How We Teach Writing

Reception

The EYFS framework is structured very differently to the national curriculum as it is organised across seven areas of learning rather than subject areas. It is important to recognise that subjects in the EYFS link together to support development.  The skills you see in one curriculum area also support other areas. 

At Manea, writing opportunities for Reception children are woven throughout the day through their daily phonics sessions, diary writing and continuous provision challenges.

Reception children begin their writing journey by mark making and learning letter formation in the Autumn term. This progresses into the forming of lower- and upper-case letters as well as beginning to write words with known graphemes.

Children will then be working towards achieving their Early Learning Goal with targets to:

• Write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed.
• Spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters.
• Write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others.

PVPG:

All classes will begin the Autumn term by completing the Place Value of Punctuation and Grammar unit, designed by Grammarsaurus.

Through this unit all children will:

• Learn the basic structure needed for all sentences
• Be confident in identifying nouns, subjects and verbs
• Be able to punctuate sentences accurately and consistently
• Take their time to focus on the fundamental skills needed for effective writing

Stage 1: Pre-unit diagnostic assessments               

• Before starting each new unit, diagnostic assessments are carried out to determine a baseline
• The diagnostic tasks cover a range of spelling, punctuation and grammar which is specific to the text type about to be taught
• Teacher analyses the tasks and uses this to inform the planning of the unit

Stage 2: Text deconstruction

• High quality model texts are used to identify the key language and presentation features specific to the text type being studied
• KS2 classes may compare two or more different model texts and look for the similarities and differences
• Key features identified in this stage are used to create checklists and success criteria when writing independently at the end of the unit
• Time is given for learners to reflect on why certain features are used in this text type and the impact it has on the audience
• Suggested model texts are provided on the mapping created by Grammarsaurus

Stage 3: Contextualised Construction

• Explicit teaching of the specific text-type features – e.g. adverbials of time and manner; imperative verbs; co-ordinating conjunctions
• Teaching of any text specific grammar or punctuation objectives
• Teaching of spelling rules which are specific to the unit – these will be found on the Long Term over view as well as in individual unit guides
• During this stage, there will be opportunities for independent, guided and shared writing
• Writing tasks will be linked to key model texts or recommended books, which are listed on the Long-Term Writing Plan

Stage 4: Reconstruction

• Teacher to model writing the different elements of the text type – e.g. introductions; equipment lists; conclusions; character descriptions
• Opportunities to independently apply the taught skills
• Time to plan and sequence ideas
• Collaborative editing and verbal feedback from the teacher to ensure understanding before completing the final independent write
• Dedicated time to teach the skills needed for editing and improving work

Stage 5: Hot Tasks

• Completed at the end of the unit to assess learning

• KS2 will have a different stimulus for their hot tasks to the modelled and guided writes used in Stage 4: reconstruction. E.g. a whole class, guided setting description of The Tomb of wonders, followed by an independent Hot Task setting description of Narnia.
• At least 1x per term, children will have the opportunity to publish their work in neat. Allowing them to focus on and develop their handwriting and presentation skills.