What is the impact of peer-assisted sentence-combining teaching on primary pupils' writing performance?

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How did the teaching in the two groups (sentence combining and grammar) differ?

Scaffolding was provided in the form of cues that prompted pupils to write and make revisions to their own work as they moved towards using the sentence-combining processes.

Students were given two sentences to combine. A section of the second sentence was underlined and there was a cue in parentheses at the end of the sentence. The pupils were instructed to ensure the cue in parentheses preceded the underlined section of text in the newly combined sentence. For example:

They tried to put the worm in their bag.

The worm did not fit in their bag. (but)

These sentences might be rewritten as “They tried to put the worm in their bag, but the worm did not fit.”

The grammar instruction lessons focused on teaching how parts of speech (e.g. descriptive nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, subjects and predicates) can improve writing. Pupils were given sentences with a target part of speech missing; the pupils would then take it in turns to provide a solution to complete the sentence.

The pairs moved on to write and revise a short story using the parts of speech they had been taught in previous lessons. The pupils were given a planning facilitator which provided two options for characters, settings and topics. In addition, pupils were given five sentences that could be used for their ending.

The final grammar instruction lessons involved the pupils independently writing a story inspired by a picture. They were then asked to make revisions to at least three sentences of their work using the parts of speech that they had been taught in prior units.

Both teaching techniques were combined with the peer assisted learning strategy.

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction What impact did sentence-combining instruction have on pupils' writing skills? What techniques were used in the intervention? How were all the lessons designed? How did the teaching in the two groups (sentence combining and grammar) differ? How was the research carried out? How were the findings measured? What are the implications of this study for my practice? Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader What is the impact of peer-assisted sentence-combining teaching on primary pupils' writing performance? This digest found in English Send to a friend Word doc 60KB Printer friendly Collate for later How did the teaching in the two groups (sentence combining and grammar) differ? Scaffolding was provided in the form of cues that prompted pupils to write and make revisions to their own work as they moved towards using the sentence-combining processes. Students were given two sentences to combine. A section of the second sentence was underlined and there was a cue in parentheses at the end of the sentence. The pupils were instructed to ensure the cue in parentheses preceded the underlined section of text in the newly combined sentence. For example: They tried to put the worm in their bag. The worm did not fit in their bag. (but) These sentences might be rewritten as “They tried to put the worm in their bag, but the worm did not fit.” The grammar instruction lessons focused on teaching how parts of speech (e.g. descriptive nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, subjects and predicates) can improve writing. Pupils were given sentences with a target part of speech missing; the pupils would then take it in turns to provide a solution to complete the sentence. The pairs moved on to write and revise a short story using the parts of speech they had been taught in previous lessons. The pupils were given a planning facilitator which provided two options for characters, settings and topics. In addition, pupils were given five sentences that could be used for their ending. The final grammar instruction lessons involved the pupils independently writing a story inspired by a picture. They were then asked to make revisions to at least three sentences of their work using the parts of speech that they had been taught in prior units. Both teaching techniques were combined with the peer assisted learning strategy.