1. Writing at St. John’s Workshop Friday 7 th October 2016

2. At St. John’s we use the Talk for Writing approach, which is powerful because it is based on the principles of how children learn. It is powerful because it enables children to imitate the language they need for a particular topic orally before reading and analysing it and then writing their own version

3. Aims of the session Writing at St. John’s Grammar games Three stages of writing Year group progression Big write and VCOP Support at home

4. Grammar Games 1.These are multi-sensory games and activities that will jumpstart pupils’ understanding of grammar in action. 2.Gamification 3.It’s a GAME! 4.Vocabulary improvement

5. Let’s have a go… http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?b= english/language_structurehttp://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?b= english/language_structure http://www.abcya.com/synonyms_antonym s.htmhttp://www.abcya.com/synonyms_antonym s.htm

6. Stages of writing 1.The imitation stage 2.The innovation stage 3.The invention/independent application stage

7. The imitation stage Let’s have a go. Internalise this story. Imitate this story. Book Look https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=DXpCI c26y30https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=DXpCI c26y30

8. The Innovation stage Let’s change it. Adapt elements of the story.

9. The independent/invention stage Draft, edit and write your own story

10. Learning in our classrooms

11. Bad Traffic this morning! Having battled the rigours of the rush hour this morning…

12. Children are encouraged to... Talk about their writing Find exciting words and use these in their writing. ‘Magpie’ exciting words and phrases from other authors. ‘WOW’ words. Have a go at using interesting examples of punctuation. Write for an extended period of time- 10 minutes Re-read aloud their own writing and find ways to make it better. Understand what they need to do next to improve.

13. So how does VCOP work? Ros Wilson developed a way of teaching writing to children which focuses on four main aspects of writing: VVocabulary CConnectives, OOpeners PPunctuation VCOP

14. The Four Elements of Writing Vocabulary Every class has a 'Wow Words' board where new and impressive words that the children have used and have found in good quality texts, are shared with everyone. The children are encouraged to use these words where appropriate in their writing.

15. Don’t say ‘said’ say…

16. Conjunctions Every class displays examples of powerful conjunctions. The children are encouraged to use these in their writing to join sentences and paragraphs, therefore improving the organisation of their writing.

17. KS2 Conjunctions

18. I have a dog. I have cat. I do not have a baboon. and, also, but although, sadly Use the conjunctions/openers to up Year the sentences.

19. Openers Every class displays and discusses good sentence ‘openers’ (sentence starters) that the children can use in their writing to make their sentences and overall texts more interesting. Teach ways of improving a basic sentence by changing how it begins e.g. ‘She opened the door’ to a better sentence, 'Cautiously, she opened the door.' Some connectives can also be used as sentence openers.

20. Choose an opener. What is the most interesting way to finish the sentence? Nervously… To my great surprise… Laughing…If only I… I’ll never forget the day that… Reluctantly… Sleepily… I couldn't believe my eyes when…Earlier…

21. Punctuation The teaching of punctuation is based on the ‘Punctuation Pyramid.’ Children start by using full stops, then question marks followed by commas and an exclamation mark. Eventually they should use the higher order punctuation such as ( ) - ; : etc

22. Year R/1. Year 2. ? Year 3. ?, ! Year 4. ?, ! … ’ “” Year 5/6. ?, … - ! ’ “” : ; ( ) The Punctuation Pyramid

23. Sentence Types Sentences can be structured in different ways. A simple sentence has a subject and ONLY ONE verb: The girl sprinted after the tiger. The cat purred.

24. Compound Sentence A compound sentence is formed when you join two main clauses with a connective. In a compound sentence the clauses are linked by coordinating conjunctions / connectives (and, but, so, or). main clausesconnective I like bananas and I like grapes. Zoe can be rude at times but she is a nice girl.

25. Complex Sentence Complex sentences can also be referred to as multi-clause sentences. A complex sentence is formed when you join a main clause and a subordinate clause with a connective. A subordinate clause is one that relies on a main clause to make sense.main clause and a subordinate clauseconnective The connectives in complex sentences are subordinating conjunctions and they tell us about the order or the place in which things happened or specify a cause or effect relationship between events. Connectives used in complex sentences include after, although, as, because, if, since, unless, when. I love roast potatoes, although my mum prefers them mashed. You need to prepare for the spelling test tomorrow if you want to get all your spellings right. The big dog barked whenever I knocked on the door. Complex sentences can also be constructed by including relative clauses (which are subordinate clauses), for example: Tom, who liked to read, settled down happily with his new book.relative clauses

26. Progression Year 2/3 My dog is big and brown and very scruffy. He likes to eat bones but he likes sausages best. My dog can bark loudly and he can run very fast. I like my cat and my dog but I like my dog best. Year 4 I have two pets, a dog, and a cat. I like them both but I like my dog best! He is large, rusty brown and very scruffy. Have you seen him? He looks very funny. My dog likes eating bones and biscuits, but best of all he likes eating sausages. When my dog barks it is so loud that I cover my ears. Also my dog runs very fast. Year 5/6 People often ask me about my pets and although I have two, I have to say I like my dog best. That large, rusty brown ragamuffin looks so very amusing that he makes me laugh. Have you seen him? He mainly dines on biscuits and bones, however he prefers meat and he enjoys sausages most of all. When my scruffy, old friend barks it is as loud as Concorde, crashing through the sound barrier. We all have to cover our ears for protection.

27. Big Talk Home Learning You will see this coming… Mr Midnight the evil wizard has cast a spell to turn the world into a dark place with no sunshine, light or colours. You have been chosen to write him a letter to tell him what it is like without any sunshine. You have to convince him it is awful and you need the light back immediately! Your Talk Homework is to share with someone at home your thoughts and ideas. Think about how terrible and frightening life is without any light. What do you miss? Describe all the beautiful things you can no longer see. Think about if you need to use your other senses more. Use the knowledge you have learned in Science! The more talking and sharing of ideas you can do the more successful your writing could be!

28. Using trailers for books. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =swRTZpnsXgYhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v =swRTZpnsXgY Watch trailer up to letter being opened. There were 6 words on the letter.

29. What can you do to help your child? Big Talk Homework Talk! Ask them to describe everything and anything. Take it in turns to tell a story. One person starts it, the other says what happens next etc… Look at a picture or photo together. Use it to tell a story. Think of a title for your story. What would the opening 10 words be? Encourage your children to spot WOW words and perhaps write them down in a book at home or on a piece of paper. Encourage your children to borrow words or phrases which they like from books, magazines, television programmes.

30. WRITE! Make it real! Encourage them to: - write letters - write a diary - take notes about a walk, a trip etc… - make lists – to do lists, shopping lists, lists of favourite music, games, characters, books etc… Use games to help develop vocabulary such as puzzles, crosswords, word games, anagrams etc…

31. Children need to believe that they can achieve and that they can always improve.