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Writing is an exploration; an exciting journey into the wilderness of our very own imaginations. Where that expedition will take us is only limited by our inability to let go and give in to the vast emptiness awaiting our thoughts. Creating a writing environment that is non-judgemental and encourages exploration during each step of the writing process is essential for children to succeed in writing. This is why writing fluency is such a vital step in the teaching of writing. If children are unable to put the fear of writing behind them, then they will never get the opportunity to explore. Therefore, writing fluency is the cornerstone of teaching success; if you want to help your students become better writers, then you must help them become fearless and confident when confronted with the blank page. Writing is a form of art and expression. Children need to be encouraged to see writing as an artistic activity; a time when they can explore their imagination and create new worlds. Children have vivid imaginations – maximising these imaginations is the key to creating writing classrooms.
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The focus of Exploring Writing is to enable children to become descriptive writers who take risks. The activities in this section are designed to spark imagination and elicit creativeness from children. Further to this, the activities show children various techniques they can add to their own writing to help it become more descriptive. Teaching students the power of precise verbs and nouns through exploration creates interesting writing.
These activities will help children to consider and explore their settings and learn about their characters. They will help children analyse human actions and emotions and realise how to use this knowledge to enhance writing. The tasks will help children write more precise and descriptive sentences; they could be descriptive yet simple, or they could begin to construct complex sentences.
These activities will help children to consider and explore their settings and learn about their characters. They will help children analyse human actions and emotions and realise how to use this knowledge to enhance writing. The tasks will help children write more precise and descriptive sentences; they could be descriptive yet simple, or they could begin to construct complex sentences.
"In among hills and valleys lavished with marigolds, a river flows through the green grassy hills. A belt of trees grows on either side of the river. Behind the hills is a magnificent sunset. Clouds cover the sunset. Only golden UV light shines through the grey clouds. A little part of the river goes to a lake. Behind the lake is an old rusty fence. Laying beyond the gate is a forest. Animals like foxes and rabbits live in the forest…In the village houses are tall and presentable, hard doors, strong brick walls, shiny windows and red tiled roofs.” – 8-year-old boy
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Throughout these tasks, teachers are presented with opportunities to teach children about subordinate conjunctions and prepositions and how these parts of speech help create varying sentences. Children learn about adjectives and adverbs and their use in descriptive writing, but further to this, children can be taught the power of strong descriptive verbs that create vivid descriptions and allow their writing to flow. A focus on how the different parts of speech can be combined to create writing is empowering. Once modelled and expected, children’s writing moves to a new level.
When tackling Exploring Writing tasks, children need to be encouraged to paint a picture with their words. They need to understand that they are the artist and the words they use and phrases they construct create an image in the reader’s head. Children need to pushed to explore in an environment that is supportive and free of criticism. We want to see children attempting new words and looking for new ways to create meaning. Further to this, we want to see children using a range of literary devices in a creative way as they explore and write their texts. |
Teachers need to continually remind students that writing is an art form. They need to sketch out the outline and fill in the details. They need to manipulate and explore a range of sentences and techniques to make their writing meaningful. Writing should be as joyous as a craft activity in the classroom.
When children become active explorers in their own writing, they emerge with powerful language and ideas. They will not always nail their first attempt, but they expose opportunities to learn. Discovering teachable moments surrounded by context and eagerness, allows for students to become active learners. When encouraged to explore, even the youngest child will surprise you. Children who have the confidence to play around with words and express themselves open doors to unlimited possibilities.
When it comes to writing, we want our children to be explorers. We want them to become self-learners as they journey through their imagination.
When children become active explorers in their own writing, they emerge with powerful language and ideas. They will not always nail their first attempt, but they expose opportunities to learn. Discovering teachable moments surrounded by context and eagerness, allows for students to become active learners. When encouraged to explore, even the youngest child will surprise you. Children who have the confidence to play around with words and express themselves open doors to unlimited possibilities.
When it comes to writing, we want our children to be explorers. We want them to become self-learners as they journey through their imagination.