Creating Written Texts

As writing skills are central to many aspects of learning across the curriculum and in life, a well-established positive culture will encourage and support the creation of text for different purposes across a variety of contexts. Through daily routines, activities, and experiences, practitioners will harness opportunities for learners to communicate their ideas or other information in the written form whether this is following their own learner-initiated or teacher-directed purposes. To support them over longer periods, when writing more extensively, practitioners will develop the necessary opportunities for learners to explore the elements writers use to create different text types for imaginative, informative, and persuasive purposes.

Helping learners to understand that their writing meets a purpose is crucial. It encourages every child to see themselves as a ‘writer’ rather than the writing being a chore or something they are being forced to do. Using an engaging stimulus or ‘hook’ is an effective way to spark interest and increase motivation.

Effective writing is a process and, as appropriate to their age, stage and needs, practitioners will break this down into manageable chunks. In this way, learners engage more confidently when creating extended text and view writing as an enjoyable and worthwhile endeavour.

As the quality of preparation for, and support throughout, extended writing activity is crucial for success, practitioners will carefully consider the stages of the writing process to ensure that experiences and opportunities for learning are appropriately matched to the needs of learners. While a range of approaches and strategies will be used, developing greater confidence and skill in creating written texts will be achieved most effectively through:

• Opportunities for learners to develop their knowledge and understanding of the text type. Practitioners will determine the most appropriate ways to support this e.g. textual analysis of a model text, independent or guided reading, home learning activities.
• Opportunities for learners to co-create meaningful success criteria that supports them to better understand their purpose, intended effect, and choices they could make e.g. Box Planning.
• Opportunities for learners to plan (as appropriate) in different ways e.g. models, flow charts, post-its, diagrams, drawings. Practitioners will identify those that may be more suited to the text type or particular learners’ needs, where appropriate.
• Opportunities for learners to gather ideas and organise information to support their writing. Practitioners will encourage and support learners to ‘magpie’ particularly powerful or useful ideas, phrases, or words which they could later include in their own text in a variety of ways e.g. gallery walks, writer’s journals, sentence stems.
• Opportunities for learners to see the writing process in action. Through modelled, shared or guided writing approaches, practitioners will facilitate learning as text is jointly created and learners become more confident and independent in their application of new skills.
• Opportunities for learners to explore and experiment with the relevant vocabulary for the text type. Depending on their age and stage of development, practitioners will encourage learners’ attempts with more sophisticated or precise word choice.

 

Tools for Writing

As learners develop their ability to communicate their ideas or other information in the written form, practitioners will harness opportunities to model and reinforce age and stage appropriate expectations. Practitioners may find the Self-Assessment Criteria Grids (Tools for Writing) , Peer and Self Assessment (Creating Written Texts) Placemats and Peer and Self Assessment (Tools for Writing) Placemats, as part of the Fife Writing Assessment Resource Pack, a useful way to support ongoing feedback and learner conversations about writing. While a range of explicit and implicit approaches and strategies will be used, developing learners’ confidence and abilities in the Tools for Writing organiser will be achieved most effectively through:

• Opportunities for learners to review and edit text, particularly extended pieces of writing. Practitioners will determine the most appropriate ways to organise learning that supports this improvement e.g. direct teaching, independent games or activities, editing stations.
• Opportunities for learners to develop useful approaches and strategies to become more confident and effective spellers. Practitioners will draw on their knowledge and understanding of the stages of spelling development to ensure that learning and teaching is matched appropriately. Practitioners may find the Spelling Assessment Guidance for Practitioners useful to support with this.
• Opportunities for learners to practise their handwriting or word processing skills. Practitioners will agree a whole school approach to ensure that learners develop a clear, legible style.
• Opportunities to develop learners’ knowledge and understanding of grammar and language features in context. This can greatly support the practise and transferral of skills, unlikely to be achieved as effectively through standalone exercises.
• Opportunities for learners to explore and experiment with sentence structures and how text can be organised. Depending on their age and stage of development, practitioners will encourage learners’ attempts with more complex types of sentences or the use of paragraphs.
• Opportunities for learners to develop knowledge and understanding of how ideas and information can be linked and identify which connectives/conjunctions are most appropriate to use.
• Opportunities for learners to use digital technology, scaffolds or other resources that will support them to overcome challenges and enhance the quality of their writing.

The Tools for Writing help to enhance learners’ text and more effectively communicate their ideas or information to a reader. As appropriate to their age, stage and needs, practitioners will determine where focused learning and teaching is required on these aspects during the editing stages of the writing process, or to support writing activities across the curriculum more generally. In this way, learners’ experiences of cognitive overload are reduced and they engage more confidently when initially allowed to focus on their message and quality of ideas.

The Fife Writing Assessment Resource Pack has been developed to support practitioners with planning and moderating effective learning, teaching and assessment of writing. Please see the Fife Literacy Documentation section to access and download these materials.