Spelling.

My boys have very little confidence when it comes to spelling.  They are actually really embarrassed about their abilities with spelling words correctly.  It is so bad that they will chose easier words in their writing because they are know how to spell it, rather than try a word they might get wrong.  Over the last few weeks I have stressed to them, that spelling is not something they need to worry about.  I just want them to try and then we can correct things together.

These boys love to use wonderful language and when I sent them out around the school on a "treasure hunt" the other day they came back with some excellent descriptive phrases and words to describe areas of our school on a cold and foggy morning.

When they got back to class, they highlighted the words they think they spelled wrong.  Then I typed up the list and we read through it together.  We noticed that we could tell what all the words were suppose to be, they had been sounded out really well.  They were just missing the knowledge of some of the spelling rules, so that is our next little goal.

The list:

Sliprey/Slipry

Concret/Concreat

Hops (basket ball)

Derw

Wavey

Unstraight parking

Intelgent

Drity

Slimmy

Senice fare

Red and witie

Suppoing

Mokoai

Murel

Artafichil

Steers

Shriveld / serveled/sreviled

Prikley

Sogey

stabel

Story writing

Boys were given pictures to choose from and a story planning sheet.  They could choose whether they worked by themselves or with a partner and they could choose to either type or hand-write their stories.

Poihipi and Douglas chose a picture of a rugby tackle and decided to write a story about the Rugby World Cup.  They planned and wrote their story together on a Google Doc.

What the boys have to say about Writing...

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Interesting to hear the boys love writing when it is on their terms.  If they can write about what they want to write about, then they are keen.  If they are told what they are to write about and how, then the ideas and passion don't flow so freely.

All of my boys prefer to type, rather than hand write.

And all but one, like being given the time to plan their writing first.

Some boys prefer to write on their own and some prefer to write with others.  I let my boys choose for this task.

I am definitely learning!!!!

I have made new discoveries this week, about boys and writing.

Boys don't listen.  They like to see and do.  I should have known this before, from my own experience with my husband and 2 boys :)

Keep things short, sharp and simple (achievable).

Roller Coaster!

So up and down we go.  Everyday is a mission to try and engage these boys in their writing.  Sometimes it works and they love it and so do I.  But it is so hit and miss.

The writing challenge at the  moment is the boys are writing what is "around the corner....".

I took them over to a corner of our school and told them they couldn't look around the corner because the scariest thing they have ever seen is around there.  I said they needed to plan story of about 5 paragraphs telling me what is around the corner and how they were going to get past.

They were so excited about this at the beginning and their imaginations were flowing, but when it comes to putting the words as a brainstorm they are struggling to stay focused and I am hearing "this is boring!"

I feel like I can't win.  I put a lot of my time into thinking up creative lessons for them.  It's really hard when they don't buy into it.

I have given them options to put their brainstorm on the computer via cube creator which will turn their story into a 3D cube.  Still not focused.  The lack of listening and focus is driving me crazy and then the repeating instructions etc.  I am feeling frustrated!

Light Bulb Moments....

The last week has been a huge week for me and my inquiry.  It started by observing my boys early last week and seeing that they were quickly moving off task and just generally bored.  I had started looking at paragraph structure with them and it was too much sitting around with very little purpose to them.

Things I have learnt:
Boys need to see a bigger picture - there needs to be purpose (for them, not just me).
Boys need to move around, don't just stick them at a desk and expect them to engage.
Boys have brilliant imaginations, and love to have fun!
Boys learn by doing and experiencing.
Boys need to experience different learning environments.

From these realisations I have....
Moved them away from having lessons completely in one space.
Started exploring the environment around us.
Created new learning spaces in my classroom for my students to work, e.g beanbags, couch, mat etc.
Tried to put my self in the boys shoes, what would make me excited about writing?  How can I get them to use their imaginations?
Asking the boys "What do you want to write about next?"  "Why?"
Opening up the discussion - Wow, the language that comes out when they can 'just talk'. Exciting! They don't even realise they are talking in similes, metaphors etc.
Finding other ways to express their written language.  Presentations, recording their voice, video etc.

I am so excited, i just need the ideas now!

The other day, it was so windy.  So we went outside, in the wind.  We sat by the buildings and listened to the wind howl around the corners,

We went to the middle of the field and felt the wind, played in the wind.  We talked, we shared and then we wrote all our ideas down.  They boys wanted to sit outside in the cold wind to write, they loved it.  "Can we stay out a bit longer?" They asked, "I want to be able to write down all my ideas!" Love it! Yay!

Once the boys had written down their own ideas, they shared their notes with each other and then wrote a description of their time in the wind.  Check out the video of their writing.

http://youtu.be/NI_6oJqcxFA

My thoughts...

As I am teaching and planning little thoughts (sometimes big) run through my head and as Ruth Foulkes suggested, I need to reflect on these, so here we go.

Jerry - his progress has stood out the most so far.  His writing prior to ALL was very hard to read as it had no structure to it.  His confidence has grown (partly from being "chosen" to be in this special group of writers and also he is more focused and enjoying the more practical, hands on lessons.  It is great to be able to really focus on the students needs in a much smaller group situation.

Callum - This is an interesting one.  He isn't completing as much work as the other boys (mainly becauase he is called out to reading during our writing sessions) but he has developed a passion for writing.  Prior to ALL  he hated writing.  Said it make him cough!  But now he is writing his first novel and works with a buddy to check his work and help him with grammar and spelling etc.

One thing Ruth suggested is that I need to have more urgency with my programme and teaching.  This is something I need to work on.

Ruth Lickfold is such an asset to this programme and my class.  We are working really well together as team teachers of writing.  Discussing ideas, sharing knowledge and planning next steps by looking at the students needs.  I am really enjoying this part of the programme.

I am thinking we may need to start to separate what is happening in class and what is happening with the boys soon as the boys will need to start planning their trip soon.  I think we will plan this for the last week of ALL.  I want to spend some time working on paragraphing and structure for reports as this will help the students with their inquiry work and also in the future when it comes to writing essays etc.