Teachers please help. Help with teaching DD writing skills. Punctuation and grammar rubbish. Please help me help her.

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She got a 4b in internal sats at end of year 4, so she can write. She writes long stories, can't seem to write short stories at all. To be honest she just copies the plot of recently read books so no real imagination to create/invent new stories. Stories tend to be narratives and she needs reminding to add description. I think by now she should have the basics but she needs reminding.

Dd loves writing and is always writing something and I feel really mean pulling her up on grammar. Her face falls, and I worry it will mean she won't read her stories to me anymore.

She reads a lot, and we are doing the Summer Challenge in the library, Mr Stink read in one day, some horrible Jacqueline Wilson on the go. !! Shall I get her to notice the grammar in the books she reads to help her?

I have bought some books to help, amongst them the Usborne book about how to write stories. But I struggle with how best to use them. Should I get her to work through them every day until it becomes habit? Thing is she loves writing and I don't want her to lose the love of writing by stopping to correct her grammar all the time.

Any advice welcome and appreciated?

What about some resources to make story writing fun?

DD has one of the Storyworld card kits, can't remember which one but have a link www.amazon.co.uk/books/dp/0763645451.

They are fun for her to use on her own, but we also play games etc with them e.g. split the cards between us and take it in turns to lay down a card and continue the story.

There are also Rory's Story Cubes, www.amazon.co.uk/The-Creativity-Hub-Rorys-Story/dp/B003NFJMBM/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1375393387&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=rory's+story+cubes, which I used to keep in my handbag.

I also bought DD a dictionary of her own and she tests me on strange words and we find the funniest or weirdest words to chuckle over.

When she reads out loud I get her to notice how she needs to breathe at full stops and we try reading sentences with and without punctuation so she can hear how it can change the whole story.

DDs writing etc is improving and so is my vocabulary!

Hi Zombies. Thanks for the resources, I will have a thorough look into them.

Love the dictionary game think I will start playing that and have word of the day as well. Always loved playing that with an English teacher when I was at school. - so many years ago !!!!!

Some fab ideas there, thank you.

www.hildenborough.kent.sch.uk/pie-corbett-writing-ideas.pdf

www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CF4QFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hvlc.org.uk%2Fhlp%2Fdocs%2Fwriting%2FWriting%2520Games.doc&ei=KlT7Uf-uGYah0QX1q4CwAg&usg=AFQjCNHXIPsvjwezStqf2nfMzzTH2N49tA&sig2=YOeV8SZkNhuUBKuLLX-nmQ&bvm=bv.50165853,d.d2k

calverleyparkside.pbworks.com/f/Pie+Corbett+Developing+Creative+Writing+Skills.pdf

But isn't 4b really great for the end of year 4?

In class I might put a bracket around a section with the comment "there are 3 missing full stops... can you find them?" or "can you join this sentence with a connective other than and?"

Thanks for the links and tips guys, I will have a look this evening.

4b is good but DD is in a class of high achievers, and I am concerned she will fall behind if I don't address this now. Teacher just says she is fine and not to worry but I don't see how she can progress if she does not have the basics. She is in a mixed Year 5/6 class next year, so hoping other aspects of her literacy improve by being with more able kids.

Really appreciate you all taking time to reply (smile)

she must be in a class of super-high achievers, OP - dd1 was 4c for writing at the end of Y4, and is in the top set for literacy (in a London primary which does very well in SATS).

I'm a little confused as to how 4b can mean 'rubbish grammar and punctuation', tbh, but fwiw....I have a similar issue with spelling (grammar is fine, and punctuation passable when she concentrates) with dd1, and when she writes stories I focus first on content and respond genuinely positively to that. As a separate issue, NOT in the middle of responding to her stories, I mention that I'd like her to work a bit on spelling before she starts Y5 - so then I ask her to re-read her writing and try and pick up her spelling mistakes, a bit like MRZ suggests to her pupils?

It just separates out the support for improving one aspect of writing from The Writing Itself, iyswim