Tell Me Your Ideas | Teaching Primary Literacy

The process of learning to write involves a wide range of skills.

Children need to acquire them and apply them. They need to become adept at combining them effectively.

It is our job to make this journey a simple one!

First things first

How do we start children on this journey? There are several things we can do...

• Encourage children to have the confidence to talk
• Help them to develop a wide-ranging vocabulary
• Give them confidence in their ideas
• Support their ability to generate ideas
• Model and encourage speaking in sentences.

If children are unable to put their ideas together verbally – or speak in sentences - then they will be unable to put these onto paper. This seems obvious yet we do need to get this right.

What can we do?

We can encourage a culture where...

• Children enjoy sharing their ideas
• Feel their ideas are valued
• Consistent modelling shows them how these ideas can become sentences
• Children attempt increasingly complex sentences

First and foremost we need to start from the child’s point of view. Children like to be able to talk about subjects that are of interest to them. They are more motivated by events and topics relevant to them. Using this understanding as a starting point we teach children how to connect their ideas together in ways that make sense. 

But this can be easier said than done.

How can we do this?

To achieve this we need to use resources and strategies which engage children and draw them in. Focus on things that stimulate their interest and imagination; interests which encourage them to acquire and apply an ever increasing range of skills. This takes...

• Creativity
• Patience
• Persistence

It will of course take some children longer than others. But we’re building the foundations. They are worth building. They are essential.

Mighty Writer enables you to build these foundations from the earliest stages. 

Firstly, it focuses on developing children’s speaking and listening skills through the generation, sharing and development of ideas. 

Through choosing and talking about images children can develop ideas and broaden their vocabulary. It allows children to physically organise sentences, images, symbols and words. Working alongside others allows children the opportunity to share their thinking whilst editing and developing their ideas in a creative and interesting way. 

This way of learning gives them the opportunity to revisit their ideas as many times as they need to. They will absorb key concepts as they discuss and work with others. 

The visual nature of Mighty Writer means children have regular exposure to many different conjunctions and parts of speech, which develops their understanding and confidence in their use of them.

As this confidence grows children can plan stories, retellings and recounts with increasing complexity and independence. Significantly, this allows the teacher to gradually hand over responsibility for the writing process to each individual child. 

When children are ready to write they are motivated to do so because they have...

• Understanding
• Confidence
• Interest

How? Because they have been so absorbed in the process from the start.

Mighty Writer starts from where each child is, allowing them to reach their potential.

And how far they can go?

The sky is the limit!

Ready to learn more about Mighty Writer?