GOOD TO OUTSTANDING

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GOOD TO OUTSTANDING

• ? TEACHING WRITING ?

GEOFF BARTON
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(No Transcript)
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This session

• 1 What we know about writing in English
• Ofsted 2009
• National Strategies
• 2 Which bits of grammar help in teaching
  writing?
• 3 So what might you do next?

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English at the Crossroads June 2009
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• The English Curriculum
• Ofsted says
• Many older students complained that the Key Stage
  3 curriculum had not been sufficiently
  challenging or stimulating and that work in Year
  7 often repeated what they had learned in primary
  school. Too many secondary teachers did not know
  what their students had learned at primary school
  and were not able to build on their knowledge,
  skills and understanding.
• Although Year 10 students were normally given an
  outline of the GCSE course at the beginning of
  the year, those in Year 7 were much less clear
  about the Key Stage 3 programme.
• All the English departments visited had schemes
  of work for Key Stage 3 but, since they rarely
  showed them to the students, students could not
  see how individual elements linked together and
  supported each other. To many students, the Key
  Stage 3 programme seemed a random sequence of
  activities, such as the reading of a class novel,
  followed by work on persuasive writing, extracts
  from Shakespeares plays and the study of
  newspapers.
• In the less effective schools, the Key Stage 3
  curriculum placed too little emphasis on poetry,
  media, speaking and listening or drama, and did
  not enable students to make sufficient progress
  in these areas.

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• Writing
• Ofsted says
• Many of the lessons seen during the survey showed
  there was a clear need to reinvigorate the
  teaching of writing. Pupils were not motivated by
  the writing tasks they were given and saw no real
  purpose to them. At key stages 2 and 3, teachers
  often asked pupils to write imaginary letters or
  postcards, an activity that many pupils would
  rarely, if ever, do outside school.
• This contrasted starkly with lessons where pupils
  were given a clear goal, such as writing for a
  real audience, preparing for a talk or helping to
  plan a film clip. Here they saw the purpose of
  the task, appreciated the importance of quality
  and worked with concentration and enthusiasm.

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• In too many lessons, teachers spent so long
  introducing the task, analysing a text and
  talking about the writing that too little time
  was left for the pupils to complete their own
  work. Another common weakness was the
  over-emphasis on technical matters, such as
  punctuation or complex sentences, at the expense
  of helping pupils to develop and structure their
  ideas.
• Sometimes the teaching focused more on pupils
  knowledge about writing rather than on developing
  their skills in writing. Each year, from Key
  Stage 2 onwards, pupils were likely to be taught
  the features of certain types of text, such as
  persuasive writing or instructions. Even when
  they could already easily identify a texts
  specific features, they repeated such work, for
  example, identifying rhetorical questions, the
  passive voice and powerful adjectives.
• They would have learned more from being helped
  and supported to write a variety of extended
  texts in the particular form, followed by
  independent work on a topic of their choice.

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What we know about Writing

• The standard of writing has improved in recent
  years but still lags 20 behind reading at all
  key stages (eg around 60 of students get level 4
  at KS2 in writing, compared to 80 in reading).
• Writing has improved as a result of the National
  Strategy.
• SL has a big role in writing - it allows
  students to rehearse ideas and structures and
  builds confidence.
• But SL has lower status because of assessment
  weightings.
• In teaching writing we tend to focus too much on
  end-products rather than process (eg frames). We
  should think more about composition - how ideas
  are found and framed, how choices are made, how
  to decide about the medium, how to draft and
  edit.
• We are still stuck with a narrow range of writing
  forms and need to emphasise creativity in
  non-fiction forms.
• We need to rediscover the excitement of writing.

With thanks to Professor Richard Andrews,
Institute of Education
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TEACHING WRITING
How weve often (not) taught writing in the past

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TEACHING WRITING
Read this opening from the novel Bleak House
h ghgh ghgh ghght y ftrd rdgxkjahkjh kh sbagzj ws
asuwq wq qu iuu h u g 7aijqm.1xz loli3ji h
u h asuwq wq qu iuu u g 7aijqm.1xz loli3ji
h u h asuwq wq qu iuu h u g 7aijqm.1xz
loli3ji h u h ghgh ghgh ghght y ftrd rdgxkjahkjh
kh sbagzj ws asuwq wq qu iuu h u g
7aijqm.1xz loli3ji h u h asuwq wq qu iuu h
u g 7aijqm.1xz loli3ji h u h asuwq wq qu iuu
h u g 7aijqm.1xz loli3ji h u h ghgh ghgh ghght
y ftrd rdgxkjahkjh kh sbagzj ws asuwq wq qu iuu
h u g 7aijqm.1xz loli3ji h u h asuwq wq qu
iuu h u g 7aijqm.1xz loli3ji h u h asuwq wq
qu iuu h u g 7aijqm.1xz loli3ji h u h ghgh
ghgh ghght y ftrd rdgxkjahkjh kh sbagzj ws asuwq
wq qu iuu h u g 7aijqm.1xz loli3ji h u h
asuwq wq qu iuu h u g 7aijqm.1xz loli3ji h
u h asuwq wq qu iuu h u g 7aijqm.1xz
loli3ji h u h Now write your own opening of a
novel.

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TEACHING WRITING
KS3 tests 2000
Write the opening of a story about a major
emergency. Some people waste a lot of time and
energy attempting difficult challenges, such as
flying around the world in a hot-air balloon.
Attempts like these are pointless, and benefit
nobody. Write an article for your local
newspaper arguing for or against this statement.

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TEACHING WRITING
To be truth-full I am for the argument about
wasting time and money trying to get around the
world in a hot air balloon, when this time and
money could be spent on working with medical
difficulty or people who are homeless.
I feel it is very important to face challenges,
as without challenges, the world would be a very
dull place. I feel that the earlier challenges
appear in a persons life, the better, as there
will undoubtedly be challenges in the workplace
or in home life, and so I feel that the people
who have faced challenges earlier in life get a
head start over people who have not.
Level 4 Level 7
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TEACHING WRITING

• You dont teach writing merely through
• Reading aloud
• Showing models
• Highlighting genre features
• Correcting first drafts
• Lots of bullet-points after the task

Explore conventions Demonstrate Share
composition Scaffold Independent writing Draw
out key learning
DEPENDENCE
INDEPENDENCE

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TEACHING WRITING
Explore conventions Demonstrate Share
composition Scaffold it Independence Key learning
Including bad models
Show students the process of writing
Correct/change/improve
Make it collaborative
Move from small to larger sections

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WRITING WITH POWER
Narrative-based writing
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TEACHING WRITING
The Set-Up
BUILDING SUSPENSE Write the opening of a
mystery story. Set it at a funeral in a wintery
churchyard.
v v v

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TEACHING WRITING
bad
Using models
Before . It was a bitterly cold day. Everyone
was in black. The cars were black too. There were
people standing around in a group waiting for the
coffin. Crows were flying in the sky. It was
really eerie.
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TEACHING WRITING
Using models
After . The undertaker's men were like crows,
stiff and black, and the cars were black, lined
up beside the path that led to the church and
we, we too were black, as we stood in our
pathetic, awkward group waiting for them to lift
out the coffin and shoulder it, and for the
clergyman to arrange himself and he was another
black crow in his long cloak. And then the real
crows rose suddenly from the trees and from the
fields, whirled up like scraps of blackened paper
from a bonfire, and circled, caw-caw-ing above
our heads.
Susan Hill
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How would YOU start a biography of a famous
writer?
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The Life of Charles Dickens Chapter 1 CHARLES
DICKENS, the most popular novelist of the
century, and one of the greatest humorists that
England has produced, was born at Lanport, in
Portsea, on Friday, the seventh of February,
1812. His father, John Dickens, a clerk in the
navy pay-office, was at this time stationed in
the Portsmouth Dockyard. He had made
acquaintance with the lady, Elizabeth Barrow, who
became afterwards his wife, through her elder
brother, Thomas Barrow, also engaged on the
establishment at Somerset House, and she bore him
in all a family of eight children, of whom two
died in infancy. The eldest, Fanny (born 1810),
was followed by Charles (entered in the baptismal
register of Portsea as Charles John Huffham,
though on the very rare occasions when he
subscribed that name he wrote Huffam) by another
son, named Alfred, who died in childhood by
Letitia (born 1816) by another daughter,
Harriet, who died also in childhood by Frederick
(born 1820) by Alfred Lamert (born 1822) and by
Augustus (born 1827).
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DICKENS CHARLES DICKENS was dead. He lay on a
narrow green sofa but there was room enough for
him, so spare had he become in the dining room
of Gads Hill Place. He had died in the house
which he had first seen as a small boy and which
his father had pointed out to him as a suitable
object of his ambitions so great was his
fathers hold upon his life that, forty years
later, he had bought it. Now he had gone. It
was customary to close the blinds and curtains,
thus enshrouding the corpse in darkness before
its last journey to the tomb but in the dining
room of Gads Hill the curtains were pulled apart
and on this June day the bright sunshine streamed
in, glittering on the large mirrors around the
room. The family beside him knew how he enjoyed
the light, how he needed the light and they
understood, too, that none of the conventional
sombreness of the late Victorian period the
year was 1870 had ever touched him. All the
lines and wrinkles which marked the passage of
his life were new erased in the stillness of
death. He was not old he died in his
fifty-eighth year but there had been signs of
premature ageing on a visage so marked and worn
he had acquired, it was said, a sarcastic look.
But now all that was gone and his daughter,
Katey, who watched him as he lay dead, noticed
how there once more emerged upon his face beauty
and pathos.
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SIMPLESTARTERS

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7 principles

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?Kick-start learning
? Dont aim for false links with main lesson
content
? No Blue Peter badges
? Do aim for coherence across starters
? Emphasise collaboration problem-solving
? Are great for grammar
? Avoid the temptation to extend the activity
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Synonyms Who can think of most words meaning
scary, big, small, nice

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• Semantic continuum
• Think of synonyms for house / toilet / friend
• Place them in order of formal to informal

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It was really cold. The weather was awful. I was
walking along the edge of the cliff and I was
really scared.

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The 15 most important bits of grammatical
knowledge needed by effective teachers
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• GRAMMAR ESSENTIALS (fiction)
• Sentence variety for effect simple, compound,
  complex
• Multiple narration
• Plot - dialogue - description
• Location of the speech verb
• Direct / indirect speech
• Figurative language
• Descriptive detail
• Point of view

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• GRAMMAR ESSENTIALS (Non-fiction)
• Topic sentences
• Headlines / subheadings / puns
• Paragraph organisation - main point
  illustration contrast
• Connectives
• Tense
• Sentence functions statement, command, question,
  exclamation
• Formality / impersonal tones
• Layout features
• Building an argument generalisation, supporting
  points, statistics, facts, quotation

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WRITING WITH POWER
Factual writing 8 practical hints
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WRITING WITH POWER
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Keep it brief. Aim for one side of A4. If you
must write more, provide a summary box of key
points
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WRITING WITH POWER
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See everything from your readers viewpoint
what will help them to absorb your ideas as
efficiently as possible? Eg bold, boxes,
bullet-points, spacing, sub-headings
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WRITING WITH POWER
?
Dont overload your sentences. Several short
sentences will do the job better than an
over-long one
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WRITING WITH POWER
2 sentences
Seven of the 33 buildings in St Jamess Square,
in the heart of one of the most expensive parts
of the West End, display For Sale or To Let
signs. The sight of some of the capitals most
exclusive business addresses languishing empty
when not long ago they were snapped up as
corporate headquarters brings home the impact
of the recession as financial controllers cut
costs by letting out spare space vacated by staff
who have been made redundant or exiled to less
costly locations.
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WRITING WITH POWER
5 sentences
St Jamess Square is in the heart of one of the
most expensive parts of the West End. Seven of
the 33 buildings in display For Sale or To Let
signs. Some of the capitals most exclusive
business addresses languish empty, when not long
ago they were snapped up as corporate
headquarters. This brings home the impact of the
recession. Financial controllers have cut costs
by letting out spare space vacated by staff who
have been made redundant or exiled to less costly
locations.
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WRITING WITH POWER
?
Use short sentences at the start and end of
paragraphs they give the reader clarity
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WRITING WITH POWER
Another concern is cost. Whilst there are many
external factors that can affect costs, we do
have some control. We should be putting pressure
on our suppliers to show greater market
awareness, and to engage in a realistic dialogue
with us about fair prices. At the moment there is
often confusion about costs. It is important to
change this.
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WRITING WITH POWER
?
Use connectives to signal the direction of your
ideas
Therefore In contrast In summary In addition For
example Similarly
On the other hand Despite this However Also Althou
gh
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WRITING WITH POWER
Firstly . Ddghdghgdhghgdhghghdghghdgh ghg hgh
ghgh ghghg hghg hghg hghg hghg hghgh ghgh ghgh
ghghg hgh ghgh ghgh ghg hghgh g Another strong
idea is hghg hghg hghgh ghgh ghgh ghghg hgh
ghgh ghgh ghg hghgh g It could also be argued .
hghg hghg hghgh ghgh ghgh ghghg hgh ghgh ghgh ghg
hghgh g A different approach is hghg hghg hghgh
ghgh ghgh ghghg hgh ghgh ghgh ghg hghgh g Finally
. hghg hghg hghgh ghgh ghgh ghghg hgh ghgh ghgh
ghg hghgh g
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WRITING WITH POWER
Firstly . Ddghdghgdhghgdhghghdghghdgh ghg hgh
ghgh ghghg hghg hghg hghg hghg hghgh ghgh ghgh
ghghg hgh ghgh ghgh ghg hghgh g Another strong
idea is hghg hghg hghgh ghgh ghgh ghghg hgh
ghgh ghgh ghg hghgh g It could also be argued .
hghg hghg hghgh ghgh ghgh ghghg hgh ghgh ghgh ghg
hghgh g A different approach is hghg hghg hghgh
ghgh ghgh ghghg hgh ghgh ghgh ghg hghgh g Finally
. hghg hghg hghgh ghgh ghgh ghghg hgh ghgh ghgh
ghg hghgh g
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WRITING WITH POWER
?
Be clear about punctuation ? Full stops to
signal the end of a sentence ? Commas to separate
items in a list or create islands of
words ? Dashes in pairs to create
emphasis ? Colons signal something to
follow ? Semi-colons allow you to link related
ideas they add balance to a sentence
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WRITING WITH POWER
?

• Avoid clichés (ready-made phrases)
• Come on stream (get under way / start)
• A hands-on approach (practical)
• The jury is still out (is not yet decided)
• Meet with (meet)
• Put in place (prepare)
• Take on board (accept)
• User-friendly (easy to use)

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WRITING WITH POWER
?

• Avoid unnecessary repetition (tautology)
• Absolute certainty (certainty)
• Added bonus (bonus)
• Added extra (extra)
• Quite distinct (distinct)
• End result (result)
• Past history (history)
• Really excellent (excellent)
• Revert back (return)

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WRITING WITH POWER
SUMMARY
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TEACHING WRITING
GBs Final Thoughts

• See things as a writer, not just a reader
• Explore texts actively - meddling, rewriting,
  editing
• Demonstrate the writing process yourself
• Relate everything to effect
• Talk about grammar where it helps, not as an end
  in itself
• Start with small units of writing then build up
• Encourage experimentation, risk-taking,
  creativity
• Enjoy!

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