Talk for Writing

At Wybers Wood Academy, Talk for Writing is the writing programme we use to teach writing across the academy. Reading is at the core of everything that we do at Wybers Wood Primary Academy. We believe that a book rich curriculum enables children to develop as readers but also as writers. Quality books and texts underpin our writing units across the school. Children work on 2 – 3 week writing units writing both fiction and non-fiction texts across a range of genres. The unit consists of three stages:

Imitate

The children internalise a high-quality model text, creating actions to help them remember it. They will pick the text apart looking at the audience they will be writing for and the purpose for the use of language and grammatical features. During this stage they will also story map and box up the text, so they are confident for the next stage.

Innovate

The children will begin to produce their own ideas through short burst writing sessions and create a toolkit of rules to follow for their own writing. Following this, along with the teacher, the children produce a shared piece of writing that features all the good examples seen in the model text.

Independent Application

Finally, the children will be able to apply all the knowledge and skills they have learnt throughout the unit, with support from the working walls and washing lines, to their own independent piece of writing.

Grammar and Punctuation

Throughout the Talk for Writing unit, we provide children with numerous opportunities to learn new grammatical skills in addition to embedding grammar and punctuation that has previously been taught. This is mapped out through both long-term progression plans and year group assessment documents to ensure coverage. We use text interrogations to identify all of the key grammatical features in the model texts, so the children understand the purpose of why those features have been used and the impact it has on the reader.  The children can then refer to these as a base to edit and improve their own writing throughout the remainder of the unit.  We use a Cold Task to Hot Task assessment tool specifically for punctuation and grammar that allows us to clearly identify areas in learning that children need to develop further, thus providing an individualised learning experience through jumpstarts at the start of the session.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary is intertwined and embedded into every aspect of our curriculum and we endeavour to make regular links to the vocabulary the children are exposed to in reading sessions and all other areas of the Reading Enhanced Curriculum. During the Talk for Writing process, we ensure we expose the children to a wide range of ambitious vocabulary that challenges their thinking and stretches their imagination. We build on this through many activities, many oracy based, such as: VR Headsets, OSIE grids and Short Burst Writing.

Spelling

Spelling is interweaved within our Talk for Writing programme so our children can apply spelling in meaningful ways, building on previous learning. Spelling is also taught daily through specific spelling sessions and interventions for targeted children.  In EYFS and KS1, this is taught through the Read Write Inc Phonics programme. Read Write Inc Spelling Programme supports children’s spelling from Year 2 to Year 6. The Read Write Inc Spelling Programme is an interactive programme which teaches spellings in a fun and engaging way. Each unit is introduced with a short video. It helps children to learn spellings with common patterns and uses rules to support and encourage children to become both more confident and independent