What is a "Bump It Up" wall and why should you use it?

If you follow my Facebook page or Instagram, you will have no doubt seen my "Bump It Up" Walls. After a number of queries about these products, I really wanted to share how I, and other teachers around Australia, incorporate Bump It Up Walls into our daily teaching practices. 

A Bump It Up Wall is a visual display which provides explicit and levelled benchmarks for students and teachers to refer to and track learning. The Bump It Up displays I have created are based on the Literacy Continuum and each level corresponds to continuum clusters. 

(Miss_f44 has both my Reading and Writing posters Displayed)

My initial reason for creating a Bump It Up Wall was to foster student self-assessment and allow students to track and move learning forward. As a NSW teacher, I was also required to track students on PLAN, the DET's online literacy continuum program. With the need to track students across the continuum and desire to make learning accessible and visible to students, the Bump It Up wall was born!

After many hours of professional readings and trial and error across a number of school settings, I've developed a product that has dramatically transformed my teaching practices. Through this process, I've also discovered 3 fantastic reasons for all teachers to use the Bump It Up system!

According to leading educational researcher, Dylan Wiliam, there are five key strategies for the effective implementation of formative assessment, or assessment for learning, and the Bump It Up Wall addresses these perfectly!

 

As an assessment tool, the Bump It Up wall is perfect for sharing explicit learning expectations. Each level details the success criteria for the accompanying literacy cluster and while all students begin and progress through the levels at a different rate, the use of clearly defined benchmarks provides each student with a personal learning goal that is both explicit and challenging. Additionally, teachers are already assessing students against these very descriptors, so it seems only fair that teachers share these expectations with their students. 

With the use of clear learning intentions and success criteria teachers are able to effectively question students about their learning. With this, develops a shared language about learning where teachers can provide explicit and meaningful feedback. Providing feedback is made especially easy as I have included feedback slips in both my reading and writing packs.

The remaining two strategies self assessment and peer assessment are also fostered through the use of the Bump it Up system. With a clear understanding of learning intentions and success criteria and the immediate feedback students receive from using this resource, students quickly develop the higher order thinking strategies required to self and peer assess, and what's more - they love it!

As you may have already noticed, this resource similarly aligns with the Quality Teaching Framework and AITSL Professional Standards for Teachers.

Of course being based off the Literacy Continuum, the Bump It Up Wall is curriculum aligned. 

 

Therefore utilising the Bump It Up wall and its accompanying resources will allow you to effectively teach and track students across the curriculum and continuum. Not only will this data influence how you teach and plan your lessons, it will provide the perfect snapshot of student progress when it comes to report time!

Within both the reading and writing packs there is absolutely everything you will need to carry out high-impact teaching and learning. 

Let's take a closer look inside!

Reading:

Writing:

 

Wishing you all the best on your Bump It Up journey,