Early Years/Key Stage 1

• Letters and Sounds• Spelling and handwriting • Text types (genres)• Let’s Write• VCOP• There will be time for questions at the end!

• They need to know the different features of the various text types (genres).

• They need to be able to suit their writing within these text types to the audience and purpose. It is important to get this right!

• Recount: a written account of events in time order a diary entry, trips, news writing

• Report: an organised presentation of factual information about any topican information leaflet, Great Fire of London book, fact files

• Instruction: a step-by-step list of actions to followa recipe, a How-to guide (clean your teeth, play a game)

• Explanation: answering a how or why question in a structured manner

’How to stay healthy’

• Narrative (traditional tales, familiar settings, extended stories)

• Poetry

Let’s Write (developed as Big Write by Ros Wilson)

• The ‘Let’s Write’ process is the development of the ‘writing voice’ through fast, fun, lively and predominantly oral activities. Pupils talk using ‘the writing voice’ at various points in a week (e.g. 10 min. starter in Literacy session, when lining up, spare minutes at the end of a session, and sometimes as the main focus within a lesson)

• Based on the premise:

IF A CHILD CAN SAY IT, A CHILD CAN WRITE IT

Opportunities for Talk for Writing• We provide lots of opportunities to ‘talk the text type’, using

the same sort of language and features that they would be expected to use in their writing.

Written text types Oral (and acting out) text types

Narrative Story-telling

Poetry Performance poetry

Recount Retell news

Explanation Explaining

Report Informing

Instructions Tell someone what to do!

Opportunities for writing

• Teachers find or set up interesting and motivating starting points for writing:

First-hand experiences, drama, DVDs, art, music, visits

• Children are more committed to writing if there is a purpose

and some sort of genuine audience Y2 wrote information books about the Great Fire of London for Year 1.

Y1 will be telling a fairy tale in their own words for Yr 2.

VCOPRos Wilson’s nationally recognised and adopted work identifies four key elements which contribute to the development of the ‘writing voice’. These key elements, known collectively as VCOP, are:

• Vocabulary• Connectives • Openers• Punctuation

The Four Generic VCOP TargetsVCOP Summary

Vocabulary

Connectives

Openers

Punctuation

The range of ambitious vocabulary a pupil knows: WOW words.

The range of ways pupils have of joining ideas, phrases & sentences.

The strategies pupils have for opening sentences, especially the 3 key openers: connectives, ‘ly’ words & ‘ing’ words = power openers.

The range of punctuation a pupil can use (& the accuracy with which they use it).

Whiteboard activity

Wow words!

Vocabulary - ‘WOW’ Words

What can you do at home?

ALL VERBAL!

• ‘Magpie’ them (books, magazines, TV, internet etc)

• Introduce children to them (as above!)• Reward them for using them (even if not

always correct!)• Remind them

Whiteboard activity

Connectives

I went to the park …

Openers• By the end of KS 1 we begin to introduce more

adventurous openers, the 3 main types being:Opening with connectives

Opening with ‘ly’ words

Opening with ‘ing’ words

• These are called POWER OPENERS!

Firstly…Next…After a while…Finally…

Suddenly, …Quietly, …

Looking through the trees…Stopping dead in her tracks, ...Tiptoeing carefully, ...

Why are good openers important?

Variety! By the end of KS 1 we need to move away from starting every sentence with: the…then…I…

Punctuation with Sounds & Actions

Time to learn punctuation with actions!

Activity

Stepping up a simple sentence

The mouse ate the cheese.

Activity

Stepping up a simple sentence

The mouse ate the cheese.1. ADD an adjective, adverb or both!

• The greedy mouse ate the stale cheese.• The mouse carefully ate the cheese.• The greedy mouse carefully ate the stale cheese.

Activity

Stepping up a simple sentence

The car drove down the road.1. ADD an adjective or adverb - or both!

Activity

Stepping up a simple sentence

The mouse ate the cheese.2. CHANGE the verb.• The mouse stole the cheese.

Activity

Stepping up a simple sentence

The car drove down the road.2. CHANGE the verb.

Activity

Stepping up a simple sentence

The mouse ate the cheese.3. CONNECT - use a connective to give extra information.

• The mouse ate the cheese because it was hungry.

Activity

Stepping up a simple sentence

The car drove down the road.3. CONNECT - use a connective to give extra information.

• Marking in the Foundation Stage is done verbally with the child immediately after they have produced some writing. In KS1, written marking is used increasingly, but verbal feedback remains paramount whenever possible.

• We focus our marking on the objective for the lesson• We also mark progress towards individual targets • We look for areas to praise and ways to develop (2 Stars

and a Wish)• We would not correct all spelling and punctuation• We mark together with the children where possible, to

enable discussion about the writing

Thank you for your time!