A set of techniques that ease the load on working memory, differentiating writing for your learners with minimal planning required on your part

General Introduction

This blog is part of my Differentiation and Adaptive Teaching Knowledge Base.

I use the terms differentiation and adaptive teaching synonymously. To me, they are the same, as genuine differentiation has always involved adapting your planning and your teaching to meet the needs of the learners in front of you.

For me, differentiation is all the practical strategies, activities and techniques teachers use to personalise learning.

For ease, we can break that down into my five categories of differentiation: Activities, Questioning, Words and Writing, Things the Teacher Can Do and Things You Can Ask Learners to Do or Use.

This blog falls into the category of words and writing.

The Power of Scrap Paper

Scrap paper is a thinking tool.

It is an extension of the mind; something that humans can use to expand their capabilities.

For example, if you want to remember a phone number, you may choose to write it down on a scrap of paper which you then store somewhere for safe keeping.

You will have done this because you know that it is a much easier and more reliable method than trying to memorise the number.

Here is another example.

A friend asks you to help them with some accounting.

They have a collection of receipts, the prices of which they need to add up.

They call out the numbers to you one by one.

It is your job to produce a running total.

After the first five receipts have been read out you ask your friend to stop and go back to the start.

You take a piece of scrap paper and write down each price in turn, perhaps labelling them ‘1, 2, 3, 4 …’

When the last price has been called out you add up the collection of figures.

In so doing, you make further notes on the scrap paper – what we would commonly call the ‘working out’ involved in a mathematical operation.

Finally, you present your friend with the total and the piece of scrap paper.

They can check your calculations if they wish.

And finally, a third example.

You are sat in an examination hall.

Two hours stretch out in front of you. The question paper is deposited on your desk.

There are eight questions of which you must choose two to answer.

You will need to spend an hour on each.

At the back of your answer booklet there are some blank pages.

You turn to these and make a rough plan of what each of your essays will contain.

Throughout the examination you refer to this, using it as a guide and a point of reference.

With the plans sketched out and recorded you can give all your energies over to writing what it is you want to write.

Encourage learners to use scrap paper and you will be encouraging them to use a thinking tool that can extend the capacity of their minds.

In particular, you will be giving them a means of circumventing the limitations of working memory.

(Long established as being roughly 7 pieces of information, plus or minus two.)

This will help them to learn, to think and to make good progress in your lessons.

Here are five examples of how scrap paper can be used.

To plan something
To record information
For working something out
To test an idea
To organise your thoughts

Here are five ways you might physically include scrap paper in your classroom.

Give every learner an exercise book that they can use as scrap paper. You might call it their ‘rough book’, their ‘thinking space’ or their ‘scratchpad’.
Have a drawer of scrap paper that learners are free to access as they wish.
Place a basket of scrap paper on each table.
Encourage learners to use the backs of their exercise books as a scrap paper section.
Give learners mini-whiteboards and marker pens. These are akin to scrap paper.

In all these examples, it is about giving learners license to use scrap paper.

Helping them recognise that scrap paper is for thinking with, not for producing final work that will be marked.

Scrap paper is, at heart, a scaffold.

It is a tool in the environment we use to do more than we can manage on our own.

Training learners to use scrap paper means training them to overcome the limitations of working memory.

In the simplest way possible.

This is relevance to all learners but has particular relevance for less-able learners and those who might struggle to access writing tasks in your lessons.

How does getting learners to use scrap paper help you to differentiate?

Scrap paper helps learners to overcome the limitations of their working memory.

It therefore expands what they are capable of, helping them to make progress.

Scrap paper is a tool learners can use to help them with their learning.

It is probable that learners who are less-able will benefit the most because they are the ones who are more likely to struggle with complex cognitive operations.

Wherever a learner is at, scrap paper can be a great help.

A learner doing advanced writing can expand their mind through its use in the same way that a learner writing simple sentences can.

Bullet Points and Tables

Bullet points and tables are thinking tools, albeit ones that function in a different way to scrap paper.

Each offers a means through which to order, collate and present information.

Two examples will demonstrate the utility of these approaches, and how we can get learners to use them to make their lives easier.

Example One

I like chocolate and pizza and lollipops but the thing I like most of all is chocolate biscuits, especially the ones that have chocolate chips in them.

I also like going on holiday to places that are far away, and that have lots of sunshine.

This is because I like the sun and I like playing outdoors with my friends.

Things I like:

Chocolate
Chocolate Biscuits
Pizza
Lollipops
Going on Holiday
Sunshine
Playing Outdoors
Playing with Friends

Example Two

Many people would argue that the voting age should be lowered to sixteen; not least because of the other rights people of that age have, such as being allowed to marry and being allowed to join the army.

On the other hand, it has been argued that at sixteen years of age young people are still developing and do not have the maturity or life experience to participate fully in democracy.

At the same time, many have countered that this is true of plenty of adults and therefore is not a valid argument in relation to age.

Arguments for and against lowering the voting age to sixteen:

Arguments For

Sixteen-year-olds can marry and join the army.
Sixteen-year-olds have other rights, therefore they should have the right to vote.
Plenty of adults are not mature or do not have life experience therefore why shouldn’t sixteen-year-olds also be given the vote?

Arguments Against

Sixteen-year-olds are still in a developmental stage – physically, mentally and emotionally.
Sixteen-year-olds are not mature enough to vote sensibly.
Sixteen-year-olds do not have the necessary life experience to take full part in democracy.

In both cases, information presented in prose has been transformed.

In example one, a list of bullet points has been constructed.

This contains only the specific pieces of information relevant to the subject.

It is therefore easier to assimilate and manipulate.

In example two, two lists of bullet points have been constructed.

These delineate the arguments for and against the proposition.

Each argument is established as a separate piece of information belonging to one of the two categories.

The information could be put into a table for the purposes of comparison.

Again, this makes the information easier to assimilate and manipulate.

You can use bullet points and tables in the following ways to help the learners you teach:

Where you believe it will be of benefit, display information in bullet points or tables.
Encourage learners to use bullet points or tables when they are analysing a text or source.
Encourage learners to use bullet points and tables in their planning. This will help them to identify and order the information they wish to include in their work.
Demonstrate how bullet points or tables can be used as a transition stage between analysis and synthesis. This involves analysing an item and creating a set of bullets or a table that you can then use to create a piece of work that is your own.
Scaffold tasks by creating a bullet point list or table of information through whole-class discussion. Learners can then use this as they complete their work individually.

One final point.

Bullet points and tables are a means of displaying and conveying information simply and clearly.

They are not a panacea and inevitably some things are lost through their use as compared to other forms of communication (this is the case with any form of analysis).

Learners should see them as a tool or an aid that can help them on route to their main goal – the creation of an extended piece of work.

How does using bullet points and tables help you to differentiate?

Bullet points and tables display information clearly and simply.

This means that more learners in the class can access and use that information.

Learners can use bullet points and tables in their own planning.

Both techniques help learners clarify their thinking.

They also bridge the gap between analysis and synthesis.

The teacher can provide less-able learners with bullet points and tables that they have created for them.

This means some of the analytical work is done for the learner, making the task easier and more accessible.

In this instance, teacher-provided bullets and tables become a scaffold the less-able learner can use to do more than would otherwise be the case.

Using Sentence Starters to Differentiate

Our final technique for easing the load on working memory is sentence starters.

And they do exactly what they say on the tin.

Here are some examples:

In my opinion …
The first thing that I think is …
Many people would argue …
Today I have …
The one I think is best is …

In each case, the teacher is providing learners with a little leg up; a means to get started; a route into the work.

Beginning a piece of writing can be difficult for learners.

They may not know how to start.

They may know several ways but be uncertain of which to choose.

They may not want to start.

They may have a fear of failure that manifests itself as a belief that however they choose to start it will be wrong.

Or they might lack confidence and be put off by the whole act of writing.

Sentence starters get past all these issues in a moment.

You can use them effectively ad hoc, but here are five specific approaches you might take as well.

General Sentence Starters

Provide sentence starters for the whole class. These could be displayed on the board or, if you are only using one, spoken aloud for learners to write down.

Specific Sentence Starters

Provide sentence starters to specific learners who struggle to begin their writing. These can be given out on a printed sheet, or you can visit each learner individually and speak the sentence starters to them in turn.

Structure Guideline Sentence Starters

Provide sentence starters for each part of the overall structure of the work. This helps learners to get started, to break up their work into sections, and to begin each of those sections in a focussed way.

Learner-Led Sentence Starters

Having explained a task, ask learners to work in pairs to come up with some appropriate sentence starters. These are then shared in a brief whole-class discussion, with the best being written down on the board for all to see.

Learner Exemplar Sentence Starters

Having explained the task and set learners off, allow a minute or two to pass and then ask for volunteers to read their opening sentences. Learners who are struggling to begin can either copy what they hear or use it as inspiration for their own opening sentences.

How does using sentence starters help you to differentiate?

Sentence starters provide learners who might struggle to get started on writing tasks a means of getting going.

Sentence starters are a way of shepherding learners into a task, thus allowing them to focus on the content of their writing.

Sentence starters offer learners a model of how to begin their work.

It is likely that over time learners will internalise this.

In turn, this will help them become better writers who possess the confidence to get started on their own.

Sentence starters are both a scaffold and a confidence booster.

As a scaffold, they free up space in working memory.

The learner doesn’t have to think about how they will start their work and what they want to write.

The first of these is taken care of by the sentence starter.

Meaning the learner can focus their working memory on a single tsk – building the sentence out from the start they’ve been given.

They boost confidence by removing uncertainty.

Many learners who struggle with writing feel uncertain about how to start their work.

The range of possibilities can be overwhelming for them.

A sentence starter removes this uncertainty by specify how the sentence will begin.

The learner can then focus entirely on continuing on from that point.