#
Good Practice > Resource discovery > Inspiration Dice

Inspiration Dice

Main foci: Literacy Skills,
Secondary foci: Reflective practice, Extended Learning, Inclusive, Peer Assessment, Boys Attainment,

How was it used?

The unit was used to encourage reluctant readers (and writers) to read and respond to a crime story and then use that as inspiration and a scaffold to write their own story in the same genre.

Groups of pupils had A3 versions of the story and followed along as the Interactive version on the screen read the story to them.

They then used the interactive resource to analyse the story before going on to write their own crime story, using the prompts provided in the resource.

Printed big books and MP3 files loaded on to the ipod touch were left in the library area to allow the pupils to access the stories at will.

Impact and Outcomes

  • Having stories that are age appropriate and appeal to boys is a big help in engaging them with the task.
  • Having the story read to them by another voice other than the mine helped keep the pupils focused. It also allowed me the opportunity to move around the classroom to ensure everyone was engaged.
  • The printed big books and MP3 files on the ipod touch meant that pupils could choose the stories for themselves and this has been very popular with many of the children, not just the slower readers.
  • The structure of the stories gave the pupils a really good scaffold to build their own stories upon.
  • Having a story starter was a great motivating factor for the pupils who usually hate writing stories. They had something to go on rather than just a blank sheet of paper.
  • The story prompts helped them to organise their work and achieve a more structure story.
  • Using Voicethread to share their work allowed not only for reflection but also some great peer assessment.
Parents could also comment on their child’s work through voicethread.

Learner Feedback

I liked the crime story. I also liked reading everyone else’s crime story on voicethread afterwards.

Other Resources

Voicethread

Lesson Learnt

Having a story starter and a structure to follow really helped those pupils that usually struggle with story writing to complete a piece of work that they had enjoyed doing and that they were really proud of.