Finally . . .
This booklet gives you a brief overview of things you can do at
home to help your children with their writing. If you wish to
research more into the subject there are plenty of websites
with information for parents / carers on how they can help
their children at home - not just with writing but other literacy
skills as well. The ones listed below are a starting point.
Words For Life
www.wordsforlife.org.uk/
DirectGov: Helping Your Child to Learn
www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Schoolslearninganddevelopment/
HelpingYourChildToLearn/index.htm
Helping Your Child
Write
The National Literacy Trust
www.literacytrust.org.uk/
BBC Learning
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/parents/your_involvement/
Young Writers
www.youngwriters.co.uk
VCOP Pyramid
You can download a larger version of the pyramid from the
school website. You can cut it out and paste the sides together
to make a desktop pyramid.
“There are different rules for reading,
for thinking, and for talking.
Writing blends all three of them.”
Mason Cooley
A Guide for Parents
and Carers
It’s Not All About Writing!
Talk For Writing
One of the most important ways to help your child to write . . . is to
talk! Tell your children lots of stories. Stories about you, your family
and relations. Re-tell the traditional stories that you were told as a
child. This can help children to shape their own stories and have
something to write about. No one can write down anything that they
cannot say.
Children need to practise saying and hearing whole sentences so that
they become used to hearing the flow and sound of whole units of
meaning. People don’t talk in sentences. They skip about from one
topic to another and use their faces and gestures to create emphasis. If children don’t hear sentences, they will write as they speak –
without punctuation and without structure. Practise changing some
of the things you say into sentences that you could write down.
Reading
If you read a story to your child every day, s/he will have hundreds
of characters, places, plots and ideas to use for their own stories.
They will be able to hear the flow of story language and the way in
which story writers structure their ideas into the beginnings,
middles and ends of stories. They will learn new words and phrases
every time you read to them. They will imagine people, places and
ideas that they would not find anywhere else.
The more your child reads, the better they will write. Their choice
of language and the ways they express themselves are all improved
by reading. So follow their interests to encourage reading as much
as possible. Read to them and read with them!
“If you don't have the time to read, you don't have
the time or the tools to write. Simple as that.”
Stephen King
Things You Can Do
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Follow your child’s interests. Does your child like football,
off-road cycling, designing clothes, horse riding or playing
with make-up? Whatever their interests, they make good
writing opportunities.
Help your child assemble photo albums of family events and
write captions.
Help your child create a family newsletter or website to
share with family members near and far.
Suggest that your children write postcards to themselves
when they are away from home. When they receive their own
postcards in the post, they will have a souvenir of their trip.
Make writing practical and useful by having children write
grocery and task lists, reminders and phone messages,
instructions for caring for pets, or directions for getting to
the park.
Encourage your child to keep a diary.
Suggest note-taking on trips or outings.
Use games to help increase your child’s vocabulary.
Try crossword puzzles, word games, anagrams etc.
Use postcards or fancy writing paper for writing a short
message to relatives and friends – and make sure they write
back!
Encourage them to send e-mails to family or friends – but
make sure they use proper sentences and not text-speak.
Join in with the writing: You write a bit then your child
writes a bit.
Remember:
The aim is to enjoy writing!
Improving Writing
As your child becomes a better writer they will need to:
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Write varied sentences, including complex sentences.
Write sentences which are grammatically correct and punctuated.
Organise, structure and sequence their writing.
Use paragraphs.
Produce writing which is imaginative, interesting and thoughtful.
Produce writing which suits the task, the purpose and the
audience.
Use and select exciting and appropriate vocabulary
Use correct spelling
Develop good handwriting and present their work well.
In school we teach and encourage accurate spelling and correctly
formed handwriting. However, it is important to note that these are the
last two items in the list. To be a good writer, the first seven points are
vital. These are the focus of our teaching writing and our marking in
their books.
“Don't let a single day go by without writing.
Even if it's garbage, if garbage is all you can write,
write it.
Garbage eventually becomes compost with a little treatment.”
Anonymous
Helpful Hints
Provide a place
It is important for a child to have a good place to write - a desk or table
with a smooth, flat surface and good lighting.
Have the materials
Provide plenty of paper (lined and unlined) and things to write with, including pencils, pens, felt tips and crayons.
Allow time
Help your child spend time thinking about a writing project or exercise.
Good writers do a great deal of thinking!
Respond
Do respond to the ideas your child expresses verbally or in writing. Make
it clear that you are interested in the true function of writing which is to
convey ideas. This means focusing on "what" the child has written (their
ideas), not "how" it was written (spelling and handwriting).
Not just handwriting!
When your child is doing any writing, do not focus on the quality of their
handwriting. It is discouraging for a child who doesn’t like writing or who
finds it difficult, to then be told off because the writing is not neat!
Many handwriting faults will improve with practice and so your job is to
help your child to want to write. More means better!
Remember
In helping your child to learn to write well at home, your goal is to make
writing easier and more enjoyable, so encourage your child:
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To write for fun;
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To talk about their writing;
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To be adventurous with new and exciting words.
What is VCOP?
Your child may come home and tell you that they are using VCOP in
their writing at school. So, what is it? Each letter of VCOP stands
for an aspect of writing that will help them improve their writing in
every subject.
V is for vocabulary - ambitious WOW words.
C is for connectives—joining words we use to make our sentences
longer. For example, and, because, so, besides, although, however.
O
is for openers – opening your sentences with power and in a
variety of ways. Eg: open with a connective; with an -ing word such
as having; with an -ly word such as shortly after; or with a
conditional such as if only.)
P is for punctuation, which helps make our writing make sense.
Using VCOP can help when writing anything whether it is fiction,
non-fiction, traditional stories, reports, play scripts . . . anything!
Whenever your child is doing a task which involves writing, even if
it is just one sentence, encourage them to use VCOP.
Connectives
Connectives are the words and phrases that join ideas together
and make writing flow along nicely.
Play story consequences with your child:
Start a story and stop at the word ‘because.’ Your child takes over
and stops at the word ‘but.’ This continues, swapping the role of
story-teller at words and phrases such as: after a while; then;
next, suddenly; later on; finally; in the end.
e.g. Once upon a time there was a little boy called Billy who was
feeling fed up because . . .
. . . he wanted to go to the swimming pool but . . .
Sentence Openers
Try to start your sentences in different ways; this will improve
your writing.
Begin with:
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a question:
Why did I do it?
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a verb:
Jumping up, he charged from the room.
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an adverb:
Excitedly, he tore open the parcel.
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an adjective:
Blue cheese smells delicious.
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a time:
Yesterday was the worst day of my life.
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a place:
The beach was deserted.
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a connective:
After eating five pieces of cake, he felt
sick.
Up-levelling a Sentence
Take one boring sentence:
The cat sat on the mat.
Add an adjective:
The ferocious cat sat on the mat.
Add an adverb: How did he sit on the mat?
The ferocious cat sat angrily on the mat.
Add some more information to the sentence:
The ferocious cat sat angrily on the mat because he had a thorn in
his paw.
Change the order of the sentence:
Because he had a thorn in his paw, the ferocious cat sat angrily on
the mat.
Sentences
A sentence is a unit of meaning. It can stand alone and makes
sense on its own. In writing, a sentence begins with a capital
letter and ends with a full stop so that the reader knows when to
pause. In school, your child will be encouraged to practise
sentences by saying them aloud before writing them down. By
doing this, the sound of the sentence can be heard:
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Does it make sense?
Is it clear?
Can I make it more interesting?
Would it sound better if I re-arranged it?
You can improve the standard of your writing by varying the
lengths of your sentences:
Short sentences are used for panic, danger, tension or to make
something stand out.
Eg: The floorboard creaked. He stood still. Had anyone heard
him?
Long sentences are used for calmness, description or linking ideas.
Eg: When Julie first saw the cottage, she noticed the chipped
tiles on the roof, the paint peeling from the panes, the cracks in
the door and the broken paving slabs on the path.
Play silly sentences with your child:
Think of two or three unconnected words and try to make a
sentence from them, eg:
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zebra and humbug;
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vicar and ballet shoes;
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fish and potato;
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alien and dustbin.
Vocabulary
The more words that your child knows, the more precise they can
be when they write. Using good:
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adjectives – describing words;
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adverbs – words to describe how or when something is done;
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verbs – doing words
can make all the difference.
Look at people, animals and objects with your child:
How many words can you think of to describe them?
A dog – fierce; shaggy; obedient; intelligent; aggressive; handsome;
glossy-coated; friendly.
Funny Faces:
Pull faces and ask your child to describe how you feel using
adjectives: miserable; happy; unhappy; fearful; anxious; horrified.
Acting Adverbs:
Walk, or act in a particular way and ask your child to describe how
you are doing it – cautiously; boldly; happily; slowly; quickly; loudly;
softly; gracefully.
Similes:
Compare things that you see to other things:
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as quiet as a mouse;
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as fast as;
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as gentle as;
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as noisy as;
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as fierce as.
“As a writer, words are your paint.
Use all the colours.”
Rhys Alexander
The VCOP Pyramid is
a simple tool which
children can use
when completing
writing activities.
Broadly speaking, the
top band of the
pyramid equates to
Level One; the lowest
band equates to Level
Five.
so...
first...
because...
exciting...
afraid... lonely...
next... interesting...
beautiful... awful...
enormous... fierce...
adventure... accident... magic...
gigantic... weird... freezing... quietly...
braveness... happiness... joy... sadness... fear...
transport... shelter... baggage... companion... vehicle...
thunderous... fearful... marvellous... attractive... generously...
echo... nervously... worriedly... patiently... feelings... courage...
experience... peak... patience... wasteland... container... furnishings...
robe...
The...
My... I...
First... Then... Next... So...
Last... But... Another thing...
The last time... Soon... At last
If... Another time... Because... After
Another thing... After a while...
Although... Afterwards... Before...
Eventually... Sometimes... Often...
sensitive/ly... timid/ly... aggressively... imaginatively... unfortunate... murderous...
echoing... doubtful... emotion... anxiety... longing... progress (noun)... system...
communication... ingredient... vibration... prefer... nourish... demonstrate... enjoy... leap...
Never... Always... Besides... Even though... Before the/the
Meanwhile... Before very long... However... In addition to... Despite...
An important thing... We always... If/then... I felt as... Although I had...
I discovered... Having decided... I actually... Due to... As time went...
Use of adjectives e.g. The golden sun, The grumpy old man, etc.
outstanding/ly... tender/ly... biological/ly... formidable... outspoken... stern... comical... pathetic...
yearning... dwell... dine... progress (verb)... create... adore... foreboding... speculation... silhouette...
terrain... apparel... vision... atmosphere...
Having...
Use complex sentences appropriately.
Vary sentence length and word order to keep the reader interested.
Vocabulary
Openers
Each face of the
pyramid contains a
number of ‘bands’.
The lower down you
go, the more
sophisticated the
writing should be.
Encourage children to
up-level themselves
by using the lower
bands . Praise them
for doing so, even if
their work is not
quite accurate.
and
but
so
because
then
when
.
.
if
after
while
as well as
although
however
also
besides
even though
never the less
in addition to
contrary to
despite
.
so as to
Use complex sentence structures appropriately.
Vary sentence length and word order to keep your reader interested.
Connectives
.
“”
‘
;
,
,
?
?
,
!
...
?
!
...
()
Punctuation
“”
?
.
!