Story Writing in the Early Years: Stepping Stones

The other day I sat down with a basket full of whiteboards, pens, and rubbers, and 5 children came to sit with me intrigued by this new resource. We had a small discussion about what we could do with the whiteboards. They liked that they could rub out their pictures if they weren't happy with it. The conversation turned to what they could draw on the boards and a story began to emerge.

There were a flurry of ideas about a dinosaur in a volcano, with a "coconut tree" nearby. The children discussed where this should all take place:

"The volcano is outside. It can't be inside."

"Dinosaurs lived a long time ago."

"There should be trees."

"A jungle!"

Unfortunately the dinosaur (later to be a Stegosaurus) got caught in the volcano and needed to be rescued. I said, "How will the dinosaur be rescued from the volcano?"

"Superheroes rescue people."

"Batman will help him."

"And Superman."

"Batman can go 'whoosh!' and pick up the dinosaur from the lava."

Me: "Where will they go?"

"They fly to a car to get away."

The children were engaged in their drawings as they talked about their story. The drawings evolved as their ideas became more complex and the story unfolded. The dinosaur couldn't fit in the car and Batman had to drive. Ropes were involved to attach the dinosaur to the roof of the car. And where did the car go?

Well, unfortunately even though the dinosaur was rescued from the perils of the volcanic heat, he was met with a rogue soldier who decided to take matters into his own hands. Batman and Stegosaurus didn't make it.

"The soldier comes and shoots them both. Bang! It wasn't real bullets. Just pretend."

One mum said it was video games, but she's glad her son was writing stories!

The kids were so engrossed in their story and they had very little input from me. The only stimulus they had were the whiteboards and their imaginations. This process could be developed further by providing props, pictures, or story books to inspire their ideas.

I was so proud of their story and we practiced telling it together, then headed into the "big school" to read it to our Depute Head. They were to thrilled to share their hard work and even got a wee sticker to reward their accomplishment.

Story writing in the Early Years doesn't have to be tricky. In fact, the children are story writing all the time in their role play. They imagine a certain environment, a particular scenario, and a variety of characters. They put themselves in the story and act it out with their friends or by themselves. Offering a role play stimulus, whether it's a kitchen, a doctor's surgery, Santa's Toy Shop, or simply offering open ended items, encourages story telling through drama - oral story telling if you will. Storytelling is a process for children and should be introduced as stepping stones. It may appear that the children are simply "playing," but they are in fact exploring roles, creating stories, honing social skills, and practicing vocabulary. These are important skills for children to learn in preparation for school. Then, perhaps they'll start drawing pictures of these stories or making marks to represent the writing in their story. Adults may scribe what they say to document their story. Eventually, in school the children will begin writing their stories. Stepping stones.

Happy story writing.

A Teacher's Professional Portfolio

*update* after using this Professional Portfolio in my interview last week, I got the job! And a permanent one at that!
*another update* My new Head Teacher gave me some feedback from my interview. I thought this may be helpful to some of you as the end of the school year approaches and some of you may be interviewing for new jobs. Here are some of the positive points from the interview when I used this portfolio:

1. Referring to items in the portfolio during the interview showed that I was organised and prepared for my interview. This indicated that I am an organised teacher as well.
2. My Head Teacher liked that I had photos of things I'd done in other classrooms so she could see what I was talking about.
3. By including things I'd made (like my behaviour management clip chart), I showed that I was creative and ICT savvy.
4. My depute self-proclaims to suffer from OCD and she loved all the tabs, charts, and tables in my folder. :)

__

Does anyone actually use one of these in interviews? I'm under the impression that these are a must in America, but here in Scotland, teaching portfolios aren't really something the majority of teachers take with them to an interview. That being said, it's not going to stop me from putting together a folder of "look how great I am" to my interview next week. For the interview I did for the job I'm in now, I took with me some resources and photos of things I've done in my classes, but not much else. It impressed and it got me the job. This time around, inspired by all the teaching portfolios I've seen on Pinterest, I've decided to take that extra step and put together a folder of goodies to take with me. From my experience the last time around, it really helped to focus my thoughts when I had something to refer to. So without further ado, here is my portfolio:



Right at the front, I made sure to put a title page with my name. The next page is a Table of Contents to state what each section of the folder holds, and of course, I have dividers to make it easy to flip through the folder as I'm speaking in my interview.

The first section is my Philosophy of Education, which was in my application when I applied for the job. Next, I included a section for Relevant Work History and References. Again, this stuff was in my application, but I just thought I'd pop it in there anyway. Most likely, I won't be referring to this stuff during the interview.

Next, I have a section for Planning and Assessment. In this section, I included forms for planning and assessment I've used for different stages of Primary. I want to be able to make myself look like a versatile teacher who can succeed in any Primary stage, so I have examples throughout the portfolio from Nursery to Primary 5 (Pre-School to Grade 4 for you North American folks).



I've included a copy of a topic plan I created for Early stages last year in Health and Wellbeing. I also have an example of a mind map I did with the children in my current Nursery class. I did this to show that I plan using the Curriculum, but also using the children's knowledge and influence. I've also included a daily plan example from Primary 4, as well as a Topic Plan for tasks children can do when they complete classwork.



To show my knowledge and experience with Assessment, I've included a resource I created on Assessment is for Learning strategies (AifL), an example of Learning Intentions and Success Criteria being used in assignments, and an assessment format that I would like to use in future for larger projects or units of study. I'm very interested in assessment strategies and methods at the moment because the Scottish Curriculum can be a bit vague when it comes to National Assessment.

Next, I have a section for Curriculum Development. I'm fairly early on in my career, so I don't have much experience with Curriculum Development, however I have had the benefit of teaching the Heath and Wellbeing Curriculum to Primary 1-5 last year, which brought the responsibility of developing the Health Education Plan. I've included a copy of the plan in this section.



Following that, I've included a short section on classroom displays, and I popped in some photographs for interest. The reason I did this is to show that I have an understanding of how display can be used in the class to benefit the learner, and not just to show how creative I can be.



Next, there's a section I've titled Active Learning. This is a hot topic at the moment, which is why I've included this in my portfolio. It also allows me to show some of the fun learning opportunities and experiences my pupils have had. I made sure to include photographs of children of varying ages to show my versatility. The photos will also be a great talking point and give my memory a wee kick when I'm trying to come up with examples of active learning.



After that, I have a section for Behaviour and Classroom Management. I've actually printed off one of my blog posts and popped it in here because its all about behaviour management strategies that I've used or heard of. I've also put in a behaviour scheme that I created. I think this section will highlight my knowledge of behaviour strategies as well as my ICT savvy! Personally, I think Behaviour and Classroom Management goes hand in hand. If you have good Classroom Management routines and expectations, then behaviour should be in check. Of course behaviour strategies are still necessary. That being said, I've also included some group task cards that I created as an example of good classroom management, as well as reading task cards that I use during reading groups. Along this topic, I would also be talking about the way I set up my class (grouped desks vs rows) for different types of learners.



The next section is on Inclusion, where I've included photos of a visual timetable, a poster I made with different languages, and examples of visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic learners. During my time speaking about Inclusion, I'd also be mentioning other professionals involved with different types of learners, provision the school provides, and ensuring that I have a clear and deep knowledge and understanding of pupil needs.



Next is Parent Communication, where I have photos of ways in which I've made parent communication much easier. I've popped in a copy of a recent newsletter I put out, as well as a calendar I use to keep parents informed about upcoming events. Here, I would also speak about parent inclusion and partnership and how they are vital to their child's learning journey.



Lastly (finally!), I have a section on Professional Development, where I've included the titles and dates of courses I've attended.



Each section has a title page the same as the one at the front, and all papers are neatly tucked into page protectors. Sounds a bit OCD, but it looks pretty, so it's worth it.

Hope this helps any of you for upcoming interviews. Is there anything you would include in your portfolio that I missed out?

Documenting Learning

Documenting children's learning is an important aspect of a child's education. Revisiting learning experiences allows pupils to talk about what they did with friends, parents and teachers, and they have a better chance of retaining what they've learned. There are countless ways to document learning experiences.

Mind maps are a good way to compile prior learning before starting a topic. It's also something you can revisit and add to throughout the topic.

Displays with children's work/models/projects with their words act as evidence of their learning.

Taking photographs of children engaging in their play is a great way to "save a moment." I often use these photos as part of a display in that area of the room, or in their individual learning journey books.

Having children involved in documenting their learning is another great method. I've had children help write labels as part of a poster or display.

Our planning format is a working document, which means we add to it on a daily basis. At the end of the week, we post it on the wall in the corridor for parents to read. We are well aware of the "forgetful-itis" syndrome that plagues most children when their parent asks them what they did at school that day. Yet another method to track pupil experiences.

What are some things you do in your class to document pupil's learning experiences?

Tiny Targets

I got this idea from a friend of mine who recently introduced it into her class. My class has been talking about their families and who lives in their houses, so a way for us to document what the children have said is to put up their photos on our Tiny Target poster with a speech bubble of their words. The actual target is laminated and blue-tacked onto the blue card so I can change the target easily as needed. I have laminated speech bubbles that I can easily write on with dry-wipe pens so I can reuse them.

I was speaking to my friend who came up with "Tiny Target," and she said she also made up stickers with the target typed on so she can easily pop them into their Learning Journeys/Portfolios/etc. as a permanent record of their progress. Super idea!