Older Children: Emergent writers

Another group I have spent this year trying to motivate into writing is a group of 3 boys who are 9years old yet academically writing at a 5yr old level. Many of the class writing topics/ research topics etc have been out of their reach and they have required their own motivations to
1. promote independence
2. promote quality of content beyond 'I went to...'

These boys are very dependent and often resistant to writing.

I found using the computers a major motivator and had some success using 'Powerpoint Photo Album' and www.storybird.com
Both of these programs use images to scaffold the writing. While we had tried printed images (story sequencing ones) with motivation increased but output still stilted independent of the teacher, it wasn't until the boys were writing on the actual computer that their motivation and output levels remained high for extended periods of time.

Photo album allowed the boys and I to co-construct a photo powerpoint (in 2 clicks) in line with a class topic (that the rest of the class were doing) and then the boys were able to work through the pictures adding captions or text under each fairly independently. The boys could get started with the Teacher aide on her days in and then continue independently - the positive off spinner being that these children have also gained ICT skills in locating documents, saving, finding web pages etc..



Storybird is something I have just introduced as we try to tackle creative writing - very challenging for these boys. Storybird gives you a choice of illustrations by real artists to choose from, drag them on the page and add your text. The finished result is a digital, page turning book. For motivation I give this a 10/10, the boys requested it everyday. We weren't getting quality writing - just sentences of what they could see in isolated pictures - but they wrote for 40 minutes independently. So I will definitely return to this tool. I think next time with the rest of the class too. As we master narrative perhaps we can find an artist to motivate a story.

What have you tried with low level, low independence writers?

Persuading to persuade

A big challenge for my year 5/6 children was our work around persuasion or argument. We worked on different topics around what we had been learning - The worst disaster is...? Our school is the best? down to persuading the teacher What wet weather games the class should spend their $200 allowance on?
But it wasn't until we hit on the more abstract and fun that I really saw the enthusiasm increase.

Children enjoy the bizarre and the creative.
Our hit topic actually came from a relieving teacher (using the conversation as a time filler/winding down at the end of the day) The noise level and involvement of the children was at maximum. So I ran with the idea for the next few pieces of writing with much improved results.
Would you rather eat a mouse or a cockroach?
Which is the best pet - an ant or an elephant?

The amount of prior knowledge the children could bring to the topic meant they had plenty to say, and the discussion with others who disagreed meant children were able to mention and negate any negatives to their side of the argument into their writing.

Using the bizarre and the oral language preparation proved a winner this time.
Has anyone else had the bizarre topics motivate writing?

An example below - this child is a very reluctant writer - usually completes a sentence or 2 under duress. This was finished in 30minutes -( I have edited for spelling and punctuation)

I would want a pet any more than a pet elephant. To begin with an ant is a better pet than an elephant. One off the reasons is - how are you going to feed it? I mean it must eat 2 tons a day. But an ant needs to eat a crumb for  3 days.

Yes, you can ride a elephant, but will the road hold it’s weight? If it cracks you will need to pay.   At a traffic light the elephant won’t stop and it will crush the car’s and  probably kill someone. You will have to pay for the car and the funerals and you will go to prison for manslaughter and the elephant will go to Africa.

Now the poo, how are you going to get rid of that?   

Adventures with Avatars

"Who dares to teach must never cease to learn." (John Cotton Dana).

Has anyone tried or used avatars to motivate writing?

Have tried using Voki's to create a character who has lots of adventures, although without prompting, there wasn't a great deal of motivation. Had better success with using a Voki to recite a poem, the idea of creating a virtual character to read out their own poems motivated even the most reluctant writers to have a go. The children seem to like creating their virtual character and to just say a message rather than using it as a stimulus for writing. Although, to even write a mesage 'that can be talked back' they have to use correct spelling and practice typing.

The Drama of Writing!

Some of our best writing this year has come through drama as a stimulus for writing. In recounts we have used role play of stories, with the children taking it in turns to be each character, e.g. The Three Billy Goats Gruff, this has helped with the who, what, where and how, and with discussion and modelling the children have started to add direct speech to their writing. Drama has also helped with holiday recounts, we played charades in groups and pairs to brainstorm and recall events. We also went through an imaginary door to a place we had been, we then described the scene using our senses, and then brought an object back throught the door with us to describe. This helped with the orientation of the recount, the order of events and adding personal response. We also used drama to write a recount of the school x-country, acting out again the stages and discussing; where we were, what was happening at each and how we felt. From this some children started to use similies in their writing as well as direct speech. If anyone has any other experiences with using drama to motivate writing please comment.