Teaching as Inquiry

Using Shared Writing to improve students’ writing.

Inquiry Question

Can an increased focus on shared composition improve students’ independent writing?

Focussing Inquiry

• Students need to increase their independence at writing time

• Skills identified that could contribute to this are:

- increasing letter id - increasing number of words spelled

independently- improving formatting

Teaching InquiryA review of the literature around shared/interactive writing highlighted the following:

Shared composition helps learners: make connections between oral and written language, concentrate on sounds in words, note spelling patterns, view themselves as writers. http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/ela/e_literacy/daily.html#bottom

An important part of interactive/shared writing is the way it makes visible to children how written language works. (Fountas & Pinnell, 1996, p. 34)

It should be possible for children's voices to be heard, right from the start, not only through what they say, but also through what they write…. This article explores one type of writing--interactive writing--that has proved spectacularly successful in achieving this goal. (Nigel Hall; Childhood Education, Vol. 76, 2000)

Shared writing –Shared writing - els flyers 3Effective Literacy Practice in Years 1 to 4 – MOE 2003 pp 104 -108

Learning Inquiry

What happened?

• Students wrote more• Students became more independent

as spelling improved• Students letter ID increased• Students’ formatting improved• Students became confident writers

So what changed?

Data related to formatting

•Writing hard to read, no gaps between lines or words.

Student A - 3rd August

• In less than two weeks more consistent gaps between words and missed lines.

Student A - 16thAugust

Data related to independence and

confidence

Student B - 26 July

• Student’s writing very brief and a lot of support needed when writing.

Student B -

27/28 July

• Student’s writing overnight becomes more fluent. Student prepared to take risks with spelling. Over two days wrote much more independently.

Letter Id. Data• 4 students who had been at school

since the beginning of the year still had a goal related to letter id at start of term 3

• These 4 students recognised between 26 and 46 letters (out of 54) at the start of term 3

• They now all recognise more than 50/54 letters, and no longer have a goal related to letter id

• Five students have started school since June and all had a goal related to letter id

• These 5 students recognised between 1 and 41 letters (out of 54) at the start of term 3

• Four now recognise more than 40/54 letters, and one of these recognises 54/54

Letter Id. Data

Spelling Data• Seven students have had their

spelling in relation to Essential Lists 1 – 3 monitored over the 3rd term

• All of these students have increased the number of words that they can spell, from these lists, by between 8 – 15 words.

What Now?• Continue to have this

component of shared writing as a focus.

• Extend text types e.g. retelling familiar stories

• Extended shared composition to create a shared book as a reading resource