Teaching narrative writing with digital resources and apps

Centre for Research in Language and LiteracyTeaching narrative writing with digital resources and appsTelling Case 1 Year 3Visit 1 Activity 1

Visit 1 Activity 1

ebook Shared/ Guided whole class reading using IWB and Individual reading on Chromebook 

Context 
09:15 – 10:00  

The beginning of the school day. All children are sitting in pairs, at tables, in rows, facing the teacher and Interactive White Board (IWB). All children have a Chromebook on their desk, paper and pencils/ pens. The Chromebooks are used occasionally in class. They are reserved by teachers, when they need to use them. The teacher mainly models from the front of the classroom, where the IWB is centrally fixed. To gain children’s attention, she moves to stand in front of the IWB. The children will read from an ebook with the teacher. 

Key activities: 

  • Introduction
  • Listening to music from the interactive story  
  • Exploring the Bewitched Forest scene  
  • Shared ebook story reading
  • Shared and individual ebook comprehension  

 

Focused lesson objectives

  • To understand the purpose of reading narratives 
  • To understand different narrative structures  
  • To ask and answer questions to improve understanding of a text 
     

Digital resources used

  • Interactive White Board 
  • Chromebooks (one per child) 
  • ebook resource: The Bewitched Forest – Inspire Literacy 
  • Music from The Bewitched Forest resource 
  • The Bewitched Forest resource comprehension activity 

Pedagogical processes used

  • Sitting in pairs to promote partner talk 
  • Shared/ Guided reading (in whole class shared context) 
  • Teacher modelling fluent reading from ebook (Echo reading) 
  • Teacher questioning to develop children’s comprehension and understanding of the fantasy narrative genre 
  • Individual re-reading for comprehension 

Literacy skills involved

  • Choral reading (community reading to make meaning and develop fluency) 
  • Individual reading comprehension 
  • Vocabulary development 

Assessment focus - Enjoyment and engagement

  • Do the children enjoy reading the ebook? 
  • Do the children enjoy using their Chromebooks for comprehension work? 
Three children on a bench with ipads

Lesson Commentary  

Introduction 

The teacher explains the morning’s activities. The children are excited to be told that they will be using Padlet (later in activity 2) and an audible “Yes” echoes around the room from the children.  

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What’s noteworthy about the use of digital resources?

  • The digital story is introduced using music, which causes excitement and anticipation
  • The Bewitched Forest soundtrack allows aural immersion into setting for narrative story development
  • The Bewitched Forest soundtrack allows stimulation for vocabulary recall and development based on prior story experiences in other modes (film/ TV/ books)
  • The use of ereading is supported by use of warm-up music and talk
  • Digital resources are positioned alongside more conventional resources on busy tables
  • At times it is hard for the teacher to contain the children’s excitement, as they share ideas and look at each others’ screens
  • The teacher competes with the digital resources for attention
  • The children seem highly engaged with the interactive resource and each other
  • Their excitement infects all activities – digitally resourced and not
  • The teacher successfully adopts existing known pedagogies for reading and writing (shared work) to use with the ebook
  • Familiar pedagogical approaches (shared reading) bring a sense of order to working with the digital resources
  • The ebook resource allows children to engage in a familiar reading experience (akin to paper-based reading)
  • The Bewitched Forest comprehension activity allows engagement in a familiar activity, but in digital format (comprehension)
  • The digital resource relies on traditional comprehension style exercises, offering familiarity and reducing overload to allow children to focus on what is being asked
  • The children’s attention shifts easily throughout the activity - from the ebook to the teacher to the chrome book
  • The story has captured their interest – not only the technology. The power of the story prevails
  • The idea that this project will run for two weeks excites the children
  • The resource frustrates children, when it is not reliable (e.g. comprehension questions are not well-designed). Children have high expectations of digital resources
  • Chromebooks allow a whole class/ community shared experience
  • The ebook resource allows development of specific ebook reading skills for navigation
  • The Bewitched Forest comprehension activity allows alternative reading experience that is appealing to children who are ‘screen-keen’ and who like to engage in screen reading more than paper-based reading

What do I need to know to be able to do this?

  • The extent of children’s prior experience with fantasy narrative
  • The extent of children’s prior experience with Chromebooks and interactive stories
  • The extent of children’s prior experience reading with an ebook
  • Whether the ebook story is pedagogically sound and pitched appropriately for the range of readers
  • How to facilitate children’s log on and access to the resources
  • How to share reading from an ebook using an IWB to scaffold meaning making
  • How to engage children in choral ebook reading using IWB to promote fluency and pace