As part of the Talk to Write project, suitable for KS1 and KS2, storytelling is used to enhance and improve creative writing skills.
A mixed Year Five class from Pegasus School, East Oxford, and partner school, The Dragon, listen to a storyteller before they begin with the activities.
The pupils are paired up and draw story maps, illustrating the key points in the narrative. They then step through parts of the story, physically, as well as retell it.
This process helps the pupils remember and reproduce the plot lines, enabling them to finally write their own version of the tale.
Headteacher, Gill Hudson, explains the positive impact Talk to Write has had on written attainment and talk advisor to the National Trust, Judy Clark, and Professor Rhona Stainthorp from Reading University also make contributions.
Useful websites
Developing Creative Writing Skills - Pie Corbett
A lively explanation of Pie Corbett's techniques of Hear, Map, Step and Speak
Suggestions about how to get children writing based on the techniques developed by Pie Corbett and used by Julia Strong, these inform the Talk to Write strategies
A useful guide to good strategies to use when following the talk to write initiative launched in 2008
