Inquiry Term 4 2018

For my Term 4 Inquiry topic I am taking a slight deviation, but still related to, the acquisition of language.  I want to identify and address the "road blocks to writing" that some of my students are experiencing and to try to help them overcome their difficulties, using technology.

I have several students who have had more than a year at school, have reading skill levels ranging from Level 5 to Level 11 and yet they still struggle to write a basic sentence independently.  They write a list of random words during independent writing time.  It is a simple "retrieve and write process" whereby they are not thinking about the topic, the organisation or planning of the text or the audience but only to fill a page with words that will look good and when asked to read it to me, they can tell an elaborate story that has no relation to any of the words or to the topic or they fall silent.

During supported writing, it is a huge effort to write a basic sentence.  They can draw a picture depicting what would happen in the story and with a great deal of support they can tell you an idea, usually a single word, but it is the putting of this one idea into a sentence when things seem to come unstuck.  Little attention is given to the fact that it might or might not be relevant to the topic and they don't understand that one word does not make a sentence.  When a child is having to pay close attention to remembering what they want to say it seems to interfere with the what they want to communicate in their writing.

Even though their reading books do not consist of one word sentences they are unable to model a simple basic sentence or see the importance of planning in writing.  When helped to generate a simple sentence they have often forgotten what their sentence was by the time they have written the first word down.  Perhaps using technology will help to overcome this road block.

Modelling and planning a sentence orally places less demands on a child.  A sentence can be spoken and remodelled with a minimum of effort compared to attempting to write it down so after modelling and planning a sentence orally, I will get these children to record their story on their iPad.  This will then be abled to be listened to as many times as is needed as a temporary aid to help them write when they are unable to do so without such support.  Even if the writing is not completed in one session, it will enable the student to complete the task successfully at a future time.  Perhaps by taking off this pressure by being able to listen again to what they planned to write, this may encourage a more positive "I can" attitude towards their writing.