Early Writing in EYFS and KS1 - Get Writing! (Read Write Inc)
At St John's, children in EYFS begin their early writing journey building upon the letters (graphemes) and sounds (phonemes) they have learnt in their RWI phonics sessions. They use 'Fred fingers' to help them spell simple words (e.g mat, cot, dig), matching the sounds they can hear to writing the letters from their alphabet charts. Children begin to learn letter formation rhymes, tricky red word spellings and punctuation through oral rehearsal of sentences before writing. By the Spring term in EYFS, most children move onto the Get Writing element of the RWI programme. This continues until most children are ready to exit the RWI programme by Christmas in Year 2.
The children:
The Get Writing! Books contain a range of writing activities for each of the phonic Storybooks and selected Non-fiction books for an effective approach to teaching early reading and writing. Step-by-step guidance helps children move from writing simple sentences to extended texts such as invitations, letters, descriptive texts and non-fiction texts.
Get writing books support children by:
At St John's, children in EYFS begin their early writing journey building upon the letters (graphemes) and sounds (phonemes) they have learnt in their RWI phonics sessions. They use 'Fred fingers' to help them spell simple words (e.g mat, cot, dig), matching the sounds they can hear to writing the letters from their alphabet charts. Children begin to learn letter formation rhymes, tricky red word spellings and punctuation through oral rehearsal of sentences before writing. By the Spring term in EYFS, most children move onto the Get Writing element of the RWI programme. This continues until most children are ready to exit the RWI programme by Christmas in Year 2.
The children:
- learn to write and form the letters/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds with the help of fun phrases
- learn to write words by using Fred Talk
- learn to build sentences by practising sentences out loud before they write
The Get Writing! Books contain a range of writing activities for each of the phonic Storybooks and selected Non-fiction books for an effective approach to teaching early reading and writing. Step-by-step guidance helps children move from writing simple sentences to extended texts such as invitations, letters, descriptive texts and non-fiction texts.
Get writing books support children by:
- Providing longer composition activities are based on a new six-step process with lots of oral rehearsal and role play so children are full of ideas before they write
- Using check boxes throughout the books prompt children to proofread and review their writing, helping them to make sustained progress.
After Get Writing (Year 2 onwards)
After exiting the RWI Get Writing! programme, children in Year 2 upwards move onto our Texts That Teach writing sequences.
Each teaching sequence is based around a core text, and follows a three part structure: Learning About the Text, Practising Writing and Independent Writing.
Learning about the Text
The purpose of this stage is to capture the children's interest and help them get to know the text really well. This is through both 'reading as a reader' - exploring and sharing personal responses to what they read - and through 'reading as a writer' - recognising and investigating the features the writer uses to engage and manipulate the reader. It often will involve some form of learning and remembering of trickier or interesting sections to be used as an initial model for writing.
Practising Writing
During this stage, children need to try out the elements of writing they are less sure of so that they can use this experience when writing independently. This means they need opportunites to play around with the language and structures they've been learning about and will be supported by their teacher(s).
Independent Writing
Children choose their own content to write about and collect ideas. Children write their text using proof-reading and editing to improve it.
Texts That Teach Progression
Maple
Willow
Sycamore
Oak
SEND in ENGLISH WRITING
Ambition- What are we aiming for children with SEND to achieve in this subject?
Children are able to communicate their needs in written form.
They are able to recognise and spell high frequency words.
They will have a basic understanding of what is required to write a main clause and how to add some detail.
They are able to recognise and spell high frequency words.
They will have a basic understanding of what is required to write a main clause and how to add some detail.
Access- What amendments are made to the subject in order to help children with SEND to achieve?
- Children are supplied with resources that are suitable for their ability - word banks, work scaffolding
- Pre-teaching where required
- Specific vocabulary teaching
- Verbal feedback with models given to support the children’s independence
- Opportunities to type if handwriting is an issue