Kia Ora, Talofa Lava, Malo e Lelei, Kia Orana, Fakaalofa Lahi Atu, Bula Vinaka and Namaste
Welcome to my Professional Blog!
I am a year 3 & 4 teacher at Glen Innes School and this year I am fortunate to embark on a year-long journey with the Manaiakalani Kahui Ako cluster as a Community of Learning within school teacher at my school.
This is purely inquiry-based learning so any refreshing ideas (feedback/ feedforward) via comments are welcome to enable me to become a better within-school educator.
Reconnaissance - Student Inquiry Foci
Collaborate with your school’s leadership team and colleagues to identify areas where your inquiry will make a powerful contribution to wider school and cluster goals.
From what you know already about your classes and your school’s profile and leadership goals for the year, share a possible inquiry focus.
Frame your focus as a desired change in student learning NOT a change in teaching (as yet!)
My inquiry focus question is:
Will the emphasis on using precise vocabulary such as adjectives, nouns, and verbs at the draft stage lead to improved writing proficiency?
I am focusing on this inquiry question because, for all of my learners, English is their second language. They are scared to take risks. They need lots of practice, motivation, vocabulary, and spelling words to use in their writing and build self-confidence to produce a good piece of writing.
For all the above to happen successfully I have done the whole class profiling and selected 8 mixed learners to investigate and see what I can do differently to assist them and bring about successful change regarding my inquiry topic. Profiling is the activity of collecting information about someone. In this case are the learners. This inquiry will investigate the nature of the student’s strengths and gaps in their valued learning outcomes in detail.
Profiling can be done in so many different ways. According to OpenAI, 2024 profiling in writing can be done by:
Using Writing Samples - learners write less than what is expected of Year 3 and 4 learners. Some learners are learning to write basic sentences. Some are learning how to spell high-frequency words so they can use them to form simple, compound or complex sentences.
Writing Tasks - incomplete tasks. Some write a few lines, but there is not much evidence of various kinds of punctuation being used. Even the basic ones, such as using capital/ small letters or full stops.
Writing Process - some can follow the recount writing process but details are missing. There is hardly any evidence of the use of adjectives, nouns or verbs while producing a draft piece of writing.
Peer Review - learners are still learning how to give feedback to their peers.
Writing Conferences - learners can hold basic writing conferences.
Diagnostic Assessments - it's done either weekly or fortnightly that is once they have finished their writing.
Language Proficiency - most of my learners have good language proficiency but putting the words in writing is difficult for them. This is because they are struggling with spelling or sounding the words.
Writing Attitudes - most of the learners are scared of taking risks. They think they can not produce a good piece of writing.
Writing Habits - learners struggle to produce a piece of writing per week despite looking at the sample writing shared and discussed with them.
Parent/Teacher Input - learners need lots of motivation from home, school and the class teacher to produce a good piece of writing. Learners also need to be exposed to a variety of texts plus they need to practice writing at home as well.
My Planned Interventions for Term 1:
Investigate the Easttle Attitude questions and the answers (collect the learners' responses)
Create a Google Questionnaire Form to understand and know my learners better.
Discuss with last year/ previous teachers regarding the learners' writing in class.
Collecting baseline data - from Term 1, 2024.
Collecting writing samples from their e-asttle test.
Meet/ Discussion with the principal and senior lead teachers.
Met/ Discussion with Ms Naicker (CoL) teacher.
National Library Week (April 23, 2024 - April 29, 2024)
Ordered various National Library books to expose my learners to a variety of texts
Ms Naicker and I have planned to organise a Library Week celebration at our school. Further discussion is needed with the admin team.
Record my writing lesson to observe my learners and myself.
Collaborate with my SLT to assist me to better/ improve my writing planning site.
Group writing sessions.,
Encourage students to produce their best text to be selected ……Continue to choose the 2 best writers per term and display their writing pieces in the main foyer.
Other Explicit Teaching Interventions:
Language Development: Encouraging my Year 3/4 students to use specific vocabulary that will help in their language development. It introduces them to a wider range of words, teaching them how to express their ideas more precisely.
Vivid Descriptions: Teaching students to use descriptive adjectives can make their writing more vivid and engaging. They can learn to paint a clear picture in the reader's mind by choosing descriptive words that appeal to the senses.
Action-Oriented Writing: Emphasising strong verbs encourages students to write in a more action-oriented manner. Instead of using generic verbs like "go" or "say," they can learn to use verbs that show specific actions, making their writing more dynamic and interesting. (Action-oriented means willing or likely to take practical action to deal with a problem or situation)
Noun Usage: Teaching students to use a variety of nouns will enrich their writing. They can learn to use concrete nouns to make their writing more specific and descriptive, rather than relying on vague or abstract terms.
Creativity and Expression: Using specific vocabulary encourages creativity and self-expression in writing. Students can experiment with different words to convey their ideas and feelings more effectively, developing their unique writing style.
Expanded Vocabulary (The Code Book): Focusing on specific vocabulary helps students expand their vocabulary over time by using their phonological knowledge.
Writing Skills Improvement: With practice and guidance, students can improve their writing skills significantly. They can learn how to craft well-structured sentences and paragraphs, and recount using specific vocabulary appropriately, leading to higher achievement in writing tasks and assessments.
Planning thoroughly, such as exposing my learners to various experiences, encouraging discussions, explaining and answering their questions and then getting them to produce a piece of writing is an enriching experience.
I will provide examples, exercises, and feedback to help them understand and apply specific vocabulary effectively in their writing. I will foster a positive learning environment and encourage creativity, so students can develop a strong foundation in writing skills that will serve them well in their academic journey.
For writing sessions, I will provide weekly hands-on activities where learners will use their senses to gain experience and enhance their priority on the utilization of precise vocabulary, (adjectives, nouns, and verbs), leading to improved writing proficiency.
Reference:
OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT [3.5]. https://openai.com/chatgpt
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