Writing

A Presentation for Parents

Literacy

“Talking is an important aspect of preparation for writing. Not only does it

clarify thinking that may, later, be expressed in writing, but talking can also

motivate and stimulate ideas”

Children read to write and write to read.

Early stages of writing

Mark making and emergent writing developing into standard written English.

Children’s writing:Is valuedHas a purposeIs linked to other areas of literacyDirect teaching and feedbackTime and opportunity to practise and improve

‘BIG’ Writing

Child centred approach which uses interactive teaching methods.

Focus on 4 main areas:Vocabulary

Connectives Openers

Punctuation

Violet Vocabulary

Victoria’s Super Powers Victoria has the power to help

people really see how things look.

She holds the secret of how characters and places really feel.

Although words for sights and sounds are her favourite weapons, she knows the importance of taste, touch and smell too.

Victoria knows how to pick just the right nouns or verbs to give writing real power over a reader.

She uses adjectives and adverbs to hypnotise people into really seeing and feeling a piece of writing.

Vocabulary

WOW words

You can support your child by reading to them and with them – no matter their age! You can share the WOW words you find in your own reading. Or talk with them about different words which can be used in different situations.

Captain Connective

He links everything together

The Captain’s Super Powers The Captain holds the team

together and without him writing can be repetitive and boring, holding no power over the reader at all.

His greatest power is to link ideas together providing a net to catch any reader.

Connectives

These join sentences together, increasing sentence complexity, but can also be used as a sentence opener.

We encourage children to use a range of different connectives.

To support your child you can discuss different connectives and expose them to connectives beyond ‘and, but and because’. Encourage them to try out different connectives in their writing and draw their attention to the connectives you use when you write.

Incredible Opener

The Incredible Opener’s Super Powers

The Incredible Opener is a master of disguise.

Sometimes, he jumps up and tells the reader when something is happening. Suddenly, he is adverb. Although, he can be a link between ideas just like Captain Connective. Alternatively, he can express an opposite idea. On dark, windy nights, when even the wolves stay in their dens, he can be a whole phrase!

He may seem like a bit of a Joker, but don’t be fooled - he helps add structure. It’s his job to hook the reader in and keep him reading.

The Incredible Opener starts every sentence with some oomph!

Openers

Using different ways to start sentences to make the writing more interesting and engage the reader.

POWER openers: connectives, words ending with –ed,-ly, -ing

Encourage your child to use different ways to begin sentences. Play with using verbs and adjectives at the beginning of sentences.

Doctor Punctuation

Dr Punctuation’s Super Powers The Doctor’s basic weapon is the

power to stop and start a sentence. If capital letters and full stops are missing, or in the wrong place, writing is weak. It will not have the power to grab a reader.

His control over the reader is reinforced by the use of commas to separate ideas. They work well when combined with connectives and openers.

He reveals what characters actually say with speech marks.

Doctor Punctuation heals grammatical mistakes

Punctuation

Discussing a range of punctuation in reading; using a wide variety during writing.

Supports the development of more complex sentences.

You can help your child by making up fun sentences together using different forms of punctuation. Try a challenge such as making a sentence which has parenthesis (brackets) or an exclamation mark at the end!

Working Together

‘Parents, carers and other family members can and do make a real difference to

children’s education. When parents are actively involved in their child’s learning, it has a positive effect on attainment and

achievement’