Art into Words – A Primary/Secondary writing project to Support Assessment is for Learning – AiFL
Title: Art into Words – Assessment is for Learning (AiFL)
Overview
Claire Reynolds is Principal Teacher at Holy Family Primary school in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire. As part of her remit she is responsible for a Primary 7 class 0.8. David Miller is an English Teacher at St. Ninian’s Secondary in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire. David had entered his S1 class in an National Competition run by National Art Gallery in Scotland.
In this cookbook we’ll look at how Claire and David used a Glow group and Glow Meet to develop writing skills with Primary 7 pupils with support from S1 and David. The project involved a continuation of the concept behind the National Art Gallery competition and use classical art as a stimulus for writing.
Context
Holy Family PS has a very structured programme for writing and follows a writing scheme as well as incorporating topic and thematic writing for pupils. At a sharing of good practice event the HT and DHT met David Miller who was showcasing writing. Some of the excellent pieces of writing had been created by former pupils of Holy Family Primary School and the SMT members were delighted to see such a high standard. From there a discussion took place with Mr Miller using a similar approach and working with the P7 pupils to produce some literature and to develop Primary teachers skills in delivering writing in this way.
It was decided to use Glow as the communication base for the project as the functionalities within Glow suited the purpose of the project. Mr Miller was able to meet with the Class Teacher and SMT to set up the project using the Glow Meet web part. This meant that time was not taken with travelling and all time spent on the project was productive. Through discussion and experience of Glow and the requirements of AiFL to support writing it was decided to set up a number of web parts within the group. There was a Web Links part with links to the National Gallery, A Discussion Web Part for S1 and P7 to have on line discussions and A Document Store as well as a Glow Meet.
The project ran for the length of Term 1 in session 2008-2009. Pupils from St. Ninian’s shared their work, which had been inspired from pictures at the National Gallery, with P.7 pupils through a Glow Meet session with S1 reading their work while displaying the art on the Whiteboard part of the Glow Meet. The work they produced was also uploaded to the document store of the Glow Group. Mr Miller then shared pictures with the P.7 pupils via a Glow Meet and asked them what the pictures might mean and bring to mind. Some excellent lessons took place in these sessions and the children became much more able to examine art.
The next part of the project involved the Primary 7 pupils searching the National Gallery for a picture via the web link on the Glow group and then writing a short story, descriptive passage or poem about it.
Primary 7 then uploaded their work to the Glow Group in the document store. S1 pupils who had read their work would comment on it on the Discussion web part using AiFL strategy, ’Two stars and a wish’, the formative assessment strategy in use at Holy Family PS for writing. BY using Glow and the components within it and in taking part in this project the following Curriculum for Excellence outcomes where experienced by the learners.
<
When I engage with others, I can respond in ways appropriate to my role, show that I value others’ contributions and use these to build on thinking. LIT 2-02a
When I engage with others, I can make a relevant contribution, encourage others to contribute and acknowledge that they have the right to hold a different opinion. I can respond in ways appropriate to my role and use contributions to reflect on, clarify or adapt thinking. LIT 3-02a
When listening and talking with others for different purposes, I can:
• share information, experiences and opinions
• explain processes and ideas
• identify issues raised and summarise main points or findings
• clarify points by asking questions or by asking others to say more. LIT 2-09a
When listening and talking with others for different purposes, I can:
• communicate information, ideas or opinions
• explain processes, concepts or ideas
• identify issues raised, summarise findings or draw conclusions. LIT 3-09a
I am developing confidence when engaging with others within and beyond my place of learning. I can communicate in a clear, expressive way and I am learning to select and organise resources independently. LIT 2-10a / LIT 3-10a
I can:
• discuss structure, characterisation and/or setting
• recognise the relevance of the writer’s theme and how this relates to my own and others’ experiences
• discuss the writer’s style and other features appropriate to genre. ENG 2-19a
I can:
• discuss and evaluate the structure, characterisation and/or setting using some supporting evidence
• identify the main theme of the text and recognise the relevance this has to my own and others’ experiences
• identify and comment on aspects of the writer’s style and other features appropriate to genre using some relevant evidence. ENG 3-19a
I enjoy creating texts of my choice and I regularly select subject, purpose, format and resources to suit the needs of my audience. LIT 1-20a / LIT 2-20a
I enjoy creating texts of my choice and I am developing my own style. I can regularly select subject, purpose, format and resources to suit the needs of my audience. LIT 3-20a / LIT 4-20a
By considering the type of text I am creating, I can select ideas and relevant information, organise these in an appropriate way for my purpose and use suitable vocabulary for my audience. LIT 2-26a
By considering the type of text I am creating, I can independently select ideas and relevant information for different purposes, and organise essential information or ideas and any supporting detail in a logical order. I can use suitable vocabulary to communicate effectively with my audience. LIT 3-26a / LIT 4-26a
I am learning to use language and style in a way which engages and/or influences my reader. ENG 2-27a
I can engage and/or influence readers through my use of language, style and tone as appropriate to genre. ENG 3-27a / ENG 4-27a
I can persuade, argue, explore issues or express an opinion using relevant supporting detail and/or evidence. LIT 2-29a
I can persuade, argue, evaluate, explore issues or express an opinion using a clear line of thought, relevant supporting detail and/or evidence. LIT 3-29a
As I write for different purposes and readers, I can describe and share my experiences, expressing what they made me think about and how they made me feel. ENG 2-30a
Discussion was on going throughout the topic between teacher, learner and supporter. The writing was then redrafted as a result of this feedback. The project concluded with P.7 reading their final work to S1 via a glow meet.
The pieces of writing were of a very high standard and both teachers and pupils were delighted with the outcome of this project.
In this cookbook, we will find out:
• What the ‘Art into Words Glow Group looks like
• How to create a Glow Group and add members to the group from other establishments
• How to use the documents store and discussion forum to support AiFL
Ingredients
What did Claire and David need to create the elements of the Glow Group?
1. A Glow Group
2. Access to Glow Group for staff, P.7 and S1 pupils in the English class
3. Web cam with microphone and speakers
It was necessary to ensure staff had Administrator rights within the Glow Group to enable them to make changes to the Glow group and add members to the Group and the learners all has contributor rights to comment on the discussion board and upload work to the document store.
In the next section, we will take a look at the ‘Art into Words’ Glow Group and learn how to recreate elements within it.
Recipe
The video below shows the ‘Art Into Words Glow Group. The videos that then follow show how these elements can be recreated. Details are:
*What does the Art Into Words Glow Group look like?
*How to add pages and change titles.
*How to add membership within your own establishment to a Glow Group
*How to add membership from another establishment to a Glow Group
*Using Discussion Board for AiFL
*How to organise content on a document store for a joint project
*Success of AiFL Strategies
Impact
The impact of using Glow to deliver communication to staff has been outstanding and recognised by HMIe on their visit to Holy Family PS and St. Ninian’s Secondary.
The ability to share the expertise of fellow professionals and learners has been purposeful and provided an excellent CPD opportunity.
The learners not only developed skills in Art, Art History and Literacy but also in communication and supporting each other. Through using Glow they have developed life long skills in the use of ICT to support learning.
*Impact of Project from Claire Reynolds P.7 teacher Holy Family PS
