Teachit trail

The original writing trail:

http://www.teachit.co.uk/index.asp?currmenu=284

Teachit trails are mini-schemes which plot a pathway through a site or curriculum area. Each trail comes complete with a trail map containing an at a glance list of useful Teachit resources, and a more comprehensive trail guide with suggestions, tips and topic specific advice. Currently, Teachit Trails are free to all site users. For access to other Teachit Trails, go to: http: www.teachit.co.u! trails.

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+riginal writing trail

Starter activities (can double as plenaries): Put muscle into your writing Varying your sentences Sentence lengths and interesting vocabulary Exploring effects with sentences (Syntex !arrative structure matching activity Notes or comments Task sheet in which students consider and use a variety of active verbs. Students familiarise themselves with different sentence types and practise using them. The class reads an extract and comments on impact of sentence lengths and types. Experiment with making sentences more effective with Syntex. Students match the different types of narrative structure to the definition. "rilliant as a card sort or #$" activity. %omplete with a Tweakit& this encourages students to look at structure. 'lso includes a graph to show the rise and fall of tension. (elpful pointers for successful creative writing ) ideal for display on whiteboard.

Preparing for narrative writing

%reating a setting Ideas / the planning stage: There*s more to original writing than +ust writing stories %reative writing task .riginal writing tips and suggestions The writing stage: /escribing a beach or holiday memory $riting a short story

#deas for encouraging a creative response. Students think outside the box, Students create a piece of original writing using the -mix -n* match* elements. %ollected wisdom taken from several different original writing staffroom threads.

0reat 1ey Stage 2 descriptive writing task. %omplete with a Tweakit& this resource contains a recipe for writing a short story. (Pro+ect task . Students are presented with a series of strange and magical incidents. Their task ) to produce a creative response.

$ild week creative story writing ) a booklet Tips, tick lists and A ! strategies $riting checklists .riginal writing ) things to remember,

See pages 3& 2 and 4 for a list of key ingredients for descriptive and original writing. ' 0%SE PowerPoint containing useful tips

Teachit trails are mini-schemes which plot a pathway through a site or curriculum area. Each trail comes complete with a trail map containing an at a glance list of useful Teachit resources, and a more comprehensive trail guide with suggestions, tips and topic specific advice. Currently, Teachit Trails are free to all site users. For access to other Teachit Trails, go to: www.teachit.co.u! trails.

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+riginal writing trail

This trail incorporates a range of original writing tasks and approaches so that you can pick and choose your activities according to the key stage or exact needs of a group5individual. The selected resources range from specific tasks on sentences and vocabulary& to more wide ranging activities or ideas geared towards getting your students* creative +uices flowing. "etting going
Put muscle into your writing by using strong verbs. This is a good& rowdy starter in which students are encouraged to think about specific verb choices and act them out. Then it*s onto the nitty gritty of replacing the verbs with their own selections. Stretch this resource by getting students to take a ploddy passage from a text and +a66 it up. (The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night-time might provide you with some simple text to play around with. http755www.randomhouse.co.uk5curious5 8or another -brass tacks* starter& have a look at Varying your sentences. This resource capitalises on the old -cat sat on the mat* sentence and takes students through various sentence types. The extension task gets students to create their own sentences and find and label some gruesome examples from Pat "arker*s Regeneration. Sentence lengths and interesting vocabulary is a versatile resource. 9se it as a stand:alone homework task or cover lesson& or get students into groups5pairs and have them produce some shared writing. Extend by getting students to finish the story or challenge them to write a piece of flash fiction in which they must re:tell the story in no more than ;< words. (=efer to back editions of Mslexia maga6ine or http755www.fishpublishing.com5 for examples of good flash fiction. 8or a good whi66y stand alone or speaking and listening starter& try >agnet activity ) bag of tricks. 9se the list of ob+ects to inspire creative writing or original speaking and listening. %lick the #nformation button on the resource for activity ideas. Exploring effects with sentences. This Syntex activity is a great way for students to experiment with making sentences more effective. Students need to se?uence the words and add the correct punctuation. /etailed instructions are available in the accompanying P/8 file. #f you want a good way to introduce students to narrative structure& try the !arrative structure matching activity. %ut out the cards or go whi66y with the 8lash matching activity. 'dapt this for a library lesson by getting your students to categorise various texts according to structure& or find their own examples of books that are structured in an interesting or unusual way. Preparing for narrative writing comes complete with a Tweakit and contains some lovely ideas for screenplays and novelisations. 0reat as a >edia5/rama tie in& you could focus on the pluses and minuses of each (-$hat does the book have that the story doesn*t@* and vice versa. 8or a simple& useful& one page set of -reminders* use %reating a setting for students to refer to during the writing process. #n terms of ideas for the task in ?uestion& you could get students to bring in their own photographs& get out and about with a camera or download an atmospheric scene from www.flickr.com.

Ideas / the planning stage:

#f you*ve got a class of -rush at it* students and want to slow them down and draw attention to planning& then have a look at There*s more to original writing than +ust writing stories which lists a number of creative approaches to choose from and gives students ownership of their writing. The planning box means that students have to think before they leap. %reative writing task would be ideal for a higher set or gifted group of students as it leaves things nicely open. #t*s a simple one page sheet in which students mix and match the various -elements* and come up with some ideas for a poem& short story or piece of descriptive writing. There*s plenty of scope for you to amend5stamp your individual mark on things and this resource will ensure that you don*t straight+acket your students or get 2< identikit responses that will reduce you to tears.

Teachit trails are mini-schemes which plot a pathway through a site or curriculum area. Each trail comes complete with a trail map containing an at a glance list of useful Teachit resources, and a more comprehensive trail guide with suggestions, tips and topic specific advice. Currently, Teachit Trails are free to all site users. For access to other Teachit Trails, go to: www.teachit.co.u! trails.

" #$$% www.teachit.co.u!

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+riginal writing trail

.riginal writing suggestions. This is a collection of ideas and teachers* tips taken from several different staffroom threads on the topic. #t*s a great place to start if you*re looking for 0%SE coursework inspiration.

The writing stage:

/escribing a beach or holiday memory. ' lovely descriptive writing resource based around re:creating a holiday memory (ideal for 1ey Stage 2 . #t uses snippets from /ylan Thomas* -(oliday >emory* and incorporates some marvellous& moody& seaside photographs. This could be extended to form a piece of travel writing or adapted and tweaked for 1ey Stage 4. $riting a short story comes complete with a Tweakit and supplies students with a recipe for writing ) page 3 in particular& is useful for helping students hone5focus on their planning. $ild week creative story writing ) a booklet (ideal for 1S2 presenting students with a series of strange and magical incidents guaranteed to inspire creative responses.

Tips, tick lists and A ! strategies

$riting checklists ) a set of handy checklists for a range of writing approaches. #deal for incorporating '8A into your lessons. .riginal writing ) things to remember, ' fantastically handy PowerPoint this (ideal for use before students begin writing or after the completion of a first draft . $alk your class through the down:to: earth advice on structuring sentences& putting paragraphs together and using vocabulary effectively.

Still more#
English teaching online ) the one with all the original writing. Some great advice from published writers including /avid 'lmond and /arren Shan7 http755www.teachit.co.uk5customBcontent5newsletters5newsletterBsep<C.asp

Teachit trails are mini-schemes which plot a pathway through a site or curriculum area. Each trail comes complete with a trail map containing an at a glance list of useful Teachit resources, and a more comprehensive trail guide with suggestions, tips and topic specific advice. Currently, Teachit Trails are free to all site users. For access to other Teachit Trails, go to: www.teachit.co.u! trails.

" #$$% www.teachit.co.u!

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(age * of *