Debra Myhill All art is achieved through the exercise of a craft and every craft has its rudiments that must be taught Fairfax and Moat 1998 Introduction Aims of the Day To recap on the key pedagogical principles and how they operate in practice ID: 932716
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Slide1
Grammar for Writing:The Power of Talk
Debra Myhill
All art is achieved through the exercise of a craft, and every craft has its rudiments that must be taught.
Fairfax and Moat (1998
Slide2Introduction: Aims of the DayTo recap on the key pedagogical principles and how they operate in practice;To explore the
Discussion element of the LEAD principles, and why it matters;
To consider what effective teacher-led discussion looks like;
To consider teaching strategies for promoting effective peer-to-peer discussion
To review grammar subject-knowledge needs.
Slide3REFLECTION ON GAP TASK
Slide4Gap TaskRevise and use the grammar knowledge we have addressed: nouns and noun
phrases; prepositional phrases; and verbs, verb phrases and clauses. Think about where you still feel ‘wobbly’ about grammar knowledge
Embed the LEAD principles into your standard teaching of writing and grammar. Work with your school teams if necessary to do this.
Create
a list of texts
used, the
grammar point
addressed, and the
effect
it creates in the writing. Collate each of these on the Presentation Template for this as it is very focused. Upload at least two to
Padlet
, or email to me, by June 3
rd
.
Focus particularly on
verbalising the grammar-writing link
, sharing this with children, and helping them understand the effect.
Come
to the next CPD Day with
planning materials and examples of children’s writing t
o use in discussion.
Slide5REPRISE
Slide6Guided Fantasy Just imagine…
Slide7Just write…
Let your pen take your imagination for a walk!
Slide8Exploring DetailGo back to your ‘just write’ text, and re-read it.
Look again at your descriptions, and add to them, amend them, or write down different options.
Think about the detail you have provided in terms of the physical description of the character and establishing a visual image (
eg
clothes; other relevant objects/settings which help with
characterisation (Arthurian myth).
This is still a messy, playful, exploratory piece of writing: don’t agonise over it!
Choose one image that you are pleased with, and one you are less happy with and explain your thinking to a partner.
Slide9LEAD Principles
PRINCIPLE
EXPLANATION
HOW
USED IN THIS TEACHING EPISODE
L
INKS
Make a
link
between the grammar being introduced and how it works in the writing being taught
E
XAMPLES
Explain the grammar through
showing
examples
, not lengthy explanations
A
UTHENTIC TEXTS
Use
authentic
texts as models to link writers to the broader community of writersDISCUSSIONBuild in high-quality discussion about grammar and its effects
t
o be continued…!
Slide10The IMPORTANCE OF TALK
Slide11Talk for LearningD
ISCUSSION
Build in high-quality
discussion
about grammar and its effects
To promote deep metalinguistic learning about why a particular choice works, and to develop independence rather than compliance
Our research shows that the quality of the talk which surrounds the attention to grammar and writing is critical.
It is where learning transfer happens.
It links to broader awareness of the importance of talk for learning across the curriculum, and the role of dialogic, exploratory talk.
Slide12Talk for Learning ‘reading and writing float on a sea of talk’ (Britton 1983:11)
National Curriculum: Spoken Language (KS1 and 2)
articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions
give
well-structured descriptions, explanations and narratives for different purposes, including for expressing feelings
maintain
attention and participate actively in collaborative conversations, staying on topic and initiating and responding to comments
use
spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas
consider
and evaluate different viewpoints, attending to and building on the contributions of
others.
Slide13Talk for WritingTalk is often used to support writing, but it is usually talk for writing: talk to generate ideas or to rehearse ideas.
The talk we are most interested in here is (metalinguistic) talk
about writing which develops more specific understanding of the relationship between language choices and making meaning in writing.
Metalinguistic talk = not just using language, but talking about how language is used.
We use the term
metatalk
to describe this talk.
Slide14Talk about Writing
A specific kind of (meta)talk about writing with a focus on language use
;It encourages the
articulation of thinking
about linguistic choices;
It is a way of
exploring the relationship
between a writer’s authorial intention, the linguistic choices which realise that intention, and the intended effect on the reader;
It is a
pedagogical tool
which, through enabling and encouraging this verbalisation of choice, allows teachers to determine and extend the level of metalinguistic thinking and understanding that students have developed;
It is
dialogic
: it can be used ‘
to teach students to think—to make knowledge
’ (Resnick et al 2015) and to ‘
open up discourse space for exploration and varied opinions
’ (Boyd and
Markarian
2015: 273).
Slide15TEACHER-LED TALK
Slide16Teacher QuestioningA lot of older research on teacher questioning distinguishes between closed questions (bad) and open questions (good)More recent research suggests this is too simplistic and much more complex things are happening in sequences of questioning/discussion led by teachers.
What is more important is listening to
what a child’s response tells you about their understanding, and shaping questions to extend and clarify from that point.
It is also important to be clear
what learning
the questioning is trying to achieve.
Slide17Analysing Teacher TalkClassroom discussion is a live in-the-moment event and highly complex. It is one of the most sophisticated things that teachers do!Analysing the strengths and weaknesses of teacher-led talk is helpful in thinking about how to strengthen classroom talk, and what to avoid.
But it is not a criticism of teachers: it is almost certainly impossible to lead a lively episode of classroom talk and not have questions or comments which could have been better.
Slide18‘What’s in my Head?’ Questions Teacher: ‘The mystical knight who was standing on his horse’, comma. Now you
want your non-finite?
Student: ‘The mystical horse swung at his enemies’
Teacher:
Let’s
write that down. ‘
The mystical knight
… (pauses while child
writes
). Right now. I think if
we
do that non-finite it will be better
– ‘
The
mystical knight
…’
Student:
‘
was’
Teacher: Not the ‘was’, we want the –ing or the –ed that verb –ing or –ed verb – ‘The mystical knight…’Student: ‘swinging at his enemies’.Teacher: Brilliant, ‘swinging’Student: ‘at his enemies’Teacher: ‘Ooh, ‘The mystical knight, swinging at his enemies…’Does he want his non-finite?Why will it be better?Why is it brilliant?What has the student learned about writing through this talk episode?
Slide19‘What’s in my Head?’ Questions Kim: Jewelled? Teacher: Yeah
, jewelled? Dan?Dan:
Pearl Sarah: Embroidered
Teacher:
Embroidered
.
Now, going back to what Dan said, is pearl an adjective? What is pearl?
It’s a noun. So you’ve actually modified it with another noun instead of an adjective, which is fine. This is just an example of a structure you can use. Now I’m going to say,
‘the shimmering…
’
What does shimmering mean?
Someone put their hand up and tell me, please. Kim?
Kim: Sparkling,
Teacher: Sparkling, good, well done. So, ‘
the shimmering necklace’
. So that’s my noun, and now I want a relative clause.
What have the students learned about writing through this talk episode?
Slide20Missed OpportunityTeacher: Do we put loads and loads of adjectives to make a good description?Student:
No.Teacher: No. Why not? …
Student: Is it because like, erm
, if you have too much description then it will just get
boring
?
Teacher:
Yes, it takes a bit away, doesn't it?
What might the student be trying to say here?
What do you think the teacher means?
Slide21Missed OpportunitiesStudent: She’s got too many ‘bigs’Teacher: Overuse of the word ‘big’. Who can think of different words we could have instead of ‘big’?
Student: Enormous. Teacher:
Enormous.Student: Gigantic. Teacher:
Gigantic.
Student:
Massive.
Teacher:
Massive.
Student:
Colossal.
Teacher:
Colossal.
Student:
Huge.
Teacher:
Huge.
Student:
Grand.
Teacher:
Grand.
Student:
Humungous. Teacher: Humungous.Student: Vast. Teacher: Vast.Student: Large. Teacher: Large.Teacher: So, whoever’s writing that was, I hope they’ve now got a few ideas for how they can level up.
Slide22Missed OpportunitiesStudent: ‘That is Excalibur.’Teacher: That’s the one I was thinking of. … ‘That is Excalibur’… impact!
Teacher: Some amazing post-modification going on there – impressive!
Student: Rusty old casket Teacher:
Fantastic adjectives
Teacher: Y
es, so which way has she post-modified that one – ‘washed in
lava
’
Student: A
non-finite clause
Teacher:
It’s just those little bits of detail that makes your writing so delicious, and so exciting.
Slide23Your Turn!Jo is sharing two sentences in her Arthurian story draft where she thinks she has created a strong visual description with noun phrases.Jo
: I’ve written two here: ‘Merlin sat there unblinkingly at the old man, he was also staring intently at Merlin’s stiff, rigid face’. And the second one is ‘Sunlight streamed through the moth-bitten curtains, and flooded the desk with almost unnatural light
’.
Teacher
:
Oh
, I like that one, ‘
the moth-bitten curtains
’…and you’ve done what we were talking about this
week,
haven’t you – combining the noun and the verb to make an adjective. Oscar, can you read yours?
The teacher misses an opportunity to explore Jo’s thinking about her choices, or to model (meta)talk by suggesting why the images are successful.
In pairs, work out together how you might have responded to Jo.
Slide24Less effective teacher talk‘What’s in my head?’ questions: encourages students to play a guessing game, and to think there are right answers. What actual learning occurs in these talk episodes?
Missed opportunities
to follow up on a student’s thinking; or to give a clear explanation yourself as teacher.
Slide25Checking Understanding (Closed)Teacher: Can you remember what we meant by Show not tell? Fay?
Fay: Instead of saying what the character looks like, you can say like how they move …
Teacher: Yes. Comparing it with something so using the correct words we can infer can't we. What do I mean by infer?
We can infer what the character is like by using well-chosen words.
Tell me about infer. Andy?
Andy:
Does it like make a picture in your head without reading the description?
Teacher:
It does, yes, it builds a visual, you're hinting at
things,
aren't you. By using those really good word choices hopefully you can get a picture in your head that infers something.
Does Fay understand Show not Tell?
Does Andy understand inference?
Slide26Checking Understanding (Closed)Teacher: What is the subject of the sentence? Student: The sword
Teacher: Why do you think he’s chosen to do it this way round? Why has he left the shining sword – the subject - until later in the sentence?
Slide27‘Opening Up’ QuestionsWe've been trying to choose our words carefully, haven't we, really carefully. Why have we got to choose so carefully?
Why would we use simple sentences?
How
could I make that better?
What
are your reactions to what we’ve just read?
Slide28‘Opening Up’ QuestionsStudent: ‘As she slowly floated away into the mist, it was just like she vanished into nowhere.’
Teacher: What
do you think, Charlie?Charlie:
I think it was quite good, but I think he could have like used a better word than ‘floated’ because when it says ‘floating’, I can't really imagine how she went away.
Teacher:
Ok.
You can't imagine her floating? Maybe?
What have the students learned about writing through this talk episode?
Note how Charlie knows that he doesn’t like the choice of ‘floating’ but doesn’t quite manage to express why clearly. This is important because he is making steps in his learning.
Slide29‘Opening Up’ QuestionsTeacher questions which open up students’ thinking, even though not answered.Teacher: So, is it the word ‘shiver’? What is that precise vocabulary that you’re going to use? What is the punctuation that going to let you pause for effect? What is it that’s going to get you to ‘boom’ out their voice? They’re the things that you need to now think about. Is it going to be a dragon? Is it a troll? Is it a unicorn? What magical, mythical creature is your thing going to be? It’s up to you to decide but now I want you to think about how they’re going to act. If mine was a dragon, I need to think about my noun phrases – what kind of dragon? How am I going to describe my dragon?
Slide30Inviting ElaborationTeacher: What have you learned about how to use sentences to describe characters and events?Student: Don’t just use long sentences. Use short sharp sentences.
Teacher: Ok so we need to use long sentences, short sharp sentences, tell me a bit more, Mark?
Mark: When we watched the clip about.. she said that if you use just long sentences it’s boring and if you use short sentences its boring but if you use a mixture it’s more interesting.
Teacher:
Ok, so makes your writing more interesting.
Student:
Use long sentences for description.
Teacher:
Long sentences for description.
Student:
Don’t just keep adding short sentences … so you need to add a mixture of long sentences and short sentences.
Teacher:
OK?
Student:
Short sentences for tension.
Teacher:
Short sentences for tension.
What have the students learned about writing through this talk episode?
Slide31Inviting ElaborationStudent: And she’s wearing a gown of wine-red.Teacher: OK. Talk about that a bit
more?
Student: She wouldn’t wear a white dress.
Teacher:
Why?
Student:
Because if you was not evil, you would like wear yellow.
Teacher:
Anyone got something else to comment on Anna’s wine-red colour?
Ahmed
?
Student:
It’s like blood.
Teacher:
Like blood. So think carefully when it comes to yours, think about
the
colours of what your writing is
using.
Slide32Inviting Elaboration[discussing a subject-verb inversion]Teacher:
Why is that such a good sentence?
Student: They’ve described it well.
Teacher:
Yes he has - but from the reader’s point of view, what’s just
happened
?
Student:
He’s
made the reader wait.
Teacher:
Good, but how has he done that, what has he done?
Student:
He
put ‘the ring of fine gold’ at the end. Not until the end of the
sentence do
we find out what it is.
Slide33More effective teacher talkChecking Understanding questions: skilful use of closed questions, either at the start of a talk sequence, or part way through, to check understanding of a point in order to allow further discussion of it.
‘Opening up’ questions: questions which invite students to think more deeply about a language choice - often questions beginning with ‘Why? ‘How?’, or ‘What do you think?’
Inviting Elaboration questions
: questions which pick up on students’ responses and ask them to give more explanation, elaboration or justification – for example, ‘Can you say a little more about that?’; ‘Tell me more…’; ‘Go on…’ or a question specific to the point being discussed
eg
‘So why do you think the short sentence works well there?’
Common to all these questions is a focus on student learning.
Slide34Your Turn!Guinevere Sitting alone in the room was a girl – no, rather a woman – and beside her a harp. As I strained to see better, I slipped noiselessly on the wet cobbles. But so intent was she on her
playing that she did not hear me and she did not look up. Her fingers
plucked effortlessly. It was her fingers, long, white and dancing, that I loved first. Her hair was
the colour of honey, of gold washed in milk
. It fell over her
face
so that I could not see her. But I did not need to, for I knew already she would be perfect.
From
Arthur, High King of Britain
by Michael
Morpurgo
The learning focus for writing is to show how one way to create effective
character
descriptions is to provide strong visual
images through the detail provided in noun
phrases. What questions might you ask your class to check understanding of this or to open up thinking?
Slide35Some PossibilitiesGuinevere Sitting alone in the room was a girl – no, rather a woman – and beside her a harp
. As I strained to see better, I slipped noiselessly on the wet cobbles. But so intent was she on her playing that she did not hear me and she did not look up. Her fingers
plucked effortlessly. It was her fingers, long, white and dancing, that I loved first. Her hair
was
the colour of honey, of gold washed in milk
. It fell over her
face
so that I could not see her. But I did not need to, for I knew already she would be perfect.
From
Arthur, High King of Britain
by Michael
Morpurgo
Why does
Morpurgo
add
‘- no, rather a woman
–’? He could have revised this and just written ‘
in the room was a woman
’?
Why put the adjectives after the noun in ‘
her fingers, long, white and dancing
’? What effect does this have?
Slide36Deploying GrammarTeachers steer or cue students towards ‘putting in’ certain grammar features to improve their writing, but no link is made between deployment, choice and effect.
T: Don’t forget, can you get a short sentence in there?
* * *T: Can you
put
adjectives after the noun; can you
put
a prepositional phrase?
* * *
T: And think about how you could
add
nouns, I'd really like to see some noun phrases with post-modification, adjectives after to describe. You might
have a go at adding
some -
ed
verbs or some -
ing
verbs after the noun as well.
* * *
T: Can we
add
some -
ing or -ed verbs into our sentence, this is thinking about what the person is doing. * * *C: The cloak resting on his tight mighty shoulders T: Yes that’s a non-finite clause – that’s like uber posh!
Slide37Deploying GrammarBefore you do your final draft, you’re going to have to make sure you’ve got all our different writing checklists in your writing … so we need the 13 uses of punctuation, ok, if you haven’t can you work out which one you’re missing and can you put it in by editing your work? Can you, you all should have noun phrases, cos we spent so long doing noun phrases, and adverbial phrases, because we spent so long putting adverbial phrases in, remember, if you haven’t got a passive sentence, you need to change one to get a passive sentence in. Has anyone got any modal verbs?
Right, I want you to go back through that, and I want you to put your commas in for your clauses. There are relative clauses in there that are not punctuated at the moment.
It
might be a time to get an exclamation mark to make it more dramatic. Obviously Michael
Morpurgo
knows more about it than we do, but it would be a chance to get an exclamation mark in if we were the writer.
Slide38PEER-TO-PEER TALK
Slide39Setting up effective peer talkInviting students to discuss what might go in a gap in the text;
compare two different versions of a phrase, sentence, paragraph;
d
iscuss different choices made by different authors on same point
;
use card sort activities to explore different possibilities;
c
ompose a short piece of text together (collaborative writing);
r
ewrite a short piece of text together (collaborative writing)
;
d
iscuss targeted questions on a piece of text (including a peer’s);
e
ngage in text-marking tasks in pairs;
explain their own authorial choices to peers.
Table Talk:
What
other
tasks or activities could you add to this list?
Slide40MODELLING EFFECTIVE TALKMETATALK
Slide41First ImpressionsGo back to your ‘just write’ text.
Now re-work it or add to it to write one
draft paragraph describing your character for your reader. This will be the first time your reader meets the character – what impression do you want to create?
Slide42Teacher Modelling of MetatalkModelling based on discussing teacher’s own writing
Though I have to say when I was reading back through it this morning - ‘As I gazed towards the entrance of the maze it was deadly quiet’ - I wondered if I wanted to go for ‘eerily quiet
’ instead. I wondered if that would give more of a sort of mystic vibe to it?Modelling based on
discussing model/mentor text:
Morpurgo
shows us through his noun phrase that the horse is towering, it is a warhorse, it paws the grounds, it is lathered up: so we infer the knight riding it must be a warrior, an aggressive man.
Modelling
based on response to student writing
So you've delayed your subject: you leave the reader waiting, but hooked, to see what is the character.
Modelling
based on explicitness in task setting
As a writer, you can make that decision, can't you, as to which one sounds the best. It doesn't happen by accident, writers make that choice, and you have that choice: if you know that you can put your adjectives before your noun or after.
Slide43In a busy marketplace close to the bay of Naples, the city of Pompeii hummed and buzzed with many people in the early morning sunlight. From the bustling bakery, young Livia listened to the noise from the bars, taverns and market stalls and the sound of tradesmen, haggling in the street.‘Greetings, Livia! What a beautiful sunny day. Your loaves smell delicious when they bake’, suggested a woman wearing a dark white robe.Greetings, friend’ replied Livia, ‘that aroma brings us customers old and new’.Stepping back, the customer looked at all Livia’s loaves.
‘
hummed
– that’s a nice
word: two noises that you can hear
.
’
‘robe’
Roman word for ‘dress’
’
Capitals: Naples; Pompeii
’
I’m going to put
market stalls
, a bit more specific
’
So I start my sentence here with a
…?
I’m going to describe the weather now - it’s quite a nice way of setting the scene
.
Duration: 15 minutes
Age 8-9What is the learning focus?punctuation focus?a critical moment: sharing thinking but no real explanationcritical moments: sharing thinking but no real explanation
Slide44In the beautiful city of Pompeii the sun glimmered in the bay of Naples the tradesmen were busy haggling listening to the humming and buzzing in the streets the tradesmen were busy. Eddie (age 8-9) The deadly fiery dragon has teeth as sharp as a spear. His eyes glow bright red, his wings bright crimson, when he shows his claws they are blood red because of all of the people he had ate in the past. He is thunderous fearless ferocious fiery dragon. He lived in a fiery ditch that had bones and skeletons. The ditch had red hot lava in it
. Alan (age 8-9)
Case Study Children:
Eddie ‘borrows’ words and phrases from the teacher’s modelling; but also generates his own images: ‘
the sun glimmered in the bay of Naples
’;
Alan over-uses adjectives as his linguistic tool for
description
: use
of adjectives was not addressed in the modelling, though the focus was description
.
Slide45Version1:Kingsnake sculpted the sand. She hissed the sun to shine and the clouds to part.Version 2:Kingsnake sculpted the sand and she hissed the sun to shine and the clouds to part.Version 3:Kingsnake sculpted the sand, hissed the sun to shine and the clouds to part.
I’m going to choose my snake … So I looked to see what animals live in the desert and I chose the snake but I wanted a specific snake. So I chose the
Kingsnake
- so already the name’s telling me I’m in charge, I’m the boss.
I like that -
She hissed the sun to shine and the clouds to part
-lovely.
sculpted –
so she’s shaping, she’s building, she’s creating
so I think I’m going to have my snake hissing -
she hissed the stars to life
- or because I’m in the desert -
she hissed the sun to shine
Duration:12 minutes
I’m going to take out that ‘she’ – it’s bit clumsy – did you hear that?
Are you happy with all those
ands
or do you want to refine them?
Age 10-11
Learning Focus?
critical moments:
sharing thinking but no real explanation
Slide46From the start of life itself, out of the fog the Glass Frog sung the stars to life, the sun to shine and the moon to wane and wax. High above the disguised leaves, Glass Frog wove words of creating and protecting. He built a mossy fortress of bark, buttressed with leaves, to keep all things safe and sacred. Deep in the rainforest the child dozed, and in her dreams she heard the ghost frog`s secret music and saw the shadow of his bubbling skin. Glass Frog climbed the trees, reformed the leaves into a hidden fortress and caused the rain to flow. Eddie (10-11)
From the beginning of mankind, out of nowhere Anaconda hissed the world to turn, the sun and moon to change and the stars to shine to keep all things unknown
. Deep in the pond of life the sacred Anaconda slithered alone cloaked in her scaly skin. Soggy soil sparkled in the pure pond water, and all the while she hissed. Above the pond level the child finished and heard the Anaconda hiss the secret call and saw the scaly skin.
Anaconda hissed sounds of protection, the rhythm of hiding, a cursed spell to keep the rainforest safe from the unknown
.
Alan (10-11)
Case Study children:
transfer of pattern of three clauses into their writing;
s
ome dependence on both text model and teacher’s modelling
Slide47Writing like a ScientistIf you want to write like a scientist, some of the choices you can make are:To use
precise scientific vocabulary, especially nouns and verbs;
Expand your noun phrases to provide more detail and information;
Be direct in communicating information by using more
sentences which start with a subject;
Use the
universal present tense
to indicate that this is a scientific fact which is true now as well as in the past;
Use
appropriate Proper Nouns
to name things and specific places;
Use
adverbials, especially prepositional phrases
, to provide information about where, when or how things happen.
Verbalising very clearly the link between a grammatical choice and its effect in a text.
Slide48Effective Modelling of MetatalkA clear learning focus: where modelling was diffuse and unfocused, covering many aspects of writing, it did not transfer into children’s writing.
An emphasis on thinking and decision-making
: where modelling was focused on what should go in a text rather than on why a choice was made, children frequently revealed in interviews that they believed they were being taught to ‘put in’ particular linguistic constructions in their writing.
A
clear verbalisation of the grammar-writing link
: modelling
metalinguistic thinking, including clear articulation of the meaning-making effect of a linguistic choice in the writing is crucial.
Short and to the point
: many modelling episodes were far too long!
Slide49Transfer into WritingWhere modelling focused on a clear linguistic construction and made clear how that choice shaped meaning in the text, children were often able to use that structure successfully in their writing.
Children’s capacity to transfer modelled features into their writing may precede their capacity to articulate their metalinguistic thinking about that choice.
Children sometimes showed too much dependence on the examples in the model text or the teachers’ examples: imitation, rather than creation. Draw out the learning focus, not the actual examples, and when children do their own writing, invite discussion about their choices.
But dependence may also be a ‘first step’: it is continued dependence which is a problem.
Slide50Characterisation in NarrativeOne way to create character when you are writing is to offer your reader a strong visual image, both of the character’s physical appearance and the objects or setting around them, by using well-chosen noun phrases
.
In mature writing, this often means making more use of post-modification of the noun phrase, and relying less on pre-modifying adjectives.
Slide51Noun Phrases to Build DescriptionYou can also build noun phrases by adding more description after the nounYou could add adjectives:
her fingers,
long, white and dancing,
her
eyes
,
wide
and
intense,
a
lady
,
dark-haired
and
beautiful,
You could add a prepositional phrase:
the
colour
of honeythe hood of his dark cloakYou could add a non-finite clause beginning with an –ing or –ed verb: gold washed in milka lady, dark-haired and beautiful, wearing a gown of wine-redthe words flowing from her lips
Slide52Your Writing!Re-read your draft paragraph description of your own Arthurian character;Look at (underline?) the noun phrases you have used to describe.
Look closely at your pre-modification and post-modification;
Play with these until you have about 3 noun phrases (two with post-modification) that you feel are particularly effective at describing your character, and creating the appropriate visual image for the reader’s first impressions.
Now, individually, think about how you would model your metalinguistic thinking in your choices. How would you verbalise the grammar-writing link? How will you explain the particular choices you have made? Note down the key points you would want to make, thinking particularly about the clarity of your verbalisations.
Slide53LEAD Principles
PRINCIPLE
EXPLANATION
HOW
USED IN THIS TEACHING EPISODE
L
INKS
Make a
link
between the grammar being introduced and how it works in the writing being taught
Linking creating character description, especially visual images through the detail provided
in noun phrases
E
XAMPLES
Explain the grammar through
showing
examples
, not lengthy explanations
Examples of post-modified noun phrases given from the authentic
text
AUTHENTIC TEXTSUse authentic texts as models to link writers to the broader community of writersMichael Morpurgo’s textMy text.DISCUSSIONBuild in high-quality discussion about grammar and its effects
Discussion of character descriptions and first impressions; then of the noun phrases used to achieve
this.
Slide54Teachers’ Grammar KnowledgeThe two grammar priorities for teachers?The importance of noun phrases in writing;
Understanding the verb phrase.
Grammatical knowledge:
Teachers need stronger, and more ‘applied’ grammatical knowledge than students. This means not just
knowing
grammar terms, but
being able to talk meaningfully about what they do in texts.
Students can learn from explicit teaching of grammar, using the LEAD principles, without actually being able to identify/name the grammar structure they have used.
Students who can use the grammar terminology have a vocabulary to talk about language, so this is a benefit – but this may be more appropriate for older or more able writers.
Slide55PLENARY
Slide56Gap TaskCreate a PPT with audio lasting no more than 10 minutes (minimum 5 minutes), where you explain one teaching episode where you have used the LEAD principles. Use the PPT Presentation template on the website. Upload your PPT to the website by October 11th (hard deadline!). Come to the final day prepared to present it.
Look at the writing produced by children after using the LEAD principles to see if they have used the structures you have taught them; how well they have used them (imitation?); any problems with how they have used them; or if they have not used them at all. Bring 6 pieces of children’s writing from the same writing activity to our final day, representing the range of achievement in the class.
Slide57Adding audio to PPTAdding an audio soundtrack to your Powerpoint is very simple. With
your PPT presentation open, select Slide Show in the top toolbar;
Then select Record Slide Show. A drop-down menu will appear.
To
begin select Start Recording from Beginning,
If
you want to stop and come back to it later, go to the slide you want to start recording from and Select Start Recording from Current Slide.
The
great thing about this recording function is that if you make a mistake on one slide, you can just delete the sound from that slide and re-do it: you don’t have to re-do the whole sound track.
Slide58LEAD Principles
PRINCIPLE
EXPLANATION
RATIONALE
L
INKS
Make a
link
between the grammar being introduced and how it works in the writing being taught
To establish
a purposeful learning reason for addressing grammar, and connect grammar with meaning and rhetorical effect
E
XAMPLES
Explain the grammar through
showing
examples
, not lengthy explanations
To avoid writing lessons becoming mini-grammar
lessons, and to allow access to the structure even if the grammar concept is not fully understood
A
UTHENTIC TEXTSUse authentic texts as models to link writers to the broader community of writersTo integrate reading and writing and show how ‘real’ writers make language choicesDISCUSSIONBuild in high-quality discussion about grammar and its effects
To promote deep metalinguistic learning about why a particular choice works, and to develop independence rather than compliance
Slide59Metatalk as VerbalisationTeacher modelling of metalinguistic thinking, including clear articulation of the meaning-making effect of a linguistic choice in the writing, is crucial.
Verbalising why a particular linguistic choice is effective is hard – a new professional skill – and this needs time to develop.Verbalising the reasons for linguistic choices moves grammar away from naming and labelling to grammar as a meaning-making resource.
Encouraging young writers to verbalise and discuss the reasons for their linguistic choices in writing is of parallel importance – they need opportunities to verbalise their own thinking.
Metatalk allows us to hear the voices of children as writers and learn from what they are saying.
Slide60The Importance of Teachers‘although student talk must be our ultimate preoccupation because of its role in the shaping of thinking, learning and understanding, it is largely through the teacher’s talk that the student’s talk is facilitated, mediated, probed and extended – or not, as the case may be’ (Alexander 2018:3).
Slide61Further ResourcesResources for Teachers: http://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/education/research/centres/centreforresearchinwriting/grammar-teacher-resources/
Cybergrammar
: www.cybergrammar.com
No
Nonsense Grammar
:
Babcock LDP Literacy Team, Raintree (2016)
https://babcock-education.co.uk/ldp/grammarandpunctuation
https://babcock-education.co.uk/ldp/textsthatteach
Essential Primary Grammar
http://www.mheducation.co.uk/essential-primary-grammar
Slide62The Power of ChoiceI found him in the garage on a Sunday afternoon. It was the day after we moved into Falconer Road. The winter was ending. Mum had said we’d be moving just in time for the spring. Nobody else was there. Just me. The others were inside the house with Doctor Death, worrying about the baby.
He was lying in there [in
the darkness behind the tea chests, in the dust and
dirt
]
. It
was as if he’d been
there forever
.
What do you think goes in the gap?
Slide63An Illustration
Read this sentence aloud – where will you put the emphasis?
What possibilities are there for re-ordering this sentence?
How does this change the emphasis?
Read both these sentences aloud – how do they portray this moment in the plot differently? How might you film these two sentences?
What do you think is the effect of moving the adverbial ‘out of the mists’ to different places in the sentence?
What do you think is the effect of the putting the subject (a figure) after the verb (came) in the first sentence ?
Discussion
Links between grammar and meaning
Authentic text
Examples
Slide64Concrete Nouns in ListsOn Saturday, he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake,
and one slice of watermelon.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
– Eric Carle
Then Mr
Gumpy
and
the goat
and
the calf
and
the chickens
and
the sheep
and
the pig
and
the dog
and
the cat
and the rabbit and the children all swam to the bank and climbed out to dry in the sun. Mr Gumpy’s Outing – John BurninghamWhy do you think Eric Carle chooses to use commas to separate his long list of noun phrases and John Burningham chooses to use ‘and’?
Slide65Prepositional phrases:A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition (in; on; under; for; by; near; beside….) plus a noun/noun phrase (usually).
through the deep dark wood
in my underground house
by these rocks
in my treetop house
by this stream
in my log pile house
by this lake
in the leaves
over his back
at the end of his nose
Creating a Setting
Slide66Imitating PatternsIn a snug little burrow beneath a small fir tree, in the heart of the wood, lived a family of rabbits.
……………………………………..stood a row of giants.
……………………………………..swam a pod of dolphins.
Slide67Transforming Texts: Think of an EelAfter eighty days’ swimming, not eating, not sleeping, eel’s long, winding body is worn out and wasted. He spills the new life carried deep in his belly, then sinks through the sea like a used silver wrapper.
Collaborative Writing in Pairs:
Rewrite this extract like a scientist
T
he eel swims for
eighty days,
with no
food or
sleep, and his body becomes wasted
.
When he reaches the Sargasso Sea, the
male fertilizes the female’s eggs, and then dies.
Talk task:
What transformations have you made to alter the lyrical description into a scientific description? Could any other changes be made?
Authentic text
Links
Discussion
Examples
Slide68Show, not TellAt that moment, from outside in the courtyard, came the clatter of horses’ hooves on the cobbles. The doors of the hall flew open, and before I had time to call for them to be closed, a giant of a man rode in on a towering warhorse that pawed the ground, sides lathered up, tossing its fine head, snorting its fury. The man swept the hall with terrible eyes, wolfish eyes that froze the courage in a man’s veins, eyes you could not hold with your own. But it was not the man’s eyes that amazed us most, it was not his size either - and I tell you I’d never in my life set eyes on a bigger man – no. It was the colour of him. Green, the man was green from head to foot
. Arthur, High King of Britain
by Michael Morpurgo
What does the physical description of the man and his horse suggest about his character?
What does the description of how the man arrives suggest about his character?
What might a reader think about a man who is completely green?
Slide69Highlight all the formal language in red and all the informal language in blue. What is the effect of this mix of formal and informal language in this argument?
Underline
where Green Crayon signals the structure of his argument.
Circle
where Green Crayon uses an imperative verb to express what he wants as an outcome from his complaint.
Writing Argument
Links
Dear Duncan,
As Green Crayon, I am writing for two reasons. One is to say that I like my work – loads of crocodiles, trees, dinosaurs and Frogs. I have no problems and wish to congratulate you on a very successful “colouring things green” career so far.
The second reason I write is for my friends, Yellow Crayon and Orange Crayon, who are no longer speaking to each other. Both crayons feel THEY should be the colour of the sun.
Please
settle
this soon because they’re driving the rest of us CRAZY!
Your happy friend, Green Crayon.
Slide70Writing Time Re-read your draft paragraph of your character description.
Think about your description and what you wanted to make your reader think or feel or know about your character.
Look at the descriptive detail in your prepositional phrases and noun phrases: show not tell; visual images; concrete detail; inner reflection; naming
Make
at least one
language/grammatical change which you think improves your description and achieves what you want it to achieve (your authorial intention)
Now explain to your partner the change you made and why.