I. General Information
School Name: Rock City
School District: SD#68 Nanaimo-Ladysmith
Inquiry Team Members: Krista Betts, kbetts@sd68.bc.ca; Jamie Miyashiro jamie.miyashiro@sd68.bc.ca; Rachelle Neave, rachelle.neave@sd68.bc.ca
Inquiry Team Contact Email: kbetts@sd68.bc.ca
II. Inquiry Project Information
Type of Inquiry: NOIIE Case Study
Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Primary (K-3), Intermediate (4-7)
Curricular Areas Addressed: Language Arts – Literacy, Language Arts – Writing
Focus Addressed: Literacy
In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? How can we encourage students to apply phonemic awareness and phonics concepts learned through explicit instruction of phonics and morphology, to transfer into their writing?
III. Spirals of Inquiry Details
Scanning: We noticed in the scanning phase that many of our students have been explicitly taught phonics skills but they are not able to apply them independently in their writing. They are able to decode with the phonics concepts. We came to this conclusion through observation of their writing journals and other writing samples.
Focus: We were hoping to see an increase in the conventions of spelling within their writing.
Hunch: We think developmentally it takes longer to develop conventional spelling skills. We think that they also need multiple exposures to words. They also don’t have very much experience and practice with revising and editing. Classrooms are very stimulating and it’s difficult for students to stay focused on writing.
New Professional Learning: We explored the Daily 6 Traits of Writing Program. We also explored the Syntax Project, the Morphology Project and the Readers and Writer’s Workshop. In the spring, we did a Pro-D where we collected writing samples and collaborated in grade groups to assess their writing using district writing continuum.
Taking Action: Our district rolled out a new Writing Continuum and School-Wide Write, which we used in the spring as a way to collect data and as a starting point for teachers to collaborate on writing. We collected and collated school-wide writing data in graph form to have a visual of students who are emerging, developing and proficient in each grade.
We used the Morphology Project explicitly teaching morphemes (prefixes, suffixes, root words). Students practiced using the words through authentic activities: word matrices, sentence writing, matching definitions, constructing and deconstructing words and weekly assessments.
Check out our morphology wall>>
Check out our morphology construction of words activity>>
Checking: Through observation of their journal writing, we noticed that students’ writing did improve because of daily practice with editing and referring to the word wall, phonics, and morphological concepts. Since explicitly teaching morphology, we have noticed not only their ability to spell more complex words, but also their ability to use the spelling words within their writing because they know what the words mean.
Reflections/Advice: We feel like we still have more to explore in this area and would like to continue with this inquiry next year. In the spring, we will re-do the writing assessment and compare it with this year’s data to see if there are any improvements. Having the writing continuum has helped teachers be more cohesive with their assessment school-wide and district-wide. Having the time to meet with grade groups to look at writing samples and have other teachers assess your class’ work is beneficial.