English Writing at St Breward Primary School

 At St Breward Primary School we are passionate about all our children becoming enthusiastic readers and creative writers. We use the Talk for Writing approach across the school to support all children to read and write independently for a range of purposes.

Talk for Writing is an innovative approach to teaching writing developed by the literacy specialist and writer Pie Corbett. It uses high quality model texts to introduce the children to different story/text types which they then learn off by heart and scrutinise with a writer’s critical eye. 

 

The process

Talk for Writing has three key phases which work together to develop knowledge, confidence and independence in writing:

1. Imitation

Talk for Writing units start with a ‘hook’ – something to excite and engage the learners before they immerse themselves in the model text. During this phase the children learn a model text using actions and story maps, which enables the children to internalise the text type through repetition and rehearsal. They explore the structure of the narrative and investigate the different characters, settings and events. They also begin to look closely at the language used and the effect this has on the reader.

2. Innovation

During this phase the teacher and the children begin to change/innovate aspects of the model text using their own ideas. They explore the text using different characters, settings or events and new ideas for descriptive language whilst sticking closely to the underlying structure. The children will use toolkits they have created to help them use the key features and ingredients of the model text.

3. Invention

The children are then able to put together their own texts in a similar style to the model text. Here they have the freedom to be creative alongside the skills learned previously.