Piper Hill Writing Strategy

School Specific Reading Plan for Piper Hill Part of the Prospere Learning Trust Special

Piper Hill SEND School Writing Strategy

Contents 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Key Aims Independent Writing Strategies Handwriting Composition Writing Strategies Structured and Experiential Writing Vocabulary Acquisition and Retention Linked Research Evidence Base Resources and Links

1.

Key Aims

 



   

Ensure writing and SLC are consistently prioritised by all staff, including school leadership.

Embed a differentiated writing and SLC package that inspires a love and familiarity of writing and communication Extend communication and speaking and listening skills through a total communication approach which is tailored to meet the unique needs of individual students.

Establish a total communication approach so that sign language is a key aspect of the offer for all students.

Become aware of the link between reading, writing and SLC. Use ICT and multi modal links to further develop a love of reading.

Acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language

      

To develop skills in group interaction and drama in a systematic way.

Provide non-classroom-based enrichment opportunities to practice key literacy skills.

Create a wide range of exciting literacy opportunities which can be accessed by all learners.

Enable students to communicate effectively within a wider community, recognising and respecting cultural differences Embed world citizenship links through the provision of books and resources which reflect multiculturalism, diversity and equality.

For students to understand the effect of the media on our lives: the newspapers, television, advertising etc.

For students to be able to use writing skills to enhance daily life: writing letters, filling in forms, writing notes etc.

2. Common Writing Strategies (Independent)

Colourful Semantics

The National Curriculum focuses on two dimensions…

C.S is an approached developed by UK Speech and Language Therapist Alison

 

Bryan It is a colour-coded system to help students develop spoken and written language skills. Sentences are broken down into thematic roles and reassembled in colour.

Transcription (spelling and handwriting) Composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing)

Why use Colourful Semantics?

Piper Hill utilises the English appendix for spelling which includes the statutory requirements. Where appropriate, students in KS3 participate in discreet spelling assessments (this is not prescriptive and will not be appropriate for all students/classes).

When spelling some Independent students will: 

  



Use lots of repetition to ensure that students know the alphabet, the days of the week, months of the year, numbers and their own names.

Use prefixes and suffixes Spell homophones Participate in the national curriculum spelling programme at a differentiated level appropriate to the learner through segmenting spoken words into phonemes and representing these by graphemes.

They will use spelling rules and write from memory simple sentences using GPC, common exception words and punctuation.



Pupils should are taught to write by:  Saying out loud what they are going to write about  Composing a sentence orally before writing it  Sequencing sentences to form short narratives  Re-reading what they have written to check that it makes sense  Discuss what they have written with the teacher or other pupils  Read aloud their writing clearly enough to be heard by their peers and the teacher.  Completing discreet and implicit punctuation and grammar tasks in line with their personalised targets and the wider NC.

        

Encourages a wider vocabulary, spoken and written Makes sentences longer and encourages use of grammar Supports sentence structure Supports oral and written language Helps pupils learn how to answer ‘WH’ questions Improves story telling skills Can be used with individuals or small groups Good for pupils who are visual learners.

Clear structure for visual learners and those with autism

How? Activities are differentiated according to ability, the board below represents all aspects of colourful semantics, students will initially be taught the colour link, they will then focus on: who? what doing? What? Where? Teachers may focus on one aspect and build up the colour profile over time.

3. Handwriting Piper Hill utilises the Twinkl Handwriting package which focuses on letter formation, and develops skills such as letter formation, pencil control, letter recognition and spelling through a range of fun and engaging activities.

Handwriting activities are important for teaching letter formation and students at Piper Hill may need additional time (beyond primary school) to acquire and develop their handwriting skills. There maybe students in KS3 who benefit from discreet handwriting sessions in addition to their wider writing.   





 

Students must sit correctly at the table They will use the correct trip pen grip when possible Letters are taught in family groups based on appearance rather than in alphabetical order (curly caterpillar, ladder, one armed robots, zigzag monsters).

Letter formation is taught by showing students where to place their pen or pencil to begin writing the letter, and then teaching them the series of movements required to produce the letter.

Students will usually begin by tracing letters so that they can get a feel for how the pencil should move when they form the letter. This helps to build muscle memory and improve fine motor skills.

Once students are comfortable tracing the letter, they move on to writing it independently, using the dots and arrows as guidance.

Eventually, students should be able to form the letters without using any guidance at all. They will write capital letters and digits, use correct orientation and use spacing currently between words and letters.

Writing lessons take place within a single or double lesson per week, students take part in differentiated writing activities which are linked to the National Curriculum, outlined within SOW. For some students this includes opportunities for extended writing which gives students the experience of writing for longer periods. They will implement a variety of strategies and have opportunities to draft and re-work writing in line with SOW.

4. Composition (articulating ideas and presenting them) Pupils will develop positive attitudes towards and stamina for writing, the opportunities below are explicitly included within independent schemas.              

     

Writing about real events Writing for a purpose Writing narratives about personal experiences and those of others (real and fictional) Writing poetry/ writing for different purposes Consider what they are going to write before beginning by planning and discussing ideas Writing down ideas/ key words/ vocabulary Make simple additions, revisions and corrections to their own writing by: Evaluating their writing with the teacher and other pupils Rereading to check that their writing makes sense and that verbs to indicate time are used correctly and consistently.

Proofreading to check for errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation (for example, ends of sentences punctuated correctly) read aloud what they have written with appropriate intonation to make the meaning clear Make decisions about vocabulary, grammar and punctuation Develop their understanding by… learning how to use both familiar and new punctuation correctly, including full stops, capital letters, exclamation marks, question marks, commas for lists and apostrophes for contracted forms and the possessive (singular).

Learn how to use: Sentences with different forms: statement, question, exclamation, command Expanded noun phrases to describe and specify [for example, the blue butterfly] The present and past tenses correctly and consistently, including the progressive form Subordination (using when, if, that, or because) and co-ordination (using or, and, or but) The grammar for year 2 in English appendix 2 as appropriate and in line with personalised targets.

https://d2tic4wvo1iusb.cloudfront.net/eef-guidance-reports/literacy-ks2/EEF-Improving-literacyin-key-stage-2-report-Second-edition.pdf

5. Writing Strategies When teaching students to write, it requires pupils to coordinate a number of different processes at once When writing, pupils must coordinate these processes in their working memory Many students at Piper Hill have Working memory difficulties which means they have limited capacity and find writing challenging. Independent student access differentiated writing targets, students following a structured curriculum , working below AL04 have one broad English descriptor which is utilised across the three strands of reading, writing and SLC.

What does an effective writing lessons look like?

Some Independent classes find that a carousel lessons works well to enable delivery of all writing aspects: Spelling Station Read the words aloud, pick out similar sounds from the word list, point out any spelling patterns, encourage students to highlight the common letter string. Use the Look, cover, write check strategy, use a white board so that students can practice before completing the quiz in their spelling books. If appropriate allow students to peer mark and become the teacher.

Handwriting Station Ensure the correct three finger pencil grip, check that students are sitting correctly at the table, initially, focus on accuracy not legibility or size, allow students to work through the letter families at their own pace and level with lots of repetition, use hand gestures and voices to embed and consolidate learning.

Composition Station Students will work through a variety of differentiated composition activities linked to their personalised targets. Work will also link to the module and each SOW embeds the NC.

6 Structured Experiential Writing

Fine Motor Activities may include:

The aim of a Structured writing session is for students to:

   

  

  

To develop literacy as a shared and positive experience, developing a social activity between student and adult.

Writing is developed though students speaking and listening skills, PECs is an essential component of this offer To encourage students to enjoy writing activities.

To improve fine and gross motor skills To develop a positive exploration of literacy materials with adult support.

To develop the use of symbols to support learning within the classroom environment

A discrete literacy area is established within core skills sessions, and the scheme of work implemented. Students working below AL04 have one broad English descriptor which is utilised across the three strands of reading, writing and SLC. Writing Sessions will focus on improving Fine and Gross Motor Skills

Gross Motor Activities may include:   



  

Sensory Circuits to increase postural muscle strength and endurance. These activities also strengthen the students awareness of his/her hands.

Clapping games (loud/quiet, on knees together, etc.) Catching (clapping) bubbles between hands Midline Crossing: Establishment of hand dominance is still developing at this point. The following activities will facilitate midline crossing: Encourage reaching across the body for materials with each hand. It may be necessary to engage the other hand in an activity to prevent switching hands at midline.

New writers - Refrain specifically from discouraging a student from using the left hand for any activity. Allow for the natural development of hand dominance by presenting activities at midline, and allowing the student to choose freely.

Target activities—throw equipment at targets Large lacing and threading activities Tracing activities – Non-paper based activities, such as tracing a car left to right along a road, using the touch screen to trace a route, tracing in damp or dry sand, dipping one finger in paint (or a mixture of paint and sand) and tracing on paper, tracing a path on velvet or hessian. Make it tactile and multisensory!





   



  





Moulding and rolling dough Using pegs or pens to make designs in play dough Cutting playdough with a plastic knife by using a diagonal volar grasp Tearing newspaper into strips and then crumpling them into balls. Use to stuff scarecrow or other art creation.

Picking up objects using large tweezers such as those found in the "Bedbugs" game. This can be adapted by picking up Cheerios, small cubes, small marshmallows, pennies, etc., in counting games.

Shaking dice by cupping the hands together, forming an empty air space between the palms.

Using small-sized screwdrivers like those found in an erector set.

Lacing and sewing activities such as stringing beads, Cheerios, macaroni, etc.

Using eye droppers to "pick up" coloured water for colour mixing or to make artistic designs on paper.

Rolling small balls out of tissue paper, then gluing the balls onto construction paper to form pictures or designs.

Turning over cards, coins, checkers, or buttons, without bringing them to the edge of the table.

Making pictures using stickers or self-sticking paper reinforcements.

Playing games with the "puppet fingers" -the thumb, index, and middle fingers.

At circle time have each child's puppet fingers tell about what happened over the weekend, or use them in songs and finger plays.

Place a variety of forms (eg. blocks, felt, paper, string, yarn, cereal, cotton) on outlines Match shapes, colour, or pictures to a page and paste them within the outlines Self-Care Skills: Buttoning, Lacing, Tying, Fastening Snaps, Zipping, Carrying, Using a screwdriver, Locking and unlocking a door, Winding a clock, opening and closing jars, cooking activities, washing up.

Scissor activities: Cutting round a guide (curved or zig zag line), creating a fringe on a piece of paper.

Tracing activities

7. Vocabulary Acquisition and Retention Vocabulary retention and acquisition is a key whole school priority. All SOW include a tiered vocab list.

At Piper Hill we utilise Alex Quigley's SEEC model of explicit vocabulary instruction Subject Specific vocab found on SOW are explicitly included: 

Within PPTs and reflected on during lessons



On worksheets where appropriate

In addition, vocabulary instruction is included within all text work, so that when new vocabulary is introduced, the SEEC model is utilised effectively by all staff.

Structured vocab is tiered into concrete, abstract and pictural to reflect the additional needs of the students working at this level and to support their cognition and retention.

Step

Select Explain Explore

Explanation 

Choose the appropriate words, that a student needs to be able to access a text. This will be differentiated according to the learning levels of students.

    

Say the word with correct pronunciation Write the word—reference, sounds, letters, phonemes etc Give a student friendly description, not definition Give multiple meaningful examples of the word Get students to interact with the word by restating the explanation and their own understanding of the word



Etymology: the study of the history of words, their origins and how they change over time Morphology: the study of the word parts (roots, prefixes and suffices) Synonyms and antonyms

 

Consolidate

 

Minimum of three interactions. Teacher to model verbally and through written work Return to vocabulary through retrieval practices and teaching in the form of: creating actions to match the word, low stakes quizzing, writing and verbal practice, using the word in a sentence.

8. Linked Research The reading framework: teaching the foundations of literacy The reading framework: teaching the foundations of literacy - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) EEF Recommendations Reading comprehension strategies | EEF (educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk) Updated KS2 guidance report (published in Oct) here.

EEF KS1 Literacy Guidance Report: The first recommendation on ‘developing speaking and listening skills and wider understanding of language’ includes: Vignette for discussion with prompt questions  Tiers of vocabulary figure  Approaches such as:  Implicit and explicit approaches to teaching vocabulary (to develop receptive and expressive language) Modelling

Alex Quigley’s book ‘Closing the Vocabulary Gap’: The Early Vocabulary Advantage (theconfidentteacher.com) Three Pillars of Vocabulary Teaching (theconfidentteacher.com)

Marzano’s Six Steps to Teaching Vocabulary Marzano_6_Step_Vocabulary.pdf (swsc.org) EEF Secondary Literacy Guidance report: building ‘word consciousness’ EEF_KS3_KS4_LITERACY_GUIDANCE.pdf (d2tic4wvo1iusb.cloudfront.net) Recommendation 2 section

9. Resources and Useful Links.

Internal:

English Resources: Q:\PIP Staff Shared\Curriculum\Subject Areas\English Assessments: Q:\PIP Staff Shared\Curriculum\Subject Areas\English\Resources_Reading_writing_slc\Literacy Resources - HANDWRITING\Assessment Composition Resources: Q:\PIP Staff Shared\Curriculum\Subject Areas\English\Resources_Reading_writing_slc\literacy Resources - WRITING Homework and Catch up Packs: Q:\PIP Staff Shared\Curriculum\Subject Areas\English\Catch Up Packs_Homework Packs Handwriting Resources:\PIP Staff Shared\Curriculum\Subject Areas\English\Resources_Reading_writing_slc\Literacy Resources - HANDWRITING Assessments phonics, spelling, guided reading, handwriting etc) : Q:\PIP Staff Shared\Curriculum\Subject Areas\English\Assessments\Independent Assessment\READING Vocab sheets: these are located in the same file as SOW –KEY WORD WORKSHEETS FOR EVERY SCHEME THROUGH TO POST 16, PLEASE USE THEM: Q:\PIP Staff Shared\Curriculum\Subject Areas\English\KS3_INDEP SOW_RESOURCES\RP2\AUTUMN\KEYWORD WORKSHEETS Wide variety of resources linked to all strands: \\ad.prospere.org.uk\sharedareas\PIP Staff Shared\Curriculum\Subject Areas\English\Resources_Reading_writing_slc External:

Supporting SEND Children at Home - this contains links for useful support videos for parents supporting SEND children at home, although some of the content in the videos would be appropriate for all parents/children www.spellingshed.com - 14 day free trial thereadingrealm.co.uk - free home learning packs can be downloaded http://www.pobble365.com/ - new images each day to act as writing stems with questions available