I’ve been so busy with my Teacher Professional Leave project that I’ve neglected this space and this is the place I write about the work I do. Firstly, I’m committed to sharing a snapshot of writing development in my class weekly for those readers who have asked. I’m showcasing Student Led Interactive Writing again. Why? I’m even more convinced that this is the best strategy to scaffold student writing development. This strategy supports young writers as they share, refine and practise taught strategies whilst writing. The writer has the support of other children to prompt when needed and we’ve spent some time talking about and role-playing prompting. This strategy does allow for differentiation as it supports the range of abilities. The children now have a number of strategies and tools to assist them when writing. I’ve written about this strategy many times, so if you would like to see other examples, please use the search box in this blog.
Each group has a large sheet of paper with children recording their names down the side of the sheet in their own selected color. (No names, my school or photos of children appear in this blog) This enables the teacher to observe each student’s word attack skills when writing. For this session, each group was randomly selected with a leader nominated. Group leaders are rotated with every child having a turn. The leader is responsible for the writing rotation of group members and also ensures that the team sets up and packs up properly. Our sentence was composed by the grade about a common experience. The sentence: We have been making dinner plates.
Cheers Nina
Nina Davis: Teaching & Learning in Australia 
Hi Mark,
Thanks for visiting and commenting. I always appreciate comments. On Friday, my principal, TPL partner and I did a ‘round’ at our school to ‘hone in’ our observation skills and work out the best way to record etc. I’m seeing the value of ‘rounds’ and can see the benefits for classroom teachers. This week, I’m going to be my own observer. I’m focusing on the task and will be asking my students to tell me what they’re learning.
TPL is about improving my practice and I believe it is. I’m certainly questioning my planning. It will be interesting to record my student’s thinking and see if the learning actually matches my teaching.
This week our SMR Rounds group are actually doing a Round (2 days) at a school some distance away. I’m really looking forward to this, although a little (no, probably more) apprehensive.
Cheers Nina
I think your examples make your point very clearly – well done
Mark Walker