Guest Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Hi all. I'm hoping to get a little bit of advice. After taking part in EY Talking on Twitter a couple of months ago, I saw the subject of Learning Stories as a form of observation brought up and the idea of using them in my setting piqued my interests. Someone offered to send me a template for how they use them, but I haven't received anything, so I'm hoping that people can advise me as to how they write them and the layouts they use as right now, I'm flying a little blind other than knowing its a first person narrative with pictures used to support. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panders Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Can't say I know what you are referring to unless you mean learning journeys - you should take a look at tapestry on here look at page top right hand corner if you are able to use laptops or tablets in your setting. We don't use it but we make a scrapbook for each child in a ring binder, all observations and photographic evidence of a child from day 1 until they leave is recorded in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
green hippo Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Hi, Don't know if this is what you are referring to but we complete a 'Learning Journey' for 3 children each week. This is an A3 sheet on which we record observations and (more importantly) interactions that we have with that child for the week. Some are just short observations but there are also longer observations where we show how we have extended the child's learning over the week through our interactions and any further activities or resources that we have provided. The children have 2 targets/next steps and we make sure that we show how we have covered them during the week as well as other aspects. There is a tick list to show that the child has covered all areas of learning, indoors and outdoors. Then a box at the bottom to add next steps and a space for parents to comment. We add photos as appropriate but we don't write it in the first person. We carefully document any conversations. This is an extra to our usual short observations which are put on Tapestry. I don't re-write what is on this sheet onto Tapestry but do add any assessment against the Ages and stages and link to characteristics of learning. We have found that it has not only helped in moving the children on but also in getting the staff to focus on 'the teachable moment' and further enhancements but also in identifying next steps. We usually don't set anything up at the beginning of the week specifically for these children different to what we would do anyway, for example, adding an enhancement that promotes their target area, but will often develop something across the week linked to what we have already done with them. Of course, if other children want to become involved then this is fine. (The idea came from Anna Ephgrave's book 'A Year in reception') Green Hippo x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Oh we do a full learning journey for our children, I meant it as a type of long observation to go in their folders. Sorry, I should have been clearer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bee21 Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 We write learning stories for our children, they tell the story of an interest that we have followed. So there will be starting point or initial observation, followed by the next steps, there may be more than one next step and some stories may have several threads to them.We mainly do this with photographs and display them on the wall, to show how we plan for childrens interests and links to the EYFS. We don't use a template as each one is individual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panders Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Oh we do a full learning journey for our children, I meant it as a type of long observation to go in their folders. Sorry, I should have been clearer! Ahh that sounds interesting I will talk it through with mr staff see if we can do something similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klc106 Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 (edited) We do something similar. We try to do one each term, focussed on a particular next step, often something a child is struggling with but it may be a particular interest. For example, our older children expressed an interest in Space before half term, so we are doing a topic on space, which will include a learning story for the older children and a trip to the National Space Centre! This is one I did for one of our children who was finding it hard to remember the names of colours (he is my nephew so I have got permission to put this on) Hope it helps, any feedback (good/bad) welcome :1b learning story- exploring colours- autumn term 1 2013.pdf Edited February 21, 2014 by klc106 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 (edited) is it the New Zealand type of Learning Stories you are meaning? Tom Drummond has some to download on his site and he says on his home page all are welcome to download and share We tend to put several (smaller - printing costs!) pictures per page and talk to the child but the essence is the same - it's almost as if you've written down what you'd chat to the child about (no jargon or eyfs speak, we keep that separate). We find it loads easier than the formal observations we did in college, and the staffs enthusiasm for it is clear. All of these plus other things form their Learning Journey He links to a book by Margaret Carr and Wendy Lee and that contains more detailed examples too - both very inspirational speakers if you ever get a chance to see them in conference Edited February 21, 2014 by gingerbreadman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Can't say I know what you are referring to unless you mean learning journeys - you should take a look at tapestry on here look at page top right hand corner if you are able to use laptops or tablets in your setting. We don't use it but we make a scrapbook for each child in a ring binder, all observations and photographic evidence of a child from day 1 until they leave is recorded in it. This is how we use our LJ they do tell the story of the child's progression, mine own their own book they stick in the photos and decorate the books I have also seen books used to tell the story of a theme or topic with photos drawings etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 we used to do ones like Gingerbread has linked to.. a focus on a child's own initiated interest.. following it through using quick snapshot obs, photos and comments , saying what learning they got out of it (or could have) it usually ended up covering all areas of learning .. then what we provided to extend it..showing how we were thinking about the child and their individual learning.. with a follow up page for comments by parents etc .. it was a single focus and one part of a learning journal that could be used on its own if needed .. Ours were often only one page with pictures and comments.. parents loved them as did our early years team .. we used to put them on display for parents to read on a learning wall for us all children had one a term if full time.. part time could be less as we did not see them as much so found it harder to follow through more than one session as interests would be different for each one.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I worked in NZ for a while and we used learning stories, like Gingerbreadman says the term originates from a lady called Margaret Carr in NZ. They are basically just a more narrative way to record your observation. They are meant to be engaging for parents and children, so easy and interesting to read back. Lots of photos was considered essential as this is much more accessible for children and parents. We used them in conjunction with post it note type obs as well . Here are the main points that I was taught were essential ingredients: Catchy title - so it seems more like a story About 3 photos if possible Tell the story - we used them for 'significant learning' so it might well be something you've seen develop over the week/weeks Use child's direct speech were possible Comment from practitioner about how this links to AOL...what does it tell you about the child Child's voice - we always read the story with the child and got their thoughts/comments on the learning and then added this at bottom Parents voice - we encouraged parents to read them once written and write their comments in box at bottom. We used to try and ask a question at the end of the story like do they do this at home? Type of thing to encourage parent interaction. We also had a system set up for notifying parents that a new learning story was available but this can easily be done with Tapestry Once you had child and parents comment develop next step In terms of template I don't have one as we just do them on Tapestry and write the 'story' in the notes section and add a heading that says child's voice , parent's voice is just their comment on the ob...asking questions of parents and children at end of the story is a great way to get a response. Hope that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunt Sally Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Thank you for that, some lovely ideas. I use Tapestry in a similar way but I really like the idea of asking questions of parents which I hadn't thought of doing. I wish we could underline and use bold etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Awesome guys, thank you so much. This has definitely given me some food for thought in creating something to propose for use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjcree Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Ah - just had a thought - if you have access to an iapd you could try 'My Story Maker for Kids' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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