As I have said in my previous posts - I am not opposed to testing. I do not like high stakes testing and how the tests are used to judge teachers and schools.
However, I am against tests that are filled with 'booby traps' and questions designed to confound and bamboozle young children. I call them 'trick questions,' but it has been pointed out to me that they are not trick questions just difficult ones. I have come across a few sample SPAG test questions recently that have made me think. The first from the KS1 Sample test.
"We want children to be able to identify verbs in a sentence." says one civil servant.
"I agree!" says Morgan "but how can we make it as tricky as possible?" "Let's put them in the past tense and make them irregular!" "Then just to trip those 6 or 7 year olds who may be stressed and flustered by the tests we'll put in an adjective that looks very much like a verb." "Yes, Yes, Yes!" squeals Morgan with delight! "Gotcha!" she shouts, pumping a fist in the air. The second question is from a KS2 Sample test. The question is testing the child's understanding of apostrophes for contraction. So the (un) civil servants designing the tests have lots to choose from. In their question the could ask which words have been contracted to form the following: Shan't, Couldn't, Wouldn't or even Won't which is common but irregular. Which do they choose? One that is the most irregular. Unique amongst its peers. Can't - You may not think this is very difficult. However, Can't is the only* contraction that is formed from a single word. Cannot - no credit will be given if the children write 'can not'. This is grammatically correct but it is again another trap, into which 10 and 11 year olds who have not been exposed to a full and rigorous grammar curriculum, will fall into. I know they will because I carried out a very unscientific experiment. I asked the following question on twitter.
I would like to think most of my twitter followers are well educated adults, most of whom are teachers or within the educational system. However, as you see from the image above only 1/3 of the 130 respondents would be given credit on a Spag test and this wasn't in a highly pressurised timed test.
So 1/3 of adults would have got credit but many schools are aiming for at least 85% of their students getting these correct. Fair? I do not think so. Please share these examples far and wide. Parents of our children need to be outraged by questions like this. Parents need to know how the government are purposely trying to make children fail in their tests. As I always I welcome your comments. Rob *I couldn't think of another one word contraction other than cannot.
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Grammar does not need to be taught out of context, it can be taught in English lessons through the use of quality texts. (Quality texts include film, drama and teacher modelled texts) In this blog I will share six steps follow in order to embed grammar into weekly English lessons. This process may take a single session plus the revisit or it may take a number of lessons, this is dependent on the ability of the children and the difficulty level of the task.
The six R’s of Grammar are: Read Retrieve Rehearse Repeat Revise Revisit 1. Read – Reading for enjoyment and familiarisation with the text in the first instance. Allow children to read and and discuss freely without the shackles of ‘grammar spotting. The text does not have to be a written extract at this point. It could be a film or spoken piece. Both of these use identifiable grammar features. 2. Retrieve – Reread the text in order to identify and retrieve the grammar features that are the focus of the session, pupils may want to highlight or underline them. This could be done individually, with a partner or alongside the teacher in a group where necessary. 3. Rehearse – practice using the found grammar as part of a shared or guided write. Pupils may rehearse on whiteboards. This could be done out of context but it doesn’t need to be. For example if the text used in 1 and 2 was The Three Little Pigs and the grammar focus was expanded noun phrases then the children could rehearse phrases such as 'the small, hairy pig,' 'the house was made of soft yellow straw' etc. 4. Repeat – Children repeat this practice in their own writing. It may be prudent to scaffold this into the given task if children are insecure. Teacher could model how to effectively insert it into their writing. 5. Revise – Look through their own writing and that of peers to discuss/check accurate and effective usage of the focus. Teacher could share a different model from that in the ‘Read’ and ‘Retrieve’ sections so that pupils can identify grammar focus. 6. Revisit – For children to become secure the grammar focus needs to be revisited as often as possible. Teachers and pupils may point out the focus in their reading, teachers may ask for contextualised examples in other subjects such as science or history.
For the love of facts: There is nothing wrong with the KS2 Spag test.
(That is what some people say!) Not me! There is something fundamentally wrong with this test. It is testing knowledge that children have not had time to learn. It is assuming that children leaving Y6 have had a rigorous and thorough grammar education, which is supplied by the government in the form of a GaPS curriculum. However, herein lies the problem for the children taking these tests in May. They will not have had 2 years of learning from this new curriculum because it hasn’t been out that long, and the tests are taken in May cutting a further 20% of the learning time in Y6. I have recently read arguments on prominent blogs and on twitter that suggest grammar teaching does not have to be dull and boring, that learning grammar will not turn children off learning English and that just because the children have to learn to label the language terms (in order to pass a test) this doesn’t mean that they won’t enjoy learning them because ultimately children like to learn. I agree with the fact it doesn’t have to be dull and boring. However, with the rushed implementation of the tests comes a range of implications.
So that is the problem - what is the solution?
I am not against the testing of children and I am not against the GaPS test per se. What I am against is the children currently in UKS2 being tested on it. That and the fact that this measurement is then used to judge teachers. In previous schools I have been given targets based on the outcomes of children at the end of the year. Basically I was given the number of children who were expected to pass the range of tests at the end of each year group at age related expectations or above. I was told that these targets would be used as part of our staff performance management and that this could adversely affect our pay, either by halting a rise up the pay scale or leading to a reduction in pay for those staff on UPS who did not meet the targets. This may not sound too bad; you may think that teachers who are not getting children to reach their potential don’t deserve to travel up the pay scale. A teacher who does not do their damnedest to teach their children meet their potential is a rare teacher indeed. Further worry is caused by schools using ‘aspirational’ targets. Targets set by SLT who decide where it would be ‘nice’ to get to and often these are unachievable targets for some pupils. This has huge implications too. More drilling, more cramming, more missing ‘lesser’ parts of the curriculum in order to bash the targets. For me the solution is easy. Implement a rolling programme for the new testing regime. Introduce the new curriculum but test pupils in two years’ time when they have had time to learn the content in an interesting and engaging way: a way which is not superficial and decontextualized. Test the pupils when they have had opportunity to embed the new curriculum in their learning and use it in a range of contexts ensuring that they are secure in their use and application. Test pupils when their understanding of grammar is deeper than surface level and they are able to retain and use their knowledge more than to simply select the correct multiple choice answer in a test booklet. As always I am happy for you to point out errors and I look forward to reading your comments. Rob This is the 4th blog about reading, a continuation of the previous two. Exploring the new reading curriculum (England) through film. To go back and read them from the start click here Film is a very useful tool which can allow children to 'read' beyond the literal. Children who may find decoding difficult can often see things in films on a different level. Allowing them to develop their inference and deduction skills amongst others. This blog will demonstrate how film can support the teaching of reading through books, it is important here that this process is not a replacement for reading and sharing high quality texts. At Literacy Shed we have decided on a number of reading foci based upon the new curriculum. To read about RF1 - RF 3 visit our first blog here.
RF4: Authorial IntentHere the author's intent and the directors intent are the same thing. Film makers call the things that you seen in the frame 'Mise - en - scene' everything places in the frame is done so on purpose. Each object, costume choice, setting, colour choice etc has a meaning. You can use any film to study authorial intent. Asking questions such as: "Why has the director placed a candlestick on this table?" "Why is the light flickering in the room overhead?" Each of these would be done for a purpose. Perhaps the candlestick shows the scene is set in the past, the flickering light may show that the setting is run down and this may add to the tension of the scene.
The director/author chooses to not reveal who is at the door. He shows two shadows at the door. Why not show who it is? It builds then tension. It leaves the audience wondering who it is. The further shadows heighten the tension, especially when we see the silhouette of the gun outlined on the kitchen window. RF5: Summarise, review and evaluateMost teachers know the story of The BFG and now we have the film version to look forward to. I like to show the two openings from the films above. The BFG Teaser trailer and The Dreamgiver. Each have very similar openings. Pupils can evaluate the scenes against the opening of the original Roald Dahl text. They can discuss which they prefer and why. Asking questions such as: Which one is most effective? What is similar or different? Which of them makes you want to see what happens next? Summarising is a useful skill in reading and when viewing films, asking children to retell the story through the main events. Write the plot as bullet points or even sum it up in 140 characters tweet style. RF6: Themes
Exploring a number of texts across a theme allows pupils to understand events and characters to a greater depth. The Literacy Shed site is perfect for this as the sheds are broadly thematic. Here you can see four films which all deal with war and loss. They can all be found in The War and Peace Shed. Children can compare how characters deal with the loss of somebody. We can compare the difference in The Piano, when the soldier loses a friend to the loss of the soldier in 'Germans in the Woods' when the man kills an enemy. Interestingly, both films provoke a discussion about guilt from the children, who decide both men feel guilty, either directly or indirectly. Themes can be based on genre and character or on things like colour used, setting, period. RF7: PerformancePerformance has been given an elevated position in the new curriculum. Sharing performances by professional poets and actors allow children to study the rhythm, rhyme and actions. It allows non-readers to join in with what is being said too. As a teacher I know Mr Rosen here does a better job of performing this poem than I ever would! As always I welcome your comments. This is the 3rd in a series of blog about reading. I strongly believe that the use of film can improve reading skills. It breaks down some of the barriers to reading. The three main barriers, shown in the previous blog here, are; confidence, motivation and ability. Film attacks these barriers in a number of ways. It overcomes the problem of motivation because films are often more engaging to many children than books, there are a plethora of reasons why this may or may not be the case. Almost all children have a wide experience of film and TV, they become 'experts' in following plot, analysing characters and predicting events, often unconsciously. This expertise allows them to answer questions about film confidently. Film is accessible to all students regardless of ability, even children who are unable to decode are able to view films and form ideas and hypotheses about them. I am not advocating that film be used instead of books to teach children to read, but for the reasons described above I think that they are a very useful tool for teachers.
Books are wonderful learning tools but are inaccessible to some children. The UKLA report that one in ten children: do not have any book to call their own; have never been to a library; have never visited a book shop by the time they leave KS2. Below are some ideas for using film in the classroom to practice reading skills. The reading skills are taken from The Literacy Shed Reading Skills grid which can be downloaded by clicking the image. RF1: DecodeThere is no real substitute for reading texts to teach decoding, using a step by step phonics programme and for older students who may be low ability use of reading interventions. However, film can allow younger children to develop a wider vocabulary, so that new words are not always unfamiliar. Film with subtitles allows children to practice their reading skills, it also encourages reluctant readers to read. If for example, a foreign language film is used children will have to read the subtitles in order to understand plot and dialogue. This example is from 'Replay' which can be found on Literacy Shed here.
RF2: Inference and DeductionInference is the skill of reading the text for clues and forming a judgement. KS1 make judgements based on what is said and done. KS2 infer characters feelings’ through thoughts and motives from their actions. Children justify inferences with evidence from the text. Children who are poor decoders focus so much on the decoding that the meaning of what they are reading can become lost. Poorer readers find it difficult to read beyond the literal. Film takes away the barrier of decoding and allows children to focus on the body language. If you ask children 'How does the Lighthouse Keeper feel about his neighbours after watching this clip. Most children offer answers such as: he is annoyed with them, he doesn't like them, he thinks they are noisy, he is jealous that they are all having a good time. When we ask the children to justify their answers they talk about him 'muttering under his breath' about them and slamming the window, either in frustration or to keep the noise out. Children can use their deduction skills to deduce that the Lighthouse Keeper is lonely. They use the prior knowledge of light house keepers along with this clip to deduce that he lives by himself, he is jealous of his neighbours and slams the window out of frustration. RF3: PredictionMake predictions based on scenes from the film. Look at prologues and predict what will happen in the whole film. Watch endings and predict what happened to get to that point. Watch events and discuss how these events will affect the plot.
At the point when he begins to crack the eggs, the children can predict what comes out. There are other points in the film which are great for prediction too. The Next one.... Click here to view part 2The next blog will look at the following:
I love books, I have just put down 'Fizzlebert Stump - The boy who ran away from the circus and joined the library' in order to write this blog post. I love that moment when reading aloud to a class, the bell rings and the children moan in horror when they realise that that they won't hear what happens next until the following day. Books are powerful learning tools when used correctly. However, as discussed in my previous post 'Mission: Engender a love of reading' some children do not enjoy reading. There is some debate as to what constitutes a reluctant reader. I call them the 'Don't, Won't and Can't readers' We need to engage them in the reading process through a variety of methods.
Key Reading StrategiesTo download a pdf copy click here
Mission: Engender a love of reading.
A simple sounding mission that has been ongoing in schools forever! There are a number of reasons why people argue that this is 'the' most important mission. There are arguments that reading is a life skill and without the ability to read people will find it difficult to gain employment and live a 'normal' life. The National Curriculum encourages teachers to read whole books with pupils in order for them to improve their grammar and knowledge of 'Standard English.' There are those people who argue that children need to develop a love for reading in order to access wonderful worlds, visit places and go on adventures that they may not have the opportunity to do in their everyday lives.
Another thing that the quotes don't tell us is that the books that some schools will send home may not be amazing, beautiful stories but rather dull and boring reading scheme books. Books without a plot, that have few words on a page and are functional skill delivery texts that do not inspire children. These books can lead to some children being put off reading altogether unless other amazing books are shared alongside the scheme books. Send home library books and great picture books alongside the reading scheme books.
It is a sad fact that in some households do not have many books. In some houses, the reading scheme book will be one of only a handful of books available and books or reading are often not seen as important in some homes. A recent UKLA survey showed that 25% of children agreed with the statement that their parents were not bothered if they read or not. There are many battles that we need to overcome in order to get children to enjoy reading. We need to ensure that we are supporting parents in order for them to share quality texts with their children.
Another problem with reading in schools is that as soon as we light the reading spark, we get children enjoying reading for reading's sake then we test them. We tell them that the reading they have been doing is not good enough, their reading ability is not where it should be and they need to get better at it. For those novice readers or reluctant readers this may just put out that tiny spark that was beginning to grow. How can we get children to love reading and be confident with reading if the first thing we do is tell them that they are not good enough at it?
A couple more quotes extolling the wonder of reading: maybe we need some that tell them that it is tough too.
Scrolling through twitter tonight I came across The Guardian Newspaper's tweet about this 'teaser trailer' for the new Disney film 'The BFG.' It made me very excited, The BFG is my favourite Dahl book and the 1989 film was a big part of my childhood, seeing the giant (briefly) in this trailer did remind me of the original. I have quickly outlined below some ways in which the film could be used in the classroom. Ideas for use in the classroom. Watch the film without sound. Can the children guess what the film is? What book it is from? Could they write a narrative to go with it? Write a short narrative beginning with the the lines from the trailer 'Never get out of bed. Never go to the window. Never look behind the curtain." Or even end with them. Pause the film on the 6 short scenes at the beginning showing the settings; view of the city, empty street, the front of the orphanage, the corridor, the grand hall way, the dormitory. Ask students to create a short description for each capturing the mood, the silence, the atmosphere. You could allocate the setting to groups of pupils then work as a class to develop a finished piece linking all of the settings. Focus on using these settings as story openings alongside work on prepositional phrases to help explore openings. e.g. Under the cover of darkness, along the darkened alleyway, just beyond the old Stephen Street Orphanage, an almost undetectable figure crept in the shadows, out of sight of the sleeping city. Children could change the narrative from a 'giant' to a different mythical beast, a unicorn, a boggart, a wizard. Create an internal monologue for The BFG, what does he think/say when he knocks over the bins, when he sees the cats; when he sees Lucy. Create news reports about the strange events that have been happenings, children going missing etc. Show not tell work on fear. Think of all the different elements, hiding under the covers, heavy breathing etc. Some tips on 'Show not tell' here Write an explanation about 'The Witching Hour' what is it? When is it? Can you describe your school, your house or your street during the witching hour? What happens next? Ask children to make predictions. Many of them will already know the story, can they change it? Perhaps the BFG can't find her when he reaches in, maybe she bites his finger and he leaves her alone, children may be able to parody the story quite well. Create an advert to help prevent kidnapping by Giants - e.g. Are you bothered by Giants in the night? Buy our new, anti-giant windows. Choose another of Dahl's books and create a trailer for that, use drama, photos, film and iMovie on the iPads to create an actual trailer. This is by no way an exhaustive list and if you have any more ideas please share them in the comments below. If you like these ideas and would like to have Rob (Literacy Shed Creator) in your school to share these ideas and many others please visit www.literacyshed.com/CPD
I recently came across a text called ‘The Servant – A simple story about the true essence of Leadership” by James C. Hunter (2012) and decided to read it. I am not a fan of many leadership books, stereotypically filled with Americanisms, business jargon and born again type quotes. However, there are many points made in ‘The Servant’ that can be applied, not only to our daily lives, but also to schools and the leadership within them.
Ask any teacher in a school why they do their job and hopefully most will answer that they are there in order to make a difference to the lives of the children in their care. If we ask teachers how they implement this many of them will talk about the needs of the children and how they tailor their teaching to the needs of the pupils. In other words, they are there to serve. However, increasingly I hear stories (and have first-hand experience) of schools where teaching methods and learning opportunities are decided not by the class teacher but by the head of the school, thus causing a top down approach. One where the teachers move from ‘serving’ the needs of their pupils to ‘serving’ the wants of their leaders. Why does this happen? Perhaps a salesperson has demonstrated how a scheme of work will improve levels across the school in reading and writing, maybe the head teacher is adequately impressed enough to buy the scheme. Perhaps the head is placed under pressure to quickly implement a whole school approach to a particular problem, such as writing or reading, based upon results or observations by outside agencies. When this happened are the pupils and the needs of the pupils still leading the learning? I doubt it.
It is possible to turn this pyramidal hierarchy on its head. Rather than a top down approach, where teachers alter their teaching methods in order to please the whims of those in the management bands the teachers work to meet the needs of the pupils with the support of all their colleagues.
In his book Hunter explains that being a servant leader means meeting the needs of those below them in the pyramid. Maslow describes our basic needs at the base of his pyramid as food, water, etc. and once these basic needs have been met there are a number of things teachers need in order to carry out their job effectively. A servant leader works to meet the needs of the those below them in the pyramid.
Staff need to be: Appreciated, respected, valued, communicated with, encouraged and listened to. They also need accountability; including ‘healthy’ boundaries, rules of the house, consistency and honesty about their performance. Hunter (2012) explains that feedback ‘is a huge human need.’ Feedback needs to be fair and perceived to be fair across the whole spectrum. In the servant Hunter describes ‘Great leaders’ as those who ‘Hug hard and spank hard!’ Essentially being a great servant leader is finding that perfect balance between ‘hugging and spanking’ metaphorically of course. In practise getting the balance right between praising the positives observed and highlighting areas for improvement, before supporting these improvements. In any given situation the leader should ask the question; “How can I help here? Who can I serve?” What is in it for the servant leader? Not all people respond well to a command style of leadership, many young people cite the reasons for leaving their jobs as someone in management. Many of these people do not quit their jobs. They quit their boss. The media in the UK is currently reporting a desperate shortage of teachers due to teachers leaving the profession. Is this always due to the workload? Is the workload sometimes made even more unbearable by a dictator? Since the dawn of time people have preached the rule. “Love thy neighbour!” I don’t think they mean start a romantic affair with each of them, but they do mean treat people how you would like to be treated. Lead by example and support staff in order to meet their needs. It may be that your staff would like to attend the sports days and Christmas plays of their pupils, for some head teachers this is a “want.” But for some teachers this is a need, if we go back to Maslow, he identifies ‘family’ and ‘love’ as needs. So perhaps allow your staff to attend their child’s class assembly or sports day where practically possible, travel down the pyramid and become the class practitioner for those sessions when they are not there. In addition, attend your children’s events, school will still function without you for an hour or so, as other servants will work to meet your needs. If people are having their needs met they will feel more respected, they will feel secure, happy in their work and they will work harder to be creative, to solve problems and meet the needs of the pupils more effectively. Are you a manager or a leader? I visit many schools and I see various groups of people described at Senior Managers, Senior Leaders, Middle Leaders or Middle Managers. Is there a difference? Hunter describes management as something you do; leadership is the person that you are and the influence and impact you have on the people that you come into contact with. Management is not always synonymous with leadership however; leadership is synonymous with management. You may think that you are a leader simply because you are put into a position of leadership however if the staffroom is feeling mutinous or worse are in open rebellion, then they are definitely not following. If no one is following, then you can’t possibly be leading. One question to ask yourself is if you left. Would people be glad you were there? If not – the fault will probably lie with you! Thanks for reading, Rob Smith This was adapted from ‘The Servant’ A simple story about the true essence of leadership by James C. Hunter published by Crown Business 2012 I had a great two hour session today at a great school called Leamington Community Primary School in Liverpool. This Y6 workshop with a group of mixed ability children lasted two hours from 1pm to 3pm. I thought I would share what we did because I really enjoyed myself and the children enjoyed the challenge too. The aim of the lesson was to create a piece of writing that was both mysterious and filled with tension, based on a fairytale which the children were familiar with, Little Red Riding Hood.
I then modelled building interesting sentences using the language before the children practised and then shared their new sentences. We discussed how language could effect the atmosphere and mood of the piece so children set about creating new sentences using language such as rotting, decayed and shrouded for effect.
In order to enable the pupils to create a great opening sentence and get their narrative off to a great start I use 'Slow Writing' which is a method developed by David Didau @learningspy (read more here) The prompts are shown below. In this two hour session I do not do a modelled write but briefly discuss each sentence with the group. Discussing points such as what would be a good emotion to use, which verbs are more powerful? Click to enlarge these images of the opening paragraphs. You can see that they have attempted to use the 'Slow Writing' prompts to varying degrees of success. Once children had completed their opening paragraphs we watched the second part of the film stimulus.
These short paragraphs were then written independently following the discussion. Some more freedom to write rather than the show writing technique.
This was a long session but we did try to fit a lot in. These last paragraphs possibly suffered due to time running out on us. The class teacher is going to revisit and redraft these in school later. I wanted to demonstrate the process of scaffolding at the beginning and the gradual (usually) removal of those scaffolds in order to complete the narrative. Thank you for reading, I welcome your comments and questions. Cheers Rob If you would like Literacy Shed in your school please visit www.literacyshed.com/cpd |
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