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On Slow Writing... 

4/1/2017

10 Comments

 
I first heard about Slow Writing at a #researched session delivered by David Didau, @learningspy when he talked about asking children to slow down when writing, cut the waffle and focus on every single word or sentence that they construct.  I went away and read all he had written about Slow Writing on his blog where he has now helpfully grouped all the slow writing blogs.

I have used Slow Writing successfully over and over again.  I have recommended it to many schools who also feedback that it has 'transformed' writing for some children. 

New to slow writing? 

Just start with 6 - 8 prompts. Allow no choice. This makes it a constrained piece and children have to really think about each and every sentence in the paragraph. 

An example may be:

1. Your sentence must start with a verb.
2. Your sentence must contain a simile
3. Your sentence must use a relative clause.
4. Your sentence must be 3 words only.
5. Your sentence must use start with a time phrase.
6. Your sentence must use a modal verb.

Don't just copy and paste this one but think about what you want your pupils to achieve in that single paragraph. With slow writing it is about quality and not quantity. Get the children to work double spaced and then go back and edit these six sentences until 'perfect' (or as close as they can get). Once they are familiar with this concept they can choose the order or you can increase the number of prompts and allow them to choose from the list.

You can see an example of it in action here: Chaperon Rouge Blog 

"But this isn't independent!" "Moderators won't like it..". You may say. However, this is not for moderators, it isn't for teacher assessment.  This is to allow children to practise their skills, which hopefully they will then use in their independent writing.   

Slow writing can be differentiated.  You could make a number of lists dependent on ability or once children are familiar with the concept you could give them a choice of options. See diagram below. 
Green: Y3 objectives.
Yellow Y4 objectives.
Orange Y5 objectives.
Purple Y6 objectives. 

The children in this mixed-age/mixed-ability class were allowed to start where they wanted although the class teacher did guide some pupils as required. 

As always I look forward to receiving comments. 

​Rob 

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In addition to David's blog there is also an outline of Slow Writing in his book, 'The Secret of Literacy' published by Crown House and available here ​
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10 Comments
steve
8/1/2017 07:46:42 pm

Really good I like this idea - it builds on some work I have been doing with my year 10 Biology students about crafting their responses so that they are the very best they can be. I'm going to modify the resources in this article - I have also been so surprised when looking at work from year 8 students by the way they focus on quantity rather than quality. It seems that at secondary the mantra from teachers that we have to plough through the curriculum comes at a cost to the students development of literacy. Ironically sometimes in life less is more. Thanks for sharing the ideas😊

Reply
Sarah
15/1/2017 07:52:04 am

Hi there, I am very interested in giving this a try with a year 5 intervention group. I think the structured approach will help them to produce a piece of writing they can be proud of. Can you give me some suggestions as to what you would use as a stimulus for their writing? Thanks again.

Reply
Andy Hawley
5/2/2017 10:29:29 pm

Sarah,

I did this with a group of low ability year 5 and 6 children with social emotional behavioural difficulties. I used the book The Watertower by Gary Crew and we created a blurb based on the front cover only using just six lines. We then turned the blurbs into movie trailers using IPads. The writing through the whole topic was much improved and more focused. Hope whatever you do it goes well! Andy

Reply
Sarah
6/2/2017 06:46:18 am

Thanks Andy. That's really useful. I'll give it a go after half term! Thanks for the suggestion. Sarah

TodRichard link
19/1/2017 06:04:15 am

The slow writing ink project has evolved from a deeply held belief that over-consumption and a lack of awareness of provenance has caused the important things in life to lose value. we acquire things so very easily, without thought of where they came from or where they’ll go when we’ve finished with them.
Ref:http://mightyessays.com/

Reply
Jo Williams
5/2/2017 09:25:33 am

I have developed this approach for children who are having intervention in years one and two (thinking it was unique, until I saw this!). I use VCOP as a starting point, give the children a simple sentence and they work through the sentence improving this as they go.
The results in their independent writing is brilliant. The less able children are now using basic grammar and punctuation all the time and think carefully about their choice of language. The more able children are extending their writing and use a variety of VCOP, which under usual circumstances they would not have even dreamed of!

Reply
Dung link
16/2/2017 10:00:25 am

I wish that you look also at this site - https://collegepapers.co.uk/

Reply
Hayden Vick
13/3/2017 11:01:01 pm

Hey Rob,

Thanks for posting this - my mother is a kindergarten teacher and I think this could be a useful tool in her classroom if she doesn't implement it already. Do you think there are any disadvantages to slow writing? I also wonder if this would be more beneficial than traditional writing practices for all students, or if it should only be used for those who need extra writing assistance. As an undergrad student at UNC Chapel Hill, I'm looking forward to sharing your thoughts with my Education classes. Many thanks!

Cheers,
Hayden Vick

Reply
Hannah
11/9/2017 09:32:30 pm

Hello,

How often would you teach this type of lesson in order to see an impact in independent writing. Would once a week be sufficient? Have people had success using a picture as a prompt? Looking to try and implement this in school as part of a leadership project and would have to be able to assess the impact.

Many Thanks!!

Reply
Anukasha link
15/2/2019 11:39:19 am

Amazing thx

Reply



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    Rob from Literacy Shed

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