These documents are intended to support the planning of effective literacy units based on high quality picture books.
They are not intended to be lesson plans, but offer a menu of possible ideas for teachers to use as starting points to plan for purposeful learning and give pupils reasons for writing as well as the skills they need to write with impact on their reader.
They follow a learning sequence:- a hook to fully engage and interest the children;
- responding to reading activities to allow immersion in and exploration of the text, including picture exploration, book and writer talk;
- capturing ideas activities which include drama and talk to support understanding of the text and to develop vocabulary, language and ideas for writing;
- possibilities for the contextualised teaching of grammar;
- sentence games to develop creativity, vocabulary, language and grammar;
- links to guided reading;
- a range of writing tasks which may be final unit outcomes or incidental opportunities during the unit.
Specific mention is made of the writing sequence:- modelled writing - teacher models the writing process aloud and the decisions writers make about sentences, paragraphs etc to create impact on the reader. This can also include the modelling of planning and spelling strategies;
- shared writing - collaborative composition with discussion and suggestions about what to write and how to write it to create the intended effect. At this point children may write a sentence/s, often in pairs, on whiteboards which are then discussed;
- guided writing - small group sessions based on specific needs of a specific group of children. The session may address misconceptions, bridge gaps or extend learning and can take place at any point during the unit.
In addition, cross-curricular links are suggested, including links to challenges from the Learning Challenge Curriculum.
