1st Edition
Descriptosaurus Story Writing Language in Action for Ages 5–9
Descriptosaurus Story Writing provides a resource for younger pupils that will not only expand their descriptive vocabulary but also provide them with models that demonstrate ‘language in action,’ in a genre that is popular and familiar to children aged 5–9. Providing the essential building blocks to create a narrative text, alongside contexualised banks of vocabulary, phrases and sentence types, this book is designed to provide young pupils with the opportunity to see how a text is constructed using words, phrases and sentences. This exciting new resource:
- Provides vocabulary for setting, character, ‘show not tell’ and sensory descriptions with clearly defined progression
- Demonstrates how to use this vocabulary in different contexts using set sentence structures
- Offers four model narratives written in different styles and level of difficulty
- Presents modelled sentences with exercises so that pupils can expand their vocabulary
- Enables young pupils to develop their understanding of how sentences are constructed and become more confident about using these skills in their own story writing
This is an ideal resource to dramatically improve children’s knowledge and understanding of language, grammar and punctuation for all KS1 and KS2 primary English teachers, literacy coordinators and parents. This easily accessible guide will also be helpful for teachers to use in preparation for Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPAG) alongside a creative writing task.
Introduction
How to use this book
Part 1: Settings: Landscapes
1 Forests and woods
2 Hills and mountains
3 Seas and oceans
4 Islands and beaches
5 Caves
6 Modern street
7 Sounds
8 Smells
9 Touch
10 Sun
11 Wind
12 Rain
13 Thunder and lightning
Part 2: Characters
14 Characters’ appearance
15 Characters (heroes) – personality
16 Characters (heroes) – animals
17 Characters (villains) – personality
18 Characters (villains) – animals
19 Defeating a villain
20 Dialogue
Part 3: Resources for ‘Language in action’
21 ‘The Ninjabread Girl’
22 Modelled sentences
23 Innovating sentences model
24 Coordination and subordination
25 ‘Captain Moody and his pirate crew’
26 Modelled sentences
27 Innovating sentences model
28 Coordination and subordination
29 ‘Ruby Red’
30 Modelled sentences
31 Innovating sentences model
32 Coordination and subordination
33 ‘Jack and the Crystal Fang’
34 Modelled sentences
35 Innovating sentences model
36 Coordination and subordination
Part 4: ‘Language in action’ templates
Plot outline
Scene outline
Collecting descriptive words and phrases
Sentence parts and structure
Stretching a sentence
Experimenting with vocabulary and sentences
Biography
Alison Wilcox is a Law and Economics graduate from Cardiff University, who worked as a primary-school teacher for many years. Whilst teaching, she developed Descriptosaurus to scaffold and improve children’s creative writing, with dramatic results, and she made the decision to give up full-time teaching to work on the Descriptosaurus series. To keep up to date with current practices in schools, Alison undertakes brief teaching assignments, works with schools to develop new resources and conducts workshops for schools and teaching alliances.
Adam Bushnell was a primary-school teacher and is now a published author of both fiction and academia. He has had fifteen books published for children and six books published for teachers on the teaching of writing. He works as a ‘visiting author’ in the UK and internationally, delivering writing workshops for primary school aged children. He also offers CPD (Continuing Professional Development) for schools and delivers keynote speeches at conferences about reading and writing in education.
