Helpful Preconditions to Using Models in the Classroom

Helpful Preconditions to Using Models in the Classroom

Effective modelling - by which I mean showing students how to write well - empowers by enabling application of knowledge, articulacy, and the expression of complex ideas. It’s also deceptively complex, it seems to me, and therefore a highly-skilled element of classroom practice.

Here is an outline for a possible way to go about it. Many of us are sceptical about highly-prescribed processes, because they can appear mechanistic and lack an appreciation of context. The below is of course only one strategy and many others are possible.

My focus here is on using pre-prepared paragraph models, written in advance and shared with students in completed form. Live modelling has advantages but also limitations: I've often found that spontaneously writing a focused and clear model paragraph, whilst simultaneously managing a full classroom of teenagers, is tricky and can easily result in confusing writing. Pre-prepared models, however, can be precisely tailored and tweaked to ensure optimal clarity, are an easily shareable and reusable resource, and print-outs remove the need for time-consuming copying out by students.

A possible process then, might look like this:

Prior to the lesson

The following are helpful preconditions to using models in the classroom.

Students need strong knowledge of the subject matter being applied in the model. Sometimes, we can jump to modelling writing too early, without having invested enough time in securing the required knowledge - the historical events, the literary text, the scientific concepts etc. When this is the case, students have to think harder about the content, and are less able to attend to the writing itself.

A good quality model or models needs to be written. The use of differentiated models - ie a weaker and stronger version of a paragraph about the same point - can be very helpful to enable access for all, provide challenge, and, through comparison, to exemplify abstract concepts such as 'precision', 'depth', or 'sophistication'.

The teacher, in my view, needs confidence and fluency in their understanding of exactly what they are using this model to teach. This means knowing which features of quality the model exemplifies, and which of those will be given particular attention in this lesson. PEE type structures alone are inadequate for this purpose - showing that a paragraph ‘uses’ PEE, or ‘makes a point, then uses evidence, then explains it’ is far too vague to be helpful. 

Instead, effective modelling requires a deep understanding of the subject literacy of a discipline - what are the options available to an analytical writer when, for example, commenting on the impact of a quotation, or on the inferences drawn from a source? What are the conventions of the discipline, which of them does the model exemplify, and which will students be asked to attend to in this lesson? So - if we want to teach students to introduce a point or an idea, what are some of the different ways that this can be achieved? What are some different options students can learn in order to develop commentary on a quotation? The quality and extent of our understanding of this is an essential element of subject knowledge. If it is limited to surface features, such as 'it uses key words', or 'it uses terminology', or we are unable to articulate with precision what 'more detail' actually looks like and how it can be achieved, then this acts as a ceiling on what students are able to replicate and learn.

The teacher also needs to know how, once these features of quality have been isolated, they will teach the students how to produce similar features in their own work. Modelling in itself is unlikely to furnish students with the ability to write independently; there is a considerable gap between ‘seeing’ and ‘doing’. Therefore, the teacher should be clear on the explanation and resourcing required to complement and follow the modelling process.

During the lesson

Stage 1: Framing

Ensure that students know the purpose of the activity

-Share the question being addressed by the model answer

-Get the model answer stuck in the centre of a page to allow space for annotation

-Check that students have enough knowledge of the topic to understand the answer

SAMPLE LANGUAGE FOR FRAMING

- In this stage of the lesson we will look in detail at a strong answer. We are doing this to see what a good answer looks like, and understand why it is a good answer.

- The paragraph is taken from an essay which answers this question: “…….”

Stage 2: First and Second Read

Read the paragraph to the students.

- Students read along or just listen.

-In second read, ask them to think about why it’s good.

-Praise the model as a good example, and say it’s achievable for all.

SAMPLE LANGUAGE FOR FIRST / SECOND READ

- I will read the paragraph to you first of all. Afterwards, I’ll check that we all understand the main point that the writer is making - what’s the big idea here about…

- This time, think about what makes this a successful answer…

- This is a good quality response; but we can learn to write in a similar way

Stage 3: Focus on Quality

Teach the students why the writing is effective

-Focus on one feature at a time

-Pick out specific words and sentences

-Store simple criteria on the board and check understanding

-Students annotate their model

-Avoid overload – focus on two or three features only

- use discussion or ask for suggestions if helpful - but don't make it a free-for-all. Know where you are headed.

SAMPLE LANGUAGE FOR FOCUSING ON QUALITY

-Let’s look closely at the (opening / evidence / explanation / development) section of the paragraph. This student has written “…….”. This is an effective way to write because it has these features: ……….

-This sentence is high quality because ……..

- So to recap, when we are (eg commenting on a quotation) we are looking for ………..(eg increasing precision, detailed understanding, sophisticated expression etc).

Stage 4: Student Writing

Set the students up to write their own version

-Put emphasis on a particular section or feature of the paragraph

-Share sample sentence structures and language

SAMPLE LANGUAGE FOR STUDENT WRITING

- Now, you have a go, making this similar but different point…..

- Here are two or three sentence types that will help you to do this. Use them directly, or use your own versions if you feel confident enough. (May require more extended teaching, particularly if they are new to the resource)

- Remember the features of quality that we identified.

Sample resources for student writing

The most effective resources that I’ve come across in relation to bridging the ‘seeing / doing’ gap are sentence level models, adapted from the pioneering work of Phil Stock and Josh Goodrich in this area. These work by precisely identifying the functions of different sentence types, and presenting them to students as full models. For example - if using a paragraph model to bring attention to different ways to make introductory points, Stage 4 might include giving students the below options:

In my experience, these resources act as a crucial step in the process in unlocking students’ ability to write. This is because they make explicit the some of the options available, and provide the language needed to employ them.

There is a risk that this approach may be restrictive, resulting in students simply copying out from the above, at the expense of independent thought or authentic voice. I've found the opposite to be true - it gives students a limited level of autonomy that most benefits them when learning to write analytically. It allows them to write well, even at an early stage, giving the daily high success rate that so transforms student attitudes and motivation. And as their confidence and knowledge grows over time, their dependence on the resource decreases, resulting in authentic personal responses, flavoured  and enabled by quality academic expression and phrasing.