Unique Moments Photo Album

Here is visual resource that is very useful for written work, previous oral discussion.

 

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I took these photos from different sources, and then added speech bubbles to some of them, for my students to write down  in it whatever the picture suggested to them. Some are funny; others, tender , moving or surprising and thought provoking.

  If you like, you can use them as story starters, too. Generally, these kind of images are engaging for children to work with.

In my experience, they work well for writting collaborative stories with KS1 children, though KS2 students enjoy creating  stories in pairs or individually.

Travelling with the main character in your book!

This activity is directly linked to your reading project, and it is especially good for reading buddies, as it implies a lot of research and writing work.

It focuses on creative writing responses about the story's main character. At the same time, this project involves students in researching information about a country that students choose to visit with their main characters. Prior to their vacations, students have to research the following information about their selected countries: flag, population, capital city, currency, languages, and the price of an airline ticket.

Students also have to plan what the main character will pack in his or her suitcase and the main attractions that they will visit in that particular country.

Next, students write about their favorite places that they visited in this country, items that they bought when they went shopping with their main characters, and the types of food that they ate in restaurants in this country. Finally, students explain why it is was fun to take a vacation to their selected countries with their main characters.

These fun creative writing responses are written inside unique suitcase . The  creative writing responses that are required for this project will make your students think about their main characters in a whole new way!

These suitcase book report projects are also a great way to add research and library skills into your reading lesson plans.

Below is  the assembling directions worksheet and a sample of what you’d like to include in the first draft.

This project is divided into the following creative writing sections:

• Researching the country, flag, population, capital city, currency, languages, and price of an airline ticket
• The main attractions that we plan to visit are...
• I think that ____ would enjoy visiting ____ because...
• Packing our suitcases
• Our favorite places that we visited together
• Shopping and Restaurants
• Traveling with ____ was fun because.

Isn’t this a great idea? Take a minute and drop a comment.

Narrative Rubric

This AFL resource is very useful. The children should have it  while they are writng a story so they know what aspects are important to include. They can read their first draft, for example, and tick the corresponding requirement if they think they have fulfilled it.

Once you evaluate their drafts, you can use these rubrics as well, but without assigning points; it’s better to write comments on the margins and have a 1/1 teacher/ student  conference.

Use these rubrics when evaluating the final copy.

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Grading Rubric for Personal Narratives

 

Student’s Name: _______________________ # _____

Date: _______________

Expository “Personal Narrative” Paragraph
I used a Graphic Organizer or Prewriting Notes (5 points)
I started my story with an interesting sentence. (15 points)
When I read my story, I understand the order of events. (20 points)
My sentences are complete.(10 points)
I used commas, period, question marks or exclamation marks when necessary.  (15 points)
I used capital letters correctly. (15 points)
I finish my story clearly (5 points)
I use indentation every time I start a new paragraph. (5 points)
I gave my writing a title. (5 Points)
My writing is tidy. (5 points)
	Total Points   (100 possible)

Total mark _______

Exemplary 94 – 100

Competent 87 – 93

Developing 76 – 86

Emerging 70 – 75

Below 70 = Has little understanding of writing process and/or genre.

Visual Literacy

Children live in a visual world and the ability to read visual images is becoming a vital skill. ‘Young people learn more than half of what they know from visual information’. Visual literacy is an

excellent teaching medium for visual and kinaesthetic learners, it supports EAL children in understanding, it is very effective for developing boys’ writing and it deepens children’s understanding of texts.

What will we obtain by using this strategy?

 

• An increased quantity  and quality of writing
• A wider use of vocabulary
• A greater use of imagery
• An increased fluency
• More adventurous writing
• An improved attitude to writing  due to improved motivation, self-esteem and enthusiasm.

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What  can we use and how?

Real-life pictures – Consider if there are any pictures that you can share with the pupils to exemplify stories from your life. Can pupils bring pictures in and share a story? This exercise could be linked to drama, role play and speaking and listening. Activities could include a two-minute discussion about a picture using some question prompts.

 

Describing pictures – Using a picture describe the scene to the pupils. Pupils can then use the description to sketch the picture on a blank A4 sheet. Show the children the picture and ask them to compare with their version. How close was their picture to the real thing? What mistakes had they made? Question the pupils about the picture. Is it a photograph? If not, how was it made? When was it made? What is happening in the picture? Is it a celebration – if so, what are they celebrating? Whereabouts are they? What time of year is it? Allow the children to guide the direction of the discussion.

 

Film and television images – Use a visual image from a favourite film/TV programme to develop noun phrases. Give the pupils an A4 copy of an image and ask them to label the picture. Add adjectives to describe     the nouns in different colours.

 

 

 

Hidden images – Use pieces of card to mask the majority of a picture or photograph. Leave a small section of the image uncovered. Ask the pupils what they think is happening in the picture/photograph. As more pieces of card are removed, ideas need to be remodelled and this will be a catalyst for interesting discussions.

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures for writing – Use a picture as a stimulus for extended individual writing. Stories can be written from different viewpoints of people in the image. ( See Visual Starters in this blog)

 

 

 

 

 

Look at some adverts with the pupils – how do the adverts make them feel? How is any text within the adverts written? How do images and text interplay in adverts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures and sound – Pupils can explore the connection between sounds and images and develop pictures that illustrate the poem. Choose a poem and read it to the pupils; then ask them to draw a representation of the poem. This will consolidate their understanding of the words used within the poem. The pupils can also record the poem and integrate the pictures they have drawn and the recording into a PowerPoint presentation.

 

 

 

 

Vesuvius

You wake up in a calm, silent atmosphere.

Then, like a spilled glass of fire, lava

Pours down the side of volcano Vesuvius.

People scream and suffocate in

The burning, black smoke.

Death and doom close in.

Years later the victims come back as a

Plaster cast, like a ghost.

Promises– Poetry

There are certainly a variety of clues that tip us off before any event of importance takes place, and this lesson will get students thinking about these clues, promises.

An excellent way of introducing this lesson is to invite students to discuss the signs that indicate that some event is about to happen – the “promise”of something to come. For example, a student might notice a change in the activities of classmates as the time for dismissal gets nearer.

1. The first part is to ask students to play a game of associations. Give them the an event, and ask them to think what might happen after it.

These events could help them get started. Write them on the board and give them time to think and respond. You may wish to write your responses too.

 

The splashing of water, the hissing of steam, the spilling of milk, the click of a light switch, the humming of bees, the rustle of leaves, the grinding of a pencil in a pencil sharpener, the rumble of a motor, the banging of a door.

 

Feel free to add others if you wish. 

2. Now, you give the chance to those willing  students to read aloud their associations.This part of the lesson is very rich, as the children’s responses will reveal part of their personalities and background. Why don’t you start reading some of yours to encourage participation?

3. Then, students do some deeper evaluation of what they have written, deciding which of the promises they like the most and which appeals the least. You may reflect on the importance of editting as part of a writing process. Ask them to start their response with WOW verbs if possible.

4. Finally, ask your students to compose a poem. The particular form of verse is not important. Give the children the chance to write couplets because they rhyme, and the stanza is only two lines long.

 

It would be something like this:

The splashing of water, made me think of summer holidays at the pool.

The spilling of milk, ….

 

As an extension, you could ask your students to illustrate their poem, creating a comic template for each stanza; or they could make a pop up book to read aloud to younger students; they could make animated versions of the poems in ICT class; they could record themselves reading the poem aloud and add that recording to a PPT presentation as the sides pass. There are plenty of possibilities!

The Art of Descriptive Writing

 

ACTIVITY 1: A Square Metre
Take 4x metre rules and place these on the ground to make a square. Pupils are asked to look closely at the ground enclosed by the square and then describe (in writing) EXACTLY what they see in as much detail as possible. On a square metre of grass there will undoubtedly be insects moving; on a similar patch of pebble path there will be twigs, feathers etc.
The object of this exercise is to help pupils to consider the importance of minute details when conjuring an exact picture in the reader’s mind. Young writers often describe the ‘big picture’ well but fail to balance this with writing based on keen observation.

 

ACTIVITY 2: Mirror Writing.
Pupils engaged in this activity each need a mirror. They are encouraged to look closely at themselves and describe their reflection in detail. The teacher may wish to model the process beforehand so that ‘eyes’, for example, are not just ‘blue’ but rather ‘...blue the colour of quarry water, each flecked with small spots of black. The whites are slightly bloodshot but still they stare back intently.’
This activity helps to develop a discursive self-awareness and is useful for improving character descriptions in subsequent story writing.
As an extension activity the mirror may be placed in different positions so that the reflection is viewed from a range of angles (rather than ‘face-on’ / frontal) If, for example, the mirror is positioned upon the floor then a written transformation of Freud’s ‘Reflection with Two Children’ (1965) is achieved. In this painting the artist is seen from below in three quarter view, a result achieved by painting his reflection in a mirror at floor-level.

ACTIVITY 3: Transformational response.

For this activity pupils will need to be able to see a print of a painting/drawing, or preferably have an original work before them in an art gallery. They then transform the artwork into a piece of writing. This can clearly take many forms and has great potential for long-term writing projects. Some of the range of transformational response possibilities include,

1. Painting – descriptive writing

2. Painting – poem

3. Painting – newspaper article (...works well with historical paintings.)

4. Painting – story (...any representational paintings with a range of characters.)

5. Painting – play etc,. Etc...

The Chardin’s, reworked by Freud, include two which focus on details of the original painting rather than the whole canvas.

ACTIVITY 4: Parts of Paintings
For this activity the teacher needs a print of a painting and a sheet of coloured paper cut to the same size as the print. A circular hole is cut from the paper so that only that element of the original work can be viewed. Pupils then describe exactly what they can see through the hole. Depending on the position of the circle, this activity can be used to describe characters, locations and also action.
Further holes can then be cut in the coloured paper in order to reveal other areas of the print.
The activity is doubly useful as it encourages both close, detailed observation and accurate descriptive writing.

 

I hope you put these ideas into practice. I’m sure you will be surprised at what students can produce when you give them the chance to think and express “out of the box”.

Your feedback is important!  Lara

Comprehension texts

Here are four different types of texts: non fiction, a narrative, two poems and questions to check comprehension.

 

If you are interested, please

 

Click on the sample 

Comprehension and writing practice

This is a  ready made Language test for year 6 ESL children. It has a little bit of everything: text types, comprehension, vocabulary, creative writing and punctuation practice.

 

If you are interested, please

Click on the sample image  to enlarge it

Growing Poetry Writers

Here you have different ways to write poetry in class. The ideas are easy to carry out as well as engaging for the students. There are activities for beginners and also more challenging projects.

 

 

If you are interested, please

Click to enlarge sample

Simile Lesson Plan–KS2

Here you have a  ready-made lesson plan about similes. It includes clear instructions,  a full set of cards for your students to play with, and extension ideas on how to work on similes.

PDF or WORD

If you are interested

See sample pages. Click on the image to have a larger view

Top Strategies to achieve Level 5 Writing Skills / Recommended Resource

A   complete writer’s toolkit. Large collection of  engaging, challenging and fun activities, with clear explanations .

PDF or PPT

If you are interested

 

See sample pages

Languages Portfolio / 2nd to 4th grade

This is a ready made portfolio for your pupils to have a dossier of their progress in all 4 skills. It works as a passport from one grade to the next, and it is also useful in case the child changes school. It is appealing and includes self assessment of Listening, Writing, Reading and Speaking.

If you are interested

 

See sample pages

VOCP– KS1 -KS2

This set of  100 slides focuses on simple short activities for early morning (or any other time of day) VCOP work. Many slides can be re used if you just change a letter, word or number). They could also be printed off as a set of extension cards for the odd minute when a child finishes ahead of schedule.

If you are interested

See slide samples:

Creative writing ideas–KS2–KS3

This is a short collection of writing ideas that will make your pupils think “out of the box”.

It includes clear and full step-by-step instructions. Some of them are also suitable for KS1.

   

If you are interested  in this resource

See sample:

Visual starters KS2 - KS3

This is a PPT presentation with visual starters to sparkle children’s imagination

before writing. Each pack has 24 slides showing varied images and photographs

with related questions.

There are  full colour , and black and white presentations.

If you are interested in this resource

See samples:

Full colour PPT

Black and white PPT

Writing Tools for KS2 and KS3

This booklet has 29 pages full of details about the writing process. It covers topics like: sentence sense, paragraph writing, editing steps, grammar, spelling, linking words and more.

It includes step by step instructions, and clear examples. There are lists of powerful adverbs, adjectives, suffixes, prefixes and their origin, and a list of precise verbs.

If you are interested in this resource, 

 

See sample:

Elements of Paragraphs KS2

This is a 4 pages revision aid worksheet that includes  various exercises

to identify and apply the main elements of paragraphs. It gives the student a brief explanation

of each element previous to the exercise.

 

If you are interested in this resource

See sample:

Web Quest Roald Dahl KS2

This web quest  lesson plan makes the children work on skimming, scanning, summarizing,

skills. Besides, the outcome is varied, as many genres are included: persuasive writing, biography, and more.

It can be turned into a project work, and invite other classes to a Roald Dahl’s  conference where your pupils will share

all they have discovered.

PDF format

If you are interested

See sample: