b.Writing for different purposes and audiences, using different text types
To make it apparent that learning to write is about composition as well as secretarial skills, in our sessions we discuss the importance of purpose, audience and form. With the same aim in mind we also encourage student teachers to write at their own level, so that they realise that they write more effectively and enthusiastically when they have something to say to someone who is interested to hear it. In our sessions on writing we get them to experiment with using different genres required by the PNS, and also to consider purpose, audience and form. They are encouraged to write at their own level in workshops. One activity involves reading the controversial book The Little Mole who Knew it was None of his Business. (Holzwarth, 1994). The Little Mole has to find out which animal is responsible for the poo that has landed on his head. We then ask student teachers to write an argument for or against reading this book in school.
We also help them widen their awareness of the purposes the children’s own writing can serve – reminders, of items to be brought to school, lists of books read, lists of ingredients for cookery, instructions for the use of equipment, letters to children in other schools, diaries recording the growth of plants, and of course stories and poems.
Once the children are familiar with particular types of text, student teachers can work with children to construct a wide range of such texts. At Key Stage 1 this may be through shared writing, group or individual approaches. But at the Foundation Stage, the children can dictate the words to the student teacher. Here the idea is to draw attention to the words that make a text satisfying, not to how they are written down. It is important that all such texts then serve a real purpose in the life of the classroom.
Drama can provide a powerful context for writing, as Teresa Cremin shows in her pages on this site. Working on untold episodes in familiar stories can provide children with a felt need to write a key recipe, warning notice or letter. Again, while those in Key Stage 1 may ‘have a go’ at writing in groups or independently, in the Foundation Stage, it may be best to achieve this through taking dictation from the children.
See also 7a.–c. Writing and 5c. Storytelling, drama and role play
and
Teresa Cremin on Drama
 
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