Animal Magic
Enquiry Question: Can a creative approach to teaching and learning improve children’s attainment in writing?
The project in St Margarets CE Primary School was undertaken in a mixed Year 3/4 class with 30 pupils. Alongside the class teacher there were 2 teaching assistants present in each session. 2 creative practitioners were also involved with specialisms in creative writing and art.
The children worked with a creative practitioner to write short animal stories that were created into a class anthology. Over a series of sessions children created characters, took them on adventures and solved any dilemmas that their character faced. They also went on a trip to Chester Zoo to closely observe the animals used in their stories. Their stories were plotted onto a story map, rehearsed and word processed within IT lessons. The children then worked with a second creative practitioner who showed how to draw animals and create an illustration for their story. Children also worked with two art students from Manchester Metropolitan University to create models of their characters. The models were used to decorate the classroom on a late evening celebratory event for the class.
Evidence was collected through discussion, memory journals, photos, writing and mini evaluations.
Impact
The children benefited from the creativity of the project and having the opportunity to work with a specialist practitioner. Having a finished product that the children were able to take home at the end of the project and be proud of has been a long term goal that has kept the children focused and motivated over the course of the project.
Teachers learned that children should occasionally be allowed to experiment and have control over their writing with minimal teacher input to allow them to feel comfortable, to be creative and cross boundaries.
Many reluctant writers, mainly boys remained engaged, stayed on task for much longer periods of time and showed more positive behaviour during sessions. One finding least expected was the popularity of one character created by a Year 3 boy who was not fond of literacy. This character became quite famous within the class and was even introduced into stories created by other children, which had a very positive effect on this child’s attitude to writing.
The future is to try and create an inclusive creative curriculum that is relevant to the children. Also to ensure that where possible guests or workshops involving other people or specialists are planned into units of work.
