into a goat pen. Anna now shifts viewpoint from adult to child:

After carefully reading the words and images of the whole book, finally, the class wrote the story in alternating paragraphs from different points of view. As this extract shows, Anna chose to write from the point of view of one of the islanders and the fisherman’s son:

It is clear that through drama, and through the impact of both the images and language in this challenging picturebook, Anna has become absorbed in the narrative, exploring different perspectives and creating different atmospheres: from the islanders’ point of view, fearful, with the well-chosen short statement ‘We are frightened’ contrasting with the light-hearted beginning of the fisherman’s son’s perspective: ‘the sun was shining, bees buzzing, beautiful flowers and not a single cloud in the sky’. The language echoes the language of the book and achieving all the technical and narrative criteria: correctly punctuating direct speech; using descriptive language drawing on the language of the book; maintained first person voice throughout and writing a coherent narrative.

W12.8

Non-fiction writing organising ideas

W12.9

Case study: Different kinds of frames and scaffolds