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#UKEdChat A1. Having a purpose for writing certainly helps (beyond passing tests), but key handwriting skills are still necessary, and we must hold onto these. Practise can make perfect.
A1. Writing should and does have a purpose. When we as adults write anything, there is purpose behind it; reports, articles etc. Students need a purpose as that would guide their writing in terms of formality, language. History writing is different to science writing. #ukedchat
A1 I think it depends on what subject is being taught, in Science I think if students understand the purpose of why they're writing always helps #ukedchat
Writing always has a purpose irrespective of what the writing is 'to do'. If fiction: entertain (normally). If Non-Fiction: a plethora of purposes. What matters is how explicit we explain purpose ๐ค #ukedchat although purposeful practice is good in itself to garner improvement
The question really is how is the purpose communicated so that students understand the nuances or conventions of the writing being undertaken #ukedchat
I'd love to say it's not all about passing exams, but it does become about how to answer questions in a way that will get the most marks as we get closer to the GCSEs #ukedchat
A2 - it gives students concrete understanding of what success lokks like for that purpose. Using models (pre-prepared, varying standard, or live) is excellent prep & shows standards for students to emulate #ukedchat
The examiner becomes the narrow audience near exams, but wider audience is linked to the purpose of the writing e.g scientific report = audience who wants to know about the experiment e.g. researcher #ukedchat I think
Within Geography, the purpose clearly helps as the new GCSE includes a wide variety of question types and writing skills that need to be practised, however with that said note taking and general classwork can be seen to be the simple practice of basic writing skills #A1#ukedchat
#UKEdChat Q1 I think writing can be without purpose. A bit like a doodle...it could lead to anything amazing but something rubbish...but thats the fun. Free writing I guess ๐
So for example Year 7's in the first term will cover battle of Hastings. When we write about it it could cover a number of purposes e.g. narrative, explanation of why William won, consideration of consequences etc. Similar in other years. #ukedchat
variable. Some students have excellent literacy skills and some have very weak literacy skills. It's a huge challenge especially as many people view Geography as the "easy option" and many schools force pupils into either Geography or History. #ukedchat
2. It's especially challenging since the standard required includes the examination command words of "Assess, Analyse, Justify, Evaluate, To What Extent...?" which all require a different method of answering them. It's all about using practice methods and technique. #UKedchat
A3 - I think there is always a purpose so it is never best to write without a purpose - it gives a structure & then when confident those structures can be flouted a little or subverted #ukedchat
A3 - writing without purpose is a bit of an oxymoron as even the art of writing for no purpose has it's purpose which is to encourage creativity. Can we ever really write for no purpose? Or should the question be when is it best to write without imposed constraints? #ukedchat
A3 When you give students an open ended task and make it clear you want them to be creative, here's a few bits that worked for me in the summer term #ukedchat
#UKEdChat A3 part 1 In RE sometimes I want to show them how much they can write in a short time (as the moan at the short time to get a good amount down in exams. I make them write anything in their head (even "this is stupid"!) I dont collect in but it shows them they can do it!
If there is no audience, then there is little purpose #ukedchat - Makes teacher feedback essential, so pupils know someone is reading and noting their efforts #UKEdChat
#UKEdChat A3 part 2 there is no purpose or structure to the writing but their is purpose in the activity so they know if they know content then its easy and they can write loads!
No constraints doesn't imply no audience. They can be the audience for their writing, with purpose of practising skills & fostering creativity. Teachers can be seen as audience in this way, providing pupils know they are noting efforts, not criticising specific aspects. #UKEdChat
#ukedchat a4 reading examples of the type of writing they are being asked to complete will allow them to identify structure, formality of language, type of language etc
Indeed, so the mutual respect between teacher and student needs to be established. I hated my English teacher...as a result, my work was awful! #ukedchat I was unconcerned about my audience.
Completely. The point I was making is the importance of the teacher-student relationship, as this has a major impact on attainment (guess who was reading Hattie today ๐) #ukedchat
#ukedchat Anyone want a laugh? Have literally spent most of the chat asking my 7 year old son spellings on piece, written and writing! Life of a teacher with #dyslexia! @ukedchat
A4 - reading is shown through research to have a significant effect on writing. It has multiple benefits. Vocab, internalising grammar rules, structures, ideas etc showing the multitude of ways to approach something #ukedchat
A1 Sometimes it is necessary to practice some elements of writing. On the whole they know their writing will be read with an audience (rest of class, a learning partner, their teacher). My class like to know what the purpose of their writing is, it motivates them. #UKEdChat
A5 It's all about those command words. Geographically speaking, analyse evaluate and assess work well with the more critical side of English and Science. To What Extent and Justify questions often help debate skills too. #ukedchat
#ukedchat Q5 we are looking for different key terms and styles...many humanities will look for PEEL but others may not. Even in 1 subject differences occur eg English and audience. Support by key word practise and writing frames.
#UKEdChat Q5 again
How does writing for purpose change in different subject areas and how can this support literacy skills?
Pls use the hashtag & A5...
I'd love to do an audit on the cross- over so we can signpost this to s's. Purpose won't change but perhaps expectations of content may across diff subjs e.g report in eng/science/history may be to inform but the content will differ #ukedchat
Literacy improved by all tchs teaching it & understanding the conventions off what is needed in their subject. Literacy should always be embedded & purposeful #ukedchat
Agreed - it would be good to work back from A-Level in all subject disciplines & see what writing looks like in each subject & how/why it differs & where/when it is the same #ukedchat
A4 Totally agree. There's been a correlation in each class I've taught between regular readers and good writing. These children tend to have more ideas, more vocabulary, will use key words and phrases they have magpied and write pieces that are interesting to read. #UKEdChat
More a series of broken down lessons on narrative writing - very slow build up with modelling & feedback on the spot whole time #ukedchat quality of narrative much improved
More a series of broken down lessons on narrative writing - very slow build up with modelling & feedback on the spot whole time #ukedchat quality of narrative much improved
A5 In science when writing explanations chn often have to make observations or write conclusions using words such as 'because.' Cross curricular writing is important as it shows what chn have remembered from English lessons + if they can apply what they know. #UKEdChat
A6 - report writing - success criteria on board & modelling a sentence precisely to exemplify the individual piece of success criteria #ukedchat buildimg an understanding of how each component looked first then building into a coherent whole
A fantastic blog that I totally agree with, so glad that you got through some difficult times and hopefully the future looks bright. Keep smiling #primaryrocks#ukedchat#nomoreboysandgirls
A6 children wrote persuasively to convince their classmates to send their pet hates to Room 101. First, we watched clips from the TV show and read an excerpt from 1984, then the chn wrote about their hates and performed them as speeches to each other #ukedchat
A6 My class wrote invitations about a science workshop to their parents and carers. They decided to make scrolls and the parents got the important information. A third of the parents came which was really good. #UKEdChat
A6 children wrote persuasively to convince their classmates to send their pet hates to Room 101. First, we watched clips from the TV show and read an excerpt from 1984, then the chn wrote about their hates and performed them as speeches to each other #ukedchat
A8 I like to BUG an exam question so box off the command, underline specific key terms and then glance over it again before making a bullet point plan, then writing to complete the command word. Simple and old school but effective #ukedchat
A8 another is to write a letter to local government to explain different viewpoints to a statement designed to provoke thought and disagreement. Helps with evaluative and justification skills, plus brings in the debate and thinking about stakeholder opinions #ukedchat
A4 #UKEdChat In addition to the things already mentioned, even reading examples of similar work (e.g. on displays or provided as examples) can help scaffold their writing. Science lab write-ups are a prime example of this.
A8 I often ask chn to write piece following a visit for the monthly newsletter. They love seeing their names on that and showing their parents or carers. #UKEdChat
