FINAL PROJECT PRESENTATION: IMPROVING WRITING SKILLS

IN GRADE FOUR

Jen Detjen

Dr.Robert Campbell

ETEC 550

SETTING THE STAGE• There are thirty grade four students of varying abilities in my classroom.

This year, I am job sharing with another teacher, as I provide Fine Arts prep to other teachers. Therefor, the flow of my lessons can be somewhat disjointed as I am in the classroom Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Targeted teaching of particular academic strands and objectives, taught by only one of the two of us at a time has been beneficial in other academic areas. This ensures the delivery of the lesson is consistent, and ensures our more at risk students are able to follow along in an easier manner.

• My students are average in their range of abilities concerning written output, six being very strong writers, five who find writing challenging, and the rest being about average for their grade level. Two of the students who struggle with writing are on Learning Plans, the other three are essentially C- to C average writers who need increased scaffolding and small group instruction to accomplish their written components on projects.

• Students are comfortable with using rubrics and criteria to assess their work, and were usually provided with criteria on the day assignments are introduced.

AT RISK STUDENTS

• There are two students who read well below grade level, and three others who are close to grade level. Due to this, many of the assignments are read aloud, and many of the short reading passages are read aloud as a class, or in small groups. There are two separate students who have moderate hearing loss in one ear, but this does not affect their learning.

• There are no other adults present in the classroom, yet the two students who are on Learning Plans access some time with the Learning Assistance Teacher a few times a week for Language Arts support, and is available for in class support as well.

WHY WRITING?• The bulk of my students have mastered many of the components

of writing, yet needed some targeted teaching to attain a higher degree of accomplishment.

• There are also some students who are not motivated to create their best work, as they are not overly engaged in the tasks, and often want simply to complete written tasks as quickly as possible.

• The students in my room are willing to try new things in many aspects of their learning, and are not resistant to working collaboratively with each other. They sit in groups of four, having been grouped together based on varying ranges of abilities (based on the Kagan format), and are used to working in partners and small groups.

• The overall tone in my classroom is supportive and collegial between the students and myself.

SPECIFIC PROBLEM…?• This is a Procedural problem where many of my grade fours were identified

as having a deficit in the organization component of their paragraph writing abilities. Many students were continuing to find it somewhat challenging to write organized, detailed paragraphs after having spent a significant amount of time working on paragraphs during a research activity, during February and March of the school year. Performance Standards in Writing were used to assess this project based paragraphing.

• Students are assessed at the beginning and near the end of the school year by writing the School Wide Write (SWW), an assessment tool all grade fours across School District #23 are mandated to write. The grade four Performance Standards (provincial criteria) are used as the criteria with which to assess this writing sample. Knowing that there was a gap between where students should be, and knowing that the final SWW was approaching, I chose to do this assignment to address the writing needs within my classroom.

• Another consideration when looking at this issue, involved motivation and willingness to focus, seeing as how that had been a concern for some students on previous written assignments.

Writing effective paragraphs is an essential and vital skill as students move into grade five. Lingering effects of ineffective paragraph writing will have a lasting impact on students’ future successes, across many academic areas. Having taught grade five in the past, I am well aware of the importance of the writing skills required for this grade level, and of the gap that existed between where my students were and where they should be. Seeing that a significant portion of the class’ writing was being assessed at a moderately meeting level, demonstrated that targeted teaching in this area was required.

*By the end of grade four, most students should be within the Fully Meeting range on the Performance Standards.

(Type of learning outcome (Gagné): Intellectual)

A FLOW CHART WAS CREATED TO MEET THE NEEDS IDENTIFIED...

A LITTLE RUSTIC IN IT’S DESIGN, BUT EFFECTIVE IN LAYING OUT THE

STEPS REQUIRED.

WHAT NEXT?IDENTIFYING THE SPECIFIC GOAL The targeted learning goal was identified as:

*Students should be able to produce a clearly written paragraph that includes several well organized details, while using proper form (beginning, middle and end), at a fully meeting level by the end of grade 4.

Below is from the Form/Organization strand on the Performance Standards, which include the following(from the Ministry of B.C. Site):

• introduces the topic,

often in an engaging way

•develops topic

through relevant,

appropriate ideas,

logically organized

•smooth transitions;

range of effective

connecting words

• has a conclusion

HOW DO WE GET THERE?STUDENT SKILLSET

• To obtain this goal, students would need some skills, and prior knowledge in place to accomplish the activities that support the Learning Goal.

These skills/understandings include:• being able to work collaboratively in partners, groups and as a class• understanding of what is meant by the terms ‘full and complete’

sentences, and connecting and transition words• ability to focus, and understand the task of organizing thoughts into

sequential order• following the sequence of a short story, read aloud• understanding of the term ‘Think-Pair-Share’

PRIOR ACTIVITIES

Prior to the specific activity I ran with my test subjects, I would have had previous activities completed (with my students). These include in brief:

• revision of what is included when we discuss Organization in Writing, and proper sentences

• revision of reading for ideas and how key words can help us as readers sort information-students then sort jumbled up prewritten sentence strips from the story ‘Meanwhile’ by Jules Feiffer that capture some of the main ideas in pairs

• read the short story, such as ‘Meanwhile’, where transition words are highlighted, and compare to their actual ordering of information

• students then look for connecting and transition words with their partners on the sentence strips, underline them and share out with table mates in Round Robin format

• tables then share out with the class to create a class anchor chart of these words for future reference

OBJECTIVE EVALUATION

• Students will access their own knowledge and memories independently, then share out using the Think-Pair-Share strategy

• Students will use appropriate connecting words to demonstrate the logical order of their lives unfolding. Key transition words will be expected to be included.

• Logical, and succinct order of ideas that refer to one particular topic. *Students will write about their own life story in chronological order, choosing 8-10 'life markers'.

• Observation of willingness to focus independently, and then to share appropriately, and listen effectively with their peers in a group

• Inclusion of transition and connecting words within a paragraph.

• A paragraph that demonstrates an understanding of how key ideas, or markers in time in this case, should be written in logical order.

• *ALL of the above are based on the Performance Standards for Writing, Grade Four, Form/Organization strand.

WHICH SPECIFIC ACTIVITY WAS CHOSEN AS THE TEST RUN FROM

THE FLOWCHART?

• To get students to their goal of fully meeting the criteria set out in the Performance Standards, this prototype included an activity that asked students (test subjects were adults), to access their own memories, and life experiences. The following slide provides the written script used to walk the test subjects through their activity.

• To begin the activity, you will access the Smart Notebook slides which provide visual cues to the 'life markers' many ten year old students would be able to identify with. (Review first page of Smart Notebook content that shows missing teeth, births, moving homes, wedding, trips, etc.). The concept being that you are a ten year old, looking to improve your writing skills, and are going to go forward in this activity with that mindset. You are going to think independently of two or three 'life markers', events that are significant from the early years of your life, then share them with me, (to simulate the Think Pair Share activity on the second slide). (Test subjects and I then do this portion).

• Now, that we have orally shared your 'life markers', you will be writing them down in order, while remembering to use full and complete sentences, not point form. Please remember that the purpose of the activity is to sequence your ideas, and to use connecting and transition words to indicate what happened first, last and so on. Using your age or time markers such as 'when I began kindergarten' should also be thought considered when writing. I will encourage you to refer back to the Smart Notebook slide in case you forget part of the instructions, or feel free to ask me for clarification as required. The follow up activity involves your partner cutting up and sorting your strips, so remember that your use of language will help your partner sort your ideas in the correct sequence of time.

Smart Notebook documents

also, and then, first, next, further, although, even so, even though, in spite of, yet, for example, for instance, in fact, truly, altogether, finally, after a while, afterward, before, after, as long as, eventually, in the past, meanwhile, presently, since, when, until now.

Below is the list of transition words made available to test subjects:

TEST SUBJECT SAMPLES

• After approximately 15 minutes of writing time, test subjects had completed their assignment.

• It is evident to see where test subjects went back and revised their work after being prompted.

DEBRIEFING:USABILITY

• There were several questions posed to test subjects gauging the usability of the prototype, however I will include only a few of the key questions and responses.

1. What would have made this activity easier to complete? The instructions were easy to follow, although a sample of another students work to refer to would have been beneficial. As well, one of test subjects asked if they could write out their ideas on the back of the paper first, THEN write them down in the sequential order that they had been asked. I would provide a sheet of paper for this note taking ability to do this activity with actual students in the future.

2. What would have made this activity more effective for teaching the use of connecting/transition words? Further discussion time with a partner. Sample of another students work. Perhaps a slightly different variation on the activity, other than accessing personal memories.

3. Were the test subjects able to perform the tasks required? At a satisfactory level. Test subjects varied in abilities to complete the task with the connecting and transition words. Two stated that this was because many of their memories were not connected together, therefor it was more challenging to put them in a sequential order.

FURTHER USABILITY QUESTIONS…

Were the test subjects able to understand the vocabulary? Yes, however clarity about what 'key words' meant was required on the second Notebook slide. Key words refers to the connecting and transition words, and could have been reworded in a more concise way.

• Other questions included whether or not the test subjects were able to read and understand all of the textual, and visual materials, and if the instructions were clear. All test subjects answered yes to these questions.

DEBRIEFING:INSTRUCTIONAL EFFECTIVENESSHere are few key questions and answers posed that were pertinent to understanding how effective the lesson was.

• Did the test subjects actually achieve the objective(s)? Test subjects felt they had reached the desired outcome. I felt they could have been more successful on the task of using connecting and transition words, but there were pieces missing to my instruction, and the topic of the activity was most likely part of the issue as well.

• Did any unexpected learning occur (ancillary objectives)? Challenging to determine, but putting memories into organized sentences was something new. Two of the test subjects stated that memories were more visual, and do not have a linear flow to them which makes putting them into sequential order a bit challenging. They also stated that for younger students, the intended audience, there are fewer life markers from which to pull, therefor most likely making this an easier task than it was for the older test subjects. As well, test subjects were attempting to place themselves in the shoes of a ten year old, and access memories that were from that period of their own lives, which was challenging at first. Talking through this portion of the test was required, whereas the questions a ten year old would be asking would be somewhat different.

EFFECTIVENESS CONTINUED…

• Is there anything else you can add regarding the effectiveness of the prototype?

No, besides having a sample of another students work as an anchor. More discussion time with multiple peers would have been beneficial, but this was recognized as being part of the template for what actual grade four students would do in this activity. To effectively teach connecting and transition words though I would rethink the topic within which the activity was based.

1. Some of the ideas that would have made this prototype more effective include; changing the topic to writing instructions to a new student on how to survive grade four in my classroom, or how to make scrambled eggs. These lend themselves to being more sequential lessons by nature as they can be step by step processes. This then creates an easier format to integrate the connecting and transition words.

2. It is essential to remember how many steps are required, and to recognize the background knowledge we expect students to access in order to follow the sequence of learning. No wonder there are students who need small group or repeated instruction, to effectively understand the tasks we ask them to perform. This project was a strong reminder to slow down and rethink what I believe students are already capable of accomplishing.

IN SUMMARY

• The overall consensus was that this was an effective activity to assist students’ writing abilities concerning the target objectives. All test subjects agreed that a different topic may have made the activity easier to accomplish, and also stated that having student samples to review before beginning would have benefitted their own writing of the 'life markers'. With some minor changes, the prototype could be more effective.

• However, looking at this project as a learning tool from which to base all future lessons, key things to remember include keeping an open dialogue between students and myself to encourage flow of ideas and understanding of tasks, do not assume all students have the same ability or knowledge base from which to launch an activity, and to have samples whenever possible for students to refer to.

• These lessons are applicable across curriculum content, and age groupings, and are lessons I have known previously, yet the importance of them has been revitalized.