Big Writing Information Sharing Wednesday 25 th November 2015

Big Writing Currently introduced in KS 1 Aimed to be introduced in KS2 and Reception early in the new year.

The key to Big Writing success in any school is to break through the glass ceiling of expectations Aim low – achieve low. Aim high – achieve high.

The Four Toolkits of Writing There are 2 ‘whats’ and 2 ‘hows’ The text type and its characteristics. The range of genre in fiction. Interpretation of the stimulus or purpose for writing the text type. What 1What 2 The 4 basic skills 1.Grammar 2.Handwriting 3.Spelling 4.Accurate use of punctuation and capital letters to show sentence structure, which should also be accurate. The writing voice 1.Vocabulary 2.Connectives 3.Openers 4.Punctuation How 1 How 2

Big Writing is the writing voice – the HOW.

Big Writing Philosophy If a child can say it, a child can write it! The Talking voice is not the same as the Writing voice. A level 5 writer doesn’t talk as a Level 5 writer.

Bad Traffic this morning! Having battled the rigours of the rush hour this morning…

Children are encouraged to... Talk about their writing Find exciting words and use these in their writing. ‘Borrow’ exciting words and phrases from other authors. ‘WOW’ words. Have a go at using interesting examples of punctuation. Once a week in their classrooms write for an extended period of time. Re-read their own writing and find ways to make it better. Understand what they need to do next to improve.

Big Writing Once a week Children are encouraged to write at length. Writing at length builds writing stamina Lighting is sometimes changed and music is played softly.

So how does Big Writing work? Ros Wilson developed a way of teaching writing to children which focuses on four main aspects of writing: V V ocabulary C C onnectives, O O peners P P unctuation

Pyramids are used by the teachers and children to support their learning in each aspect of VCOP.

The Four Elements of Big Writing Games are used to develop the children’s use of each element. Vocabulary The children are encouraged to use Wow words where appropriate in their writing.

Let’s Play… Look at the wow vocabulary words. Pick a word and see if you can use it in a sentence.

The theme of your sentences is ‘owls’. Downy Fluffy Sharp Yellow Wise

Connectives Every class displays examples of powerful connectives. Children are encouraged to use these in their writing to join sentences and paragraphs, therefore improving the organisation of their writing.

I have a dog. I have cat. I do not have a baboon. and, also, but although, sadly Use the connectives/openers to up level the sentences.

Openers Every class displays and discusses good sentence ‘openers’ (sentence starters) that the children can use in their writing to make their sentences and overall texts more interesting. Teach ways of improving a basic sentence by changing how it begins e.g. ‘She opened the door’ to a better sentence, 'Cautiously, she opened the door.' Some connectives can also be used as sentence openers.

Choose an opener. What is the most interesting way to finish the sentence? Nervously… To my great surprise… Laughing…If only I… I’ll never forget the day that… Reluctantly… Sleepily… I couldn't believe my eyes when…Earlier…

Punctuation The teaching of punctuation is based on the ‘Punctuation Pyramid.’ Children start by using full stops, then question marks followed by commas and an exclamation mark. Eventually they should use the higher order punctuation such as ( ) - ; : etc

Kung Fu Punctuation Fiery Ideas Basic training Training exercises I wonder who will be the ‘Full stop Master’ this week?

FULL STOP Throw a short, right-handed punch at the air in front of you. Make the noise, Ha!

COMMA With your right arm bent so that your hand is in front of your face, make a short twisting motion at the wrist to signify the comma shape. Make the noise, Shi!

QUESTION MARK Separate the curly bit into three cutting movements with the hand: one horizontal left to right, one curved around, and one vertical coming from the bottom of the curved one. Then at the bottom of the shape you have just drawn in the air, bung in a full-stop punch. Make the noises, Shi! Shi! Shi! Ha!

EXCLAMATION MARK A long vertical slash, from top to bottom, followed by a full stop. Make the noises, Shiiiiii! Ha!

SHE WALKED TO THE SHOP.

SHE BOUGHT APPLES, PEARS AND TEA.

WHAT IS THE CAPITAL OF FRANCE?

I THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD!

Up-Lifting Work There was an owl in the tree. He was very hooty and very fluffy. He had nice eyes. …………………………………… In the tree there was a fabulous sight. Strangely, all you could see were two eyes shining like diamonds in the dark night sky. He had soft, white, downy feathers. He swooped from the tree like an arrow!

We need to think and speak as writers. Up lift it: She was poor. Poor, penniless and alone, she dreamed of a better life.

You try it! She lived with her 2 step- sisters. She worked hard.

Big Writing Progression Year 1 20 mins – 1 hour 10 mins VCOP followed by 10 min writing Building up to 30min (VCOP and planning) + 30 min writing by end of Y1 Year 2 1 hour 30 minutes Start Y2 30 min (VCOP and planning) + 30 min writing – build to 45 min/ 45min after the first term KS2 45 min ( 35 min VCOP, 10 min planning) Break 45 minutes writing

The Early Years - Big Talk When children are not ready to write they can easily talk the VCOP! eg. Adult: Who can say a sentence that begins with when? Child: When I walked to school I saw a cat. Adult: Who can put a WOW word into that sentence? Child: When I STROLLED to school I saw a cat. Adult: Who can add another WOW word? Child: When I strolled to school I saw an ENORMOUS cat.

Big Talk Homework On Thursday teachers will share the writing task for Friday’s Big Writing session. Talk Homework is to share with someone at home your thoughts and ideas. Develop the use of wow words linked to the task. Encourage use of different openers or connectives to make sentences even better. Model great sentences to your children to support their developing ideas.

BIG WRITING The impact is amazing!

What can you do to help your child? Big Talk Homework Talk! Ask them to describe everything and anything. Take it in turns to tell a story. One person starts it, the other says what happens next etc… Look at a picture or photo together. Use it to tell a story. Think of a title for your story. What would the opening 10 words be? Encourage your children to spot WOW words and perhaps write them down in a book at home or on a piece of paper. Encourage your children to borrow words or phrases which they like from books, magazines, television programmes.

WRITE! Make it real! Encourage them to: - write letters - write a diary - take notes about a walk, a trip etc… - make lists – to do lists, shopping lists, lists of favourite music, games, characters, books, Christmas present/ birthday present lists etc… Use games to help develop vocabulary such as puzzles, crosswords, word games, anagrams etc…

Children need to believe that they can achieve and that they can always improve.

Additional Information Kung Fu Panda hand and noise instructions for all the punctuation marks in Big Writing’s Kung Fu Punctuation. Try using it at home. Don’t forget to mark them easier for younger children.

KUNG FU PUNCTUATION – BLACK BELT

FULL STOP Throw a short, right-handed punch at the air in front of you. Make the noise, Ha!

COMMA With your right arm bent so that your hand is in front of your face, make a short twisting motion at the wrist to signify the comma shape. Make the noise, Shi!

SEMI-COLON Do the full-stop punch, then the comma shape directly underneath it. Make the noises, Ha! Shi!

COLON Follow the full-stop punch immediately with one directly beneath it. Make the noises, Ha! Ha!

QUESTION MARK Separate the curly bit into three cutting movements with the hand: one horizontal left to right, one curved around, and one vertical coming from the bottom of the curved one. Then at the bottom of the shape you have just drawn in the air, bung in a full-stop punch. Make the noises, Shi! Shi! Shi! Ha!

EXCLAMATION MARK A long vertical slash, from top to bottom, followed by a full stop. Make the noises, Shiiiiii! Ha!

SPEECH MARKS Stand on one leg, extend your arms diagonally to the skies and wiggle your index and middle fingers in an approximation of speech marks. Make the noise, Haeeeee!

APOSTROPHE With your right arm fully extended to the air, wiggle your index finger. Make the noise, Blubalubaluba! (This is the best I can do to approximate the sound you can make with your tongue when you flap it up and down against the inside of your lips.)

ELLIPSIS Three punches along a horizontal line. Make the noises, Ha! Ha! Ha!

BRACKETS Using your left hand first, draw a curved convex line in the air; use your right hand to do the opposite motion for the closing bracket. Make the noises, Shi! Shi!

ADVANCED KUNG FU PUNCTUATION Perform the correct move and sound to match the punctuation mark

THE BOY’S BIKE WAS BROKEN.

LIVERPOOL (WHICH IS IN MERSEYSIDE) IS THE HOME OF THE BEATLES

I WROTE LETTERS TO: MARY, MARK AND HELEN.

"I'M WONDERING …" JAMES SAID, BEMUSED.

HENRY’S MOTHER LIKES PEACHES; MINE LIKES PEARS.

HOW LONG IS A PIECE OF STRING?

THE CHILDREN’S PARTY WAS ENJOYED BY ALL THE MOTHERS.

“NO … PLEASE DON’T LEAVE,” BEGGED THE TERRIFIED WAITRESS.

CALLUM (MY YOUNGEST BROTHER) LIVES IN MANCHESTER.

A PUPIL’S EQUIPMENT INCLUDES: PENS, PENCILS AND PAPER.

TOURNAMENT A proper bout of Punctuation Kung Fu requires three players: two combatants and a referee. The combatants face each other. The referee says the words ''capital letter'', and the opponents bow to each other while repeating the same phrase. The referee then calls out three punctuation marks and the players have to put the moves and sounds for these together, in sequence, as quickly as they can. The winner is the one who puts together all three moves and their accompanying sounds correctly in the quickest time.

BLACK BELT TOURNAMENT