Talk for Writing at O Castro British International School

At O Castro British International School we provide a comprehensive and balanced curriculum in which practical and experiential learning, including learning outside the classroom, takes centre stage. Because it is by doing that children really soak up learning, and if they can do it outside the classroom too, all the better! This is because creativity, concentration and motivation for learning increase in free environments. 

Our Cuddly Bear 

Recently, Year 3 discovered a bag of objects in their classroom and they had no idea where they had come from! There was great excitement as the children looked inside and found a cuddly bear, some ash, some twigs and sticks and even a letter addressed to the class, with a poem: 

Dear Children from Year 3, 

Turn to the page and you will see,   

A Native American myth from history.   

Listen as the story comes alive,   

Will Bear find Fire,   

And will Fire survive? 

The children tried to solve the riddle and discovered several pages in their English textbooks all about Bear and Fire. They were hooked into the story immediately. They couldn´t believe their eyes when they found a bear on every page of one of the untis of work! 

Since then, we have read the story, learned lots of new fire vocabulary, like glow, burn, flame and even dwindle. They made actions to help us remember the story and drawn a giant story map. The children used small icons in the story map to help them remember the key parts of the story. They worked together in small groups and included key opening phrases from the myth. In the beginning...A long time later...For a time...At that moment...these are some examples. Alongside this, they have been learning to spell the verbs that help explain what Bear does in the story and lots of verbs associated with fire. 

As they internalise the story, they become more confident at telling the story and as they learn to speak in full sentences, they begin to understand how to write correctly too. 

Learning also outside the classroom 

We took our story maps to the Green Zone and told our story about how Bear lost fire and how eventually Fire belonged to Man. We used the fire pit in the centre to represent the edge of the forest. As the children told the story in a circle, we thought back to the Native Americans who also sat in circles, around fires, telling stories that explained how Man came to know fire, just like in the story. 

In order to help connect children's learning between school and home, we have shared the audio and map of the story with our Year families. The learning around the Bear and the Fire will continue with performances and more activities that will help strengthen our young students' oral and written fluency in English, as well as enriching their vocabulary. 

This activity is part of a teaching method specific to the British system called Talk 4 Writing. It starts with the hook for learning, then the children imitate the story, then they innovate it and finally they invent their own myth about Fire and how it comes into the hands of humans. A comprehensive process involving many types of learning that is suitable for all children and enables them to gain a deep understanding of the written word. If you can hear it, you can say it, and if you can say it, you can write it.