Raising standards in writing

1. Raising standards in writing Appleton Wiske Primary School Parent/Carer Information Evening Oct 09

2. Improving writing • Offering the children strategies that really work. • How can we encourage children to write when they have yet to talk about it? • In our school, writing is weaker than reading. This is the same both locally and nationally.

3. Year group structures • 3 phases Foundation Stage (FS) Key stage 1 (KS1 aged 5-7 Yr 1 and 2) Key Stage 2 (KS2 aged 7-11 Yr 3,4,5 and 6) 3 classes Class 1 FS and Yr 1 Class 2 Yr 2,3 and 4 (KS1 and KS2 mixed) Class 3 Yr 5 and 6)

4. 3 strands to Big Writing

5. Daily basic skills • High frequency words • Words from current year group • Phonics • Handwriting • Basic number skills/times table/clock

6. High frequency words in FS

7. Phoneme Wall

8. Consonant Clusters

9. Handwriting Class 1 (pre cursive) A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Class 2/3 (cursive) • A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z • ªa ¶b ªc ªd â ó ªü ¶h ¶i ¶ý ¶„ ¶l ¶m ¶n ª‹ ¶p ªq ¶r ¢ ¶t ¶u ¶Ú ¶Þ ¶ˆ ¶þ z

10. Basic number skills • Bonds to 10 - 20 - 100 • Mental addition and subtraction of increasingly larger numbers • Doubling and halving • Times tables 2’s, 5’s and 10’s 3’s and 4’s 8’s, 9’s, 6’s and 7’s

11. Warm up activities • Word association games (mother) • Word families (words beginning with..) • Quickies ( family/group names or opposites) • Crosswords and word searches • Whacky whispers ( what would X say to Y)

12. 4 Generic Targets • Vocabulary • Connectives • Openers • Punctuation

13. Upleveling work • How could you improve this work? The light was dark. I looked at the monster. VCOP Can you improve this?

14. Up leveling • Look at your sentence. • 1. Is it a simple sentence - for effect? If it’s not • 2. Improve it! Try some detail • an adjective/an adverb • a connective e.g. when, while • a phrase/a clause • 3. What about a different beginning? Not the usual I, He • Try starting with… • a connective • a time word e.g. Later, Soon… • a clause e.g. Opening the door, I peered into • 4. Check the tense. • A tricky one is using was/were with the –ing endings. We were sitting. NOT We were sat. • 5. Have you used the BEST words?

15. Scoring goals in writing • Which parts of these pieces of work have been uplevelled? Think about VCOP. • It was a gigantic, green monster. It was a ... a....... Cyclops! • The big sharp teeth, the horrid roar, the green and black scales, they made me feel terrible. • My heart was pounding, pounding so fast I couldn’t breathe.

16. Prompts during writing • After 10 minutes, check punctuation • After 20 minutes, encourage children to check for ambitious vocabulary • After 30 minutes, encourage the children to check their openers and connectives used

17. Short term targets Y4 We can join sentences using and, so, but and because. We can use if, when, though and while to join sentences. We can vary the beginnings of sentences and sometimes start with a connective. Y5 We can use if, when, though and while to join sentences. We can vary the beginnings of sentences and sometimes start with a connective. We can add clauses to make our sentences interesting. Y6We can vary the beginnings of sentences and sometimes start with a connective. We can add clauses to make our sentences interesting. We can choose when to use simple and complex sentences for the best effect. • YR We think about what we want to say. • We think the sentence out in our heads. • We can write a simple sentence. • Y1 We think the sentence out in our heads • We can write a simple sentence. • We make sure our words are in the right order. • Y2 We can write a simple sentence. • We make sure our words are in the right order. • We can join sentences using and, so, but and because. • Y3 We make sure our words are in the right order. • We can join sentences using and, so, but and because. • We can use if, when, though and while to join sentences.

22. Activities to develop vocabulary WOW • Collect words. • Can you think of how they can be used in a sentence?

23. Activities to develop vocabulary The minister’s cat. • The minister’s cat is an adventurous, ambitious and awful cat. • Can you add anymore? • The minister’s cat is a brave, brutal,............. cat.

24. Activities to develop vocabulary Parachuting WOW words • The boy looked across the street. Can you uplevel this sentence by parachuting ambitious words into it? Do they all make sense?

25. Using power openers Write down a sentence starting with an ‘ing’ word. • Glancing over her shoulder,.. • Singing loudly in the car, .. • Hobbling off the pitch, ...

26. Using power openers Write down a sentence starting with an ‘ly’ word. • Cautiously, ... • Thoughtlessly, .. • Effortlessly, ...

27. Using power openers Adverbial phrases (manner) • With a nod of his head, ... • Skipping merrily, .... • Giving a huge sigh of relief,... • Adverbial phrases (time) • After a few minutes, .. • As quick as a flash, ... • As the sun rose in the sky, ... Can you think of 3 more?

28. Using power openers Adverbial phrases (place) Above the clouds, .. At the edge of the playground, .. In the shadowy clearing, .. Sequence words Meanwhile, .. Next, .. Soon, .. Can you think of 3 more?

29. Encouraging connective use • Connective cricket • He was sick He dashed out • Can you bat these sentences out by using a connective?

30. Encouraging connective use • Get out of that! • A pencil is stuck in your ear..... • Can you get out of that using a connective?

31. Encouraging connective use The ‘ly’ game. • lazily hurriedly haphazardly • Can you link these connectives into one sentence?

32. The wrong answer ! • Lazily, the woman stretched out on the sofa, while her husband hurriedly tidied the children’s toys away haphazardly.

33. The right answer! • Lazily, the man stretched out his hand for the remote control as he lounged on the sofa eating wine gums, while his wife hurriedly tidied away his clothes, cooked the dinner, cleaned the house, cut the grass, walked the dog and then collapsed haphazardly into bed.

34. Finish my sentence Can you complete this sentence? • Martin reached out to get his hand on the ball despite... This is a 3 minute challenge!

36. Punctuation ideas Kung fu punctuation game • What sounds could you use for each punctuation mark? • Can you ‘Kung Fu’ a piece of text?

37. Punctuation ideas Fruit salad circle game I need volunteers. I am going to say a sentence and our volunteers have to stand in the right place with the correct punctuation symbol.

38. Punctuation ideas What’s missing? • Using the pyramid, ask the children to look at a line, get them to close their eyes and remove one punctuation mark. Ask the children to open their eyes and work out what is missing.

39. Punctuation ideas Snap • Please look under your chairs. Some of you will have cards taped underneath them. If you do, without saying a word, can you find your partner?

40. Thank you We hope you have enjoyed your evening. Please now join the Friends of Appleton Wiske Primary School Annual General Meeting. Goodnight.