1. Welcome to Pluto Class
Writing Workshop

2. Teaching the technical aspects of writing in school

3. Fine Motor Skills
• Scissors • Jigsaws • Painting • Sewing • Threading • Construction

4. Pencil Grip • Tripod grip.
Holding the pen or pencil correctly allows the fingers and wrist to move freely without putting strain on the hand, helping to improve handwriting and making it more comfortable.
The Tripod Pencil Grip is the best way to hold a pencil, for both right and left handed writers, however this isn’t the easiest grip to learn.

5. Posture
• All four chair legs on the floor • Feet flat on the floor • Back straight

6. The Advantages of the Cursive Script
The cursive handwriting style helps:
to minimise confusion for the child as every letter (with a few exceptions) starts on the line with a lead in and finishes on the line with a lead out;
letters naturally flow into each other, this helps children to join their
handwriting;
form spacing between words as the child develops whole word awareness;
to develop a child’s visual memory, therefore helping spelling;

7. Letter Families
Rocking Round Letters: c a d g q Long Loopy Letters: e l h b k f j Climb and Slide Letters: i u w t Lumpy Letters: n m v w Mix and Match Letters: p s r o y z x

8. Using phonic knowledge to write
Phonics lessons: teacher/TA modelling writing, words and sentences.
Using phonetic knowledge. Say the word slowly, listen to the phonemes (sounds), write the graphemes. Read the word back, check that all the phonemes are there.
Think of the sentence you want to write. Say the sentence, if you can’t say it, you can’t write it. Read the sentence back, does it make sense?
What does your sentence need? (Capital letter, finger spaces, full stop, it needs to make sense!)
High frequency words and tricky words.

9. Teaching writing for purpose and enjoyment
We cover a range of genres in Year One writing (stories, lists, instructions, poetry).
We immerse children in a genre before asking them to write themselves.
We use role-play and drama to make up or act out stories.
We use small world toys to create stories.
We make story maps and use word banks.
We set clear and achievable expectations.
We model writing (spelling, punctuation and grammar).

10. Traction Man is Here! Read the story Role-play
Wrote speech bubbles on whiteboards
Small World play
Story plan
Story writing

11. Any questions?
Thank you for taking the time to come this afternoon, your support is very much appreciated. You can now have a look at some of the resources that we use in the different key stages. We have a range of fiction, non-fiction, plays… Feel free to talk to the teachers! There is also a leaflet to give you some ideas for supporting your child’s reading at home.