Success Criteria

[Guest]

What we need to do is think of some basic learning intentions that we will all find useful - perhaps we should start there? Should I start a new topic? Some of my maths L.I.'s are very specific to the scheme I am following, so I hope they are useful to you too. Learning Intentions I have though of initially:

 

L.I.:To copy any number between 1-5 correctly.

 

S.C.:

Listen carefully to the number

Find the number on the number line

Look at the number carefully

Copy the number

Check the number you have written looks the same

 

(thought I might as well include this one as I used it last term for numbers to 20 and with constant practise like this, most of the children were writing numbers from memory without reversals).

 

Other L.I. I would like to try and create S.C. for are:

 

To share nicely.

To work together.

To take turns.

To hold a pencil correctly.

To colour a picture.

 

The list could go on! Come on guys, have a go...we can all help each other - I can definitely say that you will find it useful!! (but more importantly, so will the children).

 

Waiting to hear.....!

[Guest]

hi

 

i shall have a go!

 

L i : to colour a picture

 

choose a part of the picture to colour

think about what colour it should be

find the right colour pen/ pencil or crayon

carefully colour in making sure there's no spaces left

choose another part to colour in

 

i suspect it could be improved on!

 

should it be more concise?

 

Lizz

[Susan]

Well done Lizz!

I think I need to switch my brain on. I'd like to see something about the lines but perhaps thats not necessary?

[catma]

There was another thread like this re Target setting.....can't find it now!

 

I added our literacy target sheet to that and will stick it below. Children had selected targets on card, on the table during guided writing times as their writing targets. Sometimes I also did them as group targets on a card for group work.

targets.doc

[Guest]

Well done Lizz! That was super!

 

I too initially thought I would like something about the lines, but as I said in a previous message, as the children progress, you can add to the succes criteria. So that in the case of colouring, the first lot of success criteria may focus on choosing the correct colour to colour in. This does not necessarily mean 'colour realness', perhaps it could be teacher or child dictated, but it would be an opportunity to ensure that the children know their colours.

 

The next lot of SC might include "colouring carefully", then "make sure there are no 'white bits'" and "make sure that you stay in the lines." Personally, I think I would try & get them to stay in the lines and then focus on not leaving any gaps in their colouring, but that's personal preference!

 

All your SC were positive statements, I think that is very important. Things like: remember too..., make sure....., check that.... etc.

 

I don't think that you need make your SC more concise, you will talk about it with the children prior to the activity & obviously it is unlikely that they can read them, but over time with continued reference to SC the children learn them by heart!! Perhaps you could laminate the SC on a sheet and put it with your colouring paper? Then it will remind you, any other adults and the children that there are criteria!

 

It is important to start SC with criteria that all the children can achieve and then add things to progress their learning.

 

Skills based SC are easier than attitudes, so the PSE developement LI's are harder to write SC for. Anyway, I'll have a go!

 

LI: To share nicely

 

SC:

Make sure that you say 'please' when you ask to use something

Wait until you are given it or told you can take it

Remember to say 'thank you'

 

It seems very short, but my mind has gone a bit blank trying to think of the different scenarios that happen when trying to encourage sharing. Am a bit worried about snatching & wanted to put something like "wait patiently until the person has finished using it" but couldn't think how else to word it in child-speak! Any suggestions/amendments? Can you do better? Please post & let me know as I am going to start collating them ready for the new term!

 

Right. Who's next for a shot?! Don't be shy, it isn't easy, but even if you start, we can all chip in!!

[Guest]

We are starting a new thing in school for September that is basically the same as what you've been talking about here- WALT and WILF, which stand for : What Are we Learning Today and What I'm Looking For. So bascially learning objective and what it is I will be looking for in their work to prove that they are on their way or have achieved that objective. Also on a Friday morning we will be having FAT or Formative Assessment Time. In my class I'm going to call it challenge time, as my reception children will not be donig the formal stuff that my Y1s will be. My Y1s will be looking at their targets and working on them, my YRs I will challenge them to do something better than they did this week- in any area in the classroom, so improve a model etc etc. Well that's the theory of it all, dunno if it will work yet! Let you know!

[Guest]

That sounds really interesting Nichola - let us know how you get on and what's involved. I started to use Walt & Wilf last year and eventually found it too time consuming. I could see it working better for Y1/2 because it is more likely that they will all be working towards the same learning objective at the same time. With reception, I found I had too much going on. But I would be really interested in knowing how you find it. You are right, it is more or less the same as success criteria, but I have found it easier to work with SC and have enjoyed using the word 'success' with the children. Many schools in Wales (where I trained) use Walt & Wilf throughout the school successfully. Please update us with how you get on, if you have any great tips, I would love to hear them!

[Guest]

This thing is a whole school system that we've been told we are doing in September (next week infact, scary!) Our acting head used it at her regular school and it worked for them really well apparently. I think it will be hard for my class, but I can see it working much better up the school, especially in the juniors.

I shall let you know how things go, especially with us reviewing it in a few weeks as we have to decide if that's how we shall be having things when OFSTED come in the week before half term!

I'll keep you posted.

[Guest]

I would personally never have "colouring in wihtin the lines" as a target. To me, children colouring in somebody else's printed picture is not creative and sure i do give children a choice in theri free wrting corner but i do not insist on or expect 'neat' colouring in. Perhaps i'm in the minority here.

[catma]

I wouldn't be too scared of it Nichola, it's just telling children what they are going to be learning and what they will get from it.We didn't call it anything but we had A3 laminated cards thoughout the school that we wrote child speak learning outcomes on with dry wipe pens, for focus activities in R and obviously for lessons in 1-6. It helps to contextualise the learning and clues children in to what is expected of them, so I can't see doing an activity or lesson without doing that first ! Sometimes it didn't need to be written so it was orally done instead but Ofsted WILL expect this in some form or another at the start of your sessions and referring back to them during, ensuring children know what they are about anyway, whatever you call it!!

 

I'm in agreement about the colouring in bits here, personally I avoided colouring in templates and such like as much as possible, for the same reasons as you Leo.

 

Cx

[Susan]

I dont disagre with you about colouring sheets being non creative but children do enjoy them, especially the children I have been working with as they didnt get those opportunities at home!

It is a useful skill re hand eye coordination and pencil use and is often a good readiness indicator for other more formal skills, including reading. I have also taught children handwriting patterns and encouraged them to use these for colouring in.

I would never discourage a child by suggesting that their colouring was not neat enough nor do I insist upon it but it is a useful skill and can be encouraged.

[Guest]

Susan, I think you and I are so on the same wavelength as I always seem to be agreeing with you!

 

I have to confirm that I do not insist on children colouring in pre-drawn sheets and neither do I actively pursue it, however they love them and often choose to colour them - I have one drawer full of different pictures, dot-to-dots etc and a drawer with plain paper, the children are free to choose, when appropriate. I do feel that colouring in is an important skill as the children learn pencil control in an enjoyable way. Also, how many times have you seen a child draw a picture and then use crayons to 'scribble' over the top? I'm not saying that it's not acceptable, it is a learning curve but it is a skill I feel we need to teach them.

 

As I said with regards to the success criteria, you would not add 'colour within the lines' until you feel that the child has sufficient control to begin to achieve that and 'succeed'. My classroom is 'worksheet free', I believe in practical activities, but I also value the enjoyment and skills practised by the children when colouring pictures in.

[Beau]

I'm glad they're not completely frowned upon. I always print off colouring in sheets for my topics and now have a drawer full of them which the children can access if they like. Many of them do and enjoy colouring in. I find it good to keep an early attempt and then a few throughout the year. You can see real progress from a child who scribbles over the top indiscriminately, to one who chooses colours and colours in carefully. They are practising important skills as they do it and if they enjoy them, why not?

[Guest]

A child colouring over what he has taken care to draw- surely that must be his schema!!!!

[Guest]

There is a story that's been going around for a few years (said to be true)

 

A little boy used to paint and draw wonderful pictures of horses, they had many adventures during their creation on the paper, they were bright rainbow colours, had wings and could fly, etc etc...he would spend a long time at this chosen activity.

He persued this interest on a daily basis, for a whole term, talking about his representations as they were painted.

He proudly showed his pictures to his nan when he was picked up each day( they were a mass of colour, with no recognisable form, to the eye of the person who had not watched or listened whilst they were created).

 

Nan knew he loved horses and for christmas she bought him a colouring in book, full of horse pictures in different scenario's. The pictures were not colourful or 'active' they were black and white. When he returned to preschool in the January, he never painted another horse picture again.

 

We ask ourselves, did his interest in horses just stop?

Did he learn (from the book) that horses look a certain way and should therefore be drawn that way?

Did he learn (from the book) that horses are static, always appear the same, and don't enjoy wonderful adventures of flying etc....

 

I don't know the answers but I always think about what message I am giving to a child about what they will learn or understand from an adults representation of anything that is reproduced on a worksheet or colouring-in sheet, before I would use one.

 

As a child I used to enjoy 'scribbling over an area of blank paper, then colouring in the abstract shapes that are formed. As I got older I would have rules, when colouring in, not to put the same colour on an adjoining area. (difficult to explain this I shall try and do an example and attach it)

[Guest]

help don't know hoe to attach a file. Did one in paint doc, put on my desktop, now what do I do???

[Sue R]

Not sure what advice to give re attaching your picture, but I used to do exactly the same thing!! Even developing the the same rule about same colours and adjacent areas!!

 

Used to do scribbles for my own children to colour in when they asked, too.

 

Sue

[Rea]

I am the worst person in the world to ask about putting links on....but I still do that when I'm doodling. There is a book I bought my children but it was a long time ago called the Anti colouring book. It gave ideas of what to draw and the child is left to their own ideas. Bit old for under 5's though I think.

[Beau]

I used to play a game with my mum. She would scribble on a piece of paper and then I would have to take it and try to make a picture with it. Then I would do the same for her. Doesn't sound exciting but we liked it.

[hali]

My kids have the anti colouring book. its excellent but as Rea says but is for older children

[Guest]

How are we getting on with success criteria for other areas?

 

Maybe we should concentrate on some personal & social skills?! What did you think of my 'sharing criteria'?

[JacquieL]

He learned that his efforts were not valued because they did not look like the real thing, so this did nothing for his self-esteem. After that he didn't want to risk doing his own thing. I have seen this so many times where perfectly able, happy learners have not had their own pictures, emergent writing or models valued, often I'm afraid by parents. They need to be assisted to understand early learning.

In the main I'm with Leo on this one. Whilst children do enjoy colouring in sometimes and I would not dream of stopping them, I would aks myself what are they learning and is there a better way of doing it? It is definately not creatvie development, but does meet hand-eye co-ordination needs. I often give colouring sheets as a free activity and at the end of term as for fun. Usually it is girls who enjoy it most. I do add tracing as a choice activity linked to interests, and some the children enjoy colouring in their pictures afterwards.

I wouldn't be worried about them choosing the correct colour either. Children soon start producing work in 'correct' colours, but why should they do what adults regard as correct, unless it is part of a learning objective like looking at leaves, mixing colours to match and painting or printing Autum leaves etc?

A child's objectives may be different from ours when colouring in. The child may just like the pink crayon or wish trees were blue, or pick which ever colouring tool comes next. The colours they choose may be part of a schema.

I think their hand-eye co-ordination can be developed in other more fulfilling ways.

[Guest]

Hear!! Hear!!

[Guest]

JacquieL I agree with you completely you just have to listen to children's comments to see they have a completely different perspective on the world to adults so it would be natural to think that they also have a different perspective on choosing activities like colouring...and so follows that their reasons for choosing colours which are not necessarily the colour an adult would choose.

 

However, we're getting away from the topic here. I often find it quite difficult to give success criteria to my reception class mainly because i'm worried about pitching them at the right level for all the children to feel they are achieving but so that the more able are being pushed that bit further.... does this make sense?

[Guest]

I haven't really been posting much recently, but I am hoping to re-instate this topic. There is so much around at the moment about assessment for learning and encouraging children to be in charge of their learning, that I think the original aspect of this thread is really important and useful for us to discuss and share. I understand and respect the whole conversation about children colouring, but perhaps we could now go back to sharing success criteria with the children, in order to help them focus on their own learning.

 

Other L.I. I would like to try and create S.C. for are:

 

To share nicely.

To work together.

To take turns.

To hold a pencil correctly.

 

These were some examples (excluding colouring) that I initially suggested that we could find success criteria for, perhaps you have a different learning intention that you wish to break down into 'child-speak'? Let's get sharing those ideas again!

 

As I said in an earlier reply, SC for skills-based L.I.'s are easier to write, I am really keen to try and write some SC for personal & social skills. Anyone out there care to join me?!

[Guest]

i have a book for each child - with a page each term. I intend to write out the "targets" in child speak- I can.... and when the chidl colours it in on 3 occasions then we can move on to the next target.

target_sheet.doc

[Helen]

Hi Shelley,

I have sat here for five minutes trying to do the first SC for "taking turns" and I've failed miserably!! This is SO hard

I've thought about:

* being able to agree to who goes first (but how do we do that? Are we submissive and wait for others to tell us who is going first, or do we take the initiative and dictate the order of play?!)

* it has to be a very small group first, so the waiting is not interminable! 3 children, then 5, maybe?

* waits without protest

*waits happily

*has own turn

*willingly passes the die, etc onto the next person

*repeat once, twice, etc.

 

How did I do?

[Gezabel]

Better than me that's for sure Helen!! I have been sitting here for ages thinking about "sharing nicely" and still at the "Mmmm!" stage!

 

I thought about two children engaged in cooperative play "sharing nicely" we have all seen it, commented on it but how do you actually define 'nicely' and think of criteria that could be used? and having done so could it be that the children may achieve in a one to one or small group situation but then in a larger group may not share at all never mind nicely!

 

Right off to find a thinking cap and for now can only say YES Helen, this is SOOOO hard

[Susan]

I agree, very tricky!!

For some children the maturity they need to successfully manage these skills is almost beyond them. The egocentricity of these little people surmounts all.

 

I think there's a double pronged approach to both sharing and taking turns and it has to be the ability to relinquish the object and to wait for it. But how to express that in child speak I'm not sure. perhaps its just too late now!? Or perhaps it is simply

can wait patiently

can hand something over without complaint.

????????????

[Beau]

I think the other problem is that a child may appear to have grasped the idea of 'sharing nicely' one week and the next all hell is let loose and you find this same child is at the centre of the friction and is hanging on to a toy for all hes/shes worth refusing to share or budge. At what point do we say that a child has reached a goal???