Centre for Language and Literacies

Centre for Language and LiteraciesProjectsGrammar for Writing

Boosting Year 6 Writing Outcomes

Grammar for Writing: A Randomised Controlled Trial Study

This trial study, funded by the Educational Endowment Foundation, will explore the effectiveness and impact of the explicit teaching of grammar in the context of writing for Year 6 students, with a particular focus on FSM students.

Details on the trial study

Researchers have conducted several studies over the past 10 years exploring the relationships between explicit teaching of grammar in the context of writing, which have led to positive results.

Schools are eligible for this project if they have at least 20 students in year 6. It would be useful to know your whole school % for FSM/Ever6 as this helps to understand the profiles of participating schools.

Schools joining this research project will be randomly allocated to either the Intervention group or a Comparison group.

This research project involves Year 6 teachers participating in four CPD days and teaching two fully-prepared units of work, developed by the Exeter team.

About The Project

Trial study background

Researchers from the  Centre for Research in Language and Literacy have conducted several studies exploring the relationships between explicit teaching of grammar in the context of writing, which have led to positive results on students outcomes in writing. This is a way of teaching writing that helps learners to understand how linguistic structures convey meaning, rather than teaching grammatical rules in the abstract. The teaching of grammar is therefore explicit, but embedded in the context of teaching about writing genres (e.g. narrative fiction, persuasive writing). The aim is to improve students’ metalinguistic understanding of the language choices they make when they write.

This trial study funded by the Educational Endowment Foundation, will explore the effectiveness and impact of this approach for students in Year 6, with a particular focus on FSM students. Schools in the NE and NW of the country and London Boroughs are the focus of this research.

Eligibility criteria

Schools are eligible for this project if they have at least 20 students in year 6. It would be useful to know your whole school % for FSM/Ever6 as this helps to understand the profiles of participating schools.

Randomisation

Schools joining the research project will be randomly allocated to either the Intervention group or a Comparison group.

  • The Intervention group will receive the professional training and teaching materials starting in Autumn Term 2016
  • The Comparison group will get £500 as a partial contribution towards buying in the CPD training once the research intervention is over. This CPD would be 2/3 days over a couple of terms or a year. 

The Pedagogy

Young writers are shown high-quality texts, how writing is shaped and crafted, and how grammatical choices are one part of that shaping.

To take part

If you are interested in taking part please contact Sara Venner, Research Fellow for the Project, via email: s.venner2@exeter.ac.uk or phone 01392 724863.

What It Involves

Year 6 teachers participating in four CPD days and teaching two fully-prepared units of work, developed by the Exeter team.

  • CPD – will introduce the teaching approach, develop teachers’ grammatical subject knowledge and familiarise teachers with the two teaching units for the project. CPD days are in September (day 1), November 2016 (day 2) and CPD days 3 & 4 will be in February and May 2017;

A small contribution towards travelling costs will be available. The exact location of venues for the CPD is yet to be confirmed

  • Teaching Schemes of Work – there are two units, the first focuses on fictional narrative and the second on persuasive writing. Both units will need to be delivered by the Year 6 teachers to their pupils in the Spring Term of 2017;
  • Analysis - a sample of writing from a Year 6 class will be analysed at the beginning of the research project. Then after the teachers attend the CPD sessions and teach the Schemes of Work, their childrens’ writing outcomes will be analysed again and assessed for any improvements. 

Handy PDF copy of Grammar for Writing

Benefits to schools

  • Likely improvement in writing outcomes for Year 6 writers
  • Improving how writing is taught following 4 high quality CPD sessions by a team of experts
  • Support for children and teachers’ grammatical knowledge
  • Teaching from 2 high quality schemes of work, tailored to meet Year 6 writing outcomes
  • Production of 2 pieces of quality writing which can be used as evidence in final KS2 writing assessments

Benefits to teachers

  • Teachers found the explicitness, the use of discussions, the emphasis on playful experimentation and their increased confidence in subject knowledge to be invaluable features from taking part in the intervention. 

Benefits to pupils

  • Improved understanding of grammatical terminology
  • Improved understanding of how to make language choices in writing
  • Improved outcomes in writing

Resources for Intervention Teachers

Resources for Comparison Teachers

Consent to Take Part

This project is designed to study the teaching and learning of writing in primary schools. The new approach, Grammar for Writing, aims to improve writing by developing pupils’ understanding of grammatical choices. Its impact will be evaluated by comparing it with the “teaching as usual” approach using a randomised controlled trial (RCT).

During this project, you will be contacted by both the Project Team (University of Exeter), who are responsible for developing and supporting the new teaching approach, and by the Evaluation Team (University of York), who are carrying out an independent evaluation of its effectiveness.

This memorandum of understanding (MoU) explains what your school’s participation in the study will entail.

In order to formalise your consent to participate, please choose the relevant button above

Randomised Controlled Trial (September 2016 – July 2017)

The trial will involve your school being randomly assigned either to deliver Grammar for Writing (the intervention group) or to continue with your normal teaching approach (the comparison group). Teachers in the intervention group will be asked to attend four training days across the year, and to deliver two Grammar for Writing units in the spring term, one on narrative writing (four weeks) and one on persuasive writing (two weeks). Schools in the intervention group will be asked to pay £500 to participate as a partial contribution to the costs of the 4 CPD days and the teaching materials. Schools in the comparison group will receive a £500 payment as a partial contribution towards buying in the CPD after the project has ended, if desired.

The following information and evaluation data will be required by the evaluation and project teams:

Prior to randomisation

Schools will:

  • Provide contact details of a main contact person and of Year 6 teachers (valid email addresses and telephone numbers) to the Exeter Project Team.
  • Provide names of teachers and details of classes (including UPNs), along with details of any setting or streaming by attainment, to the York Evaluation Team by the end of the summer term 2016.
  • Facilitate the participation of teachers to complete a short on-line grammar quiz by the end of the summer term 2016.

During the evaluation

Participating teachers will:

  • Complete a short on-line grammar quiz and teacher survey at the end of year, and will receive a £20 gift voucher for successful completion.
  • Update UPNs of Year 6 pupils by the end of September 2016 and contact details (if appropriate) during the course of the evaluation.
  • Facilitate a visit by the Exeter Project Team to observe one Grammar for Writing lesson of a sample of participating teachers (intervention group only).
  • For a randomly selected sub-sample: facilitate a school visit by one or two researchers from the York Evaluation Team to observe an English lesson (Grammar for Writing in schools trialling the new approach, a lesson focusing on grammar/writing in other schools) during the study year, followed by short discussions with some of the Year 6 teaching staff and a member of the senior management team.
  • Provide a breakdown of the KS2 writing results on narrative and persuasive writing for each participating Year 6 pupil in the summer term 2017 (to be confirmed pending national test arrangements)

Use of Data

All pupil data will be treated with the strictest confidence and will be stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act (1998). Named data will be matched with the National Pupil Database using pupils’ UPNs by the Evaluation Team and shared (anonymously) with the Education Endowment Foundation.

All results will be anonymised so that no schools will be identifiable in the report or dissemination of any results. Confidentiality will be maintained and no one outside the York Evaluation Team will have access to the database.Identifying data will be retained for one year after the end of the project and anonymised for a maximum of 3 years.

Requirements for Schools

  • The school is not participating in another research project or evaluation that would interfere with development and evaluation of the above approach in Year 6 writing.
  • All the Year 6 pupils and their teachers who teach them English will participate in the project.
  • Participating teachers will complete the training provided and seek help and advice from the Exeter Project Team if they have any queries or uncertainties about implementing Grammar for Writing.
  • The school will deliver letters to parents giving them information about the study and an opportunity to opt their child out of the data gathering process. They will inform the York Evaluation Team of any responses arising.
  • The school will provide data requested to the Exeter Project Team and York Evaluation Team as detailed above.
  • The school will permit the publication of anonymised data collected and its use in presentations.
  • Teachers will, at the earliest opportunity, notify the Exeter Project Team if there are support or operational issues which could prevent the effective use of the approach.
  • If the school has to withdraw from the project for operational or other unavoidable reasons, it will notify the York Evaluation Team straight away and, wherever possible, still provide test data for the project. 

Responsibilities of the Exeter Project Team:

  • Set up a training course to inform teachers on how to implement Grammar for Writing
  • Act as the first point of contact for any questions about the project
  • Provide on-going support to the school
  • Provide information sheets for parents
  • Collect participating teacher and lead contact names and email details. 

Responsibilities of the York Evaluation Team:

  • Conduct the random allocation
  • Collect class and pupil level data (including name, date of birth, UPN)
  • Request NPD data using pupil details
  • Analyse the data from the project
  • Disseminate the research findings

The Pedagogy and Sample Lesson Plans

The pedagogy

In this research project young writers are shown high-quality texts, how writing is shaped and crafted, and how grammatical choices are one part of that shaping.

The pedagogy of the intervention is founded on four key principles:

  • Make a link between the grammar being introduced and how it works in the writing being taught;
    • E.g. exploring how post and present tense are used in newspaper reports for recount and comment. 
  • Explain the grammar through examples, not lengthy explanations;
    • Exploring how prepositional phrases can establish setting in a narrative. For example, you could explore how prepositional phrases establish the setting for each of the characters in ‌‘The Gruffalo' and then ask the children to create a new character in the ‘The Gruffalo' story and describe where he or she lives using prepositional phrases.

      Download the       Gruffalo sample lesson
  • Build in high-quality discussion about grammar and its effects;
    • E.g. discussing as a whole class the different grammatical choices in two students’ drafts of the ending to an argument piece. 
  • Use examples from authentic texts to link writers to the broader community of writers;
    • E.g. using the class shared book as a source for exploring how grammar shapes meaning. For example from 'The BFG' explore rhythm through the pattern of three clauses.

      Download the BFG sample lesson‌

Publications

Grammar for Writing? An investigation into the effect of Contextualised Grammar Teaching on Student Writing.
Jones, S.M.  Myhill, D.A.  and Bailey, T.C.  (2013)
Reading and Writing   26 (8) 1241-1263

Re-Thinking Grammar: the Impact of Embedded Grammar Teaching on Students’ Writing and Students’ Metalinguistic Understanding
Myhill, D.A. Jones, S.M., Lines, H. and Watson A.  (2012)
Research Papers in Education  27 (2) 139-166  

Playful Explicitness with Grammar:  A Pedagogy for Writing
Jones, S. Myhill, D.A. Watson, A and Lines, H.E. (2013)
Literacy    47 (2) 103-111

Grammar Matters: How Teachers’ Grammatical Subject Knowledge Impacts on the Teaching of Writing
Myhill, D.A.  Jones, S and Watson, A. (2013)
Teaching and Teacher Education  36:77-91  

Essential Primary Grammar
Myhill, D.A  Jones, S  Lines, H and Watson, A (2016)
http://www.mheducation.co.uk/catalog/product/view/id/215382/s/essential-primary-grammar/ 

Testimonials

"Our children really enjoyed the unit and the quality of writing was excellent." - Ruth Shallcross, Enfield Primary Teacher

 

"I taught Merlin this year to my year 6 class and they loved it. Years 4 and 5 also completed the unit and had the same response – especially the boys! The teachers were very positive about teaching it and said it has changed the way they teach writing." - Year 6 Teacher


"Increasing the children’s awareness of verbs has hugely simplified the issue of clauses and the associated use of punctuation, conjunctions and adverbial phrases. I have felt that the children are now so much more able to consider the purpose and effect of their writing and therefore make more deliberate choices about composition. It is in discussing their choices that the children’s learning becomes truly embedded and we will continue to devote more time within our lessons to enabling the children to discuss, share and evaluate." - Alison Armstrong Yr 6 teacher

 

"I feel that the Exeter model has over the last three years become integral to my practice. The concept of incorporating real life texts and allowing students to explore and consider real writers’ choices offers them the opportunities to immerse themselves in a range of original and creative ideas. I have watched, with great pride, my learners not only become more confident in their analysis of writers’ crafting, but transfer these skills into their own writing, creatively imitating a range of more challenging structures and decisions in their own pieces. I truly believe this model gives our youngsters more confidence, power and choice, providing them with the tools in which they can absorb a true and transferable knowledge of English." - Rosie Saunders - Secondary English teacher Okehampton College

FAQs

Who is eligible for the trial study?

Schools are eligible for this trial study if they have BOTH:

  • At least 29% FSM/Ever6 in the school
  • At least 20 students in Year 6 (September 2016 cohort)

What if we don’t have 29% FSM?

The requirement for 29% FSM/Ever6 has been set by the funder EEF. However those schools which have marginally less than 29% FSM/Ever6 should get in touch with the Exeter team.

We have three Year 6 teachers – are all required to take part in the trial study?

Yes, all Year 6 teachers within a school are required to take part.

This will ensure all Year 6 students within a school will receive the same intervention.

What does the CPD include?

The trial study will involve Year 6 teachers participating in 4 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) days which will: introduce the teaching approach, develop teachers’ grammatical subject knowledge, and familiarise teachers with the two teaching units for the trial study. 

Where is the CPD?

There are likely to be 3 venues:

  • a convenient location for the cluster of schools in the NE
  • a similar convenient venue for schools in the NW
  • a London location

When is the CPD?

As the CPD will be repeated regionally to minimize travel needed, the precise dates for the CPD days cannot be confirmed yet. However they are likely to be spread through the year, with the first one in September 2016 and the remaining ones likely to be in November 2016, February and May 2017.

Are there any travel expenses provided for the CPD days?

A modest contribution will be available for travel costs to and from the venues.

Who will be delivering the CPD?

Professor Debra Myhill – Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean, Director of the Centre for Research in Writing. Debra’s research interests centre upon: composing processes in writing; the role of grammar and metalinguistic understanding in writing; the relationship between talk and writing.

Dr Susan Jones – Senior Lecturer, Director of Doctoral Programmes. Sue’s research interests also focus on the role of grammar and metalinguistic understanding in writing, as well as gender issues in writing pedagogy.

Rebecca Cosgrave and Jenny Core from Babcock LDP Primary Literacy team based in Exeter.

Who decides whether a school is a Comparison or Intervention group?

Schools participating in the trial study will be RANDOMLY allocated by the York University team in July?

What is involved if we are an ‘Intervention school’?

Each school will pay £500 towards the CPD and teaching materials. The year 6 teacher/s will participate in 4 CPD days and will need to teach two fully-prepared units of work developed by the Exeter team; a fictional narrative unit (4 weeks) and a persuasive writing unit (2 weeks). The school will also need to send by the end of June 2016 their ‘end of term data’ on their Year 5 cohort who will be starting year 6 in September 2016. 

What is involved if we are a ‘Comparison school’?

Each school will receive a contribution of £500 towards buying in the CPD, with a member of the Exeter team coming to your school to deliver the CPD. The total cost for the 2/3 CPD days will be around £2000. Schools in areas where there are a number of Comparison schools can share the cost of this training. The school will also need to send by the end of June 2016 their ‘end of term data’ on their Year 5 cohort who will be starting year 6 in September 2016.

Do schools have to sign any forms for taking part?

All participating schools, both from the Intervention group and the Comparison group, will have to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which specifies all responsibilities and pupil data required for the trial study.

Who is funding this trial study?

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is an independent grant-making charity dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement, ensuring that children from all backgrounds can fulfil their potential and make the most of their talents.

The Project Team

Professor Debra Myhill Professor in Education, University of Exeter

Debra’s research interests centre upon: composing processes in writing; the role of grammar and metalinguistic understanding in writing; the relationship between talk and writing.

Email: D.A.Myhill@exeter.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 1392 724767
Dr Susan Jones Senior Lecturer, Director of Doctoral Programmes

Sue’s research interests focus upon: composing processes in writing; the role of grammar and metalinguistic understanding in writing; the relationship between talk and writing; gender issues in writing pedagogy.

Email: Susan.M.Jones@exeter.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 1392 724798
Dr Helen Lines Research Fellow

Helen's research interests focus upon: assessment of writing; writing pedagogy; students‘ metalinguistic understanding.

Email: H.E.Lines@exeter.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 1392 72396111
Dr Ruth Newman Lecturer in Language Education Email: R.M.C.Newman@exeter.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 1392 724746
Dr Annabel Watson Senior Lecturer in Language Education Email: A.M.Watson@exeter.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 1392 722899
Sara Venner Associate Research Fellow, University of Exeter Email: s.venner2@exeter.ac.uk
Phone: 01392 724863
Marijke Shakespeare Research Administration Email: m.shakespeare@exeter.ac.uk
Phone: 01392 724824

Rebecca Cosgrave and Jennifer Core form the Literacy training support team at Babcock Education supporting the project.