KS1 Sats writing stories etc

[squashpie]

Just returned from a parent-teacher chat. DS1 doing well; great reader etc but teacher wants him to put more of the great words and ideas he uses in the classroom down on paper. She's asked me to encourage him to write at home but I've no idea what is expected. If DS is writing a story, what kind of vocab should he be using? How should he structure it? Should he be using words such as First, then, next, finally etc? Or something more complicated? Similarly, if he's writing non-fiction, is there some particular format/ language etc. that he ought to be incorporating/ using? I don't know how long they get in SATS tests to write stories/ non-fiction pieces, so is a side of A4 too long or too short? Any help would be great. The teacher was rather vague about it all and she was overrunning, so it all felt very rushed.

I would ask if you can read his school books so you can get a gist of what his writing is like.

I remember my children having the same target

It meant using a variety of adjectives (eg. instead of using said every time using shouted/whispered/exclaimed/yelled). Joining words like but/and/either made sentences longer and using more adjectives/smilies to make sentences more interesting.

Thanks for responding so quickly. I did see his school books but a lot of the work wasn't finished! He was using quite good adjectives but perhaps he needed more joining words. He'd clearly run out of time with a lot of his work. I couldn't get a clear picture of how much he should be writing; how detailed the story had to be: do you have to do characterisation; who; what; when; why, or something? They are only 6 or 7 - it seems quite a challenge!

My dd has similar targets,very able reader and good at maths and spelling but hates writting. He just doesn't enjoy imaginary writting. Very able with grammar but says he doesn't see the point to the imaginary stuff. He is 6years old and bright but how do you encourage something they dont like?

Lol! This reminds me of DS's target last term to use more describing words. I've just had our parent-teacher chat too and took the chance to look through DS literacy book, where he wrote about his weekends so enthusiastically ie DH's friend and his lovely daughters coming stay and being excited and thrilled with a day out etc. I spoke to him about it and said that I hadn't realised he'd enjoyed all these things so much and he said he hadn't really but was just trying to achieve his target!

Squash It sounds to me like the teacher just wants to encourage him to write and maybe isn't aware of what's he capable of anyway. Once your DS starts producing more, the teacher will maybe have more of an idea of some targets and areas to improve.

I just let DS write what he wants and I don't really get involved as I don't want to interrupt him. AFAIK it's ok to be spelling words phonetically and the teacher only seems to correct certain words, and concentrates on full stops, capital letters and time words like you've mentioned and describing words. DS puts in speech marks, question marks and exclamation marks too.

Catrach DS enjoys putting together puzzle/ activity books, with a spot the difference on one page and then a maze on another etc. Or maybe he could help you write a shopping list or directions to somewhere new that you're going? DS also likes writing stories to read out to the class. Maybe your DS could write something factual he could read out to the class, linked in with something they're learning?

The focus at primary seems to be imaginary writing.
DD elder sister was just like him at his age and is now studing medicine at uni.He also has a brother with severe special needs and all you can do is encourge their individual talents,without to much pressure to conform to what is seen to be normal within education,

OP - I am not sure if it's a boy thing because my 7yo DS is like this. He has ideas and will happily tell you a story full of expressive words but he will not write it down - he is just lazy!

The school can choose which SAT tests to use so depending on which is used there may or may not be any imaginative writing. He will have to do two pieces (different styles/types) one long and one short for the test.

Have the same situation with my DS. Easy levels 3s in reading and maths; currently level 2C in writing. I include the level info not because I'm obsessed with levels or levelling, but because it's a measurable (and growing) disparity.

Re: your question about formats etc, I'm sure at your DS's school, as at mine, the children don't start writing work without a very clear idea of layout, style, individual targets, format, tone, etc. Before they complete an assessment piece they've worked on those parameters for several sessions. DS's teacher was v. helpful in that she showed me the levelling criteria and how his assessment pieces matched up. The main revelations were the time notations in the margins of his work (a paragraph per 30 minutes!) wedded to the base-line rule that he couldn't get above a 2C unless he wrote more than 100 words.

The head suggested that we pay for a private OT assessment/intensive summer sessions, but I'm going with home intervention before I scatter hundreds of borrowed pounds to the wind. DS decided on a daily project - cataloguing an imaginary zoo - and very happily wrote a page on coelecanths and quetzcoatl birds last night. He's agreed that we'll do that every evening, and he's picked his own targets. Would something similar work for your DS?

He can certainly get above a 2C for a piece of work with less than 100 words but he must show he is capable of producing sustained writing at times. Approx a side of wide lined A4

Ok, a side of wide-lined A4 gives me an idea of what is expected.

Yes, I think some sort of project thing on something DS is interested is probably the way forward. not sure if we're going to manage something every day though. Never sure where the time goes!

Thanks for all those tips and suggestions Devexity (have we got the same children?!) and Mrz (again!). They've been really helpful.