Posted on: 12/06/2020
In our last blog we highlighted the importance of quality literature as a conduit for children when they return to school to process, share and write about their experiences during this time of upheaval and change. Children can vicariously travel through the unsettling emotions of a fictional character and use this as a map to navigate their own emotional landscape.
The Rubik’s Cube we have to solve on return is how we emotionally support children with this transition back into the routines and expectations of everyday school life whilst addressing potentially significant gaps in learning. One thing is clear: literature is most definitely part of the solution and choosing the right texts on return is key.
The right text can hook children into a context where writing for a clear purpose and audience is urgently needed. The right text will provide exciting opportunities for children to publish their writing in different ways, instilling a sense of pride and accomplishment for work well done.
Book as the Hook
Once children have begun to settle back into school life and some semblance of normality, we may want to create an exciting, immersive mystery - linked to a text - to solve. At the Literacy Tree, we LOVE a creative way to immerse children into a story, so much so that a myriad of these can be found at the beginning of every one of our planning sequences.
This immersive hook could take the shape of a mysterious footprint found in the corridor; a letter/email from a character from the book being sent to the class; a battered, old suitcase discovered after assembly with clues inside; archaeological artefacts to be uncovered in a tray of sand; a strange object under a tarpaulin appearing in the playground. Really, the possibilities are endless, and they don’t have to be just at the beginning of a unit either.
Children of all ages engage with this dramatic approach and their writing improves dramatically as a result.
The Power of Publishing
At the end of the first unit of work, it will be important to allow the children to share and publish their work. We want, as quickly as possible in that first term back, to engender a sense of pride in their writing. Publishing can come in all forms: bookmaking; a drama/poetry performance; newspapers; blogs/vlogs and posters to name a few.
There are some fantastic books about bookmaking to support this in the classroom. Paul Johnson’s Making Books and Kathleen McCafferty’s Making Mini Books are ones that we would certainly recommend. Many websites can help accomplish this too: blurb.com is great for creating high-quality/high-spec, colourful books.
Instant Publishing
Publishing does not have to happen just at the end of the unit. Opportunities for instant publishing can be found throughout. As the name suggests, children can go straight into writing their outcome on a medium which has “real-world import”; writing outside of their exercise book. These can also take many forms: fancy letter paper, company-headed formal letter paper, an email template, a tweet, creating a medieval scroll, a warning sign/poster, an official logbook, a luggage tag to tie onto an object. Instant publishing will enrich writing opportunities and reignite children’s love of creating their own literature.
Revisiting Skills
The first unit back will need to give children the chance to review the basics of writing before bringing expectations up to pitch. For Reception children this may mean reviewing Phase 1 of Letters and Sounds (or equivalent), in KS1 this will mean amongst other skills reviewing blending and segmenting phonemes and for KS2 children this could mean reviewing KS1 expectations (word classification, interactive activities to build up vocabulary, sentences types, noun phrases and conjunctions).
Whichever book you decide to start with (a great list of books is outlined in the previous blog) and whether you do one book for the whole school, it will be critical to create an immersive hook, a fun sense of mystery and build exciting opportunities for publishing. Whilst embarking on their writing journey, children will revisit writing skills but at the same time - through publishing and presenting to the rest of the school - inadvertently help rebuild community and support networks in post-lockdown school life.
