GUIDANCE FOR TEACHERS – YEAR 4/5MODERATION CLUSTERS

SPRING 2014

This year the focus of these clusters will be the assessment of Reading and Writing.

To get the maximum benefit from the cluster, it is important that you bring to the session some appropriate evidence of children’s attainment.

Please select 2 children, for each of reading and writing, whose levels of attainment will be discussed at the moderation cluster. You can choose the same 2 children for both subject areas, or different children, as you wish. Please choose pupils working at different levels. You may wish to select pupils that you find particularly interesting or difficult to assess.

What to bring

Writing

For each of the 2 children, please bring three to four pieces of writing evidence from literacy and other subject areas. It is often useful, if they have one, to bring their exercise book too with evidence of drafts/rough work. It is also helpful if you are able to explain to colleagues the extent to which the writing was scaffolded, supported, independent etc.

To make it easier to share the work with colleagues, please bring 2 copies of each piece of work (i.e. the original plus one photocopy, or 2 photocopies).

Reading –

We have produced a suggested task for reading(details below). The purpose of this is so that conversations with colleagues can focus on similarities and differences in the way children approached a common task. The task willfacilitate good evidence for AF3(Inference/deduction) as well as other AFs. In order for you to be able to discuss the way your focus pupils approached the task, please observe them as they work and jot down any key points about how they approach the task e.g. ideas they discuss, choices they make, predictions, reasoning etc.

Please bring to the cluster your evidence from this task, such as any notes you have made when observing the children discuss where to place their marker.

In addition to the evidence from the suggested task, for each of the 2 children, please bring any reading records (e.g. from guided reading sessions or from hearing them read individually) that indicate the type of books the children read, fluency/decoding strategies and their level of understanding of the texts.

We look forward to working with you.

Please contact the Assessment Team if you have any queries (01438 844767), or check the website:

Reading Assessment Activity: Using probability to explore texts

This task can be used whole class, or in groups, or in pairs.

You will need to choose a text that is appropriate for your children and plan the statements that you use. (See example below.)

Give pairs/threes a copy of the probability scale (below) and a marker or counter.

Explain that, at different points in the story, you are going to stop and suggest something that might happen next. You would like them tothink about/discuss the suggestion and then place their marker on the scale, according to whether they think your suggested event/fact is likely to happen or not.

(You could adapt this using language such as ‘whether you think this will happen or not’ or ‘whether this will be true or false’, according to the needs of your children.)

NB as the activity progresses, children can change their mind as more of the story is revealed. You could go back to an earlier question as well as introducing new questions.

Assessment:Ask children to explain/justify their choice. Listen to see if they base their ideas on knowledge of similar texts and see whether they spot/considerthe author’s use of language.

Example - illustration of this activity, using the book ‘The Marble Crusher’ by Michael Morpurgo

NB – this is just an example.

Use any book, appropriate to the needs of your children, and plan in advance statements/questions that you could use at different points in the text.

After reading page 1

•Albert is going to be the main character in this story.

•Albert is going to be well respected in his new school.

After reading the first sentence of chapter 2

•Mum is always going to be too busy to listen to Albert.

•When Sid tells Albert another lie Albert will not be fooled the next time.

After reading chapter 3

•Sid will get away with his lies.

•The story about the marble crusher is true.

Part way through chapter 6

•The head will be cross with Albert’s mother coming to school.

•The head will think of a trick to play on Sid …etc

Additional notes for the task

  • As this task is not assessing Decoding, one way of completing the task is for the teacher to read out the text, stopping to ask statements and allow pairs to discuss the placement of the marker. This way the task can be administered to the whole class, or just a group. As a teacher you can easily observe where the markers have been placed, and therefore select pairs to explain and justify their response, comparing and contrasting with another pair’s placement.
  • Point out beforehand that there are no set right or wrong answers; so long as pupils can explain/justify the position of their counter. More importantly however, they are allowed to change their mind when listening to others, or as more of the story is revealed.
  • Draw out that as you read a story you are often making predictions or raising questions in your mind.
  • Do adapt the probability line, using language appropriate to your class. At its most simple you could have a line with Agree/Disagree or True/False.

Guidance for Teachers – Moderation Clusters Y4/5 Spring 2014– page 1 of 3