WRITING

Spells for writing

Letters in the air

Level A. 1.1

Age 4-8

Organization whole class

Aims To recognize the shapes of letters; to draw letters with your index finger; to relate letters and sounds; to develop motor skills.

Language focus Letters of the alphabet, familiar vocabulary

Materials

Essential: flashcards or pictures of familiar vocabulary

Procedure

Show the children a picture or flashcard of a familiar vocabulary item, eg banana and children say the word.
Say, eg Banana starts with 'b' (fbi:/). It's 'b' (/bf) for 'banana'. Can you draw a ‘b’ like this?
Stand with your back to the children, hold out your arm to the right and draw a big 'b' in the air with your finger.
Get the children to do the same.
Repeat the procedure with other familiar vocabulary, eg apple, ball, car, doll, elephant, fish.
Stick the pictures or flashcards on the board.
Secretly choose one and write the initial letter in the air. Children identify the letter you draw and say the word.
Repeat once or twice, then ask individual children to take turns to do the same while the rest of the class looks and identifies the letters and words.
Write the initial letters for all the words in jumbled order on the board.
Invite individual children to draw matching lines from the letters to the corresponding pictures or flashcards on the board.
Ask the children if they can think of other words they know which start with each letter and sound you have worked on, eg alligator, bear, cat, dog, egg, frog.

Comments and suggestions

Use either upper or lower case letters in the activity depending on what you have previously taught the children and/or the letters they are most familiar with in LI (if their language uses the same script as English).
With older children, instead of drawing letters in the air, you can ask a child to the front of the class and draw the letters on their back. In this case, children work in pairs during the first part of the activity and take turns to draw the initial letters on each other's backs. The second part of the activity can then be a guessing game in pairs.
As a follow-up, you can make a classroom display of the letters you have worked on, with pictures of vocabulary items the children know. In later lessons, you can then repeat the activity with different letters and vocabulary items and change the display regularly to reflect these. If appropriate, you can also include the words for each vocabulary item in the display in order to encourage whole-word sight recognition.

Plasticine letters

Level A 1.1

Age 4-8

Organization individual, whole class

Aims To make letters of the alphabet out of plasticine; to identify the shapes of letters from

touch; to memorize the shapes of letters; to develop motor skills.

Language focus Letters of the alphabet

Materials

Essential: a strip of plasticine for each child, a blindfold

Optional: alphabet flashcards or frieze

Procedure

Write the alphabet in large letters on the board or display the alphabet flashcards or frieze.
Children say the alphabet with you.
Demonstrate how to make letters out of plasticine by rolling it into a strip and
making the shape of a letter.
Give out plasticine to each child.
Ask the children to use the plasticine to make the shape of any letter of their
choice or, for example, a letter which is included in their first name. Encourage the children to use the letters on the board, alphabet frieze or flashcards as a guide.
When the children are ready, get them to trace over their plasticine letter with their fingers in the same way that the letter is written and to say the letter.
They can also repeat the procedure with other letters made by their friends.
Collect all the plasticine letters and arrange them in a row on your desk.

Ask individual children to the front of the class in turn. Blindfold them and ask them to try and identify one or two of the letters by touch alone.

If appropriate, get the rest of the class to clap and say eg Fantastic! if they do this correctly.

Comments and suggestions

With younger children, it may be more appropriate to give them an outline shape of a letter on paper or card and ask them to stick bits of plasticine onto the shape of the letter instead.
Older children can also use plasticine to make whole words. In this case the activity can be used for revision, eg Make one of the clothes words we leamt last week, or as part of a unit of work, e.g Make a word for one food you like in blue plasticine and one foodyou don't like in red plasticine. Children can then read each others’ words.
Through using plasticine children are encouraged to attend closely to the shape of individual letters. As well as developing motor skills and hand-eye coordination, the activity makes forming letters and words both memorable and enjoyable.

Word shapes

Level A 1.1

Age 6-8

Organization whole class, individual

Aims To recognize the shapes of familiar words; to match words and shapes; to copy and write familiar words; to develop motor skills.

Language focus In the example: colours Alternatives: any familiar vocabulary

Materials

Essential: none

Optional: coloured pens, crayons, photocopies of jumbled words and shapes (one for each child) (they are in the correct order below)from the text. There needs to be a balance between questions to check and establish basic comprehension and higher order, open questions which lead to analysis, reflection and a deeper level of understanding and learning. Depending on the age and level of the children, it may be appropriate or necessary to ask some of these questions in LI.

It is not usually advisable to ask children to read aloud to the rest of the class. Other children either tend to lose interest quickly or else cannot easily hear or understand what is being read. If you do want children to practise reading aloud, it is best to get children to do this in pairs ('paired reading’) using a text that is already familiar, or to find time for children to take turns to read to you individually, while the rest of the class is engaged in other work.

Shared writing

Level All

Age 5-12

Organization whole class

Aims. To create a text with children in order to model writing strategies; to draft, edit and write contributions in a shared and collaborative way.

Language focus In the example: be, present simple, adjectives to describe animals, have got

Alternatives: any language and vocabulary or text type

Materials

Essential: none

Optional: a picture, poster or DVD to use as a stimulus to writing

Procedure

Prepare for the writing activity by creating interest and using a stimulus to prompt ideas, eg a picture or poster, a letter (which the children are going to reply to), a related text, an extract from a DVD.
Set a goal for the activity. For example, with younger children doing a topic of

work on bears and responding to a poster: Let's write a description of the grizzly bear together. What can you tell me about the grizzly bear?

Use the children's contributions to build up a text and write this on the board,

eg PI: Is big.

(sic) T: Yes. That's right. So what can we write? The grizzly bear... P2: is big. T: (writes) Good. And anything else? (using gesture to show height) P3: Tall. T: Very good. So what can we write? P4: The grizzly bear is big and tall. T; (writes) Great. What about the grizzly bear's colour? Shall we write about that? P5: Yes! Brown! T; OK. And what's this? P6: Fur. T: Well done. So what can we write?

At the end, get the children to read the description you have constructed together and ask them to copy it into their notebooks (with younger children this may be one or two sentences only), eg The grizzly bear is big and tall. It has got brown fur. The grizzly bear has got a big head and small eyes. It has got sharp teeth and sharp claws. The grizzly bear likes swimming. It eats fish. It also eats fruit and berries from trees.

As a follow-up, older children can write a description of another bear, eg a giant panda or polar bear, either individually or in pairs, using the text you have constructed together as a guide and model.

Comments and suggestions

As with shared reading, shared writing enables you to model cognitive strategies and processes which the children will be able to internalize and subsequently make use of in their own independent writing.

Shared writing is a technique that can be used with all ages and levels of primary. With very young children just beginning to write, it helps develop fine motor skills and is motivating in the way that it involves children in contributing to and creating what they write themselves, rather than mechanical copying. With older children, the technique is particularly useful to use when you are introducing them to a new writing genre, eg a story, a report, a letter, a recipe, a poem, and you can demonstrate and model specific language features and conventions with the whole class before children work more independently.

A Personal Diary

Level All

Age 6-12

Organization whole class, individual

Aims To write (and draw pictures to illustrate) a personal diary; to take pleasure in writing about personal activities and events; to develop self-awareness (eg about what you do in free time or food you eat).

Language focus dates, days of the week, times, past simple, free-time activities, food, meals Materials

Essential: none

Optional: special notebooks to be used as diaries or hand-made books (one for each child)

Procedure

Children either use their school notebooks or special notebooks or make a diary

Explain the purpose of the diary. This may be open for children to record whatever they like about each day, or it may be more structured as part of a unit of work, for example to write what they did in their free time, or to record the food they ate, every day for a week.

Establish when you expect the children to write their diaries, for example in the last ten minutes of class time, and elicit or give an example of a diary entry, eg Monday 2nd February: I had my piano lesson at 5 o'clock. I did my homework. I had dinner at 7 o’clock. I watched TV for two hours. At 9.301 went to bed. / Wednesday 4 th June: For breakfast I had cereal and milk. For a snack in the morning I had a banana. For lunch I had pizza and an apple. For a snack in the afternoon I had three biscuits. For dinner I had soup and a yogurt.
If you like, children can also illustrate their diaries with drawings or photos.

Comments and suggestions

If children are writing diaries for a specified period and objective, at the end ask questions, eg How many people... watched TV every day? / ...ate fruit every day? and use the children's responses as the basis of a class discussion about personal routines and habits.
If the children are writing an open-format diary in an ongoing way, give them an opportunity to show you this from time to time, but do not insist. When you read children's personal diaries, be sure to respond to their meaning, eg What a great

day! or I'm sorry you had a headache on Tuesday. I hope you're better now rather than correct them for spelling or grammatical mistakes. Be aware also that children's diaries may contain information that you need to act on, for example, if a child writes about being bullied.

Keeping a personal diary in English gives children a sense of satisfaction and boosts their self-esteem. Responsibility for choosing what to write gives children 'ownership' of language and makes the activity motivating and enjoyable. This also often has a positive impact

on children's care and pride in their work, with diaries often beautifully illustrated and presented.

With younger children who are just beginning to write, it may be suitable for them to keep a weekend diary. In this case, children tell you one or two activities they did after every weekend and you write sentences in their diary, eg I went swimming. I had lunch with my Granny. Children copy the sentences you write and draw a picture to illustrate what they did.

Book review

Level All

Age 6-12

Organization whole class, individual

Aims To write about a book you have read; to describe it and say what you like and dislike about the book; (to say if you would recommend the book to someone else, to give reasons for your opinions).

Language focus present simple, (adjectives to describe people, places, clothes or animals, adverbs of manner, would)

Materials

Essential: none

Optional: photocopies of a book review form (one for each child) or A4 paper for children to write their reviews (and draw pictures)

Procedure

1.Briefly discuss the book or books that children have recently read or that you

2.have read to them. Ask questions as appropriate about the pictures, characters, setting, plot, genre, etc.

3.Encourage children to say what they like and/or dislike about the book and to give reasons.

4.Give out the book review form you have prepared or write it on the board for the children to copy. See the next page for two examples of forms for different ages and levels.

5.Ask the children to work individually on their reviews.

6.If appropriate, children can also paint a picture in the style of a particular artist as a follow- up to this activity.

Party invitations

Level Al.l, A1.2

Age 6-10

Organization whole class, individual

Aims To identify information to include in a party invitation; to write and respond to a party invitation.

Language focus prepositions, days, dates, times, please, thank you, I'd love to come/I’m sorry I can't come

Materials

Essential: none

Optional: A4 coloured card (cut in quarters) to use for the invitations (one for each child)

Procedure

Establish possible contexts for party invitations, eg a birthday party, class party, fancy-dress party, beach party, Christmas or carnival party.
Ask the children what information you need to include in a party invitation, eg who it's for, what kind of party, the day, date, place, time and who the invitation is from, plus possibly also special instructions about what to wear or bring.
Create a framework for the invitation on the board, eliciting or establishing the prepositions that it would be appropriate to use for each piece of information.

Please come to party

on:

at:

from: to:

From:

Please bring / wear

Give an example of a completed invitation, eg To David/Please come to my birthday party/ on Saturday 2nd June/at my house /from 5 o'clock to 8 o’clock. / from Michael / Please wear fancy dress.
Assign who each child in the class should write their invitation to (as far as possible, pair children who like each other but who are sitting far away from each other).

Either give out the coloured card or children can write the invitation in their notebooks.

Comments and suggestions

This activity encourages children to think about stories in the context of another medium which they find appealing. The outcomes are often humorous and imaginative and children usually enjoy ‘casting’ their favourite real-life stars (whether from the world of pop, sport or cinema) in major roles in their invented films.
As an extension to the activity, children can also plan other things for their film, eg the music and costumes. The activity can also be linked to recording a short dialogue about their film using the video function of a digital camera.

Story-related writing

Level All

Age 6-12

Organization individual / pairs

Aims To practise writing related to a story in a meaningful context; to think about the story from different points of view; to develop awareness of different writing genres.

Language focus any, depending on the story and activity

Materials

Essential: none

Optional: a model, gap-fill text, questions or other prompts for the activity chosen (copies for each child or pair)

Procedure

As part of extended work on a story, you may like to choose one or more relevant activities from those outlined below to practise writing. Where appropriate, children can also illustrate their work. In each case, you can either use a shared writing approach or prepare a model, gap-fill text, questions or other prompts for the children to follow.

Invitation

Children write the invitation in stories which include a party or wedding, eg the invitation to the ball in Cinderella or to the wedding in Robin Hood. They can also write a letter to accept the invitation

Letter

Children write a letter from the point of view of one of the story characters, eg a letter from Baby Bear to Goldilocks inviting her to come and play at his house , or a letter to the zoo asking for an animal (which they can also draw) from Dear Zoo.

Postcard

Children write a postcard from a story character to their family, eg Beauty can write a postcard to her father from the house of the Beast in the traditional story, or Alex can write a postcard home recounting the incident with the bear.

E-mail

Children can send an e-mail to a character in the story, eg to the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, telling him how bad he is and not to follow or eat people in future.

Wanted poster

Children draw a picture of a character who is missing or wanted in a story, eg a poster describing Goldilocks, missing after she runs away from the bears’ house.

Diary

Children write a diary from the point of view of a character in the story, eg the diary of Hansel or Gretel from the traditional story, when they are prisoners in the witch's house.

Newspaper report

Children write the story in the form of an article for a newspaper, eg for the Kraken, 'Sailors drown in sea monster drama'

Copy and Classify

Level Al.l, A1.2

Age 6-10

Organization individual

Aims To copy and classify familiar words

Language focus In the example: food, fruit and vegetables

Alternatives: any language, eg animals, sports tree-m:- : •

Materials

Essential: none

Procedure

Ask the children to tell you food words they know, write these words on the board, eg egg, tomato, chicken, sausage, cheese,appls. ham, pear, orange.
Draw two columns on the board.
Ask the children to copy the headings into their columns and to copy all the food words on the board into the correct column.
At the end, children check their answers with the whole class.

Comments and suggestions

This activity provides practice in copying and writing, to think by asking children to classify the words, to transform a potentially mechanical copying activity.
A range of other vocabulary and categories can be used in the activity, eg Food that is good /bad for you, Sports that use /don’t use a ball, Free-time activities that are / aren't good eaorxse.
Children can also be asked to copy and classify words m a personalized way, eg Food I like / don't like, Animals I think are scary / not scaiy. This car. Lead into a speaking activity in which children ask questions and exchange

their views.