Writing

At Earlswood, we ignite a love for writing through the Talk for Writing approach. Throughout the Talk for Writing cycle, the children build and internalise a bank of stories that support them in developing their imagination, vocabulary, writing techniques and confidence. Talk for Writing fundamentally teaches children how to be writers - not just how to write. It supports children to be able to generate ideas, draw upon their reading and write confidently for a variety of audiences and purposes. 

The Talk for Writing approach follows a three-tier pattern; Imitation, Innovation and Independent Application. 

Imitation

During the imitation stage, children get to know a text really well by orally learning it, exploring it through drama and then reading it to build a bank of vocabulary and useful writing tools to use in their own writing.

Innovation

The Innovation stage is grounded in the processes of shared writing, with a strong and systematic focus on securing the basics of handwriting, phonics/spelling. The children are given the opportunity to be creative and apply their own ideas to the text type that is being taught. 

Independent Application

The final stage, Independent Application, promotes children to draft, edit and publish their own independent versions. Throughout the cycle, children recieve informative and motivational feedback in order to move them on developmentally, as well as motivationally as writers.