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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 11h

Teaching writing and play aren't enemies: writing is playing on paper "Writing is a way for children to claim the world as their own, make their mark, and show that they exist..." writing4pleasure.com/teaching-wri...

writing4pleasure.com

Exploring Book-Making: The Playful Path to Writing Success

Explore how book-making blends writing and play to enhance children's creativity, language skills, and social connections in early education.

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Just an FYI, a child can meaningfully be a writer before being able to write conventionally.

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Just an FYI, children writing longer or more embedded sentences should not be confused with producing great writing.

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

From How To Make An Earthquake by Ruth Krauss

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Reposted by Ross Young

Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Why Johnny won’t write: 😔 Lack of confidence 😔 Lack of independence and autonomy 😔 Lack of purpose and authentic audiences 😔 Unhealthy forms of motivation are encouraged 😔 Lack of personal writing time 😔 Lack of satisfaction 😔 Feeling alienated or alone writing4pleasure.com/2025/08/17/w...

writing4pleasure.com

Why Johnny can’t and won’t write

download this article For too long, writing education has faced a significant challenge: many children and young people not only underachieve in writing but also develop a strong dislike for it. Su…

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

writing4pleasure.com

Why Johnny can’t and won’t write

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

“The result? When we ask young children to write in parallel, the result is usually pretty predictable: ideas become impoverished, sentences simplified, word choices narrowed and texts become less ambitious than the child’s actual thinking and creativity.” writing4pleasure.com/2026/06/30/t...

writing4pleasure.com

The Science Of Writing And The Book-Making Approach

download this article In many primary classrooms, children are routinely asked to sit down and write: to think of an idea, turn it into a series of sentences and transcribe those sentences accurate…

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

*NEW BOOK OUT NOW* Handbook Of Writing Research For The Early Years writing4pleasure.com/2026/09/06/n...

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

The science of writing and the book-making approach “When all of these demands land on a child simultaneously, something has to give, and it is usually the quality and ambition of the writing itself.” writing4pleasure.com/2026/06/30/t...

writing4pleasure.com

The Science Of Writing And The Book-Making Approach

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Writing off children’s potential: Why England’s Writing Early Learning Goal must be reformed “The ELG can be met by a child who isn’t required to compose a sentence of their own. This is surely one of the lowest educational expectations you can have...” writing4pleasure.com/2026/03/24/w...

writing4pleasure.com

Writing Off Children’s Potential: Why England’s Writing Early Learning Goal Must Be Reformed

A policy briefing on the Writing Early Learning Goal — March 2026 Ross Young & Felicity Ferguson – The Writing For Pleasure Centre download this article Executive Summary: The Writing Ear…

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Coming soon! 👀🥳 Handbook Of Writing Research For The Early Years! 👇

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

If we want to attract children like bees to the idea of writing for pleasure, we must treat our classroom as a field and fill it with the sweetest of nectar – good literature.

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Today, 14-month-old Isla got her mum’s pencil case out and ‘played writing’…

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

In order to get quality proof-reading from your pupils, they first need to feel they’ve written something worth editing.

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Imaginative writing: Our viewpoint “Ultimately, a writing project has gone well if you receive 30+ playful & varied pieces. These pieces are not only successful in terms of the objectives of the curriculum but also meaningful to the young authors…” writing4pleasure.com/2022/10/21/i...

writing4pleasure.com

Imaginative writing: Our viewpoint

DOWNLOAD THIS ARTICLE Imaginative writing is important. It’s important to children and adult writers alike. Imaginative writing can be found in all aspects of a writer’s life. For example, knowing …

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Child on the process of generating writing ideas:

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Success criteria are often written by the teacher for the benefit of the teacher, whereas ‘product goals’ are written by the whole class for the benefit of the future reader.

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Ideally, no pupil should be given a writing task which does not yield them enough fruit in their own terms, so that they can feel it is worth doing. - John Dixon

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Reposted by Ross Young

Barbara Bleiman @barbarableiman.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

I couldn't agree more! This blog on 'inauthentic' writing highlights damaging trends in the teaching of writing in primary. It's a concern at secondary too, where students are sometimes being 'trained' to use sentences & phrases taught by teachers & writing is seen as 'practising' sentences.

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

“I feel like if I never wrote – life would be a bit boring wouldn’t it – having loads of thoughts but never being able to show it.” - Year 4 Child

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Nearly 30% of children not meeting the basic met standard for writing in England this year. Only around 1/10 writing above that basic met standard. Lots to do. People’s thoughts? 🤷‍♂️

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Play isn't a ‘rest’ from writing instruction and writing instruction can be as playful as teachers will allow themselves to be...

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Poetry is the mother of all genres. It’s a versatile medium which informs and aids all other types of writing. Therefore, if we develop children as poets, they will also turn out to be excellent writers.

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Relying on dictation can quickly signal to young children that they are not capable of writing for themselves.

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

If children aren’t moved to write, you’ve got a problem. The most important part of teaching apprentice writers is showing them how to find the things they are moved by. Once this happens, they will have the necessary motivation to write to a high standard.

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Sometimes, the best way to get children into books and reading is to invite them to make their own books…

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

I’ve always absolutely loved this article by Peter Elbow: Writing First! “Putting writing before reading is an effective approach to teaching and learning….” www.ascd.org/el/articles/...

ascd.org

Writing First!

Putting writing before reading is an effective approach to teaching and learning.

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Reposted by Ross Young

Ella McLellan @booksella.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

As someone who has worked extensively in Early Years settings in the past and seen this, this was a very interesting read this morning.

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Ross Young @writingrocks.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

“By settling composition first, through talk, drawing, and oral rehearsal, you ensure that when children turn their attention to transcription, they are writing language they already own rather than trying to invent and write it at the same time.”

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Reposted by Ross Young

David Sword @david-sword.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

"Teaching children to write means teaching them to be writers not scribers…"

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