Using ‘Pregnant Moment’ Artworks as a Stimulus for Creative Writing.

Firstly, let’s establish what an artistic ‘pregnant moment’ is – it’s a defining, critical moment; a significant, frozen moment in time which invites the viewer to ask a multitude of questions such as,

What led this to happen?
What will happen after this moment?
Why has this moment occurred?

Douglas Wolk described the ‘pregnant moment’ accurately in his book ‘Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work And What They Mean’ (2007) *1

…the moment from which time radiates in both directions suggesting what’s happened before it and what’s about to happen after it

Put simply it’s a seemingly static moment which the viewer makes dynamic through their piqued curiosity and imagination.

I’ve been aware of both literary and artistic ‘pregnant moments’ for many years but a recent visit to the Lichtenstein retrospective at the Tate Modern (21 Feb 2013- 23 May 2013) led me to consider how well ‘pregnant moment’ artworks might function as a stimulus for story writing.

Lichtenstein was a master of the ‘pregnant moment’, carefully selecting and reworking images from popular comics of the time such as ‘All American Men Of War’. His 1965 painting ‘M-Maybe’ is a perfect example as is ‘Whaam’ (A painting from 1963 which I first met in 1975!) And today, with a simple search in Google Images hundreds of such works by Lichtenstein are accessible in moments.

Once an example has been chosen it should merely be shown to the class/group along with questions such as,

Who is this?/ Who are they?
What happened before this moment?
What made him/her say those words?
What will happen next?
How might the story begin?
How might the story end?

This approach has many benefits. It encourages both close observation and also careful consideration of artworks. The ensuing story cannot be written without both of these processes occurring.

Lichtenstein provides a perfect starting point for this kind of writing as the comic book style will be familiar (and non-threatening!) to many pupils.

Similar opportunities afford themselves if we choose other artists. One of my favourites is Ron Embleton. Although Embleton may not be as familiar name as Lichtenstein, readers of a ‘certain age’ will certainly be familiar with Gerry Anderson’s 1960s TV series Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons. Embleton was the artist responsible for the ten end-credit paintings depicting Captain Scarlet in various perilous ‘pregnant moments’.
These paintings seared their way into my imagination as a child (so much so that I bid on an original at Christies some years ago. I failed to secure the work but if anyone hears of any which are being resold please email info@alanpeat.com) and now they are readily available on the website http://www.seven-wonders.co.uk/scarlet.html

These ‘pregnant moments’ are like keys which free the imagination of the viewer. You can’t help but be curious; you can’t help but fill in the gaps.

Although an exhaustive list of artists who utilise visual critical moments as part of their oeuvre is beyond the scope of this essay I would recommend two further personal favourites: Edward Hopper and Carol Weight.

Hopper is a well known American artist and Weight is a much less well known British one but both are worthy of consideration and many of their paintings would work equally well as starting points for narrative writing.

A logical extension would be the provision of a range of comics in the classroom from which the pupils select their own critical images. Comics actually function as a nexus for both literary and artistic ‘pregnant moments’.The written and the visual are inextricably bound together and the most successful comic panels are superb stimulus material for story writing.

Alan Peat, April 2013

(I would be very keen to hear from teachers using these ideas in class. I’d also be keen to hear of other artists whose work could provide a useful starting point for writing)

For more than two decades I have been a keen advocate of ‘Steal and Adapt’ (Transformational Response) as a key factor in school writing development programs.

A recent visit to the major David Bowie exhibition at the V&A (23 March-11 August 2013) has finally prompted me to briefly collect my thoughts on this subject in print.

Bowie is clearly an eclectic ‘thief’, (…and let’s establish immediately that I do not use that word in a derogatory manner) an autodidact with a broad sweep of interests. He steals from film – Fritz Lang to A Clockwork Orange; fashion, Japanese theatre, Pop art etc etc

In the Spring 2013 edition of the V&A journal Dylan Jones discusses his ‘…innate ability to plunder’ though it should be noted that plundering is only one step in the creative process. Active selection precedes the act of plunder and careful combination follows thereafter.

When the stolen elements are judiciously mixed then a NEW thing/whole emerges.

Bowie is not a hoarder as hoarding is indiscriminate; he is more of a collector. He COLLECTS with care and then he COMBINES and it is through these two C’s, rather than the three R’s, that both fiction and non fiction writing can be successfully developed in schools.

It is not a new idea (See, I prove my point!!!!!): T.S. Eliot articulated it very well,

Immature poets imitate, mature poets steal…and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different.

What I am suggesting is that we actively encourage literary theft as it is central to the development of an individual authorial voice. In writing these thefts should occur at both a micro and a macro level,

MICRO LITERARY THEFT: Stealing words, phrases and sentences and recombining these in new ways

MACRO LITERARY THEFT: Stealing ideas and plots then adapting these. (All ‘Fan Fiction’  – new stories based on pre-existing characters- is a form of Macro Literary Theft)

The question arises as to how we promote this kind of theft in the classroom. Personally I think the key lies in the EXPLICIT linking of reading and writing. If we are writing fairy tales we should be reading fairy tales; if we are writing myths then we should be reading myths. Importantly this should occur without a time lag or transfer of ideas, from the texts pupils read to the texts they write, will suffer.

As teachers we should model the process of theft ourselves and then model how we combine ideas and ‘found phrases’ to form new ideas and new word combinations. We cannot achieve this if time is not set aside for reading WHOLE stories (as opposed to extracts).

To be truly creative pupils need something to creatively manipulate – something to reject, something to alter and something to copy. Theft is an integral part of the creative process and we should encourage it.

As David Bowie comments,

The only art I’ll ever study is stuff that I can steal from

and, as Yohiji Yamamoto pithily puts it,

Start copying what you love…at the end of it you will find yourself.

If we teach budding writers to ‘steal and adapt’ they too will ultimately find their own creative voices.

Alan Peat     April 2013

 

(I would be very interested to hear from schools/teachers who are promoting literary theft as a writing development tool. Contact using info@alanpeat.com) 

SWAPSHOP! Swap an album for a signed copy of any of Alan Peat’s books!

Literacy is one of the key passions of my life but those who know me know that music is another. I’ve collected some of the earliest recordings on wax cylinders for many years but made the mistake of converting from vinyl to CD’s in the 1980s. A couple of years ago I reverted to LP’s and have been buying from car boot sales, charity shops and specialist record shops ever since.

I was driving through Wiltshire recently when I passed a church hall with a sign which read ‘Swapmeet this Saturday. Bring along anything you want to swap.’ I thought about this on the drive home and decided to try a similar approach in order to fill some gaps in my LP collection. I thought I’d start with the 1960s…so, if you have any of the following LP’s in decent condition (no scratches on the vinyl and a nice clean cover!) and you’d like to swap them for any of my books (signed and with the inscription of your choice!) then drop an email to info@alanpeat.com I thought it was worth a try. Forgive me for adding a blog which has nothing whatsoever to do with literacy but as an obsessive collector I just couldn’t help myself…

1 The Mamas and the Papas. If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
2 Cream. Wheels of Fire
3 Bob Dylan. Bring It All Back Home
4 The Rolling Stones. Aftermath
5 The Doors. Strange Days
6 Franco Zeffirelli. Romeo and Juliet (the soundtrack album)
7 Jimi Hendrix. Electric Ladyland
8 Big Brother and The Holding Company. Cheap Thrills
9 Rolling Stones. Let it Bleed
10 Van Morrison. Moondance
11 Jimi Hendrix. Are You Experienced?
12 Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin
13 The Beatles. White Album (It’s a double album so I’ll happily swap two signed books for this!)
14 Credence Clearwater Revival. Bayou County
15 Rolling Stones. Beggars Banquet
16 The 13th Floor Elevators….any album at all by them!
17 Booker T and the MG’s. Green Onions
18 Charles Mingus. The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
19 The Sonics. Here Are The Sonics
20 The Monks. Black Monk Time

So, my fingers are crossed. In addition to the above list if you have anything else that may be of interest (on vinyl!) please contact me about that too!

All best
Alan Peat

Having read the recently published Y6 Grammar, punctuation and spelling- test framework  I strongly believe that this test should NOT take place. It is not that I believe grammar, punctuation and spelling to be unimportant. On the contrary, I have written books on all three (one is due for publication in June 2013). Without a thorough grasp of grammar and punctuation the meaning of a text can be adversely affected. Likewise, weak spelling can create a broad range of perception issues, all of which will reduce or wholly negate the impact of a written text. I will deal with why I believe the test should not take place after considering what is wrong with the test itself.

1. The first key area of the test I fundamentally disagree with is the mark scheme:

Grammar 25-30 marks
Punctuation 10-20 marks
Vocabulary 5-10 marks

This is an error of Titanic proportions and, at very least, the mark scheme needs to be inverted so that vocabulary carries the greatest mark weighting.

It is interesting to consider the work of Jane Austen in light of the mark scheme. Recently Austen’s original manuscripts were made available on the Internet and even a cursory glance through these demonstrates that the accuracy of Austen’s use of punctuation was, at best, erratic. Professor Kathryn Sutherland’s research (St Anne’s College, Oxford University) also demonstrates that Austen was not an accurate speller – the ‘i before e’ rule utterly eluded her. But, what a loss to the English language it would have been if Austen’s publisher had rejected her manuscripts on account of her spelling and punctuation errors. What truly matters is her ability to manipulate vocabulary (which ultimately drives the plot). Vocabulary is paramount. I wonder if she would have penned ‘Pride and Prejudice’ if, at the age of eleven, she had sat a ‘Grammar, punctuation and spelling’ test and been judged to be lacking? This sole example demonstrates the gravity of the current situation and yet it is not an isolated example. I’ll return to the literary canon later in this document!

Ask any editor (in addition to my International Educational consultancy business I also run a publishing company and have edited numerous publications including a recent volume on Italian art – I write this merely to establish that my argument is based on experience and therefore has validity) and they’ll tell you that grammar and punctuation can be corrected. Vocabulary is a different matter. You can’t add what is not already there. You cannot edit that which does not exist. It beggars belief that vocabulary languishes behind grammar and punctuation with a fifth of the mark weighting.

2. The second key aspect of the test I wholly disagree with is the over-use of complex meta-language. Let me explain my concern by way of personal anecdote. As a child I was fortunate enough to be taken to a range of art galleries. I would sit before the artworks and attempt to draw them. Roy Lichtenstein’s Whaam particularly fascinated me and later, when I considered the pointillist works of Seurat and Signac the link was obvious. Ultimately I started to write art history books and most recently have spent sixteen years working with Professor Brian Whitton (Durham University) on a Catalogue Raisonné of the constructivist artist John Tunnard. In short, art and art history have been a lifelong interest.

Now, in order to write (and edit) books about art one needs the language of art (art’s meta-language). Likewise, in order to write about literature one needs the meta-language of English. BUT, what precedes this is the interest of the writer. A person who enters an art gallery has, firstly, to be interested in art. A person who writes about art has to have developed a deep-rooted love of art. So it is with literature!

Our pupils are disenfranchised if they do not have a thorough grasp of grammar, punctuation and spelling BUT the best way to develop all three is certainly not through  decontextualised tests but rather, through engaging writing projects embedded in a curriculum which acknowledges how important ‘reading for interest’ is in the drive to raise writing standards.

I would also suggest that the reading materials used to inform pupils’ writing development are chosen using a ‘No brow approach’ (A Simon Armitage phrase – Mozart and Morrissey on their own terms; Shakespeare and comics of equal value.) This demonstrates the folly of the government’s recent proposal to create a PRESCRIBED reading list of 50 books for Key Stage 2 but that’s a separate debate.

3. The third aspect of the test which gives me cause for concern is the exact choice of meta-language used in the exemplary materials. I’ll take ‘subordinate clause’ as one specific example. I have always found the teaching of subordinate clauses more effective if I refer to them as ‘embedded clauses’ (the two terms are synonymous) in class.

I explain that you can ‘…take the extra details out of the bed of the sentence and the sentence still makes sense.’ If I am now forced to use ‘subordinate clause’ because that is the language pupils will encounter in the test then a teaching strategy which has been effective for a quarter of a century is utterly negated.

Who was consulted regarding the actual choice of words? It seems to have been presented as a fait accompli, without adequate consultation and, to be frank, using an embedded clause effectively is far more important than what it is called.

My worry is that the early over-use of a PRESCRIBED meta-language will be yet another barrier to the pupils’ enjoyment of both reading and writing and will make schools’ task of raising writing standards far harder.

Pupils who play with words stay with words.

4. A fourth area of concern is how dull the test is. The question stems utilised in the exemplary materials are instructive (if depressing!),

Put a tick to show…
Draw lines to match…
Circle the…
Copy the…
Insert three…

Any Primary teacher ‘worth their salt’ could easily generate engaging activities to replace these bland questions. I’ve argued against ‘Cloze procedure’ for more than two decades and have developed many activities which replace it.

Now, undoubtedly, it could be argued that ‘being interesting’ is not a prime function of a test. Surely, however, the point of effective education is to capture the interest of pupils so that ultimately they become self-sustaining lifelong learners. I would strongly suggest that anything which endangers this key goal of education should be COLLECTIVELY OPPOSED.

5.  The fifth worrying element is the spelling test. It’s a regressive idea. Decontextualised drilling has always been a bad idea and the weak attempt to apply context (‘Sentences from which targeted words have been left out’) would be laughable if the situation was less serious.

There is also evidence of an erroneous assumption which underpins the spelling test. The reference to ‘low frequency spellings’ concerns me as one pupil’s ‘low frequency spelling’ is not the same as another pupil’s ‘low frequency spelling’.

A second personal anecdote neatly demonstrates this point. I was teaching a group of eleven year olds and was discussing how some buildings appear larger on the inside than the outside to which one pupil responded,

‘Do you mean dimensionally transcendental?’

He then explained that he’d learned the phrase when reading his ‘Doctor Who’ annual: the Tardis is dimensionally transcendental. The test is too limiting AND it is merely a test of correct spelling. Although, clearly, I want pupils to be accurate spellers I feel that, of far greater importance, is the need to encourage a climate of risk-taking. I’d far rather read a text with a large number of spelling errors (made when the pupil is tackling unfamiliar, polysyllabic words) than a text with no errors by a ‘safe speller’.

The spelling test is a terrible idea and should not take place.

When I first read the Framework document I had Billie Holiday’s final album (‘Lady in Satin’ – I’d highly recommend it) playing in the background. Recorded when Holiday was in the final stages of heroin addiction her voice occasionally falters and yet the album is, in anyone’s book, truly beautiful. I considered this for some time – it’s the same with Johnny Cash’s last recording. His voice is destroyed but, rather than hide the vocal low in the mix Rick Rubin (the producer) chose to expose it with sparse arrangements. He used Cash’s failing voice to add poignancy to the lyrics of the carefully selected songs.

And therein lies the key problem with this kind of test. If Holiday or Cash (…or Ian Brown, John Lydon, Elliott Smith, Ian Curtis, Ian McCulloch…it’s a very long list) were tested using standardised criteria, such as the accurate pitching of notes, then they’d fail their singing test and what a diminished world we would exist in. Beautiful things are not always easily quantified- there is much that cannot and should not be reduced to statistics.

Returning to the literary canon, let’s consider the poet John Clare – he couldn’t spell for toffee but, by God, he could write a poem. William Faulkner was notorious at Random House for his misspellings and inaccurate use of punctuation. When Hemingway worked as a correspondent during the Spanish Civil War his editors repeatedly complained about his spelling errors. And F. Scott Fitzgerald wasn’t much better…but what works of literature they have left us.

So, to conclude, we’ve established that Jane Austen, William Faulkner, John Clare, Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald would have fared badly in this test and I’m afraid this leaves me gravely concerned that many, many pupils who deserve to be applauded for their progress in and enthusiasm for writing will be erroneously labelled (at eleven!) as ‘low achievers’. Austen would not have passed with flying colours and that’s the real failure of this test, a failure made quantifiable in a mark weighting which places vocabulary last.

We need a serious pedagogic debate which is not reduced to jingoistic personal attacks (on either side!) and this must occur soon. For all the reasons outlined in this letter (and more that I’d be happy to add) I do not agree with this test and consequently do not recognise its validity. I would suggest that, if teachers really are ‘trusted’, then they should, democratically, be allowed to vote either for or against it. The collective response of this body of professionals should then form the basis of a real dialogue regarding what should occur and how to progress in a pedagogically sound manner.

Free Online Comic Book Creators – Why And Which Ones? by Adam Rivett

Mr Crawley would bore us to tears with his knowledge of how they make baked beans during Geography lessons. Ms Hitchkins was somewhat of a “free-spirit” and most days involved some form of interpretive dance, art, music or more candles than health and safety now allows. The flamboyant Mrs Simpson made us poor Year 1s sing the flipping register every day giving her an opportunity to recapture the operatic career she missed out on!

Like it or not, these oddly passionate teachers have had an effect on me. I remember them and their lessons.

So, what personal passion do I inflict upon my pupils? Easy, but hopefully my “infliction” (or my affliction, as my wife has actually called it) has a real use the in classroom.

On this site there are several of us who are passionate about comics. Whether you think this is geeky, out of your comfort zone or a world full of tight spandex and delusional childhood fantasies of heroism, it doesn’t matter. Use comics and cartoon strips with kids and they get engaged and think you’re cool! They’re exposed to this medium more than you think: countless cartoons, magazines, websites and anything with a speech bubble. If some of the bestselling comic books are adaptations of Shakespeare and Conan Doyle, it’s got to be worth a look, right?

Below are a few of the free online comic creators that I’ve found and used. As well as the engagement factor, each can be used to support the teaching and learning of:

• Rules of speech
• Sentence types
• Onomatopoeia

Other suggestions include using these creators to explore:

• Description of setting
• Story structure (anyone tried an 8-Box story in comics form?)
• Pace (the more pictures and detail on a comic book page the slower the story)
• Impact on reader with suspense
• Stories within stories
• Flashback
• Paragraphing (with changes of setting and time signalled by new chapters or pages of a comic book)
• Any visual literacy technique you’ve ever used

Marvel – Super Hero Squad – Create Your Own Comic

VISIT SITE

The engagement factor here, particular for Primary, is incomparable as you have access to a lot of the characters seen in countless comics, magazines, films and, particularly the Super Hero Squad Show television show. Everyone has heard of one at least Marvel character, and here you can manipulate the best of them. It is very easy to use, has dozens of options and looks great. On a more literary front, you could highlight the way different characters speak through font, speech bubble and size and the backgrounds are detailed enough to spark a useful discussion around describing setting through senses.

• Incredibly easy to use
• Short comic strip or 22-page comic book option
• Multiple options for page layouts
• Around 150 backgrounds that you can manipulate
• Around 50 characters in different poses that you can manipulate
• Objects to add to panels
• 18 different speech and thought bubbles to manipulate
• 48 onomatopoeic sound effects to also manipulate
• Several different fonts
• Easy options to download as PDFs and Print

Myths And Legends Story Creator 2

VISIT SITE

Use this if you’re teaching myths and legends and need character ideas, settings and a real sense for the genre. There are far more versatile backgrounds, characters and objects here, but (a slight warning) the creator itself is less straightforward to use than Marvel with less on-screen instructions. It does include a tool for narrative boxes though, in which pupils could easily add their descriptions of settings, characters and actions as well as speech. The option to upload the pupils’ own artwork to type over is one of my favourite features and could increase ownership and engagement massively.

• Traditional story board layout (picture at top, writing at the bottom)
• 6 chapters with up to images per chapter
• 150 clipart backgrounds
• Literally hundreds of characters to use
• Hundreds of objects (including buildings and moving images)
• 16 speech and narrative boxes to choose from
• You can upload your own picture as a background
• Save and load comics online by signing up to website
• Easy print and download options

Comic Master

VISIT SITE

This is a designated KS3 resource. So say the people at the National Schools Partnership but I’d argue that the limited number layouts, characters and backgrounds would turn off KS3 pupils straightaway. They might like the stylistic qualities of the site but it is so small you are much better off using the one I suggest below.

• Straightforward to use
• 4 layout options
• 6 backgrounds, 4 characters in about a dozen different poses and some objects
• Characters are superhero based but less cartoony and more angular than Marvel’s
• Speech and thought bubbles
• Caption/narrative boxes
• An option to play different styles of music (Hip Hop, Heavy Metal and something called Hard House) whilst you work. Delightfully distracting!
• Easy print, save and load options if you register

Pixton

VISIT SITE

It is worth noting straightaway that you have to sign up and pay to use the full tools on Pixton. A free “Fun” account allows you access to all the useful tools but it is one per email address. You can get a 30-day free trial for a school though, which gives you an online activation code. It’s worth it once you’ve done it, but have a play first. A down side for Pixton is that the page layouts aren’t great but the ability to move and manipulate characters massively makes up for this. I got a cowboy, wearing a skew-whiff tie, to wink and tilt his head at me! First time that’s happened for sure! This poseable element is stunning, allowing for all manner of different character interaction and expression. I’d fully exploit this tool for character work, dialogue, back story and emotion. Here, you’ve got a comic creator that could be tweaked to tell any modern day story.

• 8 options for layout
• 150 characters (including animals)
• Poseable characters! This is huge as you can convey action and emotion much better.
• Speech bubbles to manipulate
• Categorised props, lots of them
• Around 60 backgrounds you can zoom in on
• How To videos for independent learning
• You can post your completed comics on the site for everyone to see
• Online competitions may encourage further use of the creator at home

Each of these is easy to use and probably easier for the pupils. For Primary I’d always use Marvel for its familiarity and accessibility. Out of the options here, Secondary pupils should use Pixton.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but a starting point to get you using these tools to enhance teaching and learning. So try it and see if, years from now, you’re up there with Mr Crawley, Miss Hitchkin and Mrs Simpson in terms of memorable teachers.

“At Crab Lane Primary School, Manchester, we are on an exciting journey to further improve our writing curriculum.  With successful implementation of whole-school approaches to literacy planning, coverage and talk for writing, we reached a point where our focus needed to switch to consistent language and structure around text types and a progressive approach to sentence level work. This is where Alan Peat’s training has been invaluable and given us the foundations for a whole-school writing drive.  The more we share Alan’s sentence types, the more the children want to use them! We are already seeing significant impact in Year 6, where the sentence types have been in operation since September and with the rest of the school now on board, we are expecting high quality throughout the school!”

“One such success story is Brandon Neenan, a child who at the end of Year 5 was a 3b writer. He has fully embraced the range of sentence types in Year 6 and is now producing Level 5 writing on a regular basis. Please see enclosed work as a recent example.”

To view some of Brandon’s work CLICK HERE.

‘If I differentiate my poetry writing sessions is it really poetry?’ was a question posed by Rob Smith on Twitter today. As the answer is far from simple I decided to add my response as a blog since 140 characters seemed unduly constraining in this instance.

The question is a deceptively complex one but the answer is …’it depends!’

Let’s take a scenario that every teacher will be familiar with – a class that they’ve worked with for a term. An effective teacher will know the individual interests of the pupils and DIFFERENTIATING AN ACTIVITY BASED ON PUPIL INTERESTS & INDIVIDUAL ENTHUSIASMS would certainly be a positive thing.

In the specific case of poetry a pupil who loves maths could use a syllabic format such as a Haiku or Tanka or even a Hendecasyllabic. The numerical element would be a possible ‘way in’ to poetry for a pupil who had previously been indifferent to it. Of course I recognise that number crunching and poetry are two separate things BUT it would also be a nonsense to assume that Haiku etc are not forms of poetry. Take the works of Basho which transcend the apparent constraints of the three line syllabic form and the necessity for the inclusion of a ‘kigo’ (My choice of the word ‘apparent’ is an important one. The philosopher/ writer Raymond Queneau rightly points out that a constraint need not be a limiting factor, in fact the whole of OULIPO’s work is based on the idea that the concept of the constraint is an important facet of the creative process..take lipogrammatic writing by way of example)

The example given above could be classed as a ‘Form choice differentiation’.

A further POSITIVE way of differentiating could be termed ‘Theme choice’. If pupil ‘A’ enjoys football then a football related poem could be the way forward. If pupil ‘B’ enjoys music then a poem on this theme could be the way forward.

AND THEN there’s always differentiation by personal choice…the ‘here’s a range of possibilities (perhaps modeled and discussed)..now have a go at whichever takes your interest!’ approach. I use this regularly in the classroom as an interested pupil is always a motivated pupil.

Differentiation does have it’s ‘dark side’ and can be a limiting factor…take the original National Literacy Strategy document (a flawed idea adapted from the eminently sensible Western Australian ‘First Steps’ model then ruined in the UK) and it’s division of a developmental continuum (good idea) into years and terms (bad idea)..this nonsense led to inappropriate differentiation based on which year and term you happened to be in.

So, that’s merely a scratching of the surface of an answer but I set myself a half hour deadline to reply so forgive clumsy grammar etc.

I’m all for freedom of expression and to write decent poetry you need to read decent poetry
and experiment to find your own voice, and make mistakes and be exposed to new ideas etc etc I’m a firm advocate of rule breaking but you can’t break a rule until you know a rule. There are also instances where too much choice can be a negative thing (..back to the philosophy of Queneau and Pérec: both well worth reading)

To conclude, a personal note…poetry is one of my favourite genres. My first collection (for adults) was published by Crocus books in 1992 then a further collection was published by Redbeck Press (also for adults). I had work featured in the Iron Press book of Tanka and then there are the two books for teachers. It’s been a consistent part of my life for over 40 years and tonight I will be reading some Douglas Dunn…I also love Simon Armitage’s work…
…this could go on all night but I hope that it provokes some discussion. The question that was posed by Rob is one that all reflective practitioners should discuss!!!

One word of warning: Inherent in the original question (though I recognise that it may have been a playing of the ‘Devil’s advocate’) is the assumption that differentiation might somehow destroy the integrity of poetry…as I hope I’ve begun to indicate in this blog: it depends!

LINKING ALAN PEAT SENTENCE TYPES & LEVELS.

When I wrote the ‘Exciting Sentences’ book in 2008 I had hoped for, but certainly didn’t expect, such an overwhelmingly positive response. The approach is a simple one: if you give a sentence type a name (such as ’2A sentences’ = 2 adjectives before a noun) and all staff use the same name then pupils will quickly develop a vocabulary which helps them to analyse sentences in the writing of others AND use a broader range in their own writing.
Feedback with regard to the impact of this idea has been forthcoming from schools as close to home as Stoke on Trent and as far away as New Zealand. Participants at my UK conferences do, however, often ask about the level at which sentences are taught and so, rather than wait until the new sentences book is published in 2013, here are the levels at which I’d INTRODUCE the sentence types. I’ve maintained the same order as the book for ease of use.

SENTENCE TYPE. LEVEL AT WHICH INTRODUCED

BOYS. High Level 1/ low level 2
2A. Low level 2
like a/as a. High level 2/ low level 3
3ed. Level 3
2 pairs. Level 4
De:de. Level 3 (initially thought this would be L4 but many pupils have coped
well with it at Level 3)
Verb, person. Level 3
O.(I). Level 4
If, if, if, then. Level 4
Emotion word, (comma) Level 3
Noun, which/who/where Level 3/4 (some pupils grasp it easily at Level 3, others find it complex…best to try it out in your own schools)
Many Questions. THE ONLY SENTENCE TYPE I’D USE JUDICIOUSLY..mainly because some pupils overuse question marks after its introduction. If you decide to include it, not below Level 4 for this reason.
Ad, same ad. High level 3
3 bad- (dash) question? solid level 4
Double LY ending Level 4
All the W’s Level 2
List sentences Level 2
Some;others Level 4
Personification of weather Level 3. (If taught effectively this is certainly feasible at Level 3!)
P.C. Another Level 3/4 one. Try with your own pupils.
The more, the more Level 3
Short sentences Level 3 (People often point out that pupils below level 3 can write short sentences which is quite correct. Knowing how and when to apply them in the context of a genre is, however, an entirely different matter, hence Level 3)
ing, ed. Level 3
Irony sentences Personally I’d suggest Level 5 though some have had success at Level 4
Imagine 3 examples: Level 4

Inevitably there will be debate about levels (quite right too..we don’t move forward without it!) so don’t be afraid to try out a sentence type at a lower level than the suggested ones above if you feel your pupils can cope with it.
HOW TO TEACH THE SENTENCE TYPES.

It’s not about numbers!!!! Using 6 sentence types in a piece of writing does NOT make it an effective piece of writing. The simplest way to explain how to teach sentence types is a Do and Don’t list.

DON’T LIST

1 Don’t turn them into worksheets
2 Don’t spend a whole lesson on a sentence type
3 Don’t decontextualise them

DO

1 Link them to exciting writing projects with real purposes and real audiences
2 Model them and use them as targets in exciting writing projects with real purposes and real audiences
3 Link to reading but not all the time. Pupils should read books just for the pleasure of reading books (whole ones too!) and too much deconstruction ‘kills’ the joy of reading!

Finally, I was recently asked which genres they relate to. Many can be used in a wide range of genres but some are more narrative driven. I’d be glad of feedback if any school has been relating them to genres. BOYS sentences work well in comparison/contrast reports. In a more advanced report an If,if,if, then sentence can provide a powerful opening.

I am currently writing a 2nd book of sentence types. It’s been ‘on the go’ for three years now but expect that in 2013 and in the meantime don’t forget that HOW sentences types are taught is the most important factor in their success or failure.

Questions for Answers.

I’ve been writing a new conference on effective teacher-pupil interactions in the classroom and wanted to share one concrete technique on my Blog: Questions for Answers.

The idea is a simple one and it’s interesting because it inverts the typical transactional norm of the Primary classroom. Instead of asking pupils to answer questions we ask them to generate questions! It’s a technique I’ve regularly seen used in maths sessions (The number is 50. What are the questions?) but I’ve rarely seen it used across the curriculum.

Taking history as an example, a lesson could begin with the following written on a Whiteboard:

Here are today’s answers:

Pyramid
Nile
Pharaoh
Shadoof
Old Kingdom

What are the answers?

Groups of pupils are given selections of books on the subject (In this instance ‘Ancient Egypt’) and, hey presto, we have a superb activity for assessing (by stealth) pupils’ information retrieval skills. Coincidentally it raises the cognitive bar!

A simple idea but a fantastic way of differentiating a session in any area of the curriculum! I’d be very keen to hear from teachers using this technique or others of a similar ilk!

I spend far too long in hotels and on those ‘Toby Carvery evenings’ I while away my hours on the IPad. Last week I was chatting to a teacher about Morrissey and realised that I regularly talk about songs and artists on my conferences so (to cut a long story short) I indulged myself and created a soundtrack for every year of my life. The rule: 1 track per year. I also tried not to include a band/ artist more than once but broke this rule with Radiohead. So here is my life’s track list. It was chosen now rather than at the time or I fear The Rubettes and The Goodies may have featured in the mid 1970s. From 1977 onward the tracks are mainly ones I liked in that year though I have to admit that I was a latecomer to the Pixies! It’s self indulgent but I enjoyed the process!!!!

1964 Kinks ‘You Really Got Me’

1965 Bob Dylan ‘The Times They Are A Changing’

1966 Nancy Sinatra ‘These Boots are made for walkin’

1967 Doors ‘Light My Fire’

1968 The Beatles ‘Happiness is a Warm Gun’

1969 Leonard Cohen ‘Bird on the Wire’

1970 Velvet Underground ‘Sweet Jane’

1971 Rolling Stones ‘Brown Sugar’

1972 David Bowie ‘Starman’

1973 New York Dolls ‘Personality Crisis’

1974 Sweet ‘Ballroom Blitz’

1975 Queen ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’

1976 The Sex Pistols ‘Anarchy in the UK’

1977 Iggy Pop ‘The Passenger’

1978 The Undertones ‘Teenage Kicks’

1979 XTC Making Plans for Nigel

1980 Joy Division ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’

1981 Grace Jones ‘Pull up to the Bumper’

1982 The Clash. ‘Should I Stay or should I go’

1983 Violent Femmes ‘Blister in the Sun’

1984 Echo and the Bunnymen ‘The Killing Moon’

1985 Talking Heads ‘Road to Nowhere’

1986 Beastie Boys ‘Fight For Your Right’

1987 New Order ‘True Faith’

1988 Pixies ‘Where is my Mind?’

1989 Stone Roses ‘Fools Gold’

1990 Tanita Tikaram ‘It All Came Back Today’

1991 Nirvana ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’

1992 Inspiral Carpets Smoking her Clothes’

1993 Depeche Mode ‘I Feel You’

1994 James ‘Sometimes’

1995 Radiohead ‘Fake Plastic Trees’

1996 The Prodigy ‘Firestarter’

1997 Radiohead ‘Paranoid Android’

1998 Madonna ‘Frozen’

1999 Blur ‘Tender’

2000 Coldplay ‘Yellow’

2001 The Beta Band ‘Human Being’

2002 Libertines ‘What a Waster’

2003 The Flaming Lips ‘Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots’

2004 Morrissey ‘Irish Blood English Heart’

2005 Bright Eyes ‘We are Nowhere and It’s Now’

2006 Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy ‘Cursed Sleep’

2007 Rufus Wainwright ‘Release the Stars’

2008 The Low Anthem ‘Oh My God, Charlie Darwin’

2009 First Aid Kit ‘You’re Not Coming Home Tonight’

2010 Eminem ‘Not Afraid’

2011 Kaiser Chiefs ‘Little Shocks’