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Teaching
Ideas and Units - Beaut Ideas
Ideas
for Reluctant Writers
These
ideas were contributed by teachers from Illawarra Primary School.
They were first published in the Hartz Literacy Newsletter.
These are
some of our favourite ideas for engaging kids in writing in a range of
genres. We don’t claim they are original but these are the ones that
work for us every time!
Job Application
Explicit
teaching of the structure and content of job applications then:
‘Write
an application for the job of Teacher’s Pet’
Blank
Verse/Observations/Sensory Experiences
Give students
a framework for observation, such as ‘What I hear, taste, feel…’
Taste the
salty sea as it wisps across the water
Hear the
good old Australian magpie early in the brisk morning
Moon white
sand trickles through my feet
Nicely spun
web stretches ever so slowly over my face…
The structure
seems to bring out the best in some writers, particularly boys who don’t
write much. Younger children find it helpful to have questions on the
top of the page, such as, ‘Who?’ ‘What?’ ‘Where?’
to focus their writing. Sensory experiences are always great starters
for younger children. Why not slosh feet around in some warm water before
you ask children to participate in or respond to Mrs
Wishy Washy. What about letting them touch, smell and lick that
toffee, then write about it — then eat it!!
Road Tests
Using the
Burke’s
Backyard format (add or change categories), students can write or
video their ‘road test’ of a pet, a toy and so on.
Poetry
Innovating
on a style such as Moo in Loo, Worm with a Perm or tongue twisters, or
limericks.
Written
conversations
These can
be a really great source of fun and an excellent way to practise punctuation.
Just give them a fun topic, such as, ‘Sleepover gossip’, ‘Two
kids waiting a long time to be picked up after sport’, or ‘Two
friends discussing the new teacher/student’ and ask them to share
one piece of paper for writing the conversation.
Spontaneous
Writing
Someone (teacher
or student) puts two sentence on the board — everyone writes non-stop
about whatever comes to mind. It can be funny or serious. Sharing at the
end is an important part of the process.
V.I.P.
Books
An extension
to Star of the Week. The star of the week shares lots of information about
him/herself and the teacher writes up the main points. Each student draws
and writes two things they learned about ‘the star’. All responses
and drawings are published in a book and presented to the V.I.P.
Photo
books for taking home
All children
and staff members who work with that class must write about themselves.
What they write is published under their own photos. The book then goes
home on a rotating basis.
Place
names
How might
these real places have been named - The Dog Gap, WA: Hope, SA; Egg Island,
S.A.; Skull Rock, W.A?
Excuses
Read Allan
Ahlberg’s ‘Excuses’ poem and write your best excuses for
being late, not doing your homework and so on..
Holidays
What didn’t
you do in the holidays?
Prepositions
In and out,
over and under, up and down. Use these words in as many ways as possible,
e.g. ‘far out’, ‘down and out’, ‘dress up’,
‘give up’
HAVE
FUN!
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