This document provides a crowd-sourced presentation on inspiring writing for meaning and pleasure in children. It includes contributions from over a dozen educators from around the world with ideas on developing writing skills through play with language, talk for writing, using quality texts, integrating popular culture and digital technologies, and more. The goal is to make writing time pain-free and motivate children through enjoyment rather than fear of assessment.

1. How do we inspire...
Writing for meaning and pleasure?
Ideas from educators,
working with children
across the globe.
Collated by Martin Waller
with contributions from
educators around the world

2. This is a crowd-sourced
presentation...

3. Global responses received - including educators from the UK, USA and Australia

4. Many thanks to... Kevin Mc Laughlin Susie Arnott
Primary School Teacher
Bill Lord Fiona Johnson
Literacy Advisor Mrs Davies Primary Teacher
Primary Teacher
D. Weston James Mansell
Rachel Orr Primary Teacher
Primary Headteacher
David Mitchell
Primary Deputy
Headteacher
Andrew Lambirth
Professor of Education
Bev Evans
Primary Teacher ‘Fibe’
Primary Headteacher
Marlise Witham
Elementary School Teacher
HikingArtist.com
For illustrations used in this resource

5. The issue ‘of’ writing?
Or issues ‘with’
writing?
Literacy Policy
and Policy Literacy
The rocky road of teaching writing...

6. And there’s no magic
formula...

7. But writing for pleasure...
does lead to increased motivation to write....

8. Not motivation by fear...
Which leads to...

9. How do we develop writing for pleasure while
raising writing achievement?

10. 1. First and foremost...
subject knowledge and enthusiasm!
Developing, reflecting and evaluating
your teaching toolkit...

11. 2. Play with Language
The English language
is complex...
Writing as an act of
creative design.

12. 2. Play with Language
“They need time too. Time to redraft and, yes, be
allowed to make errors in transcription as they
become absorbed in their compositions - knowing,
depending on their age and experience, that
further down the line they will need to proof read.
Children become aware that there is a process to
writing - it is rarely completed in one sitting.
- Andrew Lambirth (via blog)

13. 3. Talk for writing... (Rachel Orr via blog)
Young writers find it helpful if creative and thinking
processes involved in writing can be made explicit and
explored through talk.
Oral rehearsal through storytelling allows oral
drafts to be composed before the children
touch pens (Andrew Lambirth via blog)
- Think it
- Read it back
- Am I happy with it?
- Write it down...

14. 4. Allow for speaking, listening and drama...
Children like to work and play together -
they do it every day in their own lives.
Process drama into writing as it has the power to
bring children into dramatic scenarios that demand that
influence how texts are written (Andrew Lambirth via blog)
The links between drama activities and writing are not
always made clear (Bill Lord via blog)
Collaborative writing and peer assessment can be used
to support writing development.

15. 5. Use quality texts...
“Texts teach what readers’ learn” (Meek, 1987)
‘Recommended’ texts are not always best suited to a
particular class or school.
“Books must be enjoyed in their entirety not just as
snippets” (Kevin Mc Laughlin via email)
Select texts that children
will enjoy and will want
to engage with.

16. 5. Use quality texts...
“Read to the children so that they
have examples of good stories.
Studying fragments of grammar such
as adverbial phrases is all very well
but not if children haven’t come to
enjoy stories as a whole in the first
place” - D Weston (via blog)
Image by HikingArtist.com

17. 6. Integrate children’s popular culture...
...and the desire to write increases.

18. 6. Integrate children’s popular culture... Focus on
Holy Trinity Rosehill
Primary School
The ‘Brer Rabbit’ project had the stories collected by
Joel Chandler Harris as the focal point.
Brer Rabbit project explored
storytelling through oral, written and
multimodal texts.
Exploration of the ‘roots’ and history
behind the stories and traditions.
Children able to see the links between
traditional and ‘new’ storytelling.

19. 6. Integrate children’s popular
culture...
Collaboration with ‘The Wren’s Nest
Museum’ in Atlanta (USA).
Children met with the relatives
of Joel Chandler Harris.
Children also took part in an
interactive storytelling session with a
traditional story rambler...
Live from the USA!

20. 6. Integrate children’s popular culture... Focus on
Holy Trinity Rosehill
Primary School

21. 7. Recognise and integrate digital technologies...
Digital technologies have changed the way we
communicate and the way we all live our lives.
Children write a lot more than we think...
in ways that are not ‘traditional’
but we do not live in a ‘traditional’ world
Audience is key and digital
technologies provide audiences for
children to write in traditional and
new ways.

22. 7. Recognise and integrate digital technologies...
Focus on
Holy Trinity Rosehill
Primary School
Writing for a real audience and purpose...

23. 7. Recognise and integrate digital technologies...
Focus on
Heathfield Community
A short term experiment of ‘blogging’ led Primary School
to a whole-school strategy for engaging writers.
Boys engaged in the writing process. Blogging starts as
early as Reception.
Some children made two years progress in one
academic year - 6.6 APS Progress per pupil.
‘SATS’ Level 5 scores have
gone from 9% to 63%.
Contributed by David Mitchell

24. 7. Recognise and integrate digital technologies...
Focus on
Heathfield Community
Primary School
Contributed by David Mitchell http://heathfieldcps.net/

25. 8. Use meaningful contexts with children...
Writing does not happen in a bubble...
Making literacy mean something to children can be
achieved through context driven projects.
Literacy events (Heath, 1983) can be used to stimulate
creative thinking and the writing processes.
Thinking outside the bubble is key...
Develop links across the curriculum
in a meaningful way.

26. 8. Use meaningful contexts with children...
Focus on
Earl Soham Community
Primary School
Context driven project based
upon ‘James and the Giant Peach’
by Roald Dahl.
Children wrote and chanted
magical spells, completed science
experiments and reports as part of
developing writing within the
project.

27. 8. Use meaningful contexts with children...
Focus on
Earl Soham Community
Primary School

28. 9. Develop a love of reading...
“If you ask many authors what they recommend for
aspiring writers they simply say read” (Bill Lord, via blog)
Children require lots of exposure to texts through
reading and class story-time (Andrew Lambirth via blog)
Make time for shared reading and discussion of
class novels.
Give the children time for free reading and
includes lots of different texts - stories,
non-fiction and even comics!

29. 10. Make writing time as pain-free as possible...
Give the children time to write and have patience
(Bill Lord, via blog)
Don’t impose “only one chance” writing
where children have to do it all in one go.
Real authors edit and re-write (Susie Arnott via blog)
Model writing with clarity of what is
expected (Bill Lord, via blog)
Write with the children - a community is
built up (Andrew Lambirth, via blog)

30. 11. Write anywhere and everywhere...
Take learning outside and let children write when and
where they want.
Develop sensory literacy rooms/areas within school to
listen to and read/write stories (Bev Evans via email)
Theme areas according to the
texts that you are studying.
Use technology to capture and
reflect on learning as it happens.

31. 12. Audience is key...
Having a meaningful audience is critical (Marlise Witham, via
blog)
Children need to understand that you write in different
ways for different audiences and purposes.
Writing can be given a real
audience through publication
online.
Children can also create their own
books for a particular audience and
purpose.

32. 13. Every picture tells a story...
A good illustration can sometimes evoke much more of a
response from budding writers than any words.
(Kevin Mc Laughlin via email)
Look at the image and experience scenes through oral
descriptions. Then move onto writing.
Use of video can also be used to stimulate creative
writing process - especially in relation to vocabulary.
Once children have experienced of writing in such a way
it transfers into their ‘normal’ writing.

33. Flickr has many fantastic photographs that
can be used in schools...

34. Flickr has many fantastic photographs that
can be used in schools...

35. Flickr has many fantastic photographs that
can be used in schools...

36. And remember to make
time to write yourself...

37. This crowd-sourced
presentation is available Other blogs of interest:
online:
Bill Lord’s Blog:
www.lordlit.com
www.changinghorizons.net
Andrew Lambirth’s Blog:
http://lambirthsprimaryeducationworld.blogspot.com
Kevin Mc McLaughlin’s Blog
www.ictsteps.com
Bev Evan’s Blog
http://technostories.wordpress.com
David Mitchell’s Blog
http://mrmitchell.heathfieldcps.net/
Heathfield CPS Blogs:
http://www.heathfieldcps.net/