Teaching Ideas and Units - Beaut Ideas

Targeting Text

A Guided Writing Project

Targeting Text was a collaborative project undertaken by teachers from a cluster of three schools in the Bowen District — Lindisfarne Primary, Lindisfarne North Primary and Cambridge Primary. The purpose of the project was to focus on the place of guided writing in a balanced writing program. Inspired and supported by Dr Jan Turbill of the University of Wollongong, the teachers were able to develop and share their own skills in using guided writing as a key teaching strategy.

• Overview of the project
• What is guided writing?
• The four ages of writing — how writing has been viewed
• The age of writing as social purpose
• Reading-writing connections
• A balanced writing program
• Demonstration of strategies for teaching aspects of narrative
  • Writing descriptive sentences
  • Developing plot
  • Improving sentence structure
  • Teaching the use of phrases
  • Developing descriptive language
• Ways of structuring writing programs
• Sharing teaching strategies developed through the project
• Teaching a range of text types
  • Narrative
  • Information report
  • Recount
  • Exposition
  • Procedural text

Overview of the Project

First, a planning group was established to co-ordinate and implement shared professional learning opportunities utilising the skills and expertise of teachers from the three schools. Dr Jan Turbill from the University of Wollongong was invited as a guest speaker to share her expertise and knowledge in this area.

1. A professional learning day was attended by all teachers from the three cluster schools during the first day of term 1 2000. As explained below, Jan Turbill spoke about the four ages of writing, the connections between reading and writing, beliefs about the learning and teaching of writing in the Age of Writing as Social Purpose and the components of a balanced writing program.
   
   
2. Teachers from each of the schools were given opportunities to observe Jan Turbill demonstrating strategies for teaching guided writing, using narrative texts. Jan visited each school for half a day. She worked with small groups of children from Prep to 6 for 20 -30 minutes, while groups of teachers observed.

At the end of the teaching demonstration teachers were given the opportunity to discuss strategies observed in the guided writing session. The foci for the guided writing sessions were:

• K-2 Writing descriptive sentences in narratives;
• 3-4 Developing plot in a narrative and Improving Sentence Structure; and
• 5 -6 Developing descriptive language in a narrative. These are explained below

3. During April an evening professional learning workshop was attended by all teachers from the three cluster schools. Jan Turbill facilitated grade group sharing of ideas for structuring writing programs and strategies for teaching writing. She guided grade groups in developing ideas for teaching different text types using a range of stimulus materials. Strategies developed for teaching students to write narratives, reports, recounts, expositions, and procedures are outlined below.

What is guided writing?

Guided writing involves the teacher working with small groups of students. In guided writing students apply the understandings they have gained from modelled and shared writing sessions, with varying degrees of support from the teacher. The students explore aspects of the writing process, which have been demonstrated. The teacher predetermines the teaching focus from observations and analysis of students' writing. The session is focussed on specific aspects of writing that students need to develop.

Susan Hill (1999) explains guided writing in her book Guiding Literacy Learners, Eleanor Curtain, Victoria:

'Guided writing involves individuals or small groups of students writing a range of text types. The teacher may provide short mini-lessons to demonstrate a particular aspect of text type, grammar, punctuation or spelling. Guided writing is linked to reading and various text types are used as models. Students may use writing frames or templates as scaffold for writing.'

David Hornsby (2000) outlines two different ways that guided writing can be managed. Each approach has a different main purpose.

1. One or two sessions may be planned for small groups of children who need assistance with specific writing skills
2. Many sessions, building upon shared reading and writing of a particular genre, are planned. Firstly, the children are immersed in the genre during reading. Secondly, they compose a text in that genre during shared/interactive writing. Finally, they are guided to write their own text in that genre.

Hornsby, D. (2000) A Closer Look at Guided Reading Eleanor Curtain, Victoria.

Guided writing is useful for a range of teaching purposes, which will vary, depending on the developmental stage and the needs of the students.

Four ages of writing

Jan Turbill explained that the way in which student writing has been viewed has changed from the 1960s to the present. As teachers’ conceptions of writing have changed, so have their teaching practices.

The Age of Writing as Social Purpose

This time is characterised by a set of beliefs about writing, outlined below. Teachers are invited to think about the implications of each belief for the ways in which writing is taught.

Age of Writing as Social Purpose

© Dr Jan Turbill University of Wollongong

Reading/Writing Connections

When discussing the development of an effective writing program, Jan emphasised the importance of recognising the strong connections between reading and writing. The following summary is taken from Towards a Reading Writing Classroom, written in collaboration with Andrea Butler (1984, Rozelle: Primary English Teaching Association).

Reading and writing are both acts of composing. Readers, using their background of knowledge and experience, compose meaning from the text; writers, using their background of knowledge and experience, compose meaning into text.

BEFORE READING

DURING READING

AFTER READING

Text is a two-sided mirror rather than a window, with writers and readers unable to see through to each other but gazing upon reflections of their own minds.

(Frank Smith 1982)

A Balanced Writing Program

A balanced writing program has the following components, which are interdependent and supported by each other:

Modelled Writing

The teacher writes the text on a chart or white board. As the teacher composes the text he/she 'thinks aloud' (explicit teaching) to help the students understand the element of writing being demonstrated.

Shared/ Interactive writing

In shared writing the teacher leads the class or group to compose a text. The teacher scribes for the students so they can focus on composing the text. The teacher may lead the class to explore various text types, construct more complex sentences, edit and proofread. The class is encouraged to contribute to the construction of the text.

Interactive writing is a form of writing where the teacher sometimes hands over the pen to allow a student to write the next word.

Guided writing

Independent Writing

Independent writing must be a daily component of the writing program. Students need opportunities to write for a variety of purposes and a range of audiences. Independent writing builds fluency and familiarity with a variety of text forms.

Language Experience

The class shares experiences, such as excursions, drama, discussion, art/craft, or music, then the class generates an oral text which can be written down as a shared or independent writing activity.

Below is an overview of the roles played by teacher and students in a well-constructed writing program.

A BALANCED WRITING PROGRAM:

TEACHING WRITING:

MODELLED WRITING, GUIDED WRITING, INDEPENDENT WRITING

TEACHER’S ROLE, STUDENTS’ ROLE

Mooney, M. 1988, Developing Life-long Readers. Wellington: Learning Media

Demonstration of strategies for teaching aspects of narrative:

These are the strategies demonstrated by Jan Turbill for teachers involved in the Targeting Text project:

• writing descriptive sentences
• developing plot
• grammar-sentence structure
• teaching the use of phrases
• developing descriptive language

Writing Descriptive Sentences

Jan shared the book Fat Frogs on a Skinny Log by Sara Riches( Scholastic, 2000) with a small group of children from a grade 1/2.

After each page was read the students discussed the illustrations. Jan asked, "What tells you the frog is enjoying it?" When answering the question the students were asked to consider the characters' appearances and actions. They were encouraged to find words to explain their answer rather than use hand gestures.

A child was asked to use the whiteboard to draw the frog from the story. Students were then asked to think of the words they had previously used to describe the frog. Jan recorded these words around the picture of the frog on the whiteboard. Words included: skinny, slimy, thin, little, green, cheeky, happy, slippery, yellow.

The students were asked to write a description about a frog using as many of the words from the whiteboard as they could. The purpose of this activity was to later include such a descriptive passage in a story about a frog.

After a short writing time the students came together to share their drafts. Discussion included questions about the descriptive words they used in their writing, eg. 'How big was your frog? Which word tells us this?', 'He was relaxing. Where was he relaxing?', 'You could join your sentences together, how could you do this?'.

After the discussion the students returned to work on their drafts.

Some examples have been included.

Jodie was a frog. Jodie was a green frog. He had warts on his back and was a very small frog. He was always smiley and relaxing on a lily pad. He was 10 cm long.

Green is cheeky. Green sits and he is lazy. Green is funny. Green is little. Green is very silly. Green is very, very happy. Green is slimy. Green is a tree frog.

Developing plot in a narrative

Jan worked with a group of mixed ability Grade 4 students to develop plot in a narrative. The children were encouraged to revisit a well-known story, eg Jack and the Beanstalk, and to talk about the series of events that make up the plot.

The children were then asked to brainstorm the elements of a good story, and to list some story characters and settings.

For example:

Next the children were asked to draw a picture, putting a character into a setting, and to develop a plot from their drawings to share orally with a partner.

Finally the children used their ideas to write a narrative independently.

Improving sentence structure

Jan Turbill outlined this guided writing strategy for teaching students to avoid the overuse of ‘and then’ in their writing:

• Type up a text written by one of the students in the focus group.
• Ask students to put a block or post it note over each 'and then'.
• Ask students to consider which 'and then' /s could be removed.
• Suggest alternative words for the remaining 'and then' conjunctions.
• Have students collect alternatives from literature shared in class. Chart these words for future use eg. consequently, but, so. This process teaches students to read like writers.

Teaching the use of phrases

In this strategy, students focus on the use of phrases to enrich and extend their writing:

• Choose a text with simple sentences containing lots of phrases, such as Jenny Wagner's John Brown Rose and the Midnight Cat.
• Write out a sentence such as the following. 'In summer he sat under the pear tree with her.'
• Discuss what each phrase tells us; 'in summer' - when; 'he sat under the pear tree' - where; 'with her' - who.
• Change each phrase in the sentence eg change 'In summer' (when) to 'Last night' change 'under the pear tree' (where) to 'beside the fire', change 'with her' to 'with his dog'.

This will produce an innovation on the text. It will develop an awareness of phrasing and the capacity for phrases to be manipulated.

Developing descriptive language in a narrative

• Students closed their eyes whilst a descriptive passage from The BFG, by Roald Dahl, was read.
• Students were asked to draw their impressions of the character.
  
  
• Illustrations were discussed with a partner.
  
  

• The reading of the passage was continued with discussion of descriptive words throughout. Some phrases were revisited to clarify meaning eg 'half as long', 'much thicker'.
• A discussion of the way we create mental images based on the words read in texts followed.
• A further passage was read to the students, describing a view from a window.
• Students shared the visual images that had formed in their minds.
• Students were asked, "Which words in the passage helped you form images?" Responses included 'ghostly', 'mist', 'cooler'. Discussion included the point that an author's craft is to choose the words to enable readers to create similar pictures as they read.
• Students were asked to brainstorm all the words that describe the appearance, feel and sound of their bedrooms. Words were shared, and through questioning additional descriptive words were added.
• Students put the words into prose. 'My bedroom is...'.
• The students were asked to re-read their own passages, then to read their passages to the person beside them. The listener was to ask, 'What do you mean by this?' to assist with the clarification of the description.
• Discussion included reference to similes, repetition, use of long sentences versus short sentences and use of verbs as powerful descriptors.

Ways of structuring writing programs

Teachers described the way they structure their writing programs to ensure that they work with students as efficiently and effectively as possible. These are some of the organisational structures that teachers found worked well:

Model One

Model Two

Sharing teaching strategies developed through the project

During the evening professional learning session, teachers shared some of the strategies they had used to assist in the teaching of writing in their classrooms since the first one-day workshop with Jan Turbill.

Teachers have:

• created word/alphabet walls displaying high frequency and thematic words as a spelling resource for writing;
  
  
  
  
• established writing learning centres where a variety of paper, pens, ready made books, staplers, textas, scissors, magazines etc are provided;
• made big books based on such things as alliteration with children's names, innovating on texts, recounting class experiences;
  
  
  
  
• encouraged writing in the dramatic play corner through the provision of doctor appointment books, phone books with note pad and opportunities for children to make their own signs;
• utilised computer programs such as Kid Pix and Word Art;
• made displays of high frequency words by having children place a coloured dot on the high frequency word each time they read or write that word ('Freckle words');
  
  
  
  
• made wall stories about excursions, retellings of texts read and innovations on texts read;
• used literature as a basis for innovation on text;
• created concept maps in shared writing leading to individual writing;
• developed story maps after shared reading and used these maps for individual retellings;
• used written conversation (students wrote questions and answers to each other) to encourage students to write;
• modelled editing and proofreading processes;
• valued social contexts for writing such as teacher writing notes to other teachers;
• taught structure of a variety of poems, such as cinquain and haiku, through modelled and shared writing;
• used nursery rhymes as a stimulus for writing;
• created a message board for students and/or parents;
• used poetry to explore similes, metaphors, personification, and collected samples to display in the classroom; and
• used literature to compile examples of setting and character descriptions.
  
  

Teaching a range of text types

Later in the evening workshop, Jan Turbill highlighted the importance of developing students’ skills in tackling different types of texts, as well as narrative texts. Before working with teachers to develop specific teaching strategies, she outlined some of the distinguishing features of a number of text types:

Features of common text types

Strategies for teaching aspects of narrative texts

Leads (the beginning of the writing)

• Ask the students to read the first sentence from their library book and listen to the leads. Most leads introduce character and setting. This is a good way to move students away from 'Once upon a time' as a lead.
• Make a chart of interesting leads.
• Ways of using the chart include:
  • Have students choose a lead and write their own text.
  • Students bring their writing to the guided writing session and read over their writing, then try to write a new lead.
  • Innovate on a lead from a book eg. keep the structure and change the character and settings
  • Talk about leads in fiction and non-fiction. How are they different and why?

Descriptions

• Read a piece from a book such as The Twits by Roald Dahl. Have students draw character/s and write a description of them.
  Students read their writing to a friend, the friend creates a mental picture and asks for more details or information if this is necessary.

• Using a text such as the description of the barn in E.B. White's Charlotte's Web, students are asked to record the words that described what a particular setting looked like, smelled like, or sounded like. A list of words such as 'large', 'old', 'smelled of hay', 'sweet breath' 'peaceful' is created.
  The teacher then introduces the idea of simile and asks students to rewrite the descriptive phrases as similes eg 'The barn smelt like manure.'
  Compare the descriptive language in the actual text (author's version) to the similes created from the descriptive words, and discuss which sounds better and why?

• Description in non-fiction often takes the form of visual images, so students should be given opportunities to attempt representing their descriptions in a visual form ie labelled diagrams. For further information on visual literacy see Steve Moline's book I see what you mean, Longman.

Starting points

Task:

Provide students with tickets from a show, transport etc. Tell students:

"You have found these tickets. Make them a key part of a narrative. Plan an orientation, complication and resolution."

For example:

Orientation
Sue, Hazel, Anne (characters)
Walking to school (setting)

Complication
Do we keep the tickets? (2 tickets, and 3 people)
Who do the tickets belong to?

Resolution
Save money if they use the tickets and go together

An alternative way of using the tickets could be for students to work in small groups to make up a story about the tickets. Follow this with a sharing session and discuss character, setting, complication and resolution. Students then write the story as a group or illustrate the story and use their illustrations in an oral presentation.

Follow up to this session could include reading a story about someone who finds something. Issues could involve discussion on the implications of either keeping the found object or giving it back.

Use a narrative such as the Revenge of the Three Blind Mice as a stimulus for writing. Such texts provide a context for writing for different purposes and in a variety of text types.

Following a class reading of the above text any of the following writing tasks could be explored.

• Write from different points of view, eg the mouse/human
• Discuss revenge
• Write a play, Trial of the Farmer's Wife
• Debate the issue of capital punishment
• Adapt other nursery rhymes or fairytales, eg The True Story of the Three Billy Goats
• Write a letter to the Three Blind Mice from the farmer's wife
• Write a newspaper report, or news item about the events in the story
• Write a blurb for the book
• Write a biography of one of the characters

Strategies for teaching information report writing

Below are three different approaches that can help guide students through the development of information reports.

Using factual texts to develop report writing — strategy 1

Immerse students in models of the report genre, Animals in the Wild - Monkey by Mary Hoffman, was the example used. Following several shared reading sessions the following strategies could be used to raise student's awareness of the framework for report writing.

• Reconstruct a 'cut up' report noting headings, sub-headings and format.
• Label the various parts of a report and consider the purpose of each part.

When students are familiar with the structure of a report, jointly construct a report focussing on the features of the text-type.

Students then work in guided writing groups to plan their own report using a planning proforma such as those outlined below.

REPORT PLAN

Students use their plan to write a report. Guided writing groups can be formed at any time during this stage to redirect, assist and support the students' writing.

Individual conferences and publication are an optional final stage.

An example of a completed report from a Grade 1/2 student.

Using factual texts to develop report writing — strategy 2

• Read to students a variety of texts about a particular topic, eg pigs, and highlight features of the report genre.
• Discuss with students what they already know about the topic and what they would like to find out.
• Use the technique of webbing/concept mapping/brainstorm to connect the central topic to related facts. The concept map can be added to each time a different book is read and additional information is found. Eg:
  
  
  

• Guide students to think about main headings/sub headings and to group information accordingly. Eg:

• Work with guided writing groups to write paragraphs (bundles of information) using the headings outlined in the previous session, ie appearance, behaviour.

Using factual texts to develop report writing — strategy 3

• Discuss with students the features of reports.

• Brainstorm or use concept mapping to identify headings for a report about a specific topic.

• Write the selected headings on large sheets of paper and post them around the room.

• Ask students to move around the room in small groups and add information under each heading on the 'graffiti board'.

• Collate the information on a grid.

For example:

• Work with guided writing groups to use the information from the grid to write a report.

Other ways of gathering, organising and presenting information in preparation for report writing include:

• labelled diagrams;
• flow charts;
• fact files;
• quiz questions; and
• questions and answers.

Recount writing

This is a teaching strategy that can be used to lead into recount writing.

Card Trick for free writing

Give each student three cards.

Card One

Ask students to list all the places and people they saw during the holidays (1 minute brainstorm).

Students then share the list with a friend.

Have students place a circle around one thing they would like to share more about.

Card Two

Ask students to draw or write as many words as they can think of that describe the circled place or person.

Have students share their words with a partner (1-2 minutes).

Card Three

Ask students to use the words from Card Two and write about the place or person circled on Card One for three minutes non-stop.

Have students read their writing to a friend.

(This activity lends itself to a wide range of uses.)

A Recount Plan:

Adapted from Susan Hill (1999) Guiding Literacy Learners. Eleanor Curtain

Strategies for teaching exposition writing

When introducing exposition writing, use real-life experiences and issues in which children are involved and /or interested.

• Examine a model of exposition. Various forms of exposition include posters, advertisements, letters, debates, and literature.
• Through shared reading develop a framework for the focus type of exposition
• Model a specific type of exposition writing in shared writing sessions. Through guided writing sessions students plan and write with teacher's support, prior to writing independently.
• An exposition plan might look like this:

• Students complete their own exposition writing. This may take a variety of forms depending on the purpose, such as posters, advertisements, letters, and debates.

Some useful strategies for assisting students to see alternative points of view include the following:

• Using Edward de Bono's hats, write from different points of view
• Guiding students through an academic controversy
• Examining persuasive tactics, exploring the impact of language and images
• Utilising the opportunity to develop campaign speeches or 'vote for me' posters when electing Student Representative Council members or class/sports captains.
• Using literature to explore issues from different points of view, such as The Little Red Hen.

Strategies for teaching procedural text writing

• Read to and with students a range of procedural texts, highlighting the purpose of the text, the sequential nature of the text and the use of verbs as sentence beginnings.
• The structure of procedural texts can be explored through:
  
  *reconstruction activities - cutting up instructions and students reordering them -, highlighting the sequencing events in this text type.
  
  *sequencing activities - giving students a series of pictures outlining a procedure, students write accompanying instructions
  
  *modelled writing of a procedure after a class experience

• Students write their own procedures during guided and independent writing. Teachers provide a stimulus for procedural text writing by using activities such as the following:
  
  *Students make popcorn, marshmallow rabbits etc. Following the cooking experience students record the process in the form of a recipe.
  
  *Students conduct science experiments and record the steps in the form of a scientific procedure.
  
  *Students make something eg. puppets, masks, presents. They can record what they have done in the form of a set of instructions.
  
  *Students play games and write instructions.

A plan for procedural writing could look like:

Instructions

Adapted from Susan Hill (1999) Guiding Literacy Learners, Eleanor Curtain

About Jan Turbill

Jan Turbill is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education, University of Wollongong, Australia. She began teaching in 1964 for the Department of School Education in New South Wales, teaching Kindergarten - Grade 2 children for 12 years. In 1976 the Department invited her to become a Language Consultant for its schools across the K-12 spectrum in a metropolitan region of Sydney. During the following 9 years in this capacity she was involved in the development and implementation of syllabus documents: Reading K-12 and Writing K-12. It was also during this period that Jan Turbill completed her Master in Education in Linguistics at Sydney University and was made a Fellow of the Australian College of Education for
her contributions to early literacy development.

In 1985 Jan Turbill changed careers and began lecturing in Language Education at the University of Wollongong. She was awarded her PhD in 1993 at the University of Wollongong. In 1996 Jan was invited to spend 4 months as a visiting professor at Hamline University, St Paul, MN, USA, where she was awarded Graduate Teacher of the Year.

Jan Turbill's research has ranged from early literacy development to the professional development of teachers. She has written and co-authored several books in this field. No Better Way to Teach Writing, 1982; Now We Want to Write 1983; Towards a Reading-Writing Classroom 1984 [with Andrea Butler] and Coping with Chaos, 1987 [with Brian Cambourne] and Responsive Evaluation, 1994, [with Brian Cambourne].

In more recent years Jan Turbill's research has been in teacher learning and professional development. Much of this work has underpinned the successful staff development program Frameworks co-authored with Andrea Butler, Brian Cambourne and Gail Langton that has operated in the USA for the past 10 years.

In 1999 Jan and Brian Cambourne were awarded an Australian Research Grant that funds a Doctoral Scholarship over three years to further study the relationship between staff development (Frameworks) and change in teachers' classroom practice and increased student learning.

During 1999 Jan's research moved into the use of technology as a support for literacy learning in the early years of schooling and as a medium for professional learning for teachers.

Jan is presently the Director of the Centre for Language Education in the University of Wollongong (CLEUW). She is the Co-Editor of the Australian Journal for Language and Literacy (AJLL) and an active member of the Publications Committee of the International Reading Association as well as serving on the Advisory Boards for Kids Insights, (an IRA series publication) and Reading Online (IRA's electronic journal)