Writer Talk
Presented by
Lancashire Leading Literacy Teachers
Talk for Writing
DCSF Publications Tel: 0845 60 222 60
Booklet: 00467-2008BKT-EN
DVD: 00761-2008DVD-EN
Aims:
• To understand the value of writer talk in
improving the teaching and learning of
writing skills
• To exemplify writer talk
• To consider the use of writer talk within the
teaching sequence with particular
emphasis on shared writing
‘Writer Talk’ is…
• reading as a writer;
• wondering aloud, ‘How did the author do
that?’;
• reading with a view to imitating, but not
simply copying;
• unpicking the overall pattern of the writing;
• understanding how the writing has been
crafted to create different effects.
Purpose and Audience
Talk to the children about audience and
purpose of every text you read and write.
A good way to remember is:
– PALS purpose, audience, language, structure
OR
– FLAP form/format, language, audience, purpose
Main Objective:
~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~
Genre Checklist
Purpose an d
Audience
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~
Structure and
organisati on
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~
Gathering Content
K
W
L
Planning
Introduction
Diagram
Genre
Langua ge fea tures
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~
Writer’s
knowledge~ ~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~
Key Features:



~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~
~~~~~~
~~~~~~
~~~~~~
~~~~~~
~~~~~~
~~~~~
The Daily Gossip
Annotated Example
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~
Drafting
Sh ared writing
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Marking Ladder
Success Criteria
Objective
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~
Editing and Revising
Symbols
Connectives
Planning Skeletons
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
~~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Editing and Revising
Punctuation
. , ? ! “” : ; -… ( )
Spelling
Paragraph
Re-order sentence
Better vocab
Missing word
Add detail
Punctuation
~~~~
//
*
^
+
p
~~~~
Bright Ideas and Brain Waves!
Technical Vocabulary
WAGOLL
What a good
one looks like
Activity
• Compare the three writing samples.
• What does each child know about writing
stories?
• What can the teacher do to help each child
to improve?
Teaching ‘action’ writing
• Most children want to write exciting stories with
plenty of action (particularly boys) but it is easy
to fall into the trap of ‘cartoon style’ writing where
the action does not excite the reader.
• This is also likely to happen when film clips are
used and children write what they ‘see’
• Direct teaching of ‘skills’ is also needed
An example of action
writing from a Y3 pupil
He heard them coming. He ran. He got
away.
This describes the events but does not bring them
alive.
To achieve this, the writer needs to use techniques to let the
reader see and hear what is happening.
Activity
Sid could just hear their footsteps, heavy on
the road, thudding along behind him. He
spurted forward, dodged into an alley and
sprinted into the main road. He had lost them.
The traffic roared past but no one had followed.
Which techniques have been used?
‘Jumanji’ – book talk
It was too late. Peter let the dice fall and
rolled two 1s.
Brummm-tum-tum! Brummm-tum-tum! The
drumming started again.
Peter hadn’t even noticed that it had
stopped. New words began to appear in
the crystal:
‘Jumanji’ – book talk
It was too late. Peter let the dice fall and
rolled two 1s.
Brummm-tum-tum! Brummm-tum-tum! The
drumming started again.
Peter hadn’t even noticed that it had
stopped. New words began to appear in
the crystal: ‘This will not be an easy mission.
Monkeys slow the expedition.’
Activity
• Read the rest of the text and book talk with
a partner
Use of tentative language,
e.g. Maybe… Perhaps…I
wonder if…
Reading as a Writer
Reading as a writer is most helpful when focused on the
purpose and audience of a piece of writing; understanding
what response the writer wishes to elicit in the reader and
how he/she achieves this. It will often correctly consider
choices made at word and sentence level, although these
always need to be seen in their text-level context.
Read
Note how text
is structured?
Note the
effects
What can
we use?
Writer Talk
Learn
How was the
effect created?
Teacher
models
Apply
Label the
effect
Children try
out on
whiteboards
Collect
examples
Children use
in own writing
Writer talk
What effect has the writer created?
How has the effect been created?
Note the
effects
What can
we use?
Crash! Clang! Thwack! A cacophony of things
breaking loudly started to come from downstairs.
Judy jumped up and raced towards the attic
stairs. Peter picked up the dice and followed her.
As they ran down the stairs towards the kitchen,
they could hear the sounds of the plates being
smashed, accompanied by weird, screeching
cries. Judy came to a halt behind the kitchen
door, then she slowly pushed it open.
Gathering Content
Watch the Jumanji stampede clip
Watch and enjoy
Plan and clarify/think
about…
List powerful words and
phrases to describe the
action.
Note down the
snippets of dialogue
Think about the events –
story map/note key
events.
Word Bank
Writing as a Reader
Writing as a reader involves applying the
same understanding when making choices
about planning, creating and improving one's
own writing; understanding what response
you, as a writer, wish to elicit in the reader
and how you can achieve this.
Bring it all together
Shared writing:
Demonstration writing
Remember to use:
Teacher scribing
Supported composition
•
Our checklist for action writing
•
Our word bank
Is your reader clear about:
• What the characters are doing.
• What the events are – story map
Writer-talk:
Top tips from Pie Corbett
Key question – what effect
has the writer created?
Resources
How to teach story writing at KS1
Pie Corbett
ISBN 1-85346-916-5
How to teach fiction writing at KS2
Pie Corbett
ISBN 1-85346-833-9
DCSF Publications Tel: 0845 60 222 60
Talk for Writing
Booklet: 00467-2008BKT-EN
DVD: 00761-2008DVD-EN
Improving writing with a focus on guided writing
Booklet: 00618-2007BKT-EN
DVD: 00618-2007DVD-EN
That’s all folks!