Writing Outcomes: How do you get children to look at things in new ways?
(see learning maps
aligned to SOLO)
Apply SOLO Taxonomy in layers to writing from listing
to connecting. Levels 1-3 are
surface features. What have they done in their writing? Listing? Describing?
Questioning? These verbs, which are included on SOLO pages, can be a guideline
as to which level of understanding and ability they are working at.
Refer to slide 6: Describe-Writing
Outcomes
Levels 4-6 How I
teach
Vocab + Connections + Exemplars = allows students to see things
in new ways
Habits of Mind
Always
have a verb from SOLO tied into WALT as a habit of mind / scaffold.
1. Don’t let our own expectations knee cap our kids. Push
their boundaries.
2. Be the
Santa Claus and gift them the strategies that will allow them to
be successful writers
3. Push your own boundaries when exploring text and adapt to
your learners.
What builds
creativity?
Creativity
Fluency Elaboration Flexibility (different styles)
Haiku activity
·
Santa Claus = Provide full page of examples on a
chart with number sequences
·
Take pieces out of chart to come up with new
lines
·
Level 5-6: Create your own
Good books to use
with activity below
The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness by Colin
Thompson
The Arrival of Sean Tan
Before they write
Have students work up
the levels
·
List themes that are present in a book (Use a
Describe Map)
·
Take the map and theme and make a connection
·
Come up with questions from story where there is
no answer (infer), put these ideas onto the map and then connect them to issues
that have been listed. E.g. Why might George have been living with his
grandmother?
·
Extended
Abstract Predict what would happen if……….
Create a picture about how the dog
got his leg
Let them write
about………
The Scarecrow
·
LIST SCARECROW WORDS ON A DESCRIBE MAP: Show images, look at time of day, faces,
movement. Gift them with questions and vocab.
·
INCREASE FLUENCY by having them count up
words. Share what ideas you have and pinch others.
·
Then look at MAKING CONNECTIONS e.g. find words that are the same and opposite
which are building up word banks.
·
Take the
baby talk out of writing. Highlight 5 words. You can’t use these so grab
thesaurus and choose new words.
·
CREATE OWN POEM. Scarecrow can’t be in
title. Use words / clue to let reader figure it out. Gift them a framework to
take the guess work out for strugglers e.g. this many words on this line and…
·
Then provide AUTHENTIC CONTEXT create a book,
evening www. snapfish.co.nz hp to
allow students to make their own book after
exploring all things about books, evening where stories are read to
nanas.
E.g. Orangutans
· List ideas around brainstorm and then make a connection to list words
· What are definitions of words?
· Extended abstract: May lead away from orangutans but exploring issues associated with them.
Other Resources
Use ‘Carrying
Baggage’ and ‘The Ian Sharpe Poem’ as basis for activities
The Exercise Book: Creative writing exercises from Victoria
University’s Institute of Modern Letters.
Carrying Baggage
Glen Colquhoun G. (2003) The
act of walking upright. Wellington: Steele Roberts Ltd.
