Engaging boys reluctant to write

My Learning .....Engaging boys who are reluctant to write.

This year my inquiry has been trialling the use of tactile strategies that engage, involve and motivate a group of boys reluctant to write and reflect on the impact on the progress of these students longer term.

This came about when I looked at my writing data in February and realised that 8 out of the 16 Year 1 & 2 students were writing below expectation. I already knew that this would have to be a focus for me as a teacher.

I asked my class how they felt about writing. From this I found out that the girls enjoyed writing a lot more than the boys. My boys were not engaged.....and I had to think of ways to engage them. I decided to ask the boys what would interest them to want to write. Some of the suggestions were doing science, making things, looking at mini beasts and learning about them. Up until this point I had observed that my students were engaged through story telling, play, building and creating with their hands, drawing, use of ipads, sharing news and science experiences.

 So as part of my daily planning I included science experiences, technology, cooking, kite making, watching you tube clips to do with minibeasts in writing. The hands on experiences were amazing ....there was a buzz and I found that students were all engaged. As a class we brainstormed vocabulary to do with the experiences. This allowed the students to include specific vocabulary in their writing.



Alongside this I introduced my students to SOLO taxonomy and used the HOT SOLO maps for planning. I found that this helped my boys to plan their ideas and be able to follow a structure when it came to writing. Slowly I started to notice that the boys were no longer writing a sentence or two but beginning to write a page length. Their writing started to include more ideas.

We talked as a class about the expectations in writing. What would a good piece of writing have? What were we aiming for? Students were shown good models of writing. Every time we wrote our learning intention and our success criteria were clear. I ensured that the students knew exactly what to include in their piece of writing. Something else I started to do particularly with the boys was telling them how much  I expected in terms of writing in a given writing session. The writing was completed over the week instead of one day. This way I was able to encourage the students to expand on their ideas.

After the writing session we would highlight what our focus words for the lesson were eg. linking words and share these with the class.

In term 2 some of these boys had the privilege of writing everyday with support from a teacher aide. These boys had a choice of writing about what was of interest to them. Again knowing the expectations, structure and purpose around their writing motivated them to write.

Alongside this, as part of our Mutukaroa programme, I started to set writing goals with the parents and students. I noticed that one of the barriers in writing with my boys was that they were spending a long time trying to write basic words. My students had good letter sound knowledge and were able to attempt new vocabulary. This then became a goal for students to do in class as well as at home. At the meeting I also mentioned to the parents that their child is a student that I am targeting to see shifts in writing.  This made a big shift in our writing. Setting smart goals and being very specific contributed to progress made and seen in writing. With the goals set, discussed and displayed, I found that when it came to writing I was able to remind students of their goals during our writing.

I had the privilege of visiting a school and talking with a teacher who had an all boys class. It was fascinating hearing his journey and how he structures his day to engage and meet the needs of his students. Also being involved with the community of schools, allowed me to talk with teachers of other schools about how they engage their reluctant writers.

Now in September as I look at my data I have 9 out of the 10 year 1 students (90 %)  achieving at and above expectation compared with February data where there were only 30 percent at and above.

I believe that building a positive relationship with my students and being interested in what interests them is a key to making shifts in learning. Knowing my students and tracking their progress closely in writing over the year has enabled me as a teacher to know definitely their strengths, gaps and look specifically at what strategies would make a shift in their learning over time.  Having a meeting with the parents have also contributed to the huge progress as well. Making students' goals visible in the classroom has supported them to know what they are working on. My next step is making the writing expectations visible in the classroom so students are able to understand where they are at and what their next steps are. Displaying these expectations pictorially will support our students to understand the expectations in writing better. Also looking at ways of transitioning what these students have done with their next year's teachers and communicating this achievement with parents.