Literacy

Expressing feellings
Often when children write stories, feelings and emotions play second fiddle to action and plot.  Here's a fun way to get them to think about engaging their readers with character.

 Start the class off with a few examples of how people may feel or what their facial expression can suggest, e.g. happy, sad, angry, puzzled.  Gather ideas from them to add to the list. (Keep a copy of it somewhere for future reference). Then, in pairs, challenge the children to create a facial expression for their partner to identify.  So far, so fun.  Develop the idea by  thought-tracking the frozen expressions, asking for words to go with them, from either the person creating the expression - 'What are you thinking?', or the observer- 'What do you think they are thinking/feeling?'  To extend this, take photos of the expressions to create a wall display or resource sheet, to which captions are added.  From here, ask the children to choose one expression to write a short piece about the character's thoughts and feelings at that snapshot moment.  This could then be lengthened into a story about the character, filling in background and developing a plot.

Easy Haiku

When we teach Haiku, we tend to focus purely on the form - 5 -7 - 5 syllables, so the children end up counting over and above creating.  Here's an idea for introducing Haiku, that came from a clever librarian.  She made cards with phrases on them of the right number of syllables, laminated them and gave them to the children to use to create an instant haiku.  Originally the haiku celebrated something about nature, so you could use that as the basis for your own cards.  This clever lady works in the inner city, so she had what she calls 'urban' haiku e.g. - pigeons on the roof; sun reflected in windows; wings flap in the trees.  Working in pairs or small groups genereates debate, and the childen can then go on to make extra verses, and eventually maybe work on their own from scratch.


This would make a great demonstration lesson for observations or interviews!


And the winners are...
I'm happy to be able to announce the winners of the 2011 UKLA/English Association's English 4-11 best illustrated books.  They are:

Key Stage 1 Fiction

The Black Book of Colours, by Menena Cottin and Rosana Faria, Walker Books

Key Stage 1 Non-Fiction

Mirror, by Jeannie Baker, Walker Books

Key Stage 2 Fiction

The Heart and the Bottle, by Oliver Jeffers, Harper Collins

Key Stage 2 Non-Fiction

Taff in the WAAF, by Mick Manning and Brita Granström, Frances Lincoln Children's Books

More on editing
To get young children used to the idea of altering text - and helping them to realise that it's OK to do it - use a story they already know as a basis.  Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar works well for this.  Change it to something like 'the very thirsty ant' and then see how this has a knock-on effect on the rest of the story.  Another book to use might be Jan and Jerry Oke's The Naughty Bus which could become 'the naughty tractor' or whatever the children choose.

Simple Similes

Using similes judiciously can take writing up a notch. One way to get children used to the language of similes is simply to tell them to use either the word 'like' (is like, was like, are like...) or 'as (something)as'.  They will probably already be familiar with common similes such as 'as quiet as a mouse', 'as loud as thunder', 'as cold as ice', maybe without even realising that they are similes - so start with those and others like them.  Then play a game - give them a list and ask them to work in pairs to suggest similes. Here's a few to start you off:

• as loud as
• as large as
• as heavy as
• as beautiful as
• as exciting as
• a temper like...
• feet like...
• the sea was like...
• the ice cream tasted like...

and scroll further down this page for an idea for using similes in the'Simile cubes' suggestion.

A word of caution - don't let them get into 'Blackadder-speak' !! e.g.: Baldrick: Is the plan as cunning as a fox what used to be Professor of Cunning at Oxford University but has moved on and is now working for the U.N. at the High Commission of International Cunning Planning?

Rights of the Reader
This poster is from a unique little book by Frenchman Daniel Pennac, called TheRights of the Reader, and even if you don't read the book, I urge you to take note of the ten rights which he says all readers have. If you're brave enough, display the poster in your classroom - in your staffroom! - and live up to what it says.  The first right is the right NOT to read, which if you relate it to yourself will make absolute sense - you don't always feel like it, the reading material offered is not to your taste, etc - but do we extend that right to the children in our class?  Can you recall being made to read something you didn't want to, and can you remember how that made you feel about the person doing the making, about the book itself, about reading in general? 'Nuff said!

Editing tips
One of the most effective ways to help young writers improve their work is to help them to understand the importance of editing.  They won't do this on their own - you need to teach them quite explicitly how it's done.  Helping them to realise its importance is another thing - modeling and demonstration is the best way, as is constantly telling them that that's exactly what all writers do - that all the books in their classroom or library were edited in order to improve them.  So - treat them gently and help them to learn about one editing tool at a time.  Simply telling them to 'check your work' does not do it, and merely suggests looking for spelling and punctuation errors.  This is NOT what editing is about!  OK - here are some suggestions to get you (and them) going: 
READ THROUGH YOUR WORK (ALOUD IF POSSIBLE) AND LOOK FOR:

• unnecessary repetition of words, phrases or information
• overuse of adjectives
• unneccesary information (we don't need to know what they had for breakfast - the best stories often start in the middle)
• dull verbs
• unneccesary adverbs
• missing details (by this I mean have they assumed certain knowledge on the part of the reader that means the rest of the story is difficult to follow, or is lacking in interest or atmosphere. It might mean for example, adding something about a character's feelings).
• incorrect punctuation - instill in your young writers that accurate punctuation is there as an aid to the reader - it serves the writer by helping them to get across exactly how they mean something to be read.
• the occasional use of similes - these can lift a piece of writing much more effectively than an endless stream of adjectives

There may well be others, but that should give you at least half a term's work, I reckon!  You could produce these bullet points as guidelines on a bookmark, or poster, so that the children really DO have something positive to do when they check their work!

Story Boxes

It was Helen Bromley who first introduced me to story boxes, since when they've become pretty well-known.  But if they're a new idea for you, you're in for a treat.  Here's a link to a TES article about their use and here's a link to the Literacy Trust site that explains how to make them.
 
The photo at the top is an adult-made story box, and it's worth making one of your own to show the children but they enjoy them much more when they've made their own, perhaps together with simple stick puppets of characters to act out stories.  They can be either specific to a particular story, or generic for wider play and speaking & listening applications.  All you need is a shoebox, basic art materials and some imagination! (So a nice cross-curricular project too!) I remember a brilliant story box that Helen had made to go with Martin Waddell's wonderful Owl Babies. It was painted black inside, with a real twig for the baby owls to sit on. The three owlets were made from pom-poms.  Great!


Finger puppets
Help children re-tell stories by getting them to make simple cylinder finger puppets for the main characters.  Measure a rectangle of stiff paper that when formed into a cylinder, fits over the child's finger (it can be taller than their finger). Mark where the front will be, and the child draws the character there - make sure you leave enough paper to glue down a flap to make the actual cylinder.They can be made more detailed by sticking on hats, hair, ears, tails, etc. The children then use the puppets when they retell the story. Simple but effective.

More Guided Reading ideas
I've already posted some ideas for guided reading follow-ups, but here's another extensive list of things chidren can do after reading:

• Devise a ‘Wanted’ poster for a character in the story.
• Write a diary entry for a character.
• Write an acrostic poem based on the character’s name.
• Write a school report on a character.
• Write a newspaper report about an event in the plot.
• Revisit a character one year after the end of the story.
• Draw a map of the location of the story.
• Conduct an interview with a character.
• Send a postcard to/from a character.
• Defend the ‘baddy’ in a court of law.
• Think up ten questions you would like to ask a character.
• Write a conversation between two characters which is not written in the book but which must have taken place.
• Devise a board game based on the events in the story.
• Fill in Identikit details for characters.
• Take an incident in the story and write it as a play script.
• Write about an event in the book from a different point of view.
• Find five problems in the story and write their solutions.
• Write a newspaper advert for the book.
• Change the story into a comic strip.
• Prepare a page for reading aloud.
• Make a puppet based on a character in the story.
• Write a poem about the story.
• Design a new cover for the book.
• Write to the author telling them what you think about the book.
• Make an illustrated timeline of events in the book.
• Make a crossword based on the book.
• Make illustrated bookmarks linked to the book.
• Write an autobiography of one of the characters.
• Compare and contrast two characters from the book.
• Make up a quiz about the book.
• Dress paper dolls in costumes to represent the book characters.
• Write an additional chapter.
• Write imaginary letters between two characters in the book.
• Make newspaper headlines based on events in the story.
• Make a mask of a character in the book.
• Write a blurb to publicise the book.

More mystery tracks...

Feel free to use this photo as a writing stimulus.  Maybe it could trigger an entry in an explorer's notebook, be the tracks of a marauding animal that a detective has been called in to investigate, be the start of a poem...

(Just for the record, they're otter tracks beside a French stream that leads into a small lake. We haven't spotted the otter yet!)

The cost of words
Often, children think that quantity is better than quality. 'Look how much I've written!' And whilst it can certainly be true that sometimes their writing can lack detail, getting them to choose the best words for the job can be difficult, especially when writing poetry or descriptions.  One trick you might like to try is to ask them 'If you had to pay £1 for each word you're using, which ones would you keep, and which would you lose?'  That gets them thinking about economy of language - a useful editing tool.  Then - 'Is that word really worth £1? Would you pay £1 for 'big'?  Can you think of a better word that really is worth your money?' (Be prepared to have a good range of thesauri ready!)

Wordle Word clouds
If you haven't discovered them yet, Wordle word clouds  are just wonderful! First of all, they're simply fun.
You can use them just to investigate words,maybe linked to a current theme or story,  to create shape poems.  I know of one innovative teacher who got his class to type in their stories (or at least a paragraph or a few sentences).  Because Wordle makes the most-used words bigger, the children were able to see which words they had used most, which then made it easier for them to see where editing was needed - brilliant!

Greek Myths
This is such a rich source of material, it's a gift for literacy.  Marcia Williams' retellings in comic strip form are great to use, specially for inexperienced or reluctant readers. Click here to go to her excellent website. But here are some quick suggestions for what to do with the stories:

• Make shadow puppets - children retell the story in their own words whilst the story is being enacted by the puppeteers.
• Make stick puppets and use in the same way as above.
• Get groups of children to act out a story, loosely scripted by themselves, with room for improvisation.
• Children create their own comic-strip version of the stories.
• My favourites to use in these ways are Pandora's Box, Theseus and the Minotaur, and Medusa.

Guided Reading CD Rom
A few years ago I worked as part of a joint Suffolk County Council/United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) team to produce a CD Rom with case studies and extended teaching notes for guided reading using quality texts, covering fiction, non-fiction and poetry for Key Stage 2. Click here to go to the UKLA website for more information about it.


One of the books I worked on was my husband Nick Dowson's 'Tigress', one of Walker Books' 'Nature Storybooks' series.  OK, I may be a little biased, but it's a great book!  As are all those on the CD Rom.  It's got great ideas and I think is well worth the £10 (£9 to UKLA members).  The authors receive no payment from sales, as proceeds go to UKLA, which is a registered charity.


Arty spellings
A fun way to help children practise spellings is to get them to write the words in 'bubble writing', and decorate them however they like, with crayon, felt-tip, paint or maybe even collage (tempt them with glitter and sequins...).  Obviously, this would become a chore if you did it for every word, every time.  Maybe  they could select just one or two of their trickiest words for the art treatment. The words could then be displayed, which will also help to reinforce the spelling. (Do check they HAVE actually spelled the word properly before they spend ages decorating it!)

 
Footprints in the sand
Use interesting images as a stimulus for creative writing.  Here's one that should provoke a few ideas:

Whose footprints?  Where were they going and why?  Why do they disappear?... What is at the other side of the water?  How far does it extend?  (This is Walney Channel, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, for your information! The tide comes in and goes out and Walney Island is about 500 yards on the other side of the channel).

It's a book!
Here's a real treat.  It won't be hard for you to figure out the discussions you could have after sharing this short animation of Lane Smith's wonderful picturebook It's a book with your class.  And you could even buy the book!  I did!

Simile cubes
This idea combines maths, DT poetry and similes!  You need nets of cubes, printed on thin card ideally. Download one here.
This is what you're going to produce: 

Model what to do. First, choose four key characteristics of your selected animal - it's really important that the children choose an animal they know something about! Here, I chose the tiger's eyes, tail, feet and stripy coat. On individual whiteboards, the children write four similes, one for each aspect of their chosen animal.  The first word of each simile is the chosen aspect, so. tail, eyes, etc.  Then they use either 'like' or 'as....as' to create their similes.  As they're on whiteboards, they can play around with redrafting til they get them as good as they can.Then they're written as you can see on the cut out net of the cube.  

On the other side, it looks like this:

The net is folded so that the writing is on the outside, acting as clues to the hidden creature inside the box.  It's poem in a box!  I'd use this with year 3s and up, and as you can imagine it would fill pretty much a whole morning, to do well. One extra thing to remember - don't seal the cube - leave a flap to open in order to reveal what's inside!

 
Guided reading
It's always a problem knowing what to do with the rest of the class when you're working with a focus group in guided reading.  This idea takes a bit of time to gather resources, but once you've got them, they'll save you a lot of time, and provide purposeful tasks for the children. Each pack can be used more than once by the same children.

What you do is fill a set of plastic wallets, each with different reading resources in, together with laminated instructions for what to do. Most of these resources are free. If you want to be really good, you give differentiated instructions - maybe indicated by the font colour.  So, here's what you might include: (bearing in mind these are intrinsically reading activities, I've kept writing to a minimum, which also saves you time on marking.  Inevitably therefore, there would be noise from talking.  You could of course get them to write answers if you want to).  The following are basic suggestions which you can add to.

• Tourist info. leaflets  - who would visit here? What are the key features of the leaflets?  How would you improve them?  What works well and what isn't as effective?  What key aspects of language have been used?  What is the most effective aspect of the leaflet? What do you notice about the use of colours/fonts/illustrations? 
• Catalogues - How is the catalogue organised?  Is it easy to navigate?  How easy is it to find the information a shopper would need?  Who is the audience? Is there enough/too much/the right amount of information?  How easy is it to read the information?  What do you notice about the use of language/fonts/illustrations? What is the most eye-catching feature - text or illustrations?  If you had £x to spend, what would you buy?
• Postcards (with messages) - Would you have chosen this postcard to send?  What sort/age of person would choose this sort of postcard? What does the illustration tell you about the place the card is from? Does it make you want to go there? Read the message - what do you notice about the information included/the tone of voice/choice of language/handwriting/amount of writing.  What does it tell you about the relationship between the writer and the reader?  What would you write on a postcard?
• TV listings magazines - What does the cover tell you about the magazine?  What do you notice most - illustrations, title, headings or something else? How much of the magazine is given over to actual TV listings, and how much to other things?  What are the other things? How much advertising is in the magazine? Does the advertising link in with the programmes? How easy is it to find out what programmes are on when?  Choose a day and decide which programmes you would watch and why.
• Junk mail - Who is the intended audience?  What persuasive language can you find? How important are the illustrations? Would you be persuaded to buy the product or use the service? How do you feel about junk mail coming to your house? What do you notice about fonts/colours/balance of text and illustration/use of language?
• Newspapers - local and/or national - What do you notice about the language of the headlines?  On different pages, what is the balance between news/features/adverts/text/illustrations.  Are there more photographs or drawings? What do you notice about the layout of the pages and the way the paper's content is organised?  What differences and similarities can you see between a local and a national paper?
• Collection of poetry anthologies - How have the poems been organised?  How would you decide how to read the book and which poems to choose? Select one poem to read silently before sharing it with the group.  Read it to them (or part of it if it's a long poem) and tell them why you chose it - what do you like about it? Compare the anthologies - what differences and similarities are there?

Tricky spellings

Here are some tricks to help children learn to spell some of those 'tricky' words.

Friend          On Friday I will be your friend; or; I will be your friend to the end.

Special         Speci Al is my special friend.

Enough         elephants never offer u good hamburgers

People          With a p and an e  and an o and a p and an l and an e.

Because       big elephants can always upset small elephants

Suddenly      remember double d

Really          real + ly

Quite           quit + e

Beautiful      ‘beau’ is French

Writing guide for parents
 Feel free to copy this as part of a leaflet to share with parents.

Helping Your Child with Writing

Spelling

To spell well, we use a combination of knowing how to write the sounds we hear, and recognising the letter combinations that we see.  You can help your child with both these skills.

Sounds

• Play rhyming games and recite rhyming poems.
• List words that start or end with the same sound.
• List words that have the same sounds in the middle, e.g. a, e, I, o, u, oo, ee, oi, etc.
• Help your child to spell words that can be sounded out, letter by letter, such as a-n-d; d-o-g; s-t-o-p; f-a-m-i-l-y.  Many words can be spelled this way.
• Help your child to learn sounds that are represented by two or more letters, such as sh, ch, th, oa, oo.

Letter patterns

• Use joined handwriting when practising spellings, so the hand gets used to common letter strings.
• Ask your child to try out words on their own and praise them for the parts they get right before helping them to work out the bits they are less confident with.
• Look for letter patterns in the books they are reading.
• Write lists of words with the same letter patterns.
• Write a spelling word both correctly and incorrectly for your child to choose the correct spelling.
• Let your child choose the spelling words that they find most difficult, and ask them to decorate the word in ‘bubble writing’.
• Don’t ‘spell out loud’ words your child asks for.  In school we ask them to write down how they think the word is spelled, look for the parts they have got correct, and help them to work out the right spelling.  This develops the visual skills needed for accurate spelling.

Handwriting

For young children, or those finding handwriting difficult:

• Practice arm and hand movements, such as playing with ribbons on sticks, ‘drumming’ fingers, picking up objects with pegs, touching the thumb to each finger in turn.
• Make marks of all sizes with different writing implements; try ‘water painting’ outside.  Ensure a correct pencil grip ‘like frog’s legs’.

Developing

• As soon as possible, begin to use simple, joined handwriting. This not only helps to develop a quick, fluent style, it also helps spelling. Note that some schools do not use loops, so some letters do not join.  Capital letters never join.
• Do check that your child is forming letters correctly, especially that they are starting them in the right place.
• Make sure the ‘tails’ of letters like f,g,j,p,q,and y go below the line.
• Make sure ‘tall’ letters – b,d,h,k,l, are clear.
• Find a place for your child to sit where they have their back supported, and are at the right height for the surface they are writing on.
• Encourage your child to face the writing surface, have a firm but relaxed grip and angle the paper at 45 degrees.
• Left-handed children should have the paper at a greater angle to help them see what they have written.

Writing composition

In school we do all sorts of writing, including stories, reports, lists, letters, poems, recounts, diaries, instructions and explanations.  Encourage your child to try all these sorts of writing at home, where possible linked to their own experiences or interests.  Help them if they want you to, but don’t insist on their work being perfect in every respect.  Let them enjoy their own writing and praise them for their efforts.  Having a special book or folder for their work is a good idea.

However, it is important that children are aware that it is usually possible to improve their first drafts, so as well as telling them what is good about their writing give them pointers for how their work might be even better. 

Successful writers are also successful readers – so encourage your child to read widely.  Join the library – it’s free!

Persuasive writing

As estate agent-ese is renowned for this, why not use it as a medium for a persuasive writing task? Use either websites or printed details (or both) to investigate structure and use of language, highlighting examples of persuasive language, and/or where the text could be made more persuasive by editing.  Then the children create their own sales details for selling either their own or a fantasy home, or one belonging to a specific literary or media character.

Speech marks

Teaching children how to use speech marks in their writing is really easy.  Tell them to imagine that the marks are the person's mouth opening to start speaking and closing to stop.  All the actual words they say go in between - just like real words coming out of their mouth.  Simples!
 
WOW words???
The proliferation of 'Big Writing' and 'VCOP' concerns me on several fronts.  I'll talk about just one of them here - the so-called 'WOW' word syndrome.  Whilst I am wholeheartedly in favour of encouraging children to increase their vocabulary, and to make them aware of how to use words effectively in their writing, what seems to happen in practice is that work becomes littered with an excess of adjectives and occasionally adverbs.  This does NOT necessarily improve the writing.  In fact, it can have the opposite effect, but the children believe (because that is what they have been told), that their writing is wonderful because of it.

Adjectives shuld be used judiciously,  not scattered about like confetti.  If you read almost any good writer, you will find they use adjectives sparingly.  What makes good writing good is efficiency of language - chooosing le mot juste. This often means using a well-selected verb, not a string of adjectives.  So, my tips for improving writing through the use of vocabulary are:

• encourage the use of well-chosen verbs
• limit the use of adjectives and adverbs - they will be all the more powerful when they are used, if they are used in a judicious way
• teach the use of the simile and metaphor - but again, don't encourage over-use
• teach the use of efficient writing - i.e. two or three well-chosen words can do the work of seven or eight less considered ones, and have greater impact.

Let me explain...
When teaching about Information texts, ask the children to choose a 21st century object that they are familiar with.  Their task is to write an explanation of what it does and how it does it, to a 19th century person. It could also be written as a dialogue, perhaps having been acted out first.


Fortune tellers
I'm sure you remember making paper fortune tellers
This idea uses these to support any book you've been sharing - maybe a class novel, or favourite picture book, or a guided reading text.  When the children have made their paper fortune tellers (in DT?), they (or you) have to decide what is to be written for each stage.  Here's one suggestion:

•  the top four squares - the first ones chosen when the fortune tellers are used - have the names of four key characters, e.g. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore
• the inside section has either 4 or 8 sections, depending on how you want to use it - there's the chance for differentiation here.  So in our Harry Potter example, the next set of choices could be spells, or teachers at Hogwarts, or pets in the series, etc.
• the final section will; have 4 or 8 results, to go with the 4 or 8 choices at the previous stage (this isn't confusing when you have the thing in your hand!) So the outcomes (which are a bit like the game of Consequences) for these books could be: you successfully create a Patronus spell; you are threatened by a Death Eater; you receive a Howler by owl post; you do well in your O.W.L. exams; you win the Tri-Wizard tournament, etc.

 You do need to make one or two for yourself to find out which are the trickiest parts, and to show the children what they're aiming for.  They'll need to plan out what they're going to write on their fortune tellers, and yes, it does take some thinking about, but that's no bad thing, and then they'll have fun sharing them with each other.

Just in case you haven't used them, for each choice, the 'operator' spells out the chosen word, whilst opening and closing the fortune teller.  When the spelling is finished, the next choice is made, or the final fortune read out.

Suggestions for helping book discussions
You could use these in Guided Reading - specially if you haven't had time to read the book yourself!
General Questions

• What kind of book did you think this was going to be?
• Have you read any other books like this one?
• Could this story really have happened?
• Who was telling the story?
• Were there any parts you particularly liked/disliked?  Why
• What will you tell your friends about this book?
• Did the story remind you of anything that you've done?

Plot Questions

• What happened first in the story?
• Were there any parts of the story that surprised you? 
• What were the most exciting/sad/scary/interesting/funny parts of the story?
• Did you guess the ending?
• Did you like the ending?  How would you have liked it to end?

Time and Setting Questions

• When did the action of the story take place? (i.e. era, season, time of day)
• Where does the story happen? (There could be many settings)
• Would you like to visit this place?

Character Questions 

• Which character did you like most/least?  Why?
• Do you know any people like the characters in the book?
• Do any of the characters remind you of characters in other stories?
• Who would you most like to meet from the story?  Why?

Attitudes in the book

• Who are the most active characters - boys or girls?
• Which characters come out best in the end?
• Does the author use sterotypes of race, gender or age?

Reading Challenge
Here's an idea for encouraging reading in a sustained way, similar to the excellent libraries' 'Summer Reading Game':

In one half-term:

• The Reading Challenge - read four books of your choice
• The Super Challenge - read five books of your choice
• The Super-Dooper Challenge - read six books of your choice

How it works:

1. Choose your book.
2. Write the name and author on your Reading Challenge card.
3. Read the book!
4. Take the book and your card to your teacher who will ask you some questions about the book.
5. If you answer the questions correctly, you will get a sticker to put on your Reading Challenge Card.
6. Choose your next book and do the same again!
7. After 4 books you will receive a Reading Challenge certificate.
8. Decide whether you want to carry on to the next levels and receive the next certificates.
9. Next half-term you can begin another Reading Challenge!

Obviously, you will need to create the Reading Challenge cards and certificates - different colours to denote different levels - easy enough to make with Publisher or just using Word.

 Here are some generic questions you can ask, so you don't have to read all the books!

Fiction questions

• Tell me two/three things about the main character in the story
• What is the main setting for the story?
• Read me a section that you liked and tell me why you liked it
• Show me a picture that you liked and tell me about it
• What would you tell someone else who might be thinking of reading this book?
• If you were to carry on the story, what do you think might happen next?
• What do you think about the way the story ended?
• What genre would you say the story was?
• Tell me about the cover of the book.  Is it a good choice for the story?
• Do you know any more books by the same author/illustrator?
• Have you read any other books that are similar to this story?  Does it remind you of any stories you know?
• What was the most exciting/funny/scary/sad/interesting part of the story and why?
• Who was your favourite character and why?

Non-fiction questions

• Does the title give a good idea of what the book is about?  How?
• Tell me one/two/three facts you have learned from the book
• How is the information organized in this book?
• Tell me how you read the book. (From front to back, choosing from the contents page, or index, or dippping in)
• How/Why did you choose this book?
• Gave you read any other books on this subject? How does this compare to those?
• Is there anything you particularly liked about this book?
• Is there anything you thought was missing from the book?
• Tell me about the illustrations in the book.
• Show me a part of the book you particularly liked and tell me about it.

Poetry questions

• Why did you decide to choose a poetry book?
• Show/Read me a poem you particularly liked and tell me why you liked it
• (If an anthology) Is there a particular poet whose poems you liked?  Why?
• Do you know any other poems by this poet?
• How well do you think the illustrations fit with the poems?
• Can you show me a rhyming poem in the book?
• Would you say most of the poems in this book are funny/scary/interesting or something else?
• How would you describe the kind of poems in this book?
• Why do you think this particular title was chosen for this collection of poems?

Some activities for developing reading
These could also be seen as Instant Lessons, but equally, with some prior thinking they can be the basis for longer term work.

• Book titles: Read out the titles of a number of books and ask the children to make suggestions about the whole of the book based on  its title.
• Book openings: Read out opening sentences from a range of different books.  Encourage the children to make predictions about the genre just from the opening lines.
• In the styleof the author: Extending the idea of genre - read the opening line of a story and ask the children to work in pairs to write the next line(s) of the story.
• Matching titles and openings: Children match the opening lines of about four fiction books with their titles.  Encourage them to discuss how they made their decisions.
• Discussing character 'voices': Read aloud a passage or short story.  Ask the children why you have chosen a certain way of presenting a character.  Was it your interpretation or did the auithor indicate how the character speaks?  What differences would there be if another voice was used?
• Who is telling the story? Ask the children to discuss and decide who is telling a particular story - is it one of the characters?  Which one? Is it someone from outside the story?  Who might that be? Would the story be different if someone else was telling it?

What to do when you've read a book
Here's a list of suggestions - you could use them as follow-up work from guided reading:

• write to a character in the book
• write a magazine or web advert for the book
• change the story into a comic strip 
• build a model of an important object in the book
• prepare a page for reading aloud
• write a letter to a friend describing the book
• make a puppet based on a character in the story
• prepare a version of the story to read aloud to younger children
• construct a mobile of the book's characters
• build a model of a favourite part of the story
• invent mixed-up word puzzles from key words in the book
• make a wanted poster about a character in the book
• write a poem about the story
• re-write part of the book as a playscript
• design a new jacket for the book
• write your own blurb for the book
• construct an author mobile showing titles an illustrations of books by the author
• Make an illustrated time-line of events in the story

Children as assessors
A good way to make children more aware of what makes a 'good' piece of writing, is to let them mark someone else's work.  Provide them with copies of writing done by children they don't know, such as from the APP materials, or anonymous pieces you've kept or borrowed from another class, and tell them to mark it as if they were the teacher.  

You decide whether to leave the task open-ended, or give them specific areas to focus on.  Having work other than their own tends to make them more easily critical, and takes away the obvious problems of assessing their own work.
 
Spelling investigations
Instead of giving out lists to learn, which are very boring, take a more pro-active approach by setting spelling investigations.  There are lots in the Key Stage 2 'Spelling Bank' if you can still find a copy of it, and they're really good.  Some examples:

• Find how many words start and end with the letter v (no English word ends in a 'v', unless it's an abbreviation or borrowed  from another language - the same for the letter 'i')
• List words that  start and end with the letter 'k', then notice which letters come after and before them.
• List words that end with 'ck' and notice the letters that precede them - they are all short vowels.
• How many homophones can you find?  There are well over 150! Challenge the children to select those they think they will use most often, and decide on how they will remember which of the two (or more!) spellings to choose in their writing.

Build-a-sentence
Stick with this explanation - it works!  This is extremely structured, which is not what I would usually advocate, but I tried this specifically to encourage less experienced writers to construct longer, more interesting sentences.  Boys particularly enjoyed this - the structure seemed to appeal to them, and the fact that it was achievable by everyone made it a great success.


OK.  Children use whiteboards, you model on the board. Sentence by sentence the children gradually build up a longer sentence.  It goes something like this:

1. The dog ran.
2. The stray dog ran.
3. The old stray dog ran.
4. The old stray dog ran quickly.
5. The old stray dog ran quickly across the field.
6. The old stray dog ran quickly across the field as he chased the rabbit.

The children choose their own subject - probably another kind of animal.  This gradual build-up shows how they can make sentences more interesting and informative without just using a long list of adjectives. Obviously, you encourage a wide vocabulary - get them to suggest the words that are added - try your model sentence with different words to describe a totally different dog, for instance.


Free Writing Books
We're pretty much always in charge of what the children in our classes write, but this idea hands the control over to them, and can have really positive results.  Give the children an exercise book and for once allow them to decorate the cover.  Tell them that these are their own 'Free Writing' books, in which they can write about whatever they like (with obvious no-nos! basically, nothing that would upset or offend anyone else). Make sure you find time for them to use the books - maybe during registration, when they've completed any work within the set time, as a Golden Time activity, etc.  You do not mark these books!  The children can give them to you if and when they want to, for you to respond to - that's not the same as marking!

You'll probably find some children want to draw - for me, that's fine, I'd hope they'd eventually get round to some sort of writing. There'll always be one or two who just don't want to use them at all, and that's fine too (though it's hard not to try a little encouragement) - it's the Rights of the Writer, I guess.  You could have a chat together about what sorts of things they might want to write - from stories, to diaries, to letters, lists, poems, reminders... I had one nine-year-old girl who really struggled with her literacy and she spent ages just copying from books, I imagine because she knew that for once this would be correct and she had actually, physically written it, which addded to her writing confidence.  If you try this, be prepared to give it time - it's not a quick fix idea.

Literacy and creativity

Books can be used in creative ways to direct, support or reinforce learning across the curriculum, as well as being shared for the joy, pleasure, fun and engagement they can provide.  Here are just a few suggestions to get you going.

When you read children’s books, be aware of possibilities beyond the obvious.  Ask yourself these questions:

• Are there any underlying philosophical questions here (for use in Philosophy sessions)?
• Are there any issues that could be explored in PSHE?
• Could this text be used to stimulate music, dance, drama, art or DT activities?
• Are there contextual or metaphorical links here for subjects such as History, Geography, Science or RE?
• Is the language a good example of a particular style or form that I need to teach?
• Are the illustrations a good example of a particular style that could support art lessons, either as a stimulus or for comparison with the children’s own work.
• Could the font size & style be used as a stimulus for ICT?

Once you have chosen your text, here are some ideas for how to use it in the classroom:

Drama

• Hot seat key characters. If the children have little experience of this, model it first by being in the hot seat yourself.  You may also need to provide examples of questions, or question starters such as ‘What do you…?’ or ‘How did you…?’ to avoid yes/no answers.
•  Freeze-frame key moments, either from illustrations or descriptive written text.  Ask children to think carefully about their stance, where they are looking, their facial expression, their proximity to other characters, etc.
• Thought-track freeze-framed episodes, asking individuals to speak their character’s thoughts at that moment.
• Role-play scenes or interactions between characters.  This can only be done when the children are familiar with the text.  To practice the technique you could use well-known traditional tales.
• Have a key character walk along ‘conscience alley’ when they have a difficult decision to make.  The two rows of children they walk between represent opposite sides of the dilemma; each individual speaking aloud a line or two to try and persuade the central character to take their view.  At the end, the character has to announce their decision, and maybe explain their reasons.

Writing

• Children select a key character to write in role letters or diaries.
• Character descriptions/characteristics.  To work on characterisation, the children make game cards in the same style as Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh  and then invent games & rules.  Harry Potter would be good for this, or a range of characters from traditional tales or nursery rhymes.
• What happened next? Write the next episode.
• Alternative endings.  Change the endings to well-known stories.
• Devise questions for characters.
• Devise quizzes for other readers.
• Rewrite a poem as a narrative.
• Make a scene from a story or poem into a playscript.
• Subvert a text, e.g. The Very Thirsty Elephant; Cinderfella.
• Rewrite a well-known story in another genre, e.g. Aladdin as a ghost story; The Three Little Pigs as a murder mystery; Jack and the Beanstalk set in the future.
• Rewrite a section of a third-person narrative in the first person – do the same from two characters’ viewpoints.
• Make a story box (Art/DT link) either for a specific title or genre-based. Use a shoebox, and design the interior to represent the setting, finding or making characters and a few significant artefacts from the story.  Use to re-enact the story, or invent own stories.
• Provide the text only for children to illustrate as a storyboard, then compare with the original.  Try Pat Hutchins’ Rosie’s Walk, or Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Browne, where the words don’t tell the whole story.
• Marriages made in heaven (or hell) – likely and unlikely literary matches – who might marry who and how would they fare?  What might their children be like?  Read The Frog Prince, Continued, by John Scieszka Steve Johnson, to start you off.
• Give advice to a character with problems, e.g. 3 Little Pigs, or a Harry Potter character.

Character Noticeboards

Get pairs of children to create a noticeboard that might belong to a character of their choice.  So...first of all talk about the kinds of things that might be on noticeboards they have at home - shopping lists, children's art, postcards, receipts, bills, calendars, reminders, notes, etc.  Use a well-known character as a model, Father Christmas for example -and get the children's ideas for what might be on his noticeboard; maybe lists of children's names with ticks and crosses for good and bad, letters from children asking for what they want for Christmas, reminder to order reindeer food, receipt for wood and paint for his workshop elves, recipe for Christmas cake, etc.

The children then choose their own fictional character and create a noticeboard for them.  Or you can base this on a book you are sharing currently, leaving the children to select their character.  Each pair (or 3 or 4) has a large sheet of sugar paper to be the noticeboard.  Have a variety of paper, card, pens, glue, scissors etc. available for them to make the objects that will be stuck on to their noticeboard.  Great for all to peruse when they're displayed!

Early Years Writing

One of the hardest things to get children to understand is where to put full stops in their writing. And one of the best ways I've found to help them starts in Early Years.  When you are scribing in shared writing, instead of asking them to help write A sentence about  whatever you're writing about, get them to write TWO sentences.  This immediately shows the need for a full stop to separate the two ideas and so the two sentences. When they then start to write for themselves, again ask for two ideas about each thing.  Staff teaching older year groups should be aware of this so that they can develop it.  It becomes especially useful when teaching connectives - it's very hard to get them to see the need for these when they only write long rambling sentences to start with!.

Poetry Bible
The best resource I know for supporting the teaching of poetry is Sandy Brownjohn's  To Rhyme or not to Rhyme?, a compliation of two previous titles - What Rymes with Secret? and Does It Have to Rhyme? Each short chapter focuses on a different poetic form, e.g. haiku, limericks, cinquains, list poems, etc.etc. etc.  She explains each form, gives examples by published poets and children, and offers ideas for how to teach each one.  Indispensable!

Spelling Mnemonics
Everybody knows the way to remember how to spell 'because' - usually something connected with Big Elephants...(Can Always Upset Small Elephants; Can't Always Use Small Entrances etc...), but here's a few more that you may not know:

• any - Ants Never Yawn
• many - Most Ants Never Yawn
• said - Save Animals In Danger
• could/would/should - remember O U Lucky Duck
• together = to + get + her
• father = fat + her
• carpet = car + pet
• island - is land with water around it
• people - say 'with a P and and E and an O and a P and an L and an E or Pink Elephants On Pretty Little Envelopes
• again - make it rhyme with 'rain'  - we usually pronounce it 'agen'

Story sticks
The Innuit have a tradition of inscribing walrus ivory with key elements of their hunting stories.  When they took out the stick, they were able to use these story sticks to retell their adventures.  You could use this idea as an alternative to story maps.  If you're able to get some thin strips of wood, that would be great, but otherwise strong card would do - maybe cut into slightly curved strips to represent the curved walrus ivory.

Out of Art into Literacy
It's worth finding ten minutes to watch the National Gallery video that fully explains this project, where children create stories and their own artistsic respnses to paintings in the gallery's collection
.http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/literacy

Parent-teacher bookshelf
Encourage staff and parents to read by providing an easily accessible shelf or two (or more) of books for them to borrow.  Ask for donations to get it going, or buy second-hand from boot sales, charity shops or libraries.  No need to do anything else - people just pick up a book, take it home and read it, then bring it back, and choose another.  OK, so you may 'lose' one or two, but they've cost nothing or next-to-nothing, so you can weather that.  You could have a book, or posting wall for people to write comments on what they've read, or stick a blank page inside the book for people's thoughts.

Neil Gaiman - Crazy Hair
You can use this u-tube video of Neil Gaiman reading his poem/book 'Crazy Hair' just for the fun of it, but you could also link it in with children writing their own 'crazy' poems - crazy feet, crazy hands, crazy food... Get hold of the book (a UKLA prizewinner in 2009) for the children to see and hear the author reading it himself, or get them to create their own illustrations to go with different verses.

Then read more Neil Gaiman books!!! (Especially 'Wolves in the Walls' and 'The Day I swapped my Dad for a Goldfish')

Create an Anthology

Gabrielle Cliff Hodges had a brilliant idea - found in the book she co-wrote for UKLA - Planning for innovation in English teaching

Select some poems, with a theme (Gabrielle used entrances and exits - doors, gates, etc), print them out and give groups of children the task of deciding how they would group them in an anthology.

They may choose to organise the poems by author, date of original publication, or content as defined by themselves. Whatever they choose: (a) they will understand what an anthology is! (b) they'll have to read the poems - and hopefully understand them (c)they will have ownership of the anthology (c) they'll realise that poems can be grouped together in different ways.

Best Story to Read Aloud
 

My all-time favourite story to read aloud to children - from Year 1 right through the primary age range - is Joan Aiken's 'A Necklace of Raindrops', the title story from a fabulous collection. It takes about 25 - 30 minutes,and works even better if you hide a suitable necklace in your pocket to produce at just the right moment!

The Snow Dragon

Use Vivian French's picturebook 'The Snow Dragon' as the basis for drama, art and writing. Here's one picture of some work Year 3's and 4's did after reading it. These are the Fire and Ice Dragons made from scrunched up tissue, with descriptive words and phrases around them






Reading Cafe
A school I know has just opened a 'Reading Cafe' where one morning a week children and parents can come into the library, before the start of the school day, to browse and share books together, with refreshments provided.  A lovely informal way to get parents involved in reading with their children and forge links between school and home.