Session 3

LITERACY

GUIDED WRITING

Autumn 2007

Pupil characteristics in English

• Often boys

• Usually well-behaved & positive

• Persevered, especially with routine tasks

• Lacked self-help strategies

• Did not demand attention

Obstacles to Progress• Reading

– Limited range of strategies– No higher order skills

• Writing– Couldn’t combine different elements of

writing– Restricted opportunities for oral rehearsal– Limited access to guided writing– Limited amount of useful feedback

Obstacles to Progress• Speaking and Listening

– Didn’t recognise as a skill– Limited direct teaching– Unable to describe progression

• And …– Low level targets– Limited opportunity to apply targets– Dependent on TAs– Teachers unaware of progress and expectations– Unsystematic intervention– Infrequent review of progress

GUIDED WRITING

What is Guided Writing?Guided Writing is the name given to a range

of ways in which teachers support developing

Writers.

Formal Guided Writing involves a small group of pupils sitting with the teacher, rehearsing,questioning,clarifying and revising as each produces an individual piece of writing.

Informal/Supported Guided Writing describes all the ways in which teachers scaffold an independent writing task for pupils. Teachers My provide detailed plans, note – making and writing frameworks, frequent conferences and peer assistance as they seek to guide pupils in their writing.

Get Writing!

You have 2 minutes to write about one of these objects.

You can write a piece of fiction, non-fiction or poetry!

You have to write at least 8 lines!

No giant writing or big spaces!!!!

Why use Guided Writing?

• Familiarises pupils with the management of the writing process

• Enables pupils to be active participants in writing conferences

• Encourages pupils to be analytical and reflective about writing

• Provides a forum for pupils to discuss what makes effective writing

• Supports EAL pupils confronted with the demands of written English

Guided Writing:

Rainbow Activity

What might Guided Writing look like in:

Foundation Stage

Year 2

Year 6 ?

The Advantages of Guided Writing

• It provides the bridge between shared and independent work

• the teaching focus and teachers intervention can be tailored in response to particular needs• its flexibility allows for individual, paired or collaborative group work

• The teacher works with groups or pairs of children who have similar needs.

• Children are given opportunity to practise writing in a supported group context.

• Children learn to share and problem solve aspects of writing with others

Guided Writing Audit

Emergent:

Guided Writing is used to support developing

writing in each classroom

Established:

Most guided writing sessions have an explicit

teaching/learning objectives, tailored by the teacher

to the needs of the group

Advanced:

Across the school pupils demonstrate a growing accuracy in:• Writing to convey meaning appropriately for

different purposes• sentence construction, punctuation and

paragraphing• The habit of checking their own spelling,

recognising the main patterns of English, aiming at greater accuracy through the use of spell checkers and dictionaries

• A fluent and legible handwriting style

When do we do Guided Writing?

Time to work with a guided group is scarce so it must be clearly focussed. Guided Writing can take place at any stage of the writing process.

Before writing to support children’s planning and drafting of their work

At the point of writing

After writing – feedback sessions

The Guided Writing Cycle

RehearseRehearse

WriteWrite

ShareShare

ReflectReflect

ReviseRevise

ShareShare

Objective:

We are thinking about how commas and connectives can be used, instead of full stops, to make sentences more detailed

Rehearse:

As it is made of two different metals, it is called a bimetallic strip.Cut the sentences into parts, identifying two simple sentences. What has been left over?

Can we place these anywhere else in the sentence to make it make sense?

What happens?

When it gets hot, one of the metals expands more than the other.

Identify the simple sentences.

Cut out the simple sentences.

Write them as simple sentences.

What are you left with?

Write:

The kettle needs enough water in it to make your cup of tea so firstly fill the kettle full of water.

Switch the on button to on.

Take a mug. Take a tea bag.

Share:

Share ideas and connectives

Reflect:

Take a look at one of the sentences and dissect it.

Revise:

Look at your sentence. Is there anything you would like to change?

Share:

Share revised ideas.

Guided Writing Examples

Watch this clip showing a Year 1 example of Guided Writing

Can you see a clear structure to the session?

Does the teacher support the children through key questions, constructive comments, teaching at the point of writing?

Guided Writing Examples

Watch this clip showing a Year 3

example of Guided Writing.

Use the prompt sheet to make notes.

What the children need generally• A repertoire of self-help strategies

• Coaching in exploratory and analytic work

• Teaching that focuses on ‘deep’ learning that gets to

ideas, concepts and true understanding

• Improved oral work to help them think things through and become articulate and ‘ready to write’ or solve

mathematical problems

• Planning aids

• More group coaching such as guided work

• More direct support from the teacher rather than the teaching assistant

What the children need in mathematicsThey need…

• more open activities to talk and think about

• more paired discussion to shape their ideas

• to be shown how to explore different approaches to solve a problem

• time and teacher support to explore and explain their methods and thinking

• to keep mental calculation strategies fresh through regular use

• more freedom to make their own decisions on how to record their work

• to be taught how to use number lines more flexibly

What the children need in English

They need…• a range of reading strategies to tackle unfamiliar texts

successfully• to see reading as pleasurable and meaningful• help with writing as they write• planning strategies to help them with extended writing• to be given high value targets to improve their writing• to use focused talk to think through their ideas• to be explicitly taught the conventions of speaking and

listening

Discussion Consider your schools and the ‘slow moving children’

and ‘children falling behind’ for mathematics or English

• What do the children need to do to address this issue?

• What do the teachers need to do to address this issue?

• What support and professional challenge could Headteachers and senior leaders provide?

• What are the implications for LA support and challenge?