Narrative Writing Scheme

Approaches to Writing Co-ordinator : Claire Passmore

Improving Writing

We aim for our children to confident writers who write for pleasure as well as necessity. We want them to be able to write for a range of audiences and purposes, using accurate spelling and punctuation.

To encourage children to write we need to:

 provide them with a print-rich environment  play with words  encourage oral story telling  read to children - using whole texts and extracts  encourage children to read and write poetry  model writing regularly  encourage paired/group writing activities  publish children’s writing for a real audience  allow time for children to share their writing  display children’s writing  foster belief in themselves as storytellers and writers

February 04 2 To improve writing skills we need to teach children to:

 motivate themselves to write  organise their thoughts  understand what the reader needs to know  generate and develop ideas  be independent, original and diverse in their writing  control their own stories, finding their own solutions and problems  integrate, select, reflect and plan when writing  develop their skills, techniques and strategies in order to become narrative writers

To teach these skills:

 we need to be flexible and responsive to the children’s needs and interests  be reflective and analytical, focusing on key issues from the NLS  provide a broad and balanced range of opportunities for children to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills

February 04 3 Good Practice

 Use of shared reading and focussing on descriptive words, enables children to engage the reader in narrative, and develops successful use of prepositions and compound sentences.

 Use of shared reading and modelling, plus discussion of big-books provides the necessary experience for the children to base their own writing on.

 A variety of strategies to support correct use of punctuation such as green capitals, red full stops, search for punctuation etc.

 Regular use of the Nelson handwriting scheme to improve joined handwriting.

 Use of Jolly Phonics in Early Years.

 Develop spelling scheme, including use of Look, Say, Cover, Write and Check.

 Use of ‘skeletons’ to clarify the key features of different types of writing.

February 04 4 February 04 5 Suggestions and Ideas to motivate children’s writing

Visits by Authors When possible, invite authors to school to provide children with first hand experiences of what authors do and how they work. Working with authors gives children a sense of the excitement and power that writing holds, and gives them a real purpose for their writing.

Diaries

Examine different types - personal, dates to remember, historical etc. Diaries should not just be ‘news’, they should describe feelings, sounds and thoughts.

 After a trip, write a diary about their day, then make it look old  Keep a diary for a special week ( school journey, holiday)  Write their own diary from a historical character’s point of view  Create a school diary together of the events occurring  Private diaries - decorated  Garden/pond diaries - of things that have changed, grown etc.  Write a diary of a creature, it’s daily habits

February 04 6 Letters

Collect a weeks supply of various types of letters - bills, invites, cards - written and typed. Discuss purpose, language used and reply required. Find out how the letters arrive at their destination and the history of stamps.

 Examine historical letters and write a reply in the correct style  Examine how handwriting has changed and practise writing letters in different handwriting styles  Write to another school’s pupils  Design stamps to go with letters and envelopes  Write a letter to a local newspaper about an issue that concerns you  Write a letter to an artist/writer that you admire  Write a letter to find out more about a museum, a product, an invention etc.  Write a detailed letter to yourself when you are forty/fifty/sixty describing what you do, play, like etc. Put it in a sealed envelope and keep it somewhere safe  Write a letter as though you were a famous figure in history  Write to the weather asking why it does certain things, how you feel about the different types of weather.  Create your own time capsule and write a letter to the children of the future  Use J.R.R.Tolkien’s book ‘The Father Christmas Letters’ for ideas to write to Father Christmas asking more detailed questions such as 'How cold is it?' What do you do in the summer?  Create your own book with letters in it, based on the ‘Jolly Postman’

February 04 7 Invitations

Invitations should convey all the necessary information in a few words. Examine invitations together and pick out the key words used.

 Write invitations to artists/writers  Write invitations for performances, cut into appropriate shapes e.g. nativity - a crown; harvest festival - a basket of bread  Invite parents to open evenings  Create your own invite for the Christmas party  Invite a favourite cartoon character to a party on the moon/ under the sea/ on a magic carpet  Write an invite for Cinderella to come to the ball

Recipes

Recipes need to be easy to read. They should list all the items required, the method needed and the finished result. Examine various recipes and try out a few to decide which recipes are the easiest to follow and why.

 Write your own recipes with simple illustrations  Make a top ten of favourite recipes  Discover old/ family recipes passed down through the generations  Make a book of healthy recipes

February 04 8  Find different sorts of bread making recipes for Harvest  Make a class book of sweet recipes  Find unusual recipes  Create silly recipes e.g. How to make my mother mad. How to turn my teacher into a frog.

Prayers

Read and share various types of prayer and discuss the different occasions they are used.

 Write Christmas prayers saying thank you for all the things that Christmas brings. Display around a star  Make a tree of prayer, the prayers hanging from the branches like leaves  Write prayers about all the different types of light in the world - link to Diwali  Make prayer wheels - as the Buddhists do  Think about Eid-ul-Fitr and write prayers for those people who don’t have enough food to eat. The prayers could be written on strips of paper and then wrapped around coconut sweets and given to friends and family.  Make colourful prayer scrolls, linked with Judaism  Write thank you prayers for the New Year in lantern shapes, remembering the Chinese New Year  Write prayers saying thank you for spring time at Easter  Choose a verse from the Bible and make it into a prayer and illustrate

February 04 9 Posters

Posters should be clear, easy to read and have an obvious message. Discuss the different types of posters, advertisements, leaflets and flyers that are available. Examine the wording, the colours, the illustrations, the font and the message.

 Design a machine and make a poster to advertise it  Design posters to advertise performances, fetes etc  Create a litter bug picture to advertise anti-litter slogans  Make posters to advertise assemblies similar to ones seen outside churches  Produce your own jingle to advertise your favourite sweets or soft drink  Design a poster to advertise your favourite book - display in the library  Design a T-shirt logo with a message  Design a carrier bag  Make a poster advertising the first passenger shuttle service to go around the sun  Design Chinese banners welcoming spring, summer, autumn and winter

February 04 10 Newspapers

Examine articles together picking out facts, specific types of language, headlines, print types, photographs etc.

 Follow a current story in all the newspapers and discuss differences. Write your own news article of a current story changing the emphasis/meaning  Write an article after a visit and use black and white photographs to illustrate  Create a class newspaper to reflect the locality thirty years ago  Read a familiar story and write it as a newspaper article e.g. Goldilocks and the three bears

Creative narrative ideas

 Make a treasure-island map with a partner, then write an adventure story that happens on the island.  Use a magic carpet to travel around the world. Use holiday brochures to decide on destination and find extra information for your story.  Go on a journey to outer space and describe the planets and creatures found there in your story.  Gulliver’s Land - examine an old penny and write a story about what would happen if you became a giant or became as small as an ant.  Imagine being a detective. Next door has lost their jewels/pet and you have discovered an extra clue to solve the mystery. Write a story about how the mystery was solved.

February 04 11  In groups, read the first chapter of an adventure story. One person writes the second chapter, next the third and so on. Then all decide what happens at the end.

Biography  Ask parents about their childhood, taking notes. Use notes and photographs to write your parents biography.  Choose a favourite character from history, research their life and then write a story about them.  Research unknown people from history such as slaves, servants, and clerks. Write their biography, as if they were on the sidelines of an important event.  Find a picture or photograph and make up a name, occupation, family and a life story of that person.  Choose a favourite toy and write its life story. Where it was made, when it was bought, the adventures it has had with you etc.

Information  Write about a special hobby or interest, presenting it in book format with lots of interesting pictures.  Think of your favourite playground game and write down the rules and how it is played.  Create your own book entitled ‘Things to do while ill in bed’. Include lots of instructions and information.  Write instructions on how to make miniature gardens using jars, foil etc.  Make a book of ideas for Christmas gift ideas, similar to Blue Peter style gifts and cards.  Make a ‘How to ...’ book. How to take care of your pet, clean your teeth etc.  Create a mini-thesaurus linked to current topic.

February 04 12  Make books for younger children e.g. flap books, pocket books, the very hungry ladybird, mini-books ( one word each page), rag books ( collage style), ABC books and nursery rhyme character books.

Fantasy  Write about the secret world hidden in an apple, a piece of coal, a fossil or a conker. Begin ‘ Hidden inside is a secret....’ or ‘My eyes are the first to see ....’  Write a letter to a wizard asking if you can come and stay. Write about what you would learn if you did visit.  You have discovered a mystery circle in the school grounds. Where did it come from? What is it? Is it from outer space?  If you found a gate, what would you find on the other side? Would it be a lovely garden or a magical other world?  Invent a monster and describe it in detail.  Ghost stories - the ghosts who scare themselves, don’t like the dark etc.  Noises in the night - write about what it could be and show your thoughts in bubble pictures.  Set a story in an old house - entitled ‘I Once Lived Here’.  The skeleton on the train - someone sits next to you and you look around to see a skeleton.

Story starters  Re-tell legends and fairy tales.  Use Ted Hughes’ ideas from ‘How the whale began’ to write own ‘How the anteater began’ etc.  Write about a historical occasion as a by-stander.  Cut out headlines and use as title for your story.

February 04 13  Examine an artefact and write its history.  Use a treasure box full of unrelated items such as scissors, photograph, a key etc. Write stories individually/pairs including as many of the items in the treasure box as possible.  Use hand held mirrors to look at various reflections around school and find out how mirrors change the image and make something ordinary look extraordinary. Describe the image or a write a story about discovering the unusual object.

Poetry  What is the sun? If it was not the sun what would it be e.g. an egg, a ball, a yo-yo etc. Write a list of descriptive phrases about the sun and then put them into books in the shape of a sun.  Disguise an everyday object by wrapping it up and ask group/class to describe. Use shape and texture words, then reveal object and add sight words. Use ideas to create own group/class poem.  Choose some favourite poems that have obvious structure. Use structure in own poetry work or replace words or phrases.  Create own shape poems, thinking about colour, movement, touch, pattern and sound. Illustrate carefully.  When you open the garden gate, you open into another world - describe world and illustrate with a flap design.

February 04 14 Turning Talk into Writing

Newstelling Get away from Monday morning news where everyone is in a circle – takes too long and is boring for those who have short attention span.

Introduce news plan and use key word prompts – when Who Where What Why (Visual aid of a Clown picture, or something similar, with each word on a juggling ball)

In smaller groups, build up each week to adding a bit more news. (Start with when and who week 1 etc..)

Newsplan To get into writing, use the key words to help

when who where what

February 04 15 Draw or write in each section.

Alternatively, on a piece of writing, use highlighter pen to indicate when, who, where, what, why.

Sequencing

Use pictures – either sequencing sets of picture books cut up and laminated.

Group sorts their pictures and discusses why they have chosen that order. There is no real wrong answer as long as they can tell the story.

Tell the story to the class.

If you wish, now write the story.

Barrier Games These develop descriptive skills.

2 people sit either side of a barrier (e.g. book). One gives instructions, other tries to replicate something.

February 04 16 Sequence pattern of beads, cubes etc Assembly model, dress Maisy, Fuzzy felt, make a scene with peel of sticker boards etc. Grids 2 sets of identical objects placed on a 3 x 3 grid. Treasure map – find the treasure Route Finder Plot a route on a map. Tell your partner Spot the diff. Describe your pic to your partner. What is the difference on your pictures?

February 04 17 Skeletons for Non-Fiction Writing

February 04 18 Ideas for writing narratives

Planning frameworks Mapping a story Story timelines Cause and effect grids Story makers Drama/role play Parody Different viewpoints Changing a character Prediction activities Jumbled stories Add a complication Focus on beginnings and endings

February 04 19