Writing Information Evening Wednesday 12th March

Phonics throughout Early Years and KS1 In Early Years we teach Phases 1- 3 following ‘Letters and Sounds’ strategy. In Year One we teach Phase 4 and 5. We also teach a range of pseudo words using their Phase 5 sounds. The children will have a ‘phonics screening check’ in the summer term. In year two the children will recap Phase 5 for the Autumn term and Phase 6 for the rest of the academic year.

Writing in the Early Years Nursery and Reception At the beginning of the year, the children will be practising the correct formation of the letters in their name, but generally we will be concentrating on developing their letter recognition, phonic awareness and the motor skills that they need in order to form letters correctly. We encourage the children to form their letters correctly. Each week we send home phonics cards so parents are aware of the sound, name, action and the formation of the letter.

Writing in the Early Years Nursery and Reception Letter formation Motor skills - not all children ready when they begin Hold pencil correctly Start the letter in the correct place

Writing in the Early Years Nursery and Reception We move from phonics, to word building into sentence construction. We start off by encouraging children to talk in full sentences so they understand the concepts. Please encourage your child to do this at home. Then we move onto trying to get the children’s ideas, to link with what they know about words into sentences. We encourage capital letters, finger spaces and full stops and we have action to go with this.

Writing in KS1 We encourage children to say what they are going to write, before writing it down. This helps children to know where the capital letter goes. We teach different genres of writing such as lists, notes, letters, stories, instructions, diaries, addresses, etc. We link this with role play and free choice activities as well a structured lesson which focuses on that particular genre.

Writing in KS1 When children write a story, help them to think of what it is about, what happens and how it ends. Ask questions about the characters. Ask them to describe to you the place where the story is set. We teach children to sequence stories they know in pictures. This is used through story maps. This will help with reinforcing the structure of stories for their own writing. At this stage we would encourage children to sound out unknown words because we want them to use as many different words and not worry about the correct spelling.

Writing in KS1 BIG WRITING This is a stand alone lesson that we teach once a week. There is a focus on VCOP. We choose one or two of these elements. This is our ‘special’ lesson where we play music and we light a candle. The children are rewarded throughout the session for using the VCOP. We use a range of stimulus, for example; books, video clips and pictures. In Year 2 they are beginning to set their own targets and are levelling their own work. Our marking sets their targets and they are encouraged to use this in the next lesson.

How can you help your child with writing in KS1? Help them to make their own labels, notices, cards and books. Write a story that your child has told you. They can learn from watching you write and can help by suggesting letters and spellings. Show that you can make mistakes and start again. (that their work doesn’t have to be rubbed out but edited!) Create a ‘Writing Area' with perhaps a small table or desk and chair and a noticeboard for displaying writing. Providing different types of paper, envelopes, an old diary, notebooks, crayons, coloured pencils and pens will help your child to see writing as a fun activity.

How can you help your child with writing in KS1? As well as 'play' activities such as 'shops', 'doctors', 'hairdressers', etc. Make the most of real opportunities for writing such as lists and invitations to a birthday party, thank you letters, holiday postcards, a diary of a holiday for Grandpa, etc. Write messages to each other such as 'Would you like to go swimming at the weekend?' 'What would you like in your lunch box tomorrow?' Sometimes you can write to one another in role as favourite book or TV characters. Keep a diary for 'Teddy' or the cat. Make books together about topics which interest them. Praise all writing efforts and respond to the message rather than drawing attention to errors in spelling or with missing words. Show that you value their writing by displaying it somewhere prominently.

Teaching and supporting spelling in KS1 Spell out words with magnets letters You can take some letters out and get your child to put the correct letters in the right places. Draw or cut out pictures of objects which have only one letter different like 'pen' and 'pin' to help them to get used to how different vowels work. Look for words inside of words, e.g. 'car' and 'pet' in 'carpet', or 'shop', 'hop' and 'ping' in 'shopping'. Use old newspapers and magazines to play word finding games, e.g. get them to highlight or circle words with 'ing', 'ed' or 'th' in them. Help your child to see that they already know the biggest part of words like play-ing, eat-en, walk-ed, by breaking the word down. If they read or write the part they know you can finish it letter by letter.

Teaching and supporting spelling in KS1 When your child asks you for a spelling, write it down so that they can see it rather than call it out letter by letter. If they see it they are more likely to remember it. Focus on the particular part of the word which is causing difficulty. Encourage your child to look at the whole word and then write it rather than copying it letter by letter. Encourage 'having a go' at spelling for themselves. Help them to use a simple picture dictionary. When your child is writing, praise the correct spellings, however few, and don't overcorrect incorrect spellings as it can be very discouraging for a child

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