Getting excited about writing. The Literacy Shed and its many wonders

My lovely pupils and I have been considering how to create atmosphere when writing settings this week and it’s been a real joy to listen to their many wonderful and crazy ideas. We’ve had everything from vomiting zombie babies to sticky-floored jungle gyms, which hammered it home to me that, as long as they are interested, children can (and will) write about anything. All it takes is an interesting image and their brains sprout like broccoli. I’m always on the lookout for cool images and I hit the jackpot when I found ‘The Literacy Shed.’ Not only does it have an ‘Images Shed’ with loads of awesome pictures, it also has a ‘Mystery Shed,’ a ‘Fantasy Shed,’ and many, many more, all choc full of short films and fantastic writing prompts. It might just be the best literacy resource around.

And if your children aren’t quite ready for writing full stories yet? Discuss them, act them, draw them, role play them with lego, make them with Play-Doh. It’s never too early for vocabulary development