‘Talk for Writing’ – how storytelling helps children develop their speech, vocabulary and writing skills

Storytelling is a foundation to a child’s learning, an effective tool for unleashing their imagination and developing their creativity.

At Pilgrims, we use the power of storytelling to engage the children with language, kickstart their writing skills and build their confidence in speaking, using an innovative teaching framework called ‘Talk for Writing’.

Here, we explore how this system can develop a child’s language, vocabulary and writing skills and help instill a love of storytelling and reading.

How it works

At Pilgrims, we deliver a ‘Talk for Writing’ unit over the course of around four weeks, for children in the school from Pre School through to Year 2.

The framework was developed by English educational trainer, writer, author and poet Pie Corbett, who has penned more than 200 books himself.

It is based on the principles of how people learn – from imitation and innovation to independent application.

Children first learn a story based on the topic of the school term, often presented in pictures, and then retell the tale using its basic structure or ‘story map’. They do this using words and actions which really helps to cement the text in their minds.

Mrs Kelly, who teaches our Year 2 children, said: “Every story will have a structure, a beginning, a build up, a problem, a resolution and an ending.

“By seeing the structure in these stories, the children will transfer this skill to then be able to  see the structure in other stories, leading to them being able to write coherent pieces that flow from beginning to end. ”

Imitation and Innovation

After learning the structure of the stories, children learn how to spot and use the grammatical features within a text. They practice this skill in isolation, before then moving on to use it within their own writing.

“Once they know the story really well, they will go on to the innovation stage,” Mrs Kelly added. “Using the text as a starting point, but developing their skills further by using them to portray their own ideas.

“For example, our younger children may have learnt to retell The Three Little Pigs, they may  then innovate on this to create their own version named ‘The Three Little Ducklings.”

Older children will take this a step further, moving further away from the model text to create different styles and genres of writing, using the same key grammatical skills. 

The added benefits of ‘Talk for Writing’

The ‘Talk for Writing’ approach helps children understand and develop the core skills of storytelling and story mapping, which enables them to have a great understanding of structure.

Learning this way takes away the fear in our youngest children of not knowing what to write – they know the story so well that writing their own version with simple substitutions becomes achievable.

As part of the process, children are also asked to read their stories aloud to the class, developing their presenting skills and building their confidence.

“It’s great for encouraging children to become storytellers. They are able to see themselves as authors in a relatively short period of time,” said Mrs Kelly.

This approach also helps children with the basics of grammar and writing in an interesting and engaging way.

“When they learn the text, they will also learn the grammar and structure of a story,” added Mrs Kelly. 

“They start to learn not only how to use adjectives to paint a picture of a scene within the structure of a story, but why it is important to do so. They can look at a story from the author’s point of view, discussing word choice and the reasoning behind it.”

Encouraging a thirst for learning

Children have really taken to ‘Talk for Writing’ at Pilgrims, opening up exciting opportunities for them to become authors.

It engages their imagination and gives them the chance to express themselves through storytelling.

They start by looking at stories many already know well, then later progress to more complex texts, including a wide range of non-fiction.

The idea is to encourage a life-long love of stories, reading and writing – developing their creativity and communication skills in a fun and engaging way.

At Pilgrims, we want our children to flourish and develop a thirst for learning and a love of stories and reading –  the ‘Talk for Writing’ approach does just that.