Do primary school teachers still meke children do this at teh start of a new term

[queenofthemountain]

write about
'what I did in the holidays

I agree. There is no basis or justification for it, other than 'I've always done it this way'

I think it's the equivalent of the teachers' comfort blanket

So, what fantastic writing lesson will you teachers be teaching instead of a holiday recount?

We're pre-writing one as DD spends every night trying hard to remember the details of the day minute by minute to share with her new teacher the second she returns to school.

I figured jotting it down and then summarising woukd reduce dd's anxiety and rejection when said teacher makes it clear she can only listen for 5 mins max.

I'm not a teacher - I'm a parent. I gave a few suggestions upthread, but there are many, many more available via the wonders of google

My class will be writing an application (including CV) for the position of assistant to a certain time travelling time lord. They will also be writing instructions for building and operating their own time machine/producing their own time traveller passport/ which point in history they would like to visit and why/ a description of someone they meet on their travels past or future/ a letter to a newspaper stating why Dalek should/shouldn't be allowed to settle on Earth etc

I wish you'd been one of my tea harpers Mrz

Hopefully by the time we go back to school I'll have an infinity tunnel built in my classroom as inspiration!

On the first day?

an infinity tunnel - I'd love to see that!

It's all done with mirrors IsItFridayYetPlease.

Not all on the first day cosikitty -

It's all done with mirrors - that really made me chuckle

mrz is mega-joking about the time lord stuff, right?
Coz I think she mostly teaches under 7s and Dr. Who is so scary that many < 12yos aren't remotely familiar with it.

No lljkk mrz isn't joking - we aren't watching videos we are reading books which have been written for children

My 7 year old has watched Dr Who for the last couple of years, as have most of his friends. They don't seem to find it scary

I have said to my just turned 8 yr old DS that he can watch Dr Who if he likes, but he's chosen not to because he thinks it might be too scary for him.

He does however know plenty about the Time Lord as he's read all the school reading scheme books about him...

Weird. I know a lot of people who wouldn't let their kids watch it under about 10yo if not older. And did a kind of tsktsk noise when I mentioned that my 7yo had seen an episode. I live in a "high ITV viewing" area. Me and my 10yo usually hide behind the sofa at least once every episode. I definitely would not presume that most 7yos have watched it. I dunno about the books, maybe they are pretty tame.

Then again, DC school thought Darren Shan books made suitable reading for 9yos.

Really? Nope, solidly middle class area here, all naice kids who don't get to see films above their age rating etc, but Dr Who is not a big deal at all. He can take it or leave it, but doesn't find it so scary that he would have nightmare or have to hide.

The topic is from the classes interests and allows me to cover lots of history on our journey through time.

Surely Dr Who is, and always has been, a kids TV programme? I certainly watched it from age 5+ back in the 70s & 80s. I'd lost interest by secondary school. My 7 year old has seen it a few times. You're supposed to watch it from behind a cushion that's the whole point

not fun if kids are crying & scared at bedtime. it was a real pain for many yrs because I wanted to watch Dr. Who but couldn't let DC view. I have a gut feeling against Capaldi though, think I'll try to avoid DC even knowing new series has started.

DC are quite brave with real challenges (like trees & thuggish peers) but not generally tough enough for screen terror. We're sheltered out here in the sticks.

mrz that sounds great.

DD did a project around Dr Who last year (reception) the teacher read one of the less scary books to them then they had to imagine an adventure they could have with the doctor, draw and write about it and build a tardis out of junk. DD loved it.

I'm out in the sticks too lljkk but obviously the children I teach are made of sterner stuff as they are familiar with DrWho, unlike me. I have some catching up to do ...

My dc do this and I hate it. It is hugely discriminatory. Yes our dcs have loads to write about,but in ds's class I know of 2 families who can't afford to go anywhere (one does have a parent in prison). Unfortunately these are also the children who are struggling with literacy. So it is an easy and non-threatening task for my mc dcs who can write about visits to gps and camping holidays, but not for the children who need something unthreatening.

Why is it threatening?

Building a den in the living room with your siblings isn't any less newsworthy than going to see boring grandparents with their restrictive rules about touching the walls and refusal to allow you to go on a slide higher than waist height. Neither does it require more/less literacy skills.

what if you have never built a den in the living room or visited any grandparents (boring or otherwise) ... for some children this is reality