Linking Sounds to Letters

• Say the sounds as children write letters
• Use sound mats or alphabet charts

Building Words

• Build words using magnetic letters
• Change one letter to make a new word (cat → hat → hot)
• Practise writing and spelling tricky words little and often

Sentence Writing

• Encourage children to speak in full sentences e.g. when answering questions “Who did you play with today?” – “Today I played with….”
• Get children to say their sentence before writing it (How many words are in your sentence?)
• Use a capital letter at the start of a sentence and for names
• Use finger spaces between words
• Use a full stop at the end of a sentence
• Introduce commas in lists (Year 2)
• Use question marks and exclamation marks (Year 1 and Year 2)

Games & Fun Activities

• Write words in sand, foam, flour or with water and a paintbrush
• Word building with letter tiles
• Label pictures or toys
• Write silly sentences
• Write instructions for something they have done
• Write a short diary about what they have done that day
• Write invitations, postcards/cards/short letters to friends and family
• Write the shopping list, birthday/Christmas wish list

KS2

Developing Writing Skills

• Encourage children to speak in full sentences e.g. when answering questions “What was the best part of your day?” – “The best part of my day was…because…”
• Encourage planning before writing
• Talk about ideas and vocabulary first
• Encourage writing for different purposes (stories, letters, reports)
• Re-read writing to check it makes sense

Spelling Strategies

• Practise spelling patterns and rules – see Spelling Shed below
• Break words into syllables
• Highlight tricky parts of words
• Say words as they are written

Building Vocabulary

• Collect interesting words
• Use dictionaries and thesauruses
• Encourage ambitious word choices

Grammar & Punctuation

• Use capital letters and full stops consistently
• Use commas in lists consistently
• Use question marks and exclamation marks
• Encourage paragraphs for longer writing

Editing & Improving

• Check spelling, punctuation and sense
• Read aloud to spot mistakes
• Improve word choices
• Add detail or description

Games & Activities

• Spelling bingo
• Word searches
• Sentence-building cards
• Story starters
• Writing challenges (e.g. 10-minute write)
• Boggle
• Countdown

Useful websites to support writing at home

• BBC Bitesize English KS1: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zgkw2hv
• BBC Bitesize, English KS2: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zv48q6f
• How to write a story (by genre) https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zx339j6
• Non-fiction genre guides https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z2yycdm
• Writing poetry https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z4mmn39
• Pobble http://www.pobble365.com/ has daily pictures to act as a prompt – fantastic to encourage children to free write
• Learn grammar terms and definitions https://www.grammar-monster.com/grammar_terms_and_definitions.htm
• Spelling and grammar games https://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/7-11-years/spelling-and-grammar