'Tools' for Individual and Classroom-based research
NWP: My writing now
It is useful to reflect on where you are now – as a writer and as a teacher of writing. If you are just about to join a writing group, you will be better able to gauge what difference that makes to you personally and professionally, if you make current observations, which you can re-read and reflect on in a year's time. You will be able to see your writing ‘journey’ - on your own, with the group, and with your pupils. This is one way in which NWP collects evidence.
Myself as a writer now... and as a teacher of writing
Where are you up to? Give yourself about 30 minutes and try and write freely for about 500 words.
The following bullet points are to provoke your thinking – you don’t have to answer them all.
a) Reflect on your writing now.
It is useful to reflect on where you are now – as a writer and as a teacher of writing. If you are just about to join a writing group, you will be better able to gauge what difference that makes to you personally and professionally, if you make current observations, which you can re-read and reflect on in a year's time. You will be able to see your writing ‘journey’ - on your own, with the group, and with your pupils. This is one way in which NWP collects evidence.
Myself as a writer now... and as a teacher of writing
Where are you up to? Give yourself about 30 minutes and try and write freely for about 500 words.
The following bullet points are to provoke your thinking – you don’t have to answer them all.
a) Reflect on your writing now.
- Where and when do you like to write/ have you written?
- What materials and locations do you find most conducive to writing?
- Why do you write? And how do you write?
- With whom have you shared your writing? What kinds of help/responses do you value?
- Are there pressures in your life that force you into writing silence?
- Are there impulses that help you, push you to write?
- Which writers do you admire? Have any particularly influenced your own writing?
- How might you improve your writing conditions?
- What do you like most about writing?... and about what you have written?
- What are you aiming for now? What are you hoping for from joining a writing group ?
- (Later: What have you valued most? How has belonging to a writing group informed the way you now teach writing?)
- What are your considerations in supporting pupils as writers? How do you like to position yourself with your pupils – eg as instructor/ demonstrator/ facilitator/ partner/ consultant/ reader? How do you position your pupils with each other as writers?
- What have you read and valued about the teaching of writing? (Google Peter Elbow. Visit nwp.org.uk)
- What questions do you have about the teaching of writing? Are there aspects which you enjoy/ find difficult?
- What has changed in your practice of teaching writing? ... what has stayed the same?
- What has pleased you most about recent teaching of writing?
- What are the things that have prompted change / affirmed practice / challenged you?
- What are the things that you are still wanting to do / that will be your next move?
Prompts to help you observe and interview
individual pupils/students
NWP Observation sheet: / /
Pupil’s name/identifier:
Year group:
a) TIME, LOCATION: Where and when this child is writing or has been asked to write. Brief description of context of this writing: (eg morning/afternoon, inside/outside, freely chosen, independent/collaborative, whole-class teacher-directed task,)
b) APPROACH: the way he/she approaches writing (eg playing, talking, initiating writing, seeking advice, asking to clarify task or timing, thinking, delaying…)
c) MATERIALS: the materials he/she uses (eg fingers, chalk, pen, pencil, rubber, keyboard…)
d) BEHAVIOUR: how he/she behaves when writing (eg frowning, head-scratching, pen-sucking, laughing, mouthing, oral rehearsal, talking to others (on or off-task), doodling, drawing, fiddling, crossing out, reading back, changing words and phrases, referring to another book …)
e) RESPONSE: what he/she wants to do with writing when finished – throw away, store it, talk about it, ask for a response, display it, take it home ...
f) Other observations:
What kind of writing was written: exploratory writing, writing related to activity/ talk/reading, genre/text-type, expected audience … and where does it fit in this child’s range of writing. Is it typical of where there are in their writing journey?
NWP Writing Interview
Date: / /
Pupil’s name/identifier:
Year group:
This page updated by Simon Wrigley 17.1.2017
Pupil’s name/identifier:
Year group:
a) TIME, LOCATION: Where and when this child is writing or has been asked to write. Brief description of context of this writing: (eg morning/afternoon, inside/outside, freely chosen, independent/collaborative, whole-class teacher-directed task,)
b) APPROACH: the way he/she approaches writing (eg playing, talking, initiating writing, seeking advice, asking to clarify task or timing, thinking, delaying…)
c) MATERIALS: the materials he/she uses (eg fingers, chalk, pen, pencil, rubber, keyboard…)
d) BEHAVIOUR: how he/she behaves when writing (eg frowning, head-scratching, pen-sucking, laughing, mouthing, oral rehearsal, talking to others (on or off-task), doodling, drawing, fiddling, crossing out, reading back, changing words and phrases, referring to another book …)
e) RESPONSE: what he/she wants to do with writing when finished – throw away, store it, talk about it, ask for a response, display it, take it home ...
f) Other observations:
What kind of writing was written: exploratory writing, writing related to activity/ talk/reading, genre/text-type, expected audience … and where does it fit in this child’s range of writing. Is it typical of where there are in their writing journey?
NWP Writing Interview
Date: / /
Pupil’s name/identifier:
Year group:
- What are you liking to read now? (Kinds of books, comics, TV programmes, websites, signs ...)
- What kinds of writing do you like to do (stories, letters, poems, diaries, notes, cartoons ...)?
- What stories or ideas from books are most like your writing?
- Where do you like to write best (at home and at school); computer or paper?
- Are there any particular subjects or topics that you like to write about?
- Are there any people who have really helped you with your writing?
- Which parts of writing do you most enjoy (getting ideas, planning, drafting, talking with a friend/teacher, reading your writing aloud, hearing what)? What do you think you are best at?
- When you have finished writing, who would you like to read it and how would you like them to respond? Are there things you would not like them to do?
- Are there any aspects of writing that you don’t enjoy or that you find difficult?
- What do you do when you have difficulty with some aspect of your writing?
- What helps you with your writing – and how would you help others?
- How would you describe yourself as a writer?
This page updated by Simon Wrigley 17.1.2017