Moderate and Hard
Day One
Begin by watching the film clip again and discussing your child's story plan from last week with them. We are going to spend a few days writing the story this week so we can focus on choosing words carefully and using different types of sentence. You could read the example story to your child again so they can get some ideas from it. Before writing, ensure that your child has a tricky word mat. You could write them a list of three tricky words that you would like them to focus on spelling correctly in their writing. Most children will also need a phonics mat. You will find helpful hints for supporting your child during the writing process in the 'Key Skills and Resources' section of the Year One pages. HERE is a video to show a technique you can use to help your child write in sentences.
Today, spend some time writing the first part of your child's story. This will probably be the first box on their plan. You can challenge them to add some adjectives to make their writing more interesting. Watch the video below with you child and decide on some adjectives to use before they begin writing. They could describe the characters, the setting or objects within the setting.
Day Two
Today, we will write the second part of the story. This will probably be the second box on your child's plan. In this part of your story, your child might introduce the event where the dancer is taken from her family. They could use an exclamatory sentence for this event, for example 'What a nasty witch!' or 'How awful!'. Click HERE to revise exclamatory sentences with your child. Below, you will find a song to sing which will help your child to remember what exclamatory sentences are.
Day Three
Today we will write the third part of the story. In this part, the dancer might be wondering how to escape or if her plan will work. If she has already escaped, she might be wondering if the witch (or whoever trapped her in the tower) will come after her. Your child could include questions such as 'How could she escape?' or 'Would her plan work?' You will find a lesson HERE to remind your child.
Day Four
Today, finish writing the story and practising the skills you have already covered this week.
Day Five
When your child has finished their story, it is important that they read back through and edit it. When children are concentrating on getting their ideas down in longer pieces of writing, they sometimes forget the basics. It is important that they go back and check that they have used capital letters to begin sentences and for names. They may need a capital letter track (below) to help them to remember how to form some of the capitals. The have been taught to cross out the lower case letter with one diagonal line and then write the capital letter above it.
Here are some good games to practise this skill before they edit their own writing: