Things like this are some of my favourite activities to do - it can be used to definitively show how good readers make good writers. The gist is simple: using the resource below, you ask pupils to try and create examples of a type of writing (the example I've provided is for comedy). They cannot look at the rest of the booklet before doing this. Then, ask them to read the examples and consider the stars and wishes - what works well, and what doesn't in the extract. They can annotate and highlight to their heart's contents being happy little critics. Finally, the same grid from the start reappears - having read what they have, what examples can they come out with now? Look at the examples side-by-side; get pupils to self and/or peer assess the changes and (hopefully!) improvements and explore why these are better choices. Fingers crossed, you come out with a classroom full of pupils whose second examples are better than their first, and thus show them that reading more made them better writers. It's also a useful way to introduce them to new reading materials and drag them from same-genre same-author monotony. The texts I've used - 'Demon Dentist', 'The Princess Diaries' and 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' are perhaps best suited to later KS2 or very early KS3, and of course the same thing can be done with other texts - these are just samples. As always, let me know how you get on, and please refer resources and new users to Literacy Stars - more stars means we shine brighter!
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Exciting times - my first literacy share on Literacy Stars! And today, I bring you P.E.E. Mobiles. It sounds weird but it's a brilliant way to keep track of your pupils' understanding of explaining and analysing texts. You copy as many of the below document as you need, plus a few spares (for the ones who love to be neat and the ones who will inevitably need to redo), and chop them up (kids can do the proper cutting, you just need a quick slice!). Only hand out the 'point' mobile. Pupils cannot get the 'evidence' mobile until you've checked their work and signed them off on it - the same goes for moving to the 'explanation' mobile. Then, to top it all off, if pupils have a good explanation sorted, you hole punch the bottom of the 'point', the top and bottom of the 'evidence', and the top of the 'explanation' and give them treasury tags - they've created their mobile! And in a double-header, you've got yourself some lovely display materials acting as reminders for good practice/success criteria. Give it a go - it's something I love doing with year seven, and although it sounds a bit claustrophobic, I promise you won't have 30 kids coming at you together - in fact, differentiate by having the higher level kids assess the P.E.E.s of those still working. Let me know how you get on in the 'Comments', and by all means feedback on your experiences good or bad! Happy P.E.E.ing!
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But, I hear you ask, what even is Literacy Stars? It's the new and ambitious project of a secondary school English teacher who enjoys resourcing and creating challenging lessons to stretch pupils, all whilst promoting a love of reading and writing - something which, in my experience, is getting more and more difficult. So the aim here is to provide fun and engaging resources from KS2 and beyond to help foster that love of learning, whilst defeating the scary statistics - for example, that those not in employment or education (NEETs) are lagging 12.5% behind those in employment in their literacy skills (source: The Independent). It's frightening and unnecessary with the amount of amazing teachers out there - teachers who, sadly, may not have enough time between marking, admin and extra-curricular commitments to keep redesigning to the latest fads and changes. The upshot of all of this is that this site is for teachers, parents and anyone in-between to make literacy something we don't just have to endure, but we want to enjoy with our children on their journey to adulthood. |
AuthorLiteracy Stars is the creation of a secondary school English teacher who loves nothing better than a good resource and seeing kids enjoy reading and writing. Archives
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