The Primary School Curriculum

Fireworks Teacher’s Handbook – 6th Class Fireworks Teacher’s Handbook – 6th Class 1

The teaching of English as a subject in our schools should concern itself with two things: children learning language and children learning through language. It is for this reason that the Primary School Curriculum is outlined under three strand headings and four strand units:

Strands• Oral language• Reading• Writing

Strand units• Receptiveness to language• Competence and confidence in using language• Developing cognitive abilities through language• Emotional and imaginative development through

language

In a broad sense, the first two of these strand units deal with the aspect of children learning language while the second two are more concerned with the idea of children learning through language. This integrated nature of the English curriculum is at the core of how Fireworks is structured. Suggested activities in an integrated language programme are designed to offer opportunities to the teacher to develop children’s oral language, reading and writing skills simultaneously, and through this to enable the child to both learn language and learn through language.

Fireworks 3rd–6th Class consists of:

• Anthologies that provide selections of children’s literature, including prose extracts, dramatic pieces, poetry and a range of expository texts for children to discuss and explore;

• Skills Books that offer opportunities for the development of children’s oral, reading and writing skills through a wide range of activities;

• Teacher’s Handbooks that support and extend pupil texts;

• audio recordings of novel extracts.

Fireworks recognises that:

• children’s facility with oral language is a major prerequisite for success in other areas of the Language curriculum;

• children’s encounters with a reading culture assist

in determining success in reading; • children’s phonological awareness is the single

greatest predictor of achieving success at reading and writing.

Fireworks recognises that children have different learning styles and strengths, and that teachers therefore require a variety of strategies and methodologies for use in the classroom. The types and variety of activities suggested in the programme provide individual, group and whole-class learning opportunities. Activities are designed to cater to the visual, the aural and the kinaesthetic in order to appeal to the widest possible variety of learning styles. ‘Clever challenges’ and extension activities allow for differentiation in the classroom; some activities can be done by all pupils, others by some and the top level mainly by a few.

In line with the Primary School Curriculum, Fireworks suggests a range of different teaching methodologies. Many activities emphasise the importance of talk and discussion, both as a tool to develop oral language and to encourage responses to literature and clarification of thought before writing. Children are encouraged to ask questions and to solve problems through language throughout the programme, as well as to work through literature to develop higher-order thinking skills. Children are invited to make links between the texts they read and the environment and world in which they live. They are motivated in all areas of Fireworks to be active agents in their own learning by embarking on personal projects and research, and also by working collaboratively and cooperatively with their peers to maximise learning situations and opportunities.

Oral language and the Primary School Curriculum

Oral languageThe Primary School Curriculum emphasises the primacy of oral language work with children at all levels and the programme proposed in Fireworks enables teachers to implement many of the content objectives for oral language in the curriculum.

The Primary School Curriculum

Introduction

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Fireworks Teacher’s Handbook – 6th Class Fireworks Teacher’s Handbook – 6th Class2 Fireworks Teacher’s Handbook – 6th Class Fireworks Teacher’s Handbook – 6th Class

Both the curriculum and Fireworks are based on the following premises:

• Oral language is the first and most used means of communication.

• Oral language is the primary mediator of culture.• Oral language is a prerequisite for reading and

writing.• Oral language is the key to children’s personal,

social, cognitive, emotional and imaginative development.

Fireworks views oral language activity as a highly significant aspect of the curriculum and intends to support teachers in implementing the aims of the curriculum in relation to this.

Opportunities to develop skills in oral language in the English curriculum are highlighted throughout the programme with suggestions being made for developing oral language skills during discrete language time also. All of the suggested oral language activities provide children with opportunities to become competent language users by providing them with content for discussion and with ranges of vocabulary to give expression to that content. Using this programme will facilitate teachers in creating interesting language environments and in setting up experiences conducive to the development of oral language skills. The content of Fireworks will assist teachers in presenting and modelling the necessary language to children, in encouraging oral responses from children about their experiences, in encouraging children to use oral language for a variety of purposes, in developing active listening skills in children and in facilitating them to become familiar with the rules of discourse.

The objectives of Fireworks in relation to the development of children’s oral language skills are to enable children to:

• increase their vocabulary and repertoire of language;

• become sensitive to tone, voice and gesture; • speak with confidence and competence; • listen with attention; • develop social skills; • respect others’ viewpoints;• respect diversity in language;• explore, clarify and refine ideas;• question and speculate;

• articulate personal points of view;• speak on a range of subjects, for a range of

purposes and for different audiences;• appreciate the power of spoken language as a

means of persuasion;• appreciate the aesthetic qualities of the spoken

word in various forms.

Some useful oral language activities Speakeasy box Oral language activities can be given a novel twist by using boxes and containers to hold word banks, topic banks etc. Children should be encouraged to contribute to their contents as it enhances the sense of ownership. A speakeasy box should contain topics suggested by the children which they find easy to talk about. PCM 1 has been included for this purpose.

Speech rhymes The curriculum suggests that children should play with language in a fun way and speech rhymes encourage children to do this. Real poetry should never be used. Children read the rhymes for themselves and memorise them, writing them out and placing them in a box for their classmates to try out. Alternatively, they could compose their own speech rhymes.

Tongue twisters Tongue twisters can be treated in the same way as speech rhymes. Older children have fun making up their own, writing them out and placing them in a twister box. Favourite tongue twisters could be put in a class book and illustrated in a humorous way.

Debating Children should be encouraged to become familiar with the conventions of debating. If a speakeasy box is used, the children can add their own topics for debate.

Sound stories Children can be encouraged to play at creating vocal sounds which either represent sounds from the environment or are imaginary. Examples of this include creating sounds to represent the weather and putting them together to create a sound poem, and recreating stories using sounds only. The Music Curriculum includes suggestions for this kind of work, and children should be encouraged to suggest and create sounds themselves. This work also enhances phonological awareness.

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Fireworks Teacher’s Handbook – 6th Class Fireworks Teacher’s Handbook – 6th ClassFireworks Teacher’s Handbook – 6th Class Fireworks Teacher’s Handbook – 6th Class 3

News with an edge Talk and discussion involving personal and/or school news should form part of the oral language programme in all classes. Older children should be encouraged to discuss topical events and current affairs. Such topics can be dealt with in a variety of ways including circle-time discussions, debates and oral presentations. Pretend situations can be set up in which the children have to broadcast news bulletins about topical events or about the events in a story.

First line improvisations This activity is similar to the speakeasy box. Children suggest conversational first lines e.g. ‘You don’t mean it!’, write them on cards and place the cards in a box. Then, they take cards from the box and find partners to converse with using this conversation starter. This exercise promotes quick thinking and fluency in the use of language.

Tell the story Children at all levels should be encouraged to retell stories. Older children could place titles of familiar or read stories in a box for later retelling.

What is it? Fill a box with the names of objects and nominate a child to select a card. The other children ask questions to guess what the object is. Alternatively, the child describes the object without naming it and the class guesses what it is.

Telephone conversations Keep an old telephone in the classroom. Encourage the children to have pretend conversations with people on the line while the rest of the class guesses what each conversation is about.

Oral cloze activities Cloze activities are often viewed as part of a writing programme, but using them as part of an oral language programme develops children’s listening and phonological skills. Activities such as suggesting rhyming words to end lines in a poem are recommended.

Picture collection Encourage the children to collect pictures and illustrations for any of the themes discussed in the programme. Picture collections are an excellent way of introducing children to a topic and can form a basis for oral language activity. Commercially produced picture packs are available.

Lucky dips Collect pictures of various objects, back them with card, laminate them and place them in a box. Ask each child in turn to select a card from the box and show it to the class/group. The children name the object, explain how it is used, mime its use and say where it might be found.

Dramatic conversations Encourage the children to engage in imaginary conversations. These may be based on everyday situations or on characters from stories such as Little Red Riding Hood or the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Conversations between characters from different stories could also be performed.

Picture pairs Divide the class into pairs. Each pair sits back to back with identical copies of an illustration. Each child in turn does something to the picture and instructs the other to do the same. The children compare their pictures after a number of instructions have been given.

Big books Big books are useful; not only for introducing books to emergent readers but to provide opportunities for discussion at all class levels. Groups of older children can be asked to create big books for junior children.

Mystery bag Place a collection of objects in a bag. Hold a class discussion about who might own the bag, based on the clues it contains. This kind of activity could be followed up by an art activity, such as drawing the owner of the bag, or by a writing activity, such as writing a short character profile of the person.

Story starters Children should be encouraged to create stories using oral language techniques e.g. ‘One day I got really angry...’. Each child in turn recounts the story so far and adds to it.

Storytelling Any story that is being read to a group can form the basis for oral language work. Children can be asked to predict what a story might be about from its title, what vocabulary might be in a story, what might happen next, how a particular character feels etc.

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Brainstorming Any topic can be brainstormed in groups. All words thought of should be logged or recorded in a word bank for future use in writing activities.

Phonological awarenessTerminology As has been previously stated and according to recent research, phonological awareness is the greatest single predictor of success at reading and writing. Phonological awareness is awareness that language is composed of different sounds: car-pet; m-an. Phonemic awareness is the awareness of individual sounds in words: a-t; m-a-n; f-r-o-g. Phonics is the teaching of letter sounds.

Levels of phonological awareness Initial sound discrimination is present in children at pre-school level; children are aware of and can hear onset and rime. At the age of five or six, most children can hear syllables in words. However, phonemic segmentation and blending of phonemes is not possible until children begin to read and it generally develops as a consequence of reading. Phonemic segmentation and blending is further complicated in English due to the fact that different letter combinations often represent the same sound. A good example of this is the sound of the letter name ‘a’ which appears in each of the following words but is made by combining different letters in every instance: feign; break; formulae; plain; take; eight; day.

Work in the area of identifying initial sounds, finding rhyming words and looking for analogy (word-families) should precede phonemic segmentation and blending. Work in the area of onset and rime forms the bridge between syllable and phoneme.

Reading and the Primary School Curriculum

Narrative text: proseThe content statements in the Primary School Curriculum are concerned with enabling children to become ‘real readers’ and Fireworks is built around this concept. It is based on selections of real children’s literature and not on pieces of text that have been specially written to ‘teach’ reading. Fireworks provides opportunities for children to become real readers by:

• providing a wide range of reading material which generates frequent opportunities to read different literary genres;

• encouraging children to select their own books, to give and receive recommendations, to engage in book talk, to keep records of their own reading and to engage in a variety of activities in response to their reading;

• suggesting additional reading material so that teachers can read and tell stories on a regular basis throughout the year.

Fireworks also incorporates a range of comprehension strategies and response activities, which are designed to encourage oral responses to literature, as well as development of the higher-order thinking skills including analysis, synthesis, inference, deduction, summarisation and evaluation. This helps to advance reading skills and develop the strategies that all good readers use.

In the Anthology there are ‘before reading’, ‘during reading’ and ‘after reading’ questions or prompts to help the teacher and reader along the way. ‘Before reading’ questions are designed to prepare for the exploration of the text. ‘During reading’ questions are devised to slow down the process, in order to explore the text at an important point and think of mood, character feelings and how the author relays important messages. The ‘after reading’ questions require the reader to think differently in order to answer the questions.

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Suggested activities with class novels • Prepare a list of interesting stories to read using

PCM 2. • Keep a personal record of stories read using PCM 3. • Prepare a review of a story using PCM 4 or PCM 22. • Rewrite or retell a story as a play, short story,

picture book, folktale, soap opera or film script. • Write an introduction, epilogue, additional chapter

or a different ending. • Design a bookmark, book jacket or front cover for

a book using art or ICT techniques. • Keep a diary from the point of view of a character. • Write an original dialogue between two characters. • Make a frieze or mural depicting a scene from a

story. • Dramatise a scene from a story using simple

puppets. • Write a letter or an email to an author asking

questions about his/her work. • Dress up as a character from a story and retell it in

the first person. • Illustrate the setting for a story as a map, brochure,

photo album or travel poster. • Look at different versions of the same story and

make a comparison chart. • Make a class graph of favourite books, authors or

characters. • Create a dictionary of words or facts learned from

a particular book. • Find and read reviews of children’s books. • Research information about an author using ICT

research tools. • Make a poster that advertises the book, depicts

favourite scenes or describes a ‘wanted’ character from a book using art or ICT techniques.

• Make a big book, a picture book or wordless book from a favourite story/book.

Narrative text: poetry Fireworks supports the principle that children’s engagement with poetry should be governed by pleasure, allowing everyday things to be seen in extraordinary ways. Poetry should open doors to the imagination, and at the same time be relevant to the age and stage the child is at. It should stimulate children’s thinking and give expression to their feelings. Most of all it should be fun. Poetry is a way of extending knowledge; developing, categorising and extending vocabulary while encouraging thought and reflection on the content involved. It is a vital part of the Fireworks programme, fostering learning as it deepens and extends language skills in an interesting

and enjoyable way. It deals with all language forms and so the aim of the classroom teacher should be to foster a love of poetry and share in children’s delight in making poetry!

Some useful poetry activities Oral poetry • Present a poem and read it aloud to the class. • Compare similar poems orally. • Read poems silently and/or aloud. • Dramatise a poem vocally and/or physically. • Verse speaking.

Responding to poetry • Discuss the subject matter. • Choose favourite poems and compile personal

collections. • Respond through visual arts, drama or dance.

Poetry writing • Create acrostics. • Devise calligrams (shape poetry). • Write limericks. • Devise freestyle poetry. • Create poetry of the senses (using the senses as a

formula for writing).

Poetry writing suggestionsNamesAsk the children to write their names and what their names mean in the form of a poem. The poems are then shared with the class.

SensesUse a senses word chart i.e. eyes or sight, ears or hearing, nose or smell, mouth or taste, and the sense of touch. Compile lists of words to use with the senses chart based on the subject of the poem. These senses can then be used to write poetry, or try eliminating some and focusing on only one or two. Make use of the sense of touch by using concrete materials to aid poetry writing: materials could include lavender, marbles, soup mix etc. The teacher models the lesson first, then the pupils can help to write one or work in pairs before finally working independently.

Riddles/questions Make time for ‘thinking time’ with children. Encourage the children to fill in an ‘interesting questions’ box. Examples could include: Why do the stars weep? What does the sky dream? What does the river think? Why do the clouds puff and float? Why does the rain fall?

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A thought spark/a fire spark/a wind spark/a sea sparkAdvise the children to close their eyes and allow themselves to drift and dream and think. This is followed by a discussion in pairs about those thoughts. Imagine those thoughts and write a poem about them based on the above themes or on any chosen theme.

Line 1: I dreamedLine 2: I was a thought spark,Line 3: Where were you?Line 4: What were you doing? Use action words/verbs here – ‘tired words’ practice could also be introduced; compile lists.Line 5: How were you doing it? Use adverbs here – a mini-lesson on adverbs could be introduced.

HaikuBegin by exploring this form of Japanese poetry. Read some haiku poetry aloud. A haiku poem consists of three lines: the first line has five syllables, the second has seven syllables and the third also has five. For example:

What am I?In the sea I swim (5 syllables)Crashing through the giant waves (7 syllables)Splashing on the sand. (5 syllables)

Count out the syllables in the words in each line of the haiku poems you present to the class. Use the four steps (thinking and planning, first draft, redraft and edit, and publishing) in the process of writing haikus. Always edit and redraft to improve writing.

Poems with a twist This is a five-line poem where the fifth line negates the previous four lines or statements. For example:

Wonderful new teacher,Very tidy class,Books open on the desks,Silence in the room.NO PUPILS!!!!

Painless poetry This allows children to play with poetry in a completely uninhibited way, as it involves free writing on any chosen subject written in any style or mixture of styles.

Shape poemsThis is a poem written in a pre-drawn shape that determines the length of the lines on any chosen subject.

Acrostics Poetry written in any number of lines, in which a combination of the letters that begin each line spells a word or a phrase e.g. ‘CAT’ below.

Cool AgileTough

Alliterative poetryUse short statements to learn to write alliteration and poetry.

CinquainsA form of poetry that employs a five-line pattern.

OctopoemsA poem of eight lines describing a particular subject.

Onomatopoeic poetry Using words that imitate the sound associated with the subject of the poem. Good examples of this for younger children are some nursery rhymes e.g. ‘Baa, Baa, Black Sheep’ and ‘Old MacDonald’.

ListsUse lists as a way to initiate poetry writing e.g. a clown’s pocket, a mermaid’s purse etc.

Saints poetryThe children list the saints they know. Funny saints can be created using words starting with ‘St’ e.g. Stocking is St Ocking, the saint for…

The magic boxThe children are asked to imagine a box. Use visualisation here: What does it look like? What does it feel like? What is it made of? What is it lined with? etc. For example:

My box is made of _________, ___________ and ________________,The _______are made of _________,It is lined with ___________ and ____________.In my box I keep __________, ________ and __________.I keep my box _____________________________. (Encourage the children to think outside the box.)

Make the box and put the poem inside.

Recipe poetryBegin with ‘talk and discussion’ and then read recipes. Talk about ingredients and method. Write a recipe as a poem. For example:

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Take …Add …Sprinkle …Cover/Wrap …Warm …Cook ….

Write recipes for a school disco, a noisy classroom, a summer beach etc. Make use of the environment, go outside and look at and feel a place, then write the recipe.

Poetry trailTry to create a poetry trail in the school grounds, then do the trail and write some poetry.

Rewrite the well-known nursery rhymesExamples include ‘Baa, Baa, Black Sheep’, ‘Hey! Diddle, Diddle’, ‘Humpty Dumpty’ etc.

Listen and respond to music Choose a piece of music to listen to in class. Brainstorm a word list for the music. Respond by writing poetry.

Looking and responding in visual artsRespond to a picture, a sculpture, an art piece etc. by writing poetry.

Narrative text: dramaFireworks acknowledges that drama in the Primary School Curriculum is both a methodology and a subject in its own right. Educational drama is, for the most part, informal drama created by the participant for the participant and so should be child-centred, child-directed and child-oriented.

The approach to be used is a process approach in which life is explored through plot, theme, fiction and make-believe. The field is as wide as life itself and the role of the class teacher is to guide, nurture and motivate. It is important to remember that although drama can be a very powerful teaching strategy, it has value as a subject area on its own. Drama is a holistic activity concerning itself with the development of the whole child.

Improvisational drama is one of the main contexts for working with oral language in the classroom. It allows great freedom for the children, as they are not bound by scripted work and have ownership as creators of their own pieces of work. The collaboration and communication inherent in developing the drama reinforces the cooperative ethos of the classroom.

Some useful drama strategies Drama games Encourage the children to imagine themselves in other situations and how they might feel in these situations. This improvisation strategy contributes to the development of trust and self-confidence.

Still image and montage A moment or an idea in the text can be frozen in time to take a closer look at what is happening. This is called a still image. This can be placed beside the previous image and the one after to understand how the action occurred. A montage on the other hand presents a contrasting image which allows for questioning of the still image. It should not be over-used as it can slow down the pace of the drama. However, it is useful when a period of short reflection is needed.

Hot-seating This is a commonly used tool in classrooms. A character is put in the ‘hot-seat’ and questioned by the other characters when the drama, or the children in the class as the onlookers, in order to reach a better understanding of this person and their actions.

Thought-tracking Some of the children make still images while others track their thoughts by speaking them aloud. This can be very useful when exploring text. It is another useful tool for reflection, but should not be confused with making the drama.

Sound-tracking Some of the children make still images while others make the sound that matches the action. The concern here is one of control, but as the children become used to the technique this problem diminishes.

Voices in the headThis is a very useful strategy that looks at the conflicting voices which may precede a character taking an action. It allows for a short moment to reflect on that particular character and add to the meaning of the action.

Conscience alleyThis useful tool allows for the exploration of a sense of what is right and wrong, and what governs a person’s thoughts and actions urging them to do right rather than wrong. It is particularly valuable for looking at decisions characters make in the text and thinking

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about how they came to that decision. The class divides into two parallel lines: one signifies right, the other wrong. The character representing the moral decision proceeds down the lines and advice is given from both sides. The character must let conscience be his/her guide. Reflection with the class at the end of this exercise is an important part of the exercise.

Role on the wallThis is another useful tool that will help the readers to get to know a character from a piece of text. The text is explored and what is known about a character is recorded on a flip chart sheet on the wall in the form of words and statements. As the exploration proceeds, the record is kept and summarised when work on the text ends. It helps the readers to collaborate in reaching an understanding of characters and their actions, and thus build on knowledge of life itself.

Expository textResources

• PCMs 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15

In addition to the narrative texts presented, Fireworks aims to provide children with opportunities to engage with non-fiction or expository text, through the provision of information extracts at each class level. These information extracts contain a wide variety of text commonly encountered on a daily basis, including instructions and timetables, as well as information that is presented in graphic or pictorial form. Children should be familiarised with these text types from as early an age as possible, if the aim of enabling them to be ‘real readers’ is to be achieved. The types of reading material that are encountered by children working with Fireworks include the following: pictorial presentations; quizzes; questionnaires and forms; fact maps and diagrams; cartoon presentations; newspaper and magazine style presentations; brief information paragraphs; timesheets, timetables and timelines; graphs; labelled diagrams; posters; maps; signs, symbols, codes and keys.

Skills development By providing children with the opportunity to engage with both expository and narrative text, Fireworks enables children to:

• become familiar with a broad range of reading material;

• develop the ability to understand and use conventions such as contents and index pages;

• access text using a variety of signposts such as headings, illustrations and bulleted lists;

• become familiar with a wide variety of illustration techniques such as charts, maps, diagrams, photographs and drawings;

• assess the appropriateness of illustration; • develop further reading strategies such as

skimming, scanning and close scrutiny; • review existing knowledge prior to reading text; • identify new knowledge after reading text; • pose questions based on text leading to planned

research and further reading; • read with the purpose of finding information to

answer particular questions;• locate information for a variety of purposes; • make judgments about accuracy and presentation

of text; • analyse the structure of text; • identify the main idea in a piece of text; • compare and contrast pieces of text on the same

subject; • learn and use appropriate terminology when

discussing text; • become aware of bias and intention in pieces of

text; • identify a wide range of text types; • use a variety of text types as a basis for work in oral

language; • use a variety of text types as models for personal

writing.

Writing and the Primary School CurriculumThe writing process Resources

• PCMs 6, 7, 8

Fireworks recognises the importance of the process approach to writing in a structured language programme. Children should never be in a position of writing to please or to produce a piece of writing of a particular length. They should learn to write for a variety of purposes and for a range of audiences. They should experience writing in many different genres and the process of drafting, rewriting and editing. The topics chosen should reflect the real concerns and preoccupations of children.

Before writing, it is important to engage the children in looking at the reasons why we put pen to paper so that they begin to see there should be both a purpose and an audience for a piece of writing. The reasons include: to record events, to explain, to hypothesise, to persuade, to inform, to invite a response etc.

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Writing is a skill and, like every skill, it must be developed and honed through a process that requires regular practice. The writing process has four stages:

1. Thinking and planning 2. First draft3. Redraft and edit4. Publishing

Children learn to work as an author does, moving through each of the above stages to a final piece which they publish in their classroom.

Thinking and planning The pre-writing stage is extremely important. Topics for writing are sought by the children and it is important to note that writers write best on topics they own. The children draw on experience, observation and imagination to make their decisions. It can be useful to brainstorm a list of things the children might like to write about during the school year. It is important that each child records a personal list. The use of audiles, visiles or tactiles can also be used to stimulate or motivate the senses. It is vital that audience and purpose are decided at this stage and the child knows which genre he/she is going to use. These could include poems, stories, letters, diary entries, scripts, captions, descriptions, explanations, arguments, recipes, cartoon strips, summaries, notices, instructions or even books. It is not necessary to set a timeframe for completion of a piece of writing, as each form differs in length, and the children and class teacher should take the time needed.

Once the topic has been decided, the class or individual should then compile the vocabulary and ideas on a map, plan or story web in order to give sequence to the piece. Reading stories and novels in class will assist the child to understand how a story is structured. Reading non-fiction text is an essential experience if the child is to become proficient in non-fiction writing.

First draft A first draft allows the child to release thoughts and expressions freely onto the page. Conventions of grammar, spelling, punctuation and presentation need not worry the child at this stage. However, mini-lessons on all of these could take place in parallel to the drafting stage. Work can also be done on improving the quality of the writing. Examples include:

Extending a sentence/paragraph This can be done through the practice of adding additional information to a basic sentence. When the

children have picked up this skill, they can then extend a paragraph.

Creating word banks The children should be encouraged to expand their vocabulary by using a variety of words and not repeating the same ‘tired words’ over and over. These words could be recorded in class and also in a personal notebook to be used when writing.

Creating a character Introducing a character means building a profile of that character by giving the reader information other than just a name. This does not always come naturally to the writer and it is worthwhile discussing how to achieve this with the class.

Grammar, punctuation, spelling and handwriting It is important that children realise that the skills learned in class should be applied to writing and not kept as a separate entity.

Redraft and edit It is at this stage of the process that children need to take responsibility for their own writing and so become truly independent writers. The teacher assumes the role of editor, checking the work and writing editing symbols in the margin so that each child can make his/her own corrections. The teacher compiles a list of editing symbols suitable to the age and stage of the pupils. This editing list should be in a prominent place in the classroom in order to make its use a common part of practice in writing exercises.

Editing symbolsSpelling Over-used words Something left out Sentence mixed upGrammar Capitals Direct speech Full stops Think again

Publishing a piece of writing in final draft At this stage the final draft is written and care should be given to presentation, as well as to all other conventions. The final draft can be written in a copybook or on a sheet to be kept in a portfolio of the year’s work. It is important that the child sees it as a published work, whatever the length of the piece. The child may choose to use a word processor to print the final piece. Illustrations may or may not be added at

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this stage by the child. Allowing children to share their writing with each other, with the teacher or at home – and receiving a response to a piece that is truly a personal record – brings great satisfaction and benefit to all involved.

Main writing genresChildren need experience reading and comprehending in the different genres in order to be able to write in those genres. Fireworks provides a wide variety of texts

to be explored and the pupils should use the activities in the Skills Book to practise the relevant genre as it arises naturally in the programme. There are five main genres:

1. Recount writing2. Report writing3. Explanatory writing4. Procedural writing5. Persuasive writing

Purpose and genres of writingPurpose Genres of writing

To record various types of events: • Letters• Diary entries• Meeting minutes• Lists• Stories about people’s lives• Recording history

To give explanations/to direct: • Instructions/directions• Recipes• Charts• Instructions for games

To create an argument: • Debates

To persuade/invite a response: • Advertisements• Applications e.g. for jobs• Invitations e.g. birthdays• Signs• Posters/captions/notices• Questions

To entertain: • Jokes• Riddles• Puzzles• Quizzes

To narrate: • Stories

To summarise: • Postcards• Reports• Summary points

To predict: • Timetables• Graphs• Forecasting e.g. weather

To comment: • Personal responses• Personal viewpoints/other viewpoints• Expressing opinion

To seek information: • Questionnaires• Surveys• Interviews

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Documents

The Primary School Curriculum