Mechanics of Literary Writing

This term we have been improving the students’ knowledge of grammar, punctuation, and spelling in writing lessons. We have been delving into the mechanics of literary prose writing and how apply them to better engage and inform a reader.

Inspiring and Improving Movement - Reception

In Reception, children read books and sing songs to make different movements to enable development in gross and fine motor skills. These include balancing, core strength and coordination as well as using large arm movements, climbing and running. Children need these large motor skills before they develop their fine motor movements. Children are then engaged through the song or story to mark-make using fingers and brushes the rice, and other enabling experiences.  

Literary Prediction and Detail - Year 2

In Year 2, children wrote their predictions about the story ‘The Dark’ based on what they had read so far. This text was chosen for its rich vocabulary and to inspire children to write. In this particular piece of writing, one of the success criteria was to use the conjunction word ‘because’. The purpose of this was to justify their prediction by providing further detail and referring back to the story.

Engaging and Entertaining Prose - Year 3

In year 3, students wrote a short narrative inspired by the story ‘Milo imagines the world.’ In the story, Milo observes the people around him and imagines their lives through sketches in his sketchbook. Students were tasked with crafting a narrative for a character of their choice from Milo’s train ride, inspired by the Journeys Milo imagines for the people around him. While writing their narratives, students were encouraged to incorporate language features from the text, such as expanded noun phrases and prepositional phrases. The aim was to ensure their writing was engaging and entertaining for the audience. 

Biographical Writing and Embedded Clauses - Year 5

In Year 5, children wrote a biography about Katherine Johnson. Their purpose was to inform and they looked at how to use embedded clauses purposefully to include extra information about Katherine Johnson and her life. They explored different non-fiction texts with embedded clauses, thought about other options and was able to explain why a particular clause was chosen. The children were then able to make their own choices on how to use embedded clauses to inform the reader.