Record of visit - Term 2 / Wednesday 24th June
Learning
focus
Classroom
practice
Activity
Modelled lessons – 40 mins x 4
9.00
Room 7 – Yr 5,6
Model Text - Rebel Sport: Ode to Winter (TV commercial)
Purpose/Learning Focus: responding to text; writing to describe winter, by talking directly to winter;
focus on strong verbs, describing what the winter does
9.40
Room 11/12 – Yr 7,8
Model Text – Summer, from ‘Cloudstreet’ (novel by Tim Winton)
Purpose/Learning Focus: responding to text; writing to describe (winter) OR memoir OR explanation;
focus on choosing the best words to say what we mean
11.00
Room 1 – Yr 4
Model Text – ‘Washing Day’ (from Big Book: I Remember When)
Purpose/Learning Focus: responding to text (written and visual); writing to explain how our dirty
socks get clean; focus on choosing the best words to say what we mean
11.40
Room 4 – Yr 2
Motivation – Pirate finger puppet
Purpose/Learning Focus: writing to show what we know – about pirates; focus on choosing the best
words to say what we mean
1Sally Muir
Associate of Gail Loane Educational Consultants
TE PUNA SCHOOL Professional Development Literacy 2015
The lessons all followed the same sequence, to align with the writing process, ie
As students wrote independently, teachers roved, to monitor and support.
[NB This is the part of the lesson where I would pull a small group or groups down, to provide a mini-
lesson]
Practice analysis conversations
The conversations, with teachers who had observed the modeled lessons, focused on
The deliberate acts of teaching – the impact on student engagement and learning of the
range of DATs, eg questioning, where students were invited to respond through talking to a
buddy. This ensures ALL are processing, as they verbalise, rather than being receptive and
allowing a few eager students to respond with ‘hands up’. The PACE of a lesson is very much
dependent on the use of questioning, prompting, telling, explaining, directing and modeling.
(See Effective Literacy Practice Chapters 4,5)
Links to prior knowledge – connections to the topic; connections to what we know about
writing. These links were prompted through questioning and prompting – in a
conversational tone, followed by an invitation to verbalise 1:1. Students were quick to chat
to a buddy – clearly familiar with this process – and were therefore all engaged in the
learning. (See above)
2Sally Muir
Associate of Gail Loane Educational Consultants
TE PUNA SCHOOL Professional Development Literacy 2015
Selection of texts, as models – ensuring that whatever text is selected, we monitor how the
students are making connections to the ideas they meet, eg in the selected text ‘I Remember
When’ the reader is introduced to ideas that are historic, as in the baker and milkman
delivering their goods with horse and cart. The wash-day scenario included a copper, a
washboard and a wringer. It would not be likely that the children of 2015 have ever seen
items like this, but it is not difficult to support the connections through conversations about
how WE get bread, milk and how we wash our clothes. The concepts are familiar to today’s
students, though the process has changed.
The language used, to ensure engagement and learning. When we deliberately choose to
use inclusive language, there are numerous benefits: students are trusting of the process;
students see themselves as being part of the process; students begin to develop the
understanding that we write for a purpose, we’re all in this together, helping each other out,
and that writing is a life-long skill, not just a classroom activity – eg
o We are going to have a look at the way this writer has described winter…
o Let’s have another look at those strong verbs the writer chose…
o What do you think? Have a chat with your buddy…
o We’re going to come down to the Helping Circle and see how we got on…
o We’ll be able to help each other out…
Interactions – opportunities for teachers to extend thinking as we respond to students’
ideas; opportunities (and expectations) for the interactions between students. While the job
of the teacher is to lead the learning, it is useful to be mindful of the ratio of teacher talk:
student talk. Teacher talk, when over-used, can also slow down the pace of a lesson.
Motivating ‘reluctant’ writers. More discussion around -
o selection of topic and selection of text used. Eg Very simple, everyday topics, such as
‘How do my socks get clean? Can put writers in a position of expertise – as they ALL
have personal experience of getting washing done.
o Expectations, and routines playing an important role in daily writing tasks
o Providing choice for students, within a topic – ‘You can choose write as a scientist,
o Providing shorter tasks – regularly and often
o Having different criteria for different students, to ensure all feel their task is
The Helping Circle – clarifying purpose and benefits. Needs to be regular, to develop that
safe, secure forum where students see themselves as part of the ‘team’, as they develop
skills and strategies as writers. (See Handout)
Mileage – making sure that students are creating text every day – they have lots to say
about lots of things.
Sincerity of voice – when students feel secure in the knowledge that we (teachers) are
sincerely interested in what they have to say, it is more likely that they will write with
sincerity. Writing is a creative art – and learner writers ‘expose’ something of themselves
when they write what they want to say – just as they might do when they paint or sing or
dance.
Independence – we want our students to know that writing is something we do
independently; the words we need are all in our head – after we have had opportunity to
listen and talk, and we are developing the skills and strategies we need to get better at
writing. This goes from the early conventions writers need, like letter-sound knowledge and
finger spaces, to choosing the best word to describe. Whenever a student makes marks on a
and explain… or you can write as a poet, and describe…’
manageable
3Sally Muir
Associate of Gail Loane Educational Consultants
Staff
Meeting
TE PUNA SCHOOL Professional Development Literacy 2015
paper, they are showing us what stage of development, as a writer, they are at.
Surface features – we must let students know that any writing completed needs to be given
their ‘best shot’ – so they are always encouraged to bring what they know to the page.
Catering for the diverse needs we find in every class – being aware of the lesson design, so
that we design tasks that are manageable, and provide challenge. Rather than giving every
student the same task, with the same success criteria, and then supporting the high need
students through it, design either a different task (within the same topic) or clarify a
different success criteria (within the task).
Focus on
Boys – What do our boys have to say?
PowerPoint presentation, with the following key ideas:
What we believe has an impact on what we do
Brain research tells us some fundamental differences in the way male and female brains
work
Range of difficulties commonly seen in boys: knowledge difficulties; skill difficulties;
motivation difficulties
Exploring ways to set boys up for success
Boy friendly topics – scratching the itch
Texts that engage boys
The Quick-write – a shorter writing process
Choices within a chosen topic
Variety of approaches
Importance of visual text
Responding to our world: personal, local, national, global
Next visit: (suggest) Wednesday 26 August AND/OR Thursday 27 August
(Dates to be confirmed)
To include classroom observations: 30 minutes observing; 15 minute practice analysis conversation
to follow. Kylie to timetable.
Staff Meeting – collective feedback on practice; focus on lesson design.
Teachers to be clear on what aspect of their practic they want the observers to notice – ie they do
not have to be observed in the entire writing process, it could be ‘I want you to observe the way I am
managing Guided Revision in the Helping Circle.’
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