Writing
Talk for Writing
Over the past year we have been writing in a new way, the Talk for Writing way!! This approach enables children to imitate orally the language they need for a particular topic, before reading and analysing it, and then writing their own version.
Talk for Writing, developed by Pie Corbett, is powerful because it is based on the principles of how people learn. The movement from imitation to innovation to invent is used across all our classes.
The Talk for Writing approach enables children to read and write independently for a variety of audiences and purposes within different subjects. A key feature is that children internalise the language structures needed to write through ‘talking the text’, as well as close reading. The approach moves from dependence towards independence, with the teacher using shared and guided teaching to develop the ability in children to write creatively and powerfully.
Over the past year we have been writing in a new way, the Talk for Writing way!! This is a tried and tested process where pupils learn through a variety of skills about language and the written word. Through actions and games, stories and non-fiction texts are learned orally. Over a three week period, language confidence is built and pupils learn to look at writing as a reader and the impact it has as well as how, as a writer, you would achieve such an impact. They work together as a class to create a new version of the texts they have been learning and then write their own once they have experienced the whole process.
To make writing stories easier, each text is broken down into manageable paragraphs on a theme, this is then used to help the children plan their own. Pupils have commented that they are more confident in how to write as well as being proud of their work and keen to share what they have done with others in the school and people at home. Although we are still practising and learning, now teachers and pupils have had a go, this year their writing is set to soar!
Spellings
Classroom Secrets is used to teach spellings. We teach them real world techniques in how to work out the correct spellings of words they are unsure of e.g. having three attempts at spelling a word, then looking to see which one looks correct. Pupils are taught a multitude of ways to work with words as well as being taught specific rules and patterns.