Big Writing. How does it work in your school?

[Judyandherdreamofhorses]

Two schools I'm involved with use this approach to writing. As far as I can see so far, SMT love it, teachers hate it. Children's opinions are very mixed, depending on their perception of their abilities.

Can you talk to me please about how it's organised in your school, how much input is happening before 'Big Write' day, how well less able/ less confident writers are coping with it?

We would plan together the main activity and differentiate to our own year group. We would spend three or four days on preparatory activities and then do the activity on the final day.

As a teacher I really liked it. We differentiated effectively after lots of careful discussion, but I was working with two other parallel classes of mixed Y1/2, so there were lots of us to bounce ideas around.

I love it! We do ours on Friday afternoon and it make for a lovely relaxing (for teachers!) end to the week. Plus you get the whole weekend to mark it. Each year group area sets its own.

Depending on what we've been focusing on, the whole week might have been building towards it. Sometimes it's a bit more "Here's a fabulous picture stimulus. Write a story / news report / diary entry ..."

The children seem to like having the chance to just sit and write. ouch of literacy teaching now is short bits and techniques, but BW gives them chance to show us what they can do. Even my least confident writers will do their very best.

I put on a classical relaxing CD. We can have small soft toys on desks. Some colleagues have battery-operated fair lights on, or pretty IWB graphics. We're very chilled and I generally get the next week's Guided Reading planned.

I love it. It inspires and motivates children if all abilities IME. We don't do any whole-school planning though, I link it to our topic work, for example, this week we wrote diary entries from evacuees. It's activity, it's colorful, it's fast-paced; and the final activity is more chilled. (Loving the fairy light idea by the way, am stealing that!)

Sounds great. That's what I'd heard about it before.

I'm not feeling the 'inspirational' bit in the schools I'm in. It feels very formal, almost 'test-like'. Not much quality in the writing. Lots of not 'knowing what to write'. I don't know where they're going wrong though.

At my dd's school they started it in year two. Teacher sent home the title on a Monday, something like when the aliens landed etc. the piece of paper also had on it vcop to remind parents and some questions to consider, where were you? What did they look like? What could you smell? How did you feel etc. we were to discuss it with dd and help her with ideas for her to write on the Friday.
She seems to quite like it. I teach early years so think big writing is a little ambitious for us!!