1. Creative writing
Using a poem as a stimulus for a
piece of writing
What different
meanings does
the word conflict
have?
2. What am I being assessed for?
AO3 Writing
• Write clearly, effectively and imaginatively, using and
adapting forms and selecting vocabulary appropriate to
task and purpose in ways that engage the reader.
• Organise information and ideas into structured and
sequenced sentences, paragraphs and whole texts,
using a variety of linguistic and structural features to
support cohesion and overall coherence.
• Use a range of sentence structures for clarity, purpose
and effect, with accurate punctuation and spelling.
4. Vocabulary and writing warm up
• You will have to go and find something that you
can write a description of.
• Spend 10 minutes describing it from far away.
• Spend 10 minutes describing it from close up –
has the object changed as you get closer to it?
• YOU MUST USE INTERESTING VOCABULARY!!
5. Example
• As the wind blows, it skitters across the playground,
dancing on the air. The brightly coloured outside is like
a rainbow, advertising the contents to the world. The
inside a silver opening, glinting in the light as it catches
it through the dense cloud…
• Up close, the colours are faded and scratched, without
a pristine shine. They have been worn away by the
weather and time. The glinting inside seems sad and
empty, the contents have vanished. The silver seems
to go on forever, like a cave stretching into the
unknown…
6. Using a thesaurus
• Swap books with someone else and read their
descriptions.
• Choose 5 words that you feel could be
improved by being replaced with an
alternative word.
7. • Return the book to its owner.
• Use a thesaurus to find replacement
vocabulary.
• Remember, alternative and better words are
not just longer!!
• Be careful that the words still make sense and
that you are using them in the correct context.
8. • Have the changes to the vocabulary improved
your description?
• How have they changed what you originally
wrote?
• Why are vocabulary choices important?
9. Sort these words into categories.
Invent your own groupings and categories
and find your own associations: for example,
violent words, or words relating to the sea.
10. • What do you notice about the words and the
categories you have made?
• Are there any patterns to the words?
• Extension question: Can you find any words that
could be used in metaphors? Can you explain
why you think they are metaphorical words?
• Which of the words do you find the most
interesting and why?
12. Summarising Armitage’s use of vocabulary
• Has he engaged the reader?
• How?
• Has he chosen vocabulary which is interesting?
• How?
• What do you and Simon Armitage have in
common?