Author: GCCPRE12

How do you ‘up-level’ a
sentence?

Take a boring sentence...

‘The man tripped over the dog.’

Make the sentence more exciting by adding ambitious words, better connectives, an exciting opener and changing the punctuation.

‘Following a visit to his friend the old, wrinkled man crashed to the ground after he tripped over the matted and smelly stray dog!’

Can you find VCOP in this piece of text?

How can I help at home?

Whenever your child is doing a task which involves writing, even if it is just 1 sentence, encourage them to use VCOP.
Children should not just be writing at school you can encourage them to write at home. Here are some ideas:
Thank you letters
Keep a diary
Shopping list
‘To do’ list
Postcards home on holidays
E mails to friends and relatives

BIG
Writing
Information for parents and carers

Vocabulary in blue

Openers in green

Connectives in pink

Punctuation in yellow

With fear and dread I crept cautiously down the dark, damp tunnel. My hands were eyes, nervously seeking the way by tracing the slime covered granite walls. Though I strained to hear and see, there was nothing...nothing but the sounds of my own strained breathing and the soft pad of my rubber-soled shoes.

Could you add another exciting sentence to this paragraph?

St. Hilary’s Primary School
01355 232066

This leaflet has been prepared to give you information about BIG Writing and how you can best support your child with their writing.

Head Teacher Maureen Reid

What is ‘’BIG Writing?’

Big Writing is a teaching method which was devised by Ros Wilson. She has over 40 years of experience teaching writing and has conducted much research into the ways children learn best.
Her approach is based on:
Clear criteria for success
A straightforward method for teaching writing
Sharing and discussing pieces of writing
Up-levelling sentences to make them more effective
In St. Hilary’s developing the writing of every pupil is a priority.
Writing is an essential skill for life. The ability to write is about more than letter formation and presentation, though both are important. ‘Writing’ is the ability to organise ideas in to engage, inform and entertain the reader. Writing can be described as fiction or non fiction.

‘Non-fiction’ covers types of factual writing such as:
Recipes
Instructions
Explanations
Persuasive texts
Recounts
Reports
Posters
Leaflets

‘Fiction’ writing covers types of imaginative stories such as:
Humorous
Scary
Adventure
Romance
Personal
Historical
Crime
Animal

What is V.C.O.P.??

VCOP stands for:

VOCABULARY
CONNECTIVES
OPENERS
PUNCTUATION

This is
the
V-COP!

When children are writing stories they can use the VCOP pyramids to help them
choose exciting words (V)
use a variety of connectives (C)
use different sentence openers (O)
use the correct punctuation (P)

BIG Writing can help adults writing skills too!

P.1-3 children should be choosing from the 1st level

P.4-5 children should be choosing from the 2nd & 3rd levels

P.6-7 children should be choosing from the 4th & 5th levels

The further down the pyramid you move the higher a level you are writing at!