‘Interactive writing involves the teacher and small groups of students jointly composing a large print text on a subject of interest to the students and sharing responsibility for the recording at various points in the writing.
Teachers quickly record the words that students know how to write, and engage students in problem solving and recording the words that provide challenges and opportunities for new learning. This eases the transition to independent writing by:
· making explicit how written language works
· constructing words using orthographic and phonological knowledge
· producing a text that can be read again.’
Source -VELS – SOFWEB
My Way- Student Led http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/teachingresources/english/literacy/strategies/tsvels12writstrat.htm – The Beginning!
It’s wonderful to see Prep students (first year of formal education in Australia) work cooperatively in groups to produce a piece of writing within the first few weeks of school. They may not know all their sounds, but with an alphabet chart/pictures for reference and whatever prior knowledge they bring, writing skills are quickly developed and extended. This is a powerful teaching strategy.
Each child has their own colored pencil and writes their name down the side of the sheet making it easy to see a child’s progress. Generally, I have groups of 4/5 students selected randomly. At the beginning of the year the sentence is provided after class discussion and is related to a shared experience e.g. I am at school. Teaching children to prompt each other without giving the answer is taught during Interactive Writing. By the end of Term 1 the compilation of a writing piece is totally formulated by the group.
Let me know if you would like more information and I hope the photos help.
The writing standard of my children was amazing thanks to this strategy and Language Experience (more later). Cheers Nina
Nina Davis: Teaching & Learning in Australia 