Writing

Kirsty Wilson

Time to share……

∗ the impact storytelling and drama can have on the development of writing

∗ strategies to teach writing

∗ games to teach sentence structure

We will consider…

“Can we play a game if we don’t know the rules?”

Pie Corbett

If children have not heard a story, they can not retell

one. If children can not retell a story, they can not

write one.

‘‘You cannot create out of nothing.’’

Getting to know a text

∗Oral learning of a text

∗Begin with an exciting, creative context

∗Get to know the text – act, play, paint, draw, film

∗Children must internalise the structure before they are able to go on to writing their own version

Getting to know a text

Mr Wiggle and Mr Waggle

Once upon a time there were two friends - Mr Wiggle and Mr Waggle.Mr Wiggle lived in this house and Mr Waggle lived in that house.Early one morning, Mr Wiggle decided to go and visit Mr Waggle, so heopened up the door, popped outside and closed the door.

Then he went up the hill and down the hill, up the hill and down thehill all the way to Mr Waggle’s house.Where he knocked on the door, knock knock knock.

Do you think Mr Waggle woke up? No, he did not.So Mr Wiggle knocked on the door, knock knock knockDo you think Mr Waggle woke up? No, he did not.

So Mr Wiggle went up the hill and down the hill, up the hill and down the hillall the way home…Where he opened up the door, popped inside and closed the

door.

∗ Children start learning words before their first birthday

∗ By their second birthday, they are learning one word every two hours

∗ Average 6 year-old has:

∗ A spoken vocabulary of around 6,000 words

∗ A comprehension vocabulary of around 14,000

∗ A typical 16 year-old knows about 60,000

The rate of language acquisition

∗ Poor vocabulary is the prime cause of academic failure (Becker, 1977)

∗ Vocabulary size is the most powerful indicator of early reading comprehension

∗ Vocabulary size at 3 year = predicts SATs results

∗ Vocabulary size at 5 year = predicts GCSE results

∗ Vocabulary size at 16 year = predicts future income

Size of vocabulary is a key predictor of success:

∗ Baby

∗ Chalk

∗ Hand

∗ Black

∗ Whistle

∗ Play

∗ Hand

∗ Sun

∗ Jelly

Compound word games

∗ Sitter

∗ Board

∗ Bag

∗ Berry

∗ Blower

∗ Ground

∗ Stand

∗ Light

∗ Fish

∗ Only 53% of pre school children in the country get a bed time story∗ 30% KS1

∗ 20% KS2

∗ So if they don’t hear stories at school, they may not hear them at all.

∗ Storytelling teaches children to sit, concentrate, listen and maybe join in.

∗ Builds up an imaginative world which then creates the building blocks for story writing.

∗ Storytelling makes you feel confident – if they can tell a story, they have a way of engaging an audience.

Why storytelling matters

Drama Techniques…Include video of ear muffs, glasses and magpie

How Drama Helps Writing

Problems with writing can arise when children …

∗ don’t have enough ideas or confidence to get started

∗ start writing but then soon run out of enough ideas

∗ see themselves as failures at writing and so have disengaged

∗ become fixated on getting the technical aspects right to the detriment of the content

Drama helps address this by…

∗ enabling collaborative writing, with the children all supporting each other to complete the writing task for the drama

∗ encouraging a risk taking in the drama that can spill over into a risk taking attitude to writing in the drama

∗ enabling the content of the children’s writing to deepen the drama or drive the drama forward

∗ being active, visual, auditory and kinaesthetic but also with times for reflection and stillness

Pie Corbett Explains….

Take a break

Literacy Game: Word by Word

∗Changing the text

∗Substitution – simple changes – names, places

∗Addition – add information

∗Alteration – Create a new setting, change the character completely

∗Up to 5 days of shared/guided writing

Creating a text

Planning

∗ Adapt original story map

∗ Characterisations – show the pic from school

The purpose of this activity is to understand that the

order of clauses can be manipulated for effect.

The little girl crept towards the house. The house was

neat and tidy. It was nestled in the woods. She went up

to the door. She knocked quietly. She knocked harder.

There was no reply. Cautiously, she pushed the door. She

peeped inside.

Editing a text

Modelled:

∗ Modelled writing is when a teacher writes a passage of text in front of the class. Itdiffers from shared writing in that the teacher does not ask for the input of theclass when she or he is writing. A teacher will carry out a process of 'thinking aloud'when they are modelling writing.

Shared:

∗ Shared writing is an instructional approach to teach writing to students by writing

with them. The idea is to teach writing through writing. The process of writing isdemonstrated by the teacher through a 'write aloud' process. The teacher acts as ascribe while the students contribute ideas.

Guided:

∗ Guided writing lessons are temporary, small-group lessons teaching thosestrategies that a group of students most need to practice with immediate guidancefrom you. Guided writing lessons can be taught after a whole-class lesson onceother students are actively engaged in independent writing.

Ways to teach writing

Grammar Game: Add the Vocabulary

“What are you doing?” she said

“What are you doing?” she beamed

“What are you doing?” said Miss Honey, tears rolling down her face.

Adding Character

Goldilocks in innocentI am speaking on behalf of the innocent Goldilocks who was so wrongly accused on three charges:vandalism, breaking an entry and theft. This is the typical act of the devious three bears who are not

the victims of this ‘crime’. I aim to provide evidence to support this claim. If you do not listen to thishonest argument, goldilocks will remain labelled as a malicious, illiterate thief for the rest of her‘happy ever after’.

Firstly, on the day that Goldilocks allegedly broke an entry on the three bear’s house, she was in factdoing the local paper round, which she did daily to support her extended family financially. At theend of her shift, the postmistress (Miss Thatchham) had given Goldilocks a large package which wasto be delivered to Mr Woodcutter. Goldilocks agreed, with the promise of a bonus. Whilst walkingthrough the woods, shouts echoed through the trees, the Big Bad Wolf was yet again, on a killingspree.

As she hurriedly walked she came across a homely cottage, which she mistook for the woodcuttershouse, however, it is actually the three bears cottage. Not knowing this, she walked down thewinding path leading to the buttercup yellow cottage. As she was halfway down the path, amysterious noise made her stop in her tracks. She realised it was her famished stomach pleading forfood; she had not eaten for a day and a half. She hastily hurried down the path; a mouth-wateringsmell of sugary, hot porridge greeted her. This might smell mouth- watering to anyone else, butgoldilocks was lactose intolerant. This proves that goldilocks could have not have eaten theporridge unless she was utterly starving.

I urge you to make the most important decision of your life. To decide, after 16 long years, thatgoldilocks is innocent. Goldilocks needed understanding. Now is the time to give her that.

Publish

∗ Story circles

∗ Create books

∗ Film performance

∗ Play

∗ Storytelling to younger years

∗ Present in assembly

∗ Every piece of writing must have a purpose!

Grammar game

and

or

but

so

yet

although

whilst

until

before

because

∗ the impact storytelling and drama can have on the development of writing

∗ strategies to teach writing

∗ activities to teach sentence structure

We have covered….

A silver egg balances like a gymnast on a high beam,Water reflects the shadows.

The bony finger stretches skywards,The defined chessboard waits…..

Statues listen.

Non Negotiables

∗ Be well prepared

∗ Whole class reading

∗ Daily phonics or spelling games

∗ Know the language features for your year group

∗ Modelled, shared and guided writing

∗ Writing journals, washing lines, working walls

∗ The double act - TA to magpie

∗ Audience and purpose ∗ Use ear muffs and editing glasses∗ Each child to have a magpie book∗ Use formative assessment – feedback ∗ Differentiation does not have to come from

different tasks, but it comes from the scaffolding provided.

I will now……

Thank you for listening

∗ Any questions?