Literacy News - Term 2
6+1 Traits in Writing update
Staff have now completed 4 of the 6 modules in the Traits course. The Traits that we have spent our Professional Learning time on include:
- IDEAS
- ORGANISATION
- VOICE and
- WORD CHOICE
In a previous newsletter, I shared that IDEAS is the ‘heart of the writer’s message, the main thing that the writer has to say’. Below I will share the main idea of ORGANISATION.
Post staff learning, we created a PADLET to keep a regular and ongoing notebook as a way to record what we loved from the sessions, what challenged us and things that we could immediately put into our classroom practice.
It was so pleasing to see how positive our SKiPPS teachers are and how prepared they are to make positive changes. One thing that really came through was the message that we teach writers for ‘progress not perfection’.
The Traits has a strong focus on setting each writer/student goals, and not to overwhelm them with corrections within all parts of their writing. We celebrate the areas the students have achieved and talk with them about an area to strengthen. This is often guided by the teacher but with a lot of student voice about where they believe they could strengthen their own writing. It is a partnership.
There are 4 Key Qualities that we look for when we look for good Examples of ORGANISATION within our writing.
Below, is a piece of writing by Max P in Year 5/6S that models positive skills in organisation.
JUST STUCK!!
I opened my eyes. “Where am I?”I asked myself. As I took in the vision that stood before me, I noticed a mysterious click, click, clicking noise, almost like someone doing a tap dance on a Sunday afternoon. “What is that?” I muttered to myself quietly.
Around me, there seemed to be tons and tons of large, almost flat, buildings. They each had a ladder, as tall as Lebron James (AKA One of the most iconic NBA players of all time). I decided to climb up one & once I got on top, I noticed that beneath me, on the roof, it said in HUGE letters: GOOGLE. I decided to inspect the other short & long buildings.
Half an hour later, I had inspected & checked out every one of the building & each of them had said something like: YOUTUBE, or, safari, or ROBLOX, or, well I think you get the point. Anyway, the last thing I noticed was that on the wall beside me, it said MACBOOK PRO. After that, I had enough information to realise…I WAS IN A COMPUTER!
A few minutes later, I had wandered all over the computer & had discovered so many things I never knew about. One of my favourite discoveries was that the computer chips, were actually real & edible!
The 6+1 Traits leans favourbly to teachers using good quality literature, mentor texts, to model good writing, to celebrate good writing.
All SKiPPS teachers have been given a ‘Mentor Text’ kit that is full of fabulous Australian books that model rich literature and they are all linked to particular Traits. You will see in the image below an example of how each text is provided with a book plate of which traits are best modelled within it and the ‘Key Qualities’ to assist staff in sharing good examples with their students.
Help Needed
In other Literacy news, we have purchased many beautiful new books for each of the classroom libraries. Naturally, I would love the books to be a part of the classrooms for many years to come. To maintain the books for as long as possible, I am putting an urgent call out for any ‘expert parent book contact-ers’!! I can provide all of the contact.
Please come and see me in the quadrangle at school drop off or pick up and I can give you a bag of books. This is a job that I am so grateful for. We spend a lot of money ensuring the classrooms are full of rich literature. Covering the books means they have a much longer life.
Jacqueline Morphy
Leading Teacher Literacy