Creative teaching english in the early years and primary classroom 184312260x

CREATIVE TEACHING:
ENGLISH IN THE EARLY YEARS
AND PRIMARY CLASSROOM


Also available:
Creative Teaching: Science in the Early Years and Primary Classroom
Ann Oliver
1-84312-259-6
Creative Teaching: History in the Primary Classroom
Rosie Turner-Bisset
1-84312-115-8


CREATIVE TEACHING:
ENGLISH IN THE EARLY
YEARS AND PRIMARY
CLASSROOM

Chris Horner and Vicki Ryf


First published 2007 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2007 Chris Horner and Vicki Ryf
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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ISBN 0-203-93522-5 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 1 84312 260 X
ISBN13: 978 184312 260 9


Dedication

For Heidi and Florence

v



Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction

viii

1

Part 1: Creativity and fiction: An overview

9

1 Teaching fiction creatively in the Early Years

17

2 Teaching fiction creatively at key stage 1

45

3 Teaching fiction creatively at key stage 2

77

Part 2: Creativity and non-fiction: An overview

103

4 Teaching non-fiction creatively in the Early Years
5 Teaching non-fiction creatively at key stage 1

138

6 Teaching non-fiction creatively at key stage 2

161

Part 3: Creativity and poetry: An overview

113

187

7 Teaching poetry creatively in the Early Years
8 Teaching poetry creatively at key stage 1

230

9 Teaching poetry creatively at key stage 2

252

196

Index 284

vii


Acknowledgements

We would like to thank everyone who helped us to complete this book and, in
particular, the creative input from Anna, Charlie, John, Frank, Giselle, James,
Karma, Lucy, Paul and Zachary.
The authors and publisher gratefully acknowledge permission to publish copyright material as follows:
Penguin Group Children’s Division (Puffin): ‘Patterns on the beach’ from Five
Furry Teddy Bears by Linda Hammond (1990).

Mrs M. Harrison, for ‘Alone in the Grange’ by Gregory Harrison, from his Night of
the Wild Horses, 1971, Oxford University Press.
Every effort has been made to obtain permission to use copyright material. The
publisher would be happy to add any acknowledgement for any material for
which permission has not been forthcoming in any future printing.

viii


Introduction

In this introduction we set out what we mean by creativity and specifically what
we mean by creativity in English. We also consider why there is a renewal of
interest in the creative curriculum at this time and why a creative approach is
important for learners and teachers.

What is creativity?
A useful starting point for defining creativity is All Our Futures: Creativity,
Culture and Education, a report by the National Advisory Committee on Creative
and Cultural Education (NACCCE 1999).
●

Creativity involves thinking and behaving imaginatively.

●

Second, overall this imaginative activity is purposeful: that is, it is directed
to achieving an objective.

●

Third, these processes must generate something original.

●

Fourth, the outcome must be of value in relation to the objective.

The ideas that we present in this book provide practical examples of what these
features look like in relation to the teaching of English, both within literacy lessons
and through other areas of the curriculum.
As teachers we can encourage children to use their imagination by planning
open-ended activities that recognise and build on their early language and literacy
experiences; that enable them to question what is presented, make links with
previous knowledge and respond in different ways. Creative English teaching
allows children to interpret material or tasks in ways that the author or teacher had
perhaps not envisaged. For example, appreciation or enjoyment of a poem might
be expressed through art, dance or music. One child’s interpretation may be very
different to another’s and by allowing children to explore a range of possibilities
they may arrive at a deeper understanding.

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Creative Teaching: English in the Early Years and Primary Classroom

In a creative environment, children engage in purposeful activities. The texts
they encounter are relevant and challenging. The stories that children tell, the
dramas they perform, the books that they write, the information they research and
present have a wider audience than the teacher, although in some instances the
audience may be the creator of the text itself. Creative teachers do not just share

the learning objective with the children but may involve them in formulating it.
The creative teacher recognises that incidental but equally important learning
may have taken place outside the confines of the learning objective and will
involve the children in self- and peer-assessment.
What do we mean by originality when considering the work that children produce in English? If children are encouraged to express their ideas and feelings and
move beyond formulaic responses that are either ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, then they may
demonstrate ideas that are new to them. They are behaving creatively.
As teachers we need to encourage children to critically evaluate the responses
that they make, the work that they produce in relation to what they set out to
achieve. An activity, response, artefact or solution is of value if it reflects worthwhile endeavour. It is important that children, however young, have the opportunity to discuss what it is they and other people value. Both what is produced and
the effort that it entailed in relation to the individual child are important.
More recently, Learning to Learn: Progression in Key Aspects of Learning (DfES
2004b) set out some indicators of creative thinking, an important aspect of
learning and one that runs through this book. These indicators reflect important
features of both the early years and primary curriculum and are relevant to our
focus on creativity in English. For these reasons we include them below:

Some indicators of creative thinking
Children may demonstrate that they can:

2

●

generate imaginative ideas in response to stimuli;

●

discover and make connections through play and experimentation;

●

explore and experiment with resources and materials;

●

ask ‘why’, ‘how’, ‘what if’ or unusual questions;

●

try alternatives or different approaches;

●

look at and think about things differently and from other points of view;

●

respond to ideas, tasks and problems in surprising ways;

●

apply imaginative thinking to achieve an objective;

●

make connections and see relationships;

●

reflect critically on ideas, actions and outcomes.


Introduction

Throughout the age phase chapters we suggest how you might promote a creative
learning environment and provide practical examples of activities that provide
children with the opportunities to engage in creative thinking. Not all of these
indicators will be evident in their response to any one activity but the establishment of a creative learning culture will ensure that children are willing to take
risks in a supportive environment.

Why the interest in creativity now?
This book has been written eight years after the implementation of the National
Literacy and Numeracy Strategies (1998) in Primary schools with their formidable
list of objectives. While some teachers have worked imaginatively within the
frameworks, others have felt disempowered by their prescriptive nature and have
moved away from or not experienced a creative, cross-curricular approach, where
children work collaboratively in an inclusive environment.
The introduction in 2003 of Excellence and Enjoyment: A Strategy for Primary
Schools (DfES) signalled a change in government strategy which recognised
the growing body of research from academics on the sterility of the standards
curriculum and its effect on children’s enjoyment of school and the deprofessionalisation felt by many teachers (for example see Pollard and Triggs 2000; Willis
2002; Hartley-Brewer 2001; Troman 2000). Coupled with this were the growing
concerns voiced by a significant number of respected children’s authors on the
narrowness of the National Literacy Strategy and the damage it was inflicting
on children’s reading and writing for pleasure. Not only was NACCCE (1999)
instrumental in raising the profile of creativity, Ofsted (2003) were also reporting
on creative practice in schools which was evidenced where there were links
between curriculum subjects and areas of learning and a focused engagement
with the individual pupil.

Excellence and Enjoyment specifically invites teachers to take ownership of
the curriculum and be creative and innovative in how they teach. It emphasises
through its professional development materials Excellence and Enjoyment:
Learning and Teaching in the Primary Years (DfES 2004a) three major themes:
●

planning and assessment for learning

●

creating a learning culture

●

understanding how learning develops.

These themes underpin an approach to learning that puts the child at the heart
of the curriculum and enables the teacher to be creative and imaginative in facilitating learning. Our understanding of how children learn and creating a learning
culture are reflected in the overview to each section as well as in the age phase
chapters themselves. In this book we promote the importance of talk, collaborative

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Creative Teaching: English in the Early Years and Primary Classroom

ways of working, interactive teaching and learning and inclusion of all learners
through differentiation and scaffolding.
However, it is in this introductory chapter that we consider some of the generic
issues relating to Assessment for Learning (AfL) across the age phases that inform

the inclusive pedagogy that we believe encourages and supports the creative
teaching and learning that we promote throughout this book.

Planning and assessment for learning
Assessment for learning (also known as formative assessment) is central to our
philosophy of education. The key factors that permeate the practice that we
describe are taken from Black and William (1998). These key factors are identified
in Excellence and Enjoyment: Learning and Teaching in the Primary Years:
Planning and Assessment for Learning.
●

providing effective feedback to children

●

actively involving children in their own learning

●

adjusting teaching to take account of the results of assessment

●

recognising the profound influence assessment has on the motivation and
self-esteem of children, both of which are crucial to learning

●

considering the need for chidren to be able to assess themselves and to
understand how to improve.

(DfES 2004a:11)

The feedback that we give children should be part of a dialogue. It should reflect a
genuine interest in the individual child’s efforts and provide confirmation of what
is good and discussion of areas that might be improved upon. It is not about providing external rewards or comparing one child’s work with another. Although we
believe that children should be aware of learning objectives and how they might
be met, creative teaching and learning acknowledges that valuable learning may
occur that is not planned for and that this needs to be recognised and valued.
Creative teachers provide opportunities for children to be involved in deciding
what it is they need to learn. The KWFL grids that are discussed in later chapters
are one way of encouraging children to reflect on what they already know (K) and
decide what they want to find out (W). Setting individual targets in consultation
with the children is another way of involving them in their learning. Providing
some degree of autonomy on their preferred ways of working and some choice on
how to present their work also encourages a creative approach to learning.
Listening and responding to what a child says, asking open questions that we
don’t know the answer to and discussing work with the child are important ways

4


Introduction

of enabling us to understand what stage of learning the child is at and to modify
the curriculum to meet their individual needs.
A major emphasis in each chapter is the importance we place on valuing
children’s culture outside the school rather than seeing it as a negative influence.
We stress the importance of building on the experiences the children bring
to school and developing home–school partnerships to ensure that parents’ and
carers’ knowledge about their children contributes to our assessment of them. By

valuing the culture of the community, we convey our belief that children’s learning does not stop at the school gates, but is seen as relevant to their lives. Creative
teaching means planning activities that are stimulating, challenging and inspiring
and that accommodate different learning styles, so that children have the internal
motivation to learn and produce something of value. By knowing what the
individual child is capable of we can plan suitable activities to consolidate their
learning or move them on. If children’s efforts to achieve are praised they will
grow in confidence.
Many of the examples of practice that we describe involve children in selfassessment and peer assessment. This might be through discussion with the
teacher, or in the form of a video of a drama activity or responding to a partner’s
story. This means providing an ethos where children are encouraged to take risks
and to realise we all learn from our mistakes. We need to model not only how to
provide positive feedback but how to give and receive constructive criticism so
that learning is taken forward.

What does the future hold?
The wider educational context
Schools are in the midst of major changes. There is a range of new initiatives, some
of which have already been implemented, others firmly on the agenda. The introduction of Every Child Matters (2004) is already having a major impact on how
schools operate. Its aim is to close the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged
children from birth to 19. The recognition that parents, carers and community
members can help to promote high educational standards has long been on the
agenda, but there is a renewed emphasis on encouraging voluntary and community sector initiatives both within and outside school hours and seeing the role
of other adults as crucial to children’s progress. However, we need to ensure that
creativity and enjoyment retain a central focus, as changes to the workforce
develop over the next three or four years.
Throughout this book we actively promote building and developing home,
school and community partnerships throughout the early years and primary
stages and provide practical examples of how this might be achieved. Our belief is
that in a partnership we learn from each other and that in order for a partnership

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Creative Teaching: English in the Early Years and Primary Classroom

to grow and develop and encompass new initiatives, there must be a shared
understanding of what education is for and how this is best achieved. If we hope
to encourage children to be creative thinkers, able to adapt to the changing world
and workplace, we must translate the aims of Excellence and Enjoyment through
creative teaching.
The extended schools’ prospectus Extended Schools: Access to Opportunities
and Services for All is another initiative that must be implemented by 2010. The
extended school will provide access to childcare from 8 am to 6 pm, offering
before- and after-school activities, parenting support, family learning opportunities, wider access for ICT, sports and arts facilities. It promotes the use of voluntary
organisations in offering activities such as drama, dance, visits to galleries and
theatre.
Many of the activities that we suggest draw on the performance arts as a way of
developing a response to texts and providing a stimulus for writing. It is to be
hoped that increased exposure to the creative arts will reinforce a cross-curricular
and more creative approach to learning.
There are many other initiatives (for example SureStart Community Centres,
the National Literacy Trust, Creative Partnerships) that may change the way the
curriculum develops and influence how language and literacy are learnt within
the school environment and beyond. As creative teachers we need to reflect on
developments and make informed judgements based on our understanding of
how children learn.

An overview of the book
This book is divided into three parts:
●

Fiction

●

Non-fiction
Poetry

●

Within each part we supply a short introduction outlining the generic principles
relating to these broad areas and then provide a separate chapter on teaching Early
Years, key stage 1 and key stage 2. This structure is designed to provide a
coherent approach to teaching children in the Foundation and Primary stages.
Central to each chapter is the integrated nature of speaking and listening,
reading and writing, the central nature of play as a vehicle for learning, the
importance of building on home literacy and a collaborative approach to learning
in an inclusive environment. Throughout there are examples of creative activities,
case studies of activities in action in the classroom showing existing good practice,
opportunities for drama, ICT and cross-curricular work.

6


Introduction

As the reader, you are encouraged to reflect on your own experience and
consider how you might develop your own creative practice through a series of
activities. Engaging in such activities helps you to activate prior knowledge and
experience, evaluate your own and others’ practice.

We hope that, by sharing practical examples to underpin the Foundation stage
curriculum and Primary curriculum, this book will help and inspire Early Years
and Primary student teachers and teachers to implement a more creative English
curriculum; that it will help student teachers and teachers to reflect on and
develop their creative practice and provide a classroom where children can take
risks, enjoy and experiment with language and discover and pursue their interests
and talents.

References
Black, P. and William, D. (1998) Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment.
Kings College London, Department of Education and Professional Studies (now available from
NFERNelson).
Creative Partnerships website; www.creativepartnerships.com
DfES (2003) Excellence and Enjoyment: A Strategy for Primary Schools. London: HMSO.
DfES (2004a) Excellence and Enjoyment: Learning and Teaching in the Primary Years. London: HMSO.
DfES (2004b) Learning to Learn: Progression in Key Aspects of Learning. London: HMSO.
Hartley-Brewer, E. (2001) Learning to Trust and Trusting to Learn: How Schools Can Affect Children’s
Mental Health. London: Institute for Public Policy Research.
National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education (NACCCE 1999) All Our Futures:
Creativity, Culture and Education. London: DfEE/DCMS.
Office for Standards in Education (2003) Expecting the Unexpected: Developing Creativity in Primary and
Secondary Schools, Ofsted e-publication.
Pollard, A. and Triggs, P., with Broadfoot, P., McNess, E. and Osborn, M. (2000) What Pupils Say: Changing
Policy and Practice in Primary Education. London: Continuum.
Troman, G. (2000) ‘Teacher stress in the low-trust society’, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 21 (3),
331–53.
Willis, P. (2002) Stressed at Seven? A Survey into the Scandal of Sats for Seven Year Olds. London: Liberal
Democratic Party.

Useful websites

www.everychildmatters.gov.uk
provides current information on the government’s approach to the well-being
of children and young people from birth to nineteen. Every Child Matters will
have a major impact on education over the next ten years and many of the initiatives underpin the approach to learning advocated throughout this book, not least
preschool learning, the involvement of parents and carers, personalised learning
and extended schools.

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Creative Teaching: English in the Early Years and Primary Classroom

www.literacytrust.org.uk
presents easily accessible information on the National Literacy Trust’s commitment
to building a literate nation. There are free e-mail newsletters. The Early Years
section provides information on preschool children’s reading and useful resources
for parents and professionals, reinforcing the value placed on home–school
partnerships throughout this book. The Primary section includes government
approaches, research, statistics and initiatives, also reading and resources.

8


PART 1

Creativity and fiction: An
overview

The most valuable attitude we can help children adopt – the one that, among other
things, helps them to read and write with most fluency and effectiveness and

enjoyment – is one I can best categorise by the word playful.
(Philip Pullman, The Guardian, 22 January 2005)

At the start of the 21st century, much in our lives is ordered, framed and regulated
by mass information and technology. The emphasis on the scientific, the provable,
the measurable has not, however, dimmed our passion for reading stories and
telling stories. Indeed the growth in technology has enabled us to expand our
experience of, and interaction with, fiction through an ever-increasing range
of media. We can now watch DVDs of feature films on a laptop on the train, in a
cafe or indeed almost anywhere; text messages can be sent to our mobile phones
giving us daily updates on our favourite soap operas; short films and radio plays
can be downloaded from the internet as podcasts and played on our MP3s again
and again; digital cameras record stories from our daily lives; publishing that
first novel has never been easier or more instant than on the World Wide Web
and Richard and Judy’s Book Club has caused a publishing phenomenon. Our
insatiable appetite for fiction seems to be boundless.

What is fiction?
Fiction is shared through a variety of media and permeates all aspects of our
lives. We tell stories all the time. ‘Did you watch EastEnders last night?’; ‘Did
you hear the one about the . . .?’; ‘You’ll never guess what happened to me on
the way to work this morning . . .’. We tell stories to define who we are, how we
feel and to make sense of the world around us. These stories allow us to share
experiences with others and in doing so, they help to frame our community,
our culture, race and gender and identity. Fiction is essentially the embellishment

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Creative Teaching: English in the Early Years and Primary Classroom

of these stories, designed and spoken or written or read to entertain an audience,
the reader.

Fact or fiction?
The stories we tell and write and show are rarely total fabrication. The characters are
familiar, the places well known, the problems and resolutions often commonplace.
Similarly we rarely provide a completely factual account when relating events. In
the telling we embellish our stories with details to capture and sustain the interest
of the audience and to make our lives more fascinating. This process sometimes
takes us away from the mundane truth. The distinction between fact and fiction
is thus not easy to define and this is particularly evident in the classroom where
fictional stories are frequently a mixture of the familiar and the fantastic.

Story elements and structure
Vladimir Propp’s research into Russian folk tales at the beginning of the last
century demonstrates the similarities in structural elements and themes or ‘morphemes’ between stories (Propp 1928). In other words, there are only so many
stories that can be told.
Understanding the common elements that most stories have is helpful in
supporting children’s response to fictional texts as well as supporting their
attempts to construct their own. In order to foster creativity and innovation
in telling stories, it is vital to first understand how basic stories work. Common
elements of a simple story will include:
●

structure – including a beginning, middle and end

●

characters – usually with human characteristics and emotions

●

setting – real or imaginary places where the story happens

●

events – exposition, problem, resolution.

These elements form a basic pattern which can be copied, adapted, extended and
subverted enabling creative interpretation and interaction with the telling, reading
or writing of fictional texts. The most common or basic pattern consists of:
Opening > something happens > dilemma > something goes wrong > climax >
events to sort it out > resolution > end (DfES 2001)

Genre: Different types of fictional stories
The basic structure of narrative stories outlined above is of course adapted,
subverted, inverted and fine-tuned according to the type of story to be told. The

10


Part 1: Creativity and fiction: An overview

‘author’ or teller of the tales adapts their language and syntactic choices to tell a
certain type of story – the genre. Experienced tellers, readers and writers recognise
the differences between broad text types.
Lizzie French jumped involuntarily as the church door clanged noisily behind a
latecomer. Had he come? She had almost given up hope, but now, heart-in-mouth,
she turned.

(www.lizfielding.com/tips.html)

It is probably quite evident to you which genre is suggested by this opening
sentence taken from Liz Fielding’s website offering helpful hints to the budding
romantic authors of the world. Although the Primary Strategy offers a very
straightforward view of genre in Grammar for Writing (DfEE 2000a) and the
importance of text types, it is important to consider that most texts present a range
of features and elements from different types of stories.

The reader
Once the story leaves the teller, it will be interpreted in different ways by the
audience who bring their own values and experiences with them. The story then
becomes theirs to remember, to retell, to improve upon. This idea that there is no
text unless there is a reader is an important tenet in ‘reader response theory’ which
has gained in popularity since the 1970s. In ‘Unity Identity Text Self’, Norman
Holland opens his article by stressing the importance of the reader in creating
meaning from text:

My title has big words but my essay aims into the white spaces between those big
words. Those spaces suggest to me the mysterious openness and receptivity of
literature. Somehow, all kinds of people from different eras and cultures can achieve
and re-achieve a single literary work, replenishing it by infinitely various additions of
subjective to objective.
(Holland 1975)

We believe that this view of the power of the reader in making meaning is an
important premise when considering a creative approach to teaching English, as
children may be creative in their interpretation of the material that is presented to
them as well as creative producers of texts.

Teaching fiction creatively
The creative elements of telling and responding to fictional stories are compelling
and yet the teaching of reading stories and writing stories is sometimes consigned

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Creative Teaching: English in the Early Years and Primary Classroom

to closed comprehension questions on an uninspiring text or worse, a decontextualised excerpt from a text. The Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) at the end of key
stage 1 (KS1) and KS2 reinforce this impoverished view of reading in the comprehension reading booklets and it is important that the creative practitioner understands the need for children to gain a deeper understanding of the text by a more
active involvement with the content.
In Chapter 1, we discuss the importance of building upon children’s love of
stories from babyhood and the value of creating a classroom environment where
children can inhabit the stories they read literally through their dynamic role
play. This continues into Chapter 2 where we stress the value of generating real
purposes and audiences for children’s stories and stress the value of bookmaking,
in particular. In Chapter 3 we look at children’s popular films as texts and consider
ways of extending children’s confidence in reflecting on meaning.

Telling stories
It is important to understand the centrality of the oral tradition in all cultures and
to recognise the repertoire of stories children bring to school. As teachers we will
hear children telling stories in the playground, to their friends, over dinner. We
share with them well-known stories that have been passed down through the years
and adapted to reflect different cultures.
We often want to share our stories. When we tell our stories we begin to
elaborate and embellish our tales to make them more interesting to the listener.
The structure of our stories is informed by the tales we hear, see and read. These
structures can be as simple as a nursery rhyme or as complex as a multi-layered

novel containing time shifts and flashbacks. If we are to promote creativity in
telling stories we must establish a classroom ethos where children and adults can
tell and listen to each other’s stories.
There are many important reasons for telling stories to children of all ages as
well as supporting them to tell their own:

12

●

The telling of stories to and fro helps to establish and maintain a supportive
and interactive classroom community of listening and telling.

●

The children and adults in the setting will build up a shared repertoire of
stories from a range of cultural and linguistic traditions representative of
the class and brought in from the wider community.

●

Highlighting storytelling emphasises the value and diversity of oral
language.

●

Storytelling and sharing enables the class to make sense of the world
through a range of diverse cultural perspectives.

The immediate and unstructured nature of oral stories allows them to be
used and adapted to challenge stereotypes.

●

Opportunities to tell stories enable us all to build on our home experiences
and thus help us to see each other as individuals.

●

Telling and listening to stories can support children’s ability to read and
write fiction through familiarity with structure, characters and linguistic
conventions.

●

Storytelling can unite and develop all areas of the curriculum (e.g. stories in
maths to introduce a new concept).

●

Storytelling can allow us the opportunity to try on new voices and registers
and thereby extend our ability to manipulate spoken language including
the use of standard English.

●

Preparing and telling stories helps to develop presentational aspects of talk
and the ability to consider and adapt according to the needs of the audience.

Part 1: Creativity and fiction: An overview

●

Reading and responding to fiction
Far beyond the analysis of synthetic phonics or the decoding of alphabetic
systems, reading fiction is essentially about being taken on a journey. As adults,
we read our novels on the beach, in the bath, on the train, tube or bus in order to
be transported, sometimes literally, to another world where we are welcomed and
enticed into other people’s lives, adventures, hopes and dreams.
When teaching children to read fiction, we need to understand how important
these journeys are and that understanding the meaning of the text and applying it
to our own lives and experiences is the key. Throughout the following chapters, we
have reinforced the importance of play and drama to explore the themes and
issues raised in the stories from hot-seating Max in Where The Wild Things Are in
the Early Years to try to find out why he is so angry with everyone to exploring
themes of alienation in fairy tales though improvisation towards the end of KS2.
A wide-ranging, challenging and creative reading curriculum encourages children to
become involved with texts, to respond personally and imaginatively and to explore
worlds beyond their immediate experience.
(PNS 2005a: 5)

Writing and constructing stories
Planning, constructing and presenting fiction can be developed in a number of
ways in the creative classroom, including storywriting, filmmaking, play-script

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Creative Teaching: English in the Early Years and Primary Classroom

writing, and animation. Stories are very rarely constructed in isolation by one
person and are never conceived, written and published in one 20-minute slot
during a literacy hour. Making stories in the classroom takes time, collegiality,
security and inspiration – just like in real life. The three-year-old in the nursery
needs time to play through their ideas, time to talk and time to record or tell their
story to a scribe. The child at 7 will need to know that if they share their ideas with
the class or group, no one will laugh and that they can expect others to help them
enhance their work. The child in Y5 needs to know what to do, where to go when
she gets stuck half-way through her film.
Writing stories down or recording them on film enables them to be read and
shared again and again with an audience. It is important that children understand
the purpose of the writing beyond the teacher’s need to mark it. Central to this
book is the belief that children’s stories are worth recording and therefore must
be recognised and celebrated and, most importantly, shared with their intended
audience. No one writes in a vacuum. All writing has a purpose and an audience
that dictate the form and type of writing needed.

The creative classroom environment
Classrooms of all shapes and sizes from the nursery to Y6 can be transformed by
a love of story. The creative practitioner needs to consider:
●

the range of fictional texts including children’s popular cultural interests,
and how they entice the readers in your class;

●

the potential of multimodal stories and fiction in a variety of media including: film, interactive computer games, ‘talking books’;

●

the organisation and lure of the book area;

●

resources to support role play and drama;

●

displays to celebrate and support;

●

publication of children’s stories.

Inclusive practices
A classroom that offers a creative environment where fictional stories are encouraged must be an inclusive classroom. All children irrespective of their race, gender,
class, ability have stories to tell. Wonderful, funny, tragic, long, short, in English or
Urdu, in standard English or in a West Country dialect. The creative classroom
ensures that the interests and needs of all children are considered and that children are not withdrawn from classroom activities but supported within the class
itself. Differences between children and their lives and experiences are welcomed
and can only enhance the range of stories to be told, written, recorded or heard.

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Part 1: Creativity and fiction: An overview

Learning styles and special educational needs

As creative teachers we want to promote an inclusive learning environment where
a range of learning styles are recognised and children and adults learn with and
from each other. Each chapter looks at a range of teaching and learning methods
to support individual children’s access to fictional texts including:
●

a classroom environment where risk-taking is celebrated and innovation is
admired within a safe environment;

●

the use of a range of information and communication technologies to
broaden the range of fiction including interactive multimodal texts;

●

visual aids such as pictures, big books or interactive whiteboards and
physical props such as story characters or dressing-up clothes related to
themes from fiction;

●

drama techniques to actively explore the meaning of texts;

●

thinking time where the children are given the opportunity to reflect and
consider, enabling all children to respond;

●

interactive and participatory whole-class or group work including shared
and guided reading;

●

open-ended questions where children can contribute their ideas and be
valued for their thoughts at their own level;

●

emphasis on ways of recording and telling stories to suit a range of
learning strengths including speaking and drawing, not just writing;

●

paired work with children working with similar and mixed-ability partners
to encourage discussion and pooling of ideas;

●

individual independent work where children can read and write personal
stories and can rehearse and practise new skills.

Gender
Much has been written on the need to enhance the writing curriculum to accommodate boys’ underachievement in writing fiction (Ofsted 2003; DfES 2003).
The Primary National Strategy states that the following strategies will make a
difference to boys’ success in writing:
●

provide boys with real purposes and audiences for writing;

●

ensure a wide range of texts linking with boys’ interests, including visual
literacies;

●

ensure boys are given opportunities for oral rehearsal before writing;

●

provide effective feedback to boys orally before writing. (DfES 2005)

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Creative Teaching: English in the Early Years and Primary Classroom

The activities and teaching methods described in the following chapters argue that
these strategies are vital for all children to make progress and to enjoy reading and
writing fiction.

Bilingual pupils
Fictional stories are intrinsic to all cultures and are told and recorded in all
languages. The activities discussed in the following chapters recognise the wealth
of stories needing to be told from across the world and encourage the use of visual
prompts and drama to explore and extend children’s understanding. The study of
fiction can offer a wonderful opportunity for exploring language through story.

References
DfEE (2000a) Grammar for Writing. London.
DfEE (2000b) National Curriculum. London.
DfES (2001) NLS Writing Flier 2: Writing Narrative. London.
DfES (2003) Using the National Healthy School Standard to Raise Boys’ Achievement. London.
DfES (2004) Excellence and Enjoyment: Learning and Teaching in the Primary Years. London.
DfES (2005) Raising Standards in Writing. London.
Holland, N. (1975) ‘Unity Identity Text Self’, PMLA, 90 (5), 813–22.
Ofsted (2003) Yes He Can: Schools Where Boys Write Well, HMI 505. London.
PNS (2005a) Raising Standards in Reading – Achieving Children’s Targets. London: DfES.
PNS (2005b) Raising Standards in Writing – Achieving Children’s Targets. London: DfES.
Propp, V. (1928) Morphology of the Folktale. Leningrad.
Sendak, M. (1967) Where the Wild Things Are. London: The Bodley Head.

Useful websites
Download this wonderful film about Ben, a 39-year-old mongrel in need of love, to
inspire classroom filmmaking: www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/A3819080
To download electronic copies of all NLS and PNS documents:
www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary/publications/literacy
For some useful ideas on gender and literacy resources go to:
www.literacytrust.org.uk/database/boys/Boysres.html

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