Writing down progress?

Writing fascinates me in primary languages.As I visit a range of local schools on a regular basis and network schools share the real language learning that has taken place in their classrooms I can see that teachers and children are looking for ways to construct and write sentences .In my opinion self efficacy helps learners to want to continue learning and independence and creativity from early stages in KS2 in target language writing is key.

I love this cartoon.....in my opinion we must consider what is writing. Pen,paper , lap top key boards , IPads areall useful devices to recordthe words, phrases, sentences we form in our heads. We are making our thoughts visually available to communicate with others.

As we start working with children, whether this is the start of their language learning career or later as they meet a new content or context area, just how important is it that we try to make writing a successful experience?For example magic air pen writing helps  young language learners practise the spelling of key nouns, adjectives, parts of verbs , whole sentences , opinions, conjunctions, extended sentences? In classrooms I often see how writing in the air, forming the languages but no one else can see, helps all the learners participate and try to internalise the key language

Physical activities help too. Being able to write down but also wipe away spelling helps the children grow in confidence and be more accurate in their writing

Reading aloud what they have written, gives children voice.They are writing to communicate.

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiU5ej9u8_s&w=854&h=480]

Uploaded by Primary Languages Network on 2016-02-11.

Moving around the blocks of target language and being able to change what we write is very important to the children.Physical sentence dominoes really helps

Using physical sentence building devices help as the learners progress and become more sophisticated target language communicators. Our sandcastle sentence building for example allows children being able to manipulate language and  build extended sentences with confidence as they progress in UKS2.

So this last term how have I seen teachers in class helping young language learners to attempt to manipulate words,phrases and simple sentence to communicate their own messages?  Here are a few examples progressing from word, to phrase, to text . to independent written language .

Moving from nouns to illuminate the classroom...

To adjectives to describe ourselves and celebrate Roald Dahl Day ....

To simple sentences to tell stories, supported by a simple writing frame ......

To descriptive creative and imaginative independent writing...

Ready and able for the challenge  to independently write sequences of interesting sentences at text level and across familiar KS2 primary literacy genres.For example below is the challenge laid down at the start of last term to Y5 Spanish learners, revisiting familiar language in a formal letter of application to Willy Wonka!