How to write
Step 2
Sizzling
Starts
Jen McVeity
Please Protect Copyright

Please protect the
integrity and reputation
of the Seven Steps to
Writing Success program.

Do not share this
PowerPoint or the
resources except to train
others in your school.
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Jen McVeity (Creator)
Seven Steps to Writing Success
Takes 10 mins a day
NAPLAN scores increase (1-3 levels)
Seven Steps
Works for all text types

Imaginative - Narrative, poetry, etc
 Informative – Factual, recounts, etc
 Persuasive – Persuasive, ads, debate etc
Secret # 1
Chunk big jobs
Don’t write whole stories
Secret # 2
Verbal is vital
.

Language, verbal or non-verbal, is critical
for the development of literacy skills.
(ACARA)

Also an excellent scaffold for students with:
– ESL
– Weak verbal skills
– Learning disabilities.
Step 2
Sizzling Starts
Step 2
Sizzling Starts
Main Pain:
 Starting
too early! (Warm up writing.)
 ‘I woke up, I ate breakfast, I was
getting nervous...’
Before and After samples

‘I opened the door to the disco…’

(p12 Narrative manual)

‘Books are Better than TV’

(p18 Persuasive manual)

Or quote any classic recount ‘On the way to
the zoo…’ where you get more about the
bus than the zoo..
Nigel, graph of story
Key Point 1
Start with ACTION – ‘Moment of Change’
 Think action movies:

– Avatar
– James Bond
– The Avengers

I opened the door to the disco...
Key Point 2

Use backfill to explain Who What and
Why.

‘It was the big dance competition....’

Then go back to the live action.
Task of first paragraph–
Make them want to read
MORE!
Action Activity
Five Minute Fast Starts
(One per minute)
•You’re in the reality show from hell.
•Brothers are SO much better than sisters. (Or not!)
•You and a friend are having a big fight – in a hot air
balloon.
•Country living is better than city living.
•There’s a tree in the school yard that eats kids!
Share

Pick 1-2 of your best starts and share them
with your group.

Share, scaffold and model great writing.
Yes – Works for NAPLAN

NAPLAN rewards Sizzling Starts.

E.g. Lion’s Glorious Hair.
 (5/6 marks for ‘Audience’)

(But you won’t have time to go into this.)
Secret # 3
Repetition – muscle memory
Secret #1
Chunk – Small steps for small kids
Secret #2
Talk first – write second
Secret # 3
Repetition - puts skills into muscle memory.
Do every day for a week.
Chunking
Do NOT write the
story!
Say NO to the ‘sweet’ kid
‘Can we write the story?’
Keep it short and fun.
More Action Activities
Focus on Sizzling Starts

1. Watch the start of 5 movies.

2. Go to library and read starts of 5 books.

3. For P-1. Start with a sound: ‘Crash’.
Woosh’.
Lots more Action Activities

P. 19 Persuasive
Manual

P. 20-1 Narrative
Manual
Writing
 ‘Writing
is not something you do
with a pen, it is something you do
with your brain.’
 Jen
McVeity
Important
Please protect copyright!

Please remember this information has been
created just for you by Jen McVeity.

Extracted from Week 1 of the Seven Steps
to Writing Success Coaches Course.
www.sevenstepswriting.com