this without dampening subject enjoyment. The danger comes when only dry worksheet-type exercises are used and the integration is not immediate. Task students with writing freely and creatively, then encourage them to edit their work. This should enable them to readily see skills by actively employing them to improve their piece of writing.’
Grammar is back! The new English curriculum began in cohort of primary pupils sitting the controversial new KS1 and KS2 SATs, and now Year 11s are hard at work studying for a more challenging GCSE. While the revamped curriculum
is intended to halt the UK’s slide down the international student assessment league tables, the changes have gone down like the sort of lead balloon that ought to lose marks for being a cliché. But, despite much unhappiness,
teachers have been working hard since 2013 to prepare themselves and their pupils for the huge change in how literacy is judged. Throughout primary and
secondary schools, teachers now have to raise standards in vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and handwriting. In addition, pupils must now be taught to consciously use a range of ‘language about language’; to discuss their reading, written, and spoken English, using terms such as ‘fronted-adverbial’ that have left even the most highly-educated Lorrae Jaderberg, Managing
Director of JK Educate says, ‘The key is the multi-tasking element of successfully teaching grammar, spelling and punctuation at the same time as keeping the subject creative and enjoyable. A certain amount of disciplined learning and practise will inevitably have to take place, but it is possible to achieve
16 SPRING 2017 FundEd
Great expectations The overhaul begins in Reception, with the children preparing for a KS1 test which, for example, expects an understanding of use of commas and apostrophes. At KS2, as well as a hike in the
challenging grammar questions, and are expected to differentiate between types of conjunction, or words used as conjunctions and prepositions.
English Language GCSE and, no matter the quality of their answer, they lose up to 20% of their marks for mistakes in SPaG (spelling, punctuation, and grammar). So how has this affected what
happens in the classroom? Helen Morris, Year 5 Teacher and Literacy Coordinator at Madley
Primary School in Herefordshire, says, ‘We didn’t want to kill the joy of writing, but for our older children there was a degree of catchup required, so initially creative opportunities were put on hold. Perhaps there was an overemphasis on grammar, but we were concerned about our results in the SPaG test, so I don’t think it was an overreaction. You try to teach it in a way that they found it quite restrictive, particularly the recent Year 6 students who hadn’t spent as much time covering the new curriculum.’ Melanie Taylor, from Little Star
Writing, which runs creative writing workshops in schools, says that she attitudes. ‘I’ve come across students individuals in Year 4 that are nervous and uninterested in anything to do with writing now that they’re in Year 6. Even the more able writers are complaining that literacy is boring and they don’t want to write stories if they can’t express themselves fully.’
It’s not all negative Primary Teacher Helen says, ‘Some children love technicalities, using complex words to describe things And for children who are able to
TIPS FOR KEEPING WRITING CREATIVE 1 2
Share ideas and suggestions with pupils and show your passion for the subject.
Suggest opening lines, plot twists or character ideas while they write as this gives pupils a constant source of inspiration and encourages them to ‘give it a go’, even if they’re not very confident.
Ask students to write freely first (so they have the confidence to get their ideas
down) and then go over their work to make corrections and improve it. If students are bogged down trying
to include similes, alliteration, personification and correct SPaG from the start, their brains work overtime trying to include everything on the teacher’s tick list, rather than expressing themselves in the way they would have liked.
3
Focus on fun and creativity. Challenge students to write down the most ‘boring’ title
for a story they can think of, such as ‘The day that nothing happened’ or ‘The empty fridge’. Then get them to fold their paper and put it
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