On the Write Track: A Practical Guide to Teaching Writing in Primary Schools

Description

On the Write Track puts teachers’ autonomy and their knowledge of what is right for their pupils at the heart of teaching writing. It explores a set of research-based principles, before illustrating these with case studies and examples of classroom practice. Writing is about communication. Learning to write gives children a voice that others will listen to – a voice they can use to share their ideas, articulate their feelings, amuse and delight their readers and argue for what they believe in. While every child, every teacher and every classroom are different, approaches to teaching writing can sometimes feel prescriptive, whether they are based on a particular curriculum model, commercial scheme, assessment system or underlying philosophy. This book provides freedom and choice by introducing a series of ‘tracks’ for writing teaching, including practical approaches to: Building a community of writers in the classroom Employing a process-led sequence for teaching writing Encouraging children to write for pleasure and share their own interests Exploring the use of rich and diverse texts as fuel for writing Drawing on spoken language and oracy to develop written communication Teaching grammar and punctuation to support writing Utilising feedback to help children develop their writing voice Using drama and play as starting points for writing Through considering these different tracks and thinking about how to weave them together into a coherent whole, teachers can help every child to make the journey to being a confident, skilled, keen writer. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Dedication Contents On the Write Track: An introduction SECTION 1 Theory and principles 1 What can we learn from the research around teaching writing? 2 Finding the right track: A personal philosophy for teaching writing SECTION 2 Assembling tracks: Practical approaches to teaching writing 3 Starting with children’s interests 4 Starting with children’s experiences 5 Starting with imagination 6 Writing and poetry 7 Children’s literature and writing 8 Using and creating film, multimedia and multimodal texts 9 Starting with knowledge 10 Spoken language and writing 11 Drama, play and writing 12 Collaboration: Working and writing together SECTION 3 Building a process-led sequence for teaching writing 13 Pre-writing: Laying the foundations 14 Planning: Organising and playing with ideas 15 Drafting: Putting words onto the page or screen 16 Revising: Evaluating, editing and polishing 17 Creating outcomes: Producing something to be proud of SECTION 4 Using language for effect 18 Grammar and syntax for writing 19 Punctuation for clarity and effect 20 Vocabulary for expression SECTION 5 Putting it into practice Index