Search results for ""Author Alison Wilcox""

Descriptosaurus Grammar Companion Ages 9 to 12 is a flexible grammar toolkit based on current research about effective strategies for teaching grammar tools and sentence construction (investigation, imitation, combining and expansion). It includes guidelines, exercises, scaffolds and models, and by showing a clear progression route to the acquisition and consolidation of increasingly more complex grammar tools it provides teachers and students with a road map that makes learning about sentence construction and revision visible. This book is a collection of connected resources that can be used as and when required and it provides an easily accessible differentiation resource for each student based on their current stage of development, not the age-related targets and expectations. It enables the learning process for grammar tools to be recursive rather than linear; to be regularly revisited in short bursts to consolidate students’ knowledge and usage, or to correct any misconceptions or problem areas without impeding any writing activities already planned. Chapters focus on four main points: Investigation Imitation Combining Expansion This Grammar Companion supports the main Descriptosaurus book and scaffolds students in their journey through the world of language. This essential resource will strengthen their language muscles and build confidence with sentence manipulation when revising their own texts, thus freeing their minds to think about the important issues of writing: content, audience and purpose, and organisation and structure.

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Now in its fully updated fourth edition, the bestselling Descriptosaurus is the first book for creative writing that is a thematic expansion of a dictionary and a thesaurus; it provides students with a language toolkit with which to expand their descriptive vocabulary, experiment with language and sentence structure and build up narratives based around settings, characters and creatures.Descriptosaurus positions the word, zooms in on it to examine the meaning, expands it into phrases, and then provides alternatives in words, phrases and sentences; the model was created and refined over a number of years as a result of feedback from students inside and outside the classroom as to the resources they required to inspire and assist them with their writing. For reluctant writers or those faced with blank page syndrome, it provides essential starting points to encourage putting pen to paper, not only inspiring students, but also building their confidence, encouraging them to use, apply and create using the correct grammatical structures, and adding colour to their writing through evaluation and experimentation.New features for this expanded edition include: Additional vocabulary, including technical vocabulary for non-fiction topics such as volcanoes, mountains and caves An additional chapter to cover the popular primary topic of cold climates and polar exploration How to use word clines to expand vocabulary and explore shades of meaning Guidelines, resources and models to scaffold learning about grammar Sentences that have been expanded and reworked to provide modelled sentences for DFI (Detail, Flow and Impact) Guidelines, resources, exercises and models to support the teaching of sentence construction using imitation, combining and expansion techniques Accompanied by Instructor and Student Resources containing all the games, planning sheets and vocabulary builders from the book, this is an ideal resource to dramatically improve students' creative writing, confidence and facility with sentence construction for all primary and secondary English teachers, literacy coordinators and parents. It would also make an excellent classroom book for PGCE students, particularly Primary PGCE with English specialism.

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The only cure for a deadly plague sweeping the country is the crystal fang of a dragon that has terrorised the surrounding countryside for many years. Until now, the location of its den on Dragon Ridge Mountain has remained a mystery. In a race against time, Jack battles through a storm to reach the top of Dragon Ridge Mountain. With Merlin to guide him, Jack enters the dragon’s den and comes face to face with the monstrous beast. This is a story of courage, magic and one boy’s brave quest to fulfil a destiny foretold by the legends of long ago.Join Jack on his journey as he writes the story with the assistance of the magician Merlin and Punctua, the Fairy Godmother of Writing, to punctuate properly and become a bestselling author.Descriptosaurus Punctuation in Action Years 4–6: Jack and the Crystal Fang is part of a short series of age-specific, beautifully illustrated stories that can be read for pleasure and/or used as a contextualised resource, containing a step-by-step guide to teaching punctuation. The characters from each story are used to demonstrate a range of punctuation rules in a fun and engaging way appropriate to the book’s age group. Areas covered include: formulating punctuation rules. the use of misconceptions to highlight common errors. teaching tips to provide a punctuation model. The book explores the impact of punctuation on reading, understanding, meaning and effect, and can be used as a basis for pupils’ own punctuation or included in their ‘Writer’s Toolkit.’ These new Descriptosaurus stories are an indispensable teaching aid for making punctuation fun for all primary teachers and literacy coordinators.

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* A new series from the bestselling Descriptosaurus family * Age specific stories that can be used for reading for pleasure’ and also containing a step by step guide to teaching punctuation * Characters from each story are used to demonstrate a range of punctuation rules in a fun and engaging way appropriate to that age group. * Areas covered include: Formulating punctuation rules, using misconceptions to highlight common errors and using teaching tips to provide a punctuation model *An indispensable teaching aid for making punctuation fun for all Year 1 to 4 Primary Teachers and Literacy Coordinators.

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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.

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