Our Writing Initiative has had a big focus on unpacking what Best Practice in writing looks like. One of our professional readings was called The Teaching Writing Playbook by Brad Kelly. It was a great read with lots of analogies that were easily relatable. The book is broken down into eight steps, focusing on skills, confidence, and time when teaching writing.
Below Vicki Brooke and Alix Osbaldiston have summarised the reading highlighting the key points and key takeaways.
Step One: Students write. Teachers teach writing. Big difference.
Students associate writing with correctness rather than an opportunity to show what they know and understand.
Teachers need to write- experience being a student and put themselves in their shoes to complete the task you have set for them.
Writing is a puzzle- ideas come first.
Writing to show what you understand is a very different approach than merely trying to craft grammatically correct sentences. Not that correctness is not important – it just doesn’t come first.
Step Two: Writing is thinking.
Students must have enough content knowledge on a given topic/idea to write with confidence - ideas come first.
In order to write, we need to have something to say
Reluctant writers - help generate ideas by brainstorming, providing knowledge and relevant vocab, and have this displayed so it is easily accessible.
Focus on thinking initially, not the quality of writing. This can come with the editing stage.
Step Three: The Writing Cycle.
The writing cycle was not initially designed to be systematically worked through.
Designed as an assessment tool to help understand the next steps.
The Writing Cycle never stops. It is always spinning. It is likely that there will be at least one student at any time in each part of the cycle.
“No student is at the same starting place in their writing improvement journey. The Writing Cycle helps you ask better questions about where a student is now and how to get them unstuck.
The Writing Cycle
Affective Domain: Provides a frame for finding out how students feel about the writing task.
Location: Where they get information from. Teachers need to be intentional about the kinds of sources students have access to. Creating a selection of sources is time-consuming but worth the effort if we want them to write well. Don't just send them off to free search on Google they will get distracted and or lost.
Understanding: Making connections between the information they are reading. If we accept that writing is the expression of thinking, then the location and understanding of information is a significant part of the writing cycle.
Organization: Structure. They call it the Architecture of an Argument. We want our students to make strong claims and then challenge or qualify those claims. We want them to organise their ideas into sequences and use logical reasoning to advance an idea.
Expression: The actual writing - there are two different skill sets, Writing and Teaching Writing. The teacher who writes gains priceless insight into how to use and practice these writing features to express their ideas. But teaching written expression relies on the teacher carrying around a collection of rules in their head to identify and point out features of the writing that appear when the student puts their hand up and says, ‘What do I do next?’.
Step Four: Spring loading the writing.
Clear thinking equals clear writing.
Use a range of resources (multi-model)
Use Blooms taxonomy question stems
Write annotate response
* Choose the key term /concept
* Find detailed, relevant examples
*Read the text thoroughly, and take notes about what you want students to take from the source BEFORE you
* Write the questions.
* Write an answer and annotate using appropriate writing features.
* Teachers should have a set learning intention before starting a writing lesson or series of lessons.
Step Five: Ten writing features we all want.
#1 Students who can answer the question
We should write well-constructed questions that give students the opportunity to show what they know and understand our subject.
How do you know you have a useful question?
Both the teacher and student have a clear picture of what success looks like.
#2 Students who can demonstrate their learning
We must make a distinction between repeating ‘facts’ and demonstrating learning.
A few ways we can see learning demonstrated in writing is through the order and priority of ideas.
#3 Students who can write grammatical sentences
Teachers are encouraged to " eat their vegetables". Write a range of sentence types on a specific topic to understand what it is you are expecting of your students.
#4 Students who can structure their ideas into paragraphs
PEEL(point, evidence, explain, link). -like programs do have their limits, simply because the structure is just one slice of the writing pie. There are other forms of structure that we need to take into account such as text types or subject-specific.
#5 Students who can use precise and concise vocabulary
Vocabulary (and not structure) gives the teacher the greatest insight into the development of student thinking. Keep it simple./ short
#6 Subject-specific language
Students who are able to apply their understanding of concepts in a correct context with concrete examples have achieved a depth of thinking compared to students who are simply using glossary terms to fill out their responses.
#7 Linking words and phrases
sophisticated writing is not long sentences or big words; it is connecting ideas together.
‘however’ or ‘therefore’ are useful ways for revealing thinking.
#8 Evaluative language
The student’s ability to accurately judge or label events, actions, texts, or stimuli gives the teacher an insight into the level of student engagement.
#9 Using evidence
How students use the evidence is what matters – because that will reveal the quality of the thinking.
#10 Students who can sustain an argument
We need to ask better questions about the development of our thinking.
Step Six: Vocabulary that spots thinking.
Without effective use of vocabulary, the writing is clunky and it is possible that the ideas are either absent or very thin.
Three types of vocabulary to reflect Thinking
1) Spot subject-specific language
Words have more (or less) meaning depending on the context. i.e. communism is a key concept in modern history, the term does not necessarily mean the same thing to Lenin as it meant to Marx, or Stalin as it meant to Mao, or Castro as it meant to Gorbachev. The word shifts around its meaning according to context. Make sure that concepts are used in context with concrete examples.
2. Spot-linking words and phrases that tie ideas together
It shows how deeply ideas are understood and may have consequences.
3. Spot evaluative language that leads to judgment and labeling of ideas
It’s the ability to see perspective as well as degree.
Judgments require a high degree of literacy in reading, writing, and thinking (culture, context, history…).
It is not just putting your understanding on the page. It is equally about what is left off the page. Judgment sorts through ideas and context.
Ability to label the nature or intent of a source or observation. To say that the text you read, listened to, or viewed is ‘clever’ ‘questionable’ ‘insightful’ or ‘wasteful’ implies a judgment.
Step Seven: Writing and teaching writing - two separate skills.
The distinction between writing and teaching writing is important for effective writing teachers:
Write - so teachers have inside knowledge of the ‘cognitive aspects of writing
Think - writing is an expression of thinking
Build Skills - “focus on building their capacity to respond to student writing”
Holistic - writing is holistic but teaching writing requires teachers to separate writing into its parts
Order - the order of instruction is important.
Brad Kelly uses the analogy of ‘pinning the tail on the donkey. Children often know where it needs to go, but getting there (the order) can be a struggle for them.
Step Eight: Simple ideas in a complex environment.
Teachers need to eat their vegetables. We need to write the activity they have set for our students to get ‘inside the task.’
Analogy: the writing program is sheet music and the teachers who use it are the orchestra. A complex program is like handing out Beethoven’s 5th to first-year violin players.
Is the sheet music too difficult?
Music only comes to life when it is played.
Tuning up = A Long strong note that the other instruments fall behind. When developing our writing programs, that long strong note should be the writing target in your school.
pace and transition
controlling emotional energy in the classroom
Making room for students to be alone in their thoughts
Group work
Lectures and explicit instruction
A balance between content and technical writing
Improvisation = flexibility
SIMPLE IDEAS IN A COMPLEX CLASSROOM
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