We Are Authors; Playful Literacies in EY3

The EY3 children embarked on a journey of creativity for their How we express ourselves unit. One of our weekly provocations supported young children to become authors. So, here is a reflection on how it went.

The challenge was to become an author. Only using paper, drawing tools, an imagination, no written words and to share with their friends during their Friday meeting. Matt Glover states that, “For many children, choice equals control, and since we want children to develop strong images of themselves as writers, we want them to have as much control over the writing process as is beneficial,” (Glover).

With this information at the forefront and ensuring that children had experiences to use their voice, choice and ownership (IBO), the children were given a week to complete their books. This gave the children responsibility for their work. They were agentic with the words used to represent their story, how much time they wanted to complete it, the content of the book, how many pages they used, whether it was fiction or non-fiction. Honestly, the list could go on for a long time!

Given the opportunity to create freely, with the pressure of writing removed the children developed imaginative stories that they were proud to share with one another. Our first author’s meeting had an array of books:

Non-fiction: Jack and His Life by Jack and My Families Book by Izia

Fiction:

Inspirational: Basketball Story by Zaara

Health: Unicorn Learns to Eat Healthy by Vibha, A Fat Person by Aloys

Social: Friendship Story by Deana and Lulu and the Crocodile by Lilou

Action: Dark Bunny Needs our Help by Santiago

Familiar Characters: Hello Kitty by Asiya, Sleeping Beauty by Aaradhya, Super Mario by Aurelia

What an array of a literature! The children enjoyed listening to and creating their own books, that they requested it again for many weeks to come. What unravelled over time was amazing. They co-constructed criteria to make their books, this included: a title and the author’s name; to use writing tools; to include a main idea; to use our thinking mind. They wrote books about mysterious creatures, themselves and created video stories. The children became more confident at creating stories, orating stories and giving feedback to friends. Children who struggled to share their ideas at the beginning became empowered and generated some super ideas. Children who were eager to share, at the beginning of the unit, decided they wanted to scribe their own books, thus, promoting learning without being asked to do so! It is clear to see that speaking, listening, symbolic exploration, self-esteem, creativity and personal, social awareness was developed. (MIS 2019)

Now, here is the sneaky part that I missed. For the purpose of enhancing my own knowledge gained from a professional development course taken over the Summer, I wanted to track if children enhanced their work when retelling stories or if they forgot parts of the story. So, the children pre-recorded their stories prior to the meeting. Believe it or not, when the children read their stories to a live audience, they remembered their original story and made improvements, demonstrating editing skills too! (Fahey 2020)

Reflecting on MIS Definition of Learning (2018), it is clear that the children have learned through experiences that are Learner Centric- their voice and choice of what to create; Experiential- creating and sharing their own authored work with peers; Applicable- improving on their skills week by week; Social- through the sharing with others; Constructive- giving peer feedback; Contextual- they used their own ideas and representations of them; Conceptual- understanding what an author is and developing skills to be an author; Emotional- feeling proud of accomplishments and sharing pride with their peers; Metacognitive- the desire to do better week upon week and thinking of their own next steps for learning.

What amazing learners they are!

By Chantell Nawrocki

Citations

Ambrose, Susan. How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching. Hoboken, New Jersey: Jossey-Bass, 2010. Print

Fahey, Jo. Playful Literacies: honouring children’s agency. Professional Learning International, July 2020, retreats.professionallearninginternational.com/jofaheyonline

Glover, M. (2009). Engaging young writers: Preschool-Grade 1. Heinemann.Short, K.G.,

IBO. “PYP Resources – Home – IB Programme Resources.” Ibo.Org, 2020, resources.ibo.org/pyp/works/pyp_11162-51463?lang=en. Accessed 2 Nov. 2020.

MIS. “Mahindra International School – Definition of Learning.” (2018).

MIS. “Mahindra International School – Mission Statement.” (2019).

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Human systems and economic activities	The study of how and why people construct organizations and systems; the ways in which people connect locally and globally; the distribution of power and authority.
Social organization and culture	The study of people, communities, cultures and societies in the ways in which individuals, groups and societies interact with each other.
Continuity and change through time	The study of the relationships between people and events through time; the past, its influences on the present and its implications for the future; people who have shaped the future through their actions.
Human and natural environments	The study of the distinctive features that give a place its identity; how people adapt to and alter their environment; how people experience and represent place; the impact of natural disasters on people and the built environment.
Resources and the environment	The interaction between people and the environment; the study of how humans allocate and manage resources; the positive and negative effects of this management; the impact of scientific and technological developments on the environment.

Living things	The study of the characteristics, systems and behaviours of humans and other animals, and of plants; the interactions and relationships between and among them, and with their environment.
Earth and space	The study of planet Earth and its position in the universe, particularly its relationship with the sun; the natural phenomena and systems that shape the planet and the distinctive features that identify it; the infinite and finite resources of the planet.
Materials and matter	The study of the properties, behaviours and uses of materials, both natural and human-made; the origins of human-made materials and how they are manipulated to suit a purpose.
Forces and energy	The study of energy, its origins, storage and transfer, and the work it can do; the study of forces; the application of scientific understanding through inventions and machines. (IBO, 2009)

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