Embedded Files
What is Drawing Club?
Drawing Club is the approach we use in Primary One to teach the beginnings of story telling. It was created by a practitioner called Greg Bottrill and it brings the magic of story into the classroom. It is a way to share skills including fine motor, maths, early writing, vocabulary and most importantly, imagination and excitement!
How do we teach it?
At the beginning of each week, we use a new quality text to grab the interest of the children. This could be a written text, a cartoon or a short film. When we use a book, we read the story and talk about the front cover, the title and make predictions about what the story could be about. We talk about the beginning, middle and end and we may sequence events to help them to familiarise themselves with what happens. If using a short film or cartoon, we would watch it together and have conversation about it. The texts we use will link to our topic whenever appropriate.
We learn 5 words each week which link to the text. To help the children to remember them, we choose actions together as a class for each word. This is a way of developing new and exciting vocabulary in context that the children may not otherwise hear. We then encourage the children to use these words in their play.
Each Monday, we talk about the character and what might happen when we press the magic button on our drawings. For example, they might change in appearance, develop a superpower to help them to solve their problem, become invisible...the ideas are endless!
On Tuesday, we draw a setting from the story and generate ideas about how it could change. For example, in the story of The Gingerbread Man, the river might part so that he can cross.
On Wednesday we go on an imaginary adventure, changing parts of the story - anything can happen when the magic is added!
How does Drawing Club link to writing?
Each time the children draw they have to add a 'magic button'. To make the magic work, they have to add a secret code. This could be the sound they are learning that day, a word, a caption or full sentences - whatever we feel they need to reinforce. The secret code could also be a number or a maths fact.
What about non-fiction texts?
Alongside the fictional element of drawing club, we also make sure the children are exposed to quality information books that link to our topics.
They will be taught how to write lists, captions and simple pieces of factual information. This could be done through Drawing Club if appropriate.
Talk for Writing: A Guide for Parents & Carers
Talk for Writing is a powerful educational approach designed to help children develop their writing skills by first internalizing language patterns through spoken activities. It empowers children to articulate ideas and structure stories before writing them down.
What is Talk for Writing?
Talk for Writing is based on the principle that children learn best when they say it before they write it. Developed by author Pie Corbett, this approach teaches children the language and structure of stories and non-fiction writing through three stages: Imitation, Innovation, and Independent Application. Through its multi-sensory and interactive teaching, it enables children of all ages and abilities to learn to write a wide range of story/text types using various methods including:
• listening to and learning texts and stories
• taking part in drama and role-play
• drawing and story mapping
• collecting words and language strategies
• building their working knowledge of grammar.
The Stages of Talk for Writing
1. Imitation In the imitation stage, children learn and internalise a model text. This involves retelling a story or non-fiction piece using visual aids, actions, and story maps to help embed key phrases and vocabulary.
2. Innovation In this stage, children adapt the model text to create their own version. They modify characters, settings, or key events, while still using the structure and language patterns they've learned.
3. Independent Application. Here, children use the skills and techniques they’ve learned to write their own stories or informational pieces independently. There is the freedom to draw upon their own ideas and experiences, or they can ‘hug closely’ to the shared text should they need to. This helps them to express their ideas creatively while following a clear structure.
How Can Parents/Carers Help?
Parents can play a key role in supporting Talk for Writing at home. Here are some ways to help:
- Read, read, read! Talk for Writing begins and ends with enjoying stories and reading books. Children who read for pleasure are also more likely to succeed as writers because of the way in which reading develops language development. When reading with your child discuss the language, plot, and characters. Ask open-ended questions to encourage deeper thinking.
- Encourage your child to talk about their day, retell stories, or explain something they learned at school. This builds their oral storytelling skills.
- Help your child create story maps at home. This visual tool helps children structure their ideas. - Encourage your child to use the new vocabulary they’ve learned in their writing and speaking.
- Offer praise and encouragement for both their spoken and written ideas.
Benefits of Talk for Writing
Talk for Writing supports children in several key areas:
- Improved vocabulary and understanding of sentence structure.
- Enhanced confidence in both speaking and writing.
- Stronger storytelling and non-fiction writing skills.
- Better comprehension of how to plan, organise, and present ideas clearly.
Conclusion
Talk for Writing is a highly effective way to help children develop their writing skills by using oral language as the foundation. By supporting your child at home through conversation, reading, and storytelling activities, you can strengthen their ability to express themselves clearly and creatively.
Glossary
Magpie: words from other texts or from their peers that the children can borrow to use in their own writing.
Story map: The story/text that is being learnt is turned into pictures to create ‘memory triggers’ for children to remember the next part of the story/text.
Boxing up: The story broken down into sections or boxes to support children with para- graphs.
Toolkits: Key features that should be included in order to write that text type correctly.
Washing lines: A way of displaying the story map, tool kit, key vocabulary, model texts so the children can refer to them at all times.
For further information visit http://www.talk4writing.co.uk/
Page updated
Report abuse