4 Square Writing

This term in English we are trying out the 4 square writing method. We started at the very beginning with choosing a subject and and organising basic content. We started off with concrete manipulative materials.

Above - I gave the children a bag of toys to sort into groups. Here we have "animals" and "transport" as our subject matter. The children then used a blank 4 square (below) to further categorise the toys into sections for writing about later. For example, eventually the aim would be to have a piece of writing on "animals" with a paragraph each on birds, cats, dinosaurs and pigs.

Next we went a little more abstract and used picture cards. I explained that this could be a good way to narrow down your ideas about a subject. The children chose their favourite content from among the subject areas of animals and vegetables.

Sorting into subjects - vegetables and animals

We then talked about content being relevant and used a worksheet to pick out and discard content that was not relevant to the subject.

Balls and dolls don't belong in a 4 square about food.

Next lesson we will go more abstract and brainstorm our own subjects on a four square.