Changing Writing Outcomes Using SOLO

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.

 Integration with INQUIRY         

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.