First Hand Experience

Using first hand experience as a stimulus for writing gives something to children which is immediate, something they can see, hear, touch, smell and even taste, often without even needing to go beyond the limits of the school fence. The school grounds themselves are a limitless resource for the teacher who sees writing opportunities that will fire up children, because they sense that this is relevant to their own lives, something which directly affects them.

A simple approach, but one I‛ve found to be greatly effective is a short walk, observing the environment which is at close proximity. This needs to be skilfully managed by the teacher and is not merely a jolly jaunt. Stones need to be turned, logs rolled, dew to be disturbed by footsteps, raindrops on leaves to be touched by finger tips, cloud movement and shapes observed, colours and shapes of living things noted either literally or mentally. Children need encouraging to look at reflections in water, feel warmth and cold, talk about patterns and colours on fungi. During the various seasons, leaves can be rustled underfoot, finger prints left in frost, snow flakes felt on warm cheeks and eyelashes, spiders watched closely constructing delicate, dangerous webs and the emotional re-awakening of the natural world in spring time can be felt by the children, providing of course that it is felt also by the teacher.

In KS1, the A.W. factor is paramount. Wide eyes, open mouths, exclamations of joy and amazement as the teacher shows them wonderful, beautiful things. Sometimes this is lost during KS2, when it really should be developed much further with each passing year and this is a great pity. It is almost as if some teachers are saying, �Well that�s what is done in KS1!!�In KS2 there is too much emphasis on acrostics, aliens and arguments for or against, when children are far more excited about writing about their personal experiences, their feelings and the world around them. When their enthusiasm is stoked up, then watch their written language blossom. We are developers of attitudes and ways of thinking, as well as imparters of knowledge and information, and, returning to our walk around the school grounds, we need to share the experience enthusiastically with the children, raising questions, drawing their attention to things, encouraging them to touch and asking them what the textures are like.

Depending on children�s age and the weather conditions, I often get them to take a notebook with them on this walk, not just to list their observations, but to perhaps write a couple of descriptive sentences at the exact moment they experience something. Stormy weather conditions obviously need to be observed from indoors, but this can be managed by moving the children, if necessary, to somewhere in the school where the effects of the storm, near and far, can be studied.

Being a primary school teacher requires opportunism as a skill, making use of unexpected events, which were not written down in the half-termly plan. Good planning should include the flexibility to cater for the unexpected. This may be something a child has brought to school, repairs to the roof and cauldrons of bubbling bitumen or a lorry stuck in mud on the school field. Surely we can grab these opportunities to stimulate children to write, without feeling we are doing something revolutionary by veering from this week�s plan!

Staying with the teacher�s role in developing good written language. It is one thing giving children a wonderful experience and promoting the A.W. factor, but this needs to be capitalized on by the teacher, firstly by having high expectations of both his or herself and their children. Back in the classroom, the teacher�s skilful questioning will plants seeds in the children�s minds, drawing their attention to Sound, Colour, Movement, Light and Dark, Warmth and Cold. These are five factors which are always relevant for children�s descriptive and imaginative writing. The sixth factor is the extra little bit of something which makes a piece of writing stand out, something which makes the listener�s ears prick up and want to hear more. We can call it magic, call it emotion, call it the X-Factor. This will add to the atmosphere of a piece of writing.

Suddenly a teacher in KS2 realises that their children do not describe their observations in detail. Their story writing lacks imagery and fails to paint pictures in words. Their poetry is not lively and lacks feeling, though it may follow various rhyming conventions or be constructed to the correct prescriptive, restrictive form. It is a tremendously difficult job, after a gap of two or three years, to re-create the lost A.W. factor. It can be achieved and is often achieved, but far better it is for it not to be lost at all, for a school to have a consistent approach to language work so each year the children build upon the experiences of previous years.

Water World

People search like detectives, trying to find anything unknown to man. The humans remain silent, listening out for sounds which would give evidence of creatures living in their pond. No sound is made, but creatures are suddenly spotted. Little black blobs are sprinkled at the bottom of the pond. As a group, they decide to go, one by one, to investigate what life form hovers above. The monsters dip their hands into the water, causing madness in the city. Everything scatters under rocks. Brown leaves are scattered all over the water. More and more are thrown by the wind across a large green field next to the hole in the ground. Frogs are puzzled at what is happening on the surface, above their shelter of weeds. Ripples spread quickly across the pond, taking anything in its path away to a new place. Sharp rocks stick out of the water, looking for any insects that are searching for a landing spot. Frog spawn is taking up most of the pond, just visible on the surface. Mini-blades of grass are soaked in water, but still they keep their greenness. My reflection is cast in the water, just like a mirror. Twigs of different shades of brown float aimlessly across the pond, which no ambition to reach anywhere. I wait for a moment, but still nothing moves. Suddenly a sign of movement shows - a frog! Has it just come up for air? Has it come to inspect what the noise above is? Who knows? Armies of tadpoles battle on the surface of the shallow pond. Gradually they retreat, one by one. Two plant pots stick together, tangled by the reeds that have found a place to wrap themselves around. A fierce wind tilts all the plants to one side. It's also blowing the water, making ripples about a centimetre high. People are amazed by the height of the ripples, so they prod their fingers in to feel the force.

Written by Antony M, Y6, Tranmoor Primary School. Doncaster.


By moving just a short distance beyond the school gates, a whole world literally opens up to the writer. In the following piece, written following a short walk in early autumn, Jay Horne�s work contains many images from a bridge over the Doncaster to Leeds railway line. It is a fascinating period piece with references to striking miners, picket lines and coal stocks, giving away the year it was written. Reading Jay�s account of a typical conversation by a group of ten year olds, you can almost hear their voices and feel their excitement as they look at the trains and the surrounding countryside from their vantage point.