Martin sketchley

13 Strategies and Games for Teaching Writing
/ MARTIN SKETCHLEY / 1 COMMENT

There’s no wright way to right.
A blank page. Just a question and a word count at the top. You stumble your way through an answer, sheepishly hand it in (with a funny feeling it’s not what your teacher wanted) and have it handed back to you later full of little red lines. Did you really make so many mistakes?
It’s no wonder that some students dislike writing. It’s boring or scary, and sometimes both – like a homemade horror film. But it doesn’t have to be! I actually promise this. There are so many ways to help students think creatively and love writing.
What activities are there to help you and your students get the most out of writing, I hear you cry silently at the computer screen. Weeeelllll … don’t you know it, I have some ideas.
Hang on in there and check out number 11 – it’s a method that will completely transform your students’ writing skills.

1. Get away from pen and paper
Writing on something that’s not paper, and writing with something that’s not a pen or pencil, can help students be really creative. Ask young students to make the shapes of letters with their hands or their bodies. Depending on the number of students you have, they could use stamps, stones, chalk, mini whiteboards or paint. Print out little letters for students to rearrange and use to practise the spelling of new words. It’s a great way to get them feeling confident with letters before they write. Check it out below.
Accessible on Twinkl
2. Play ‘continue the story’
Give students the start of a story, newspaper report or other text. See if they can continue it. You can give them as many clues as you like, and compare it to the original after they’ve finished. You can use any genre of text you like – even a text message conversation. (Who am I kidding? No one texts anymore.