Teaching Writing: What the evidence says

To many people outside our primary classrooms, the way to improve the teaching of writing seems obvious. Focus heavily on the basics, such as spelling and punctuation. Apply rigour, in the form of grammar teaching. Test frequently. But if we look at the research evidence, the answers are rather different.
This booklet examines a range of research evidence from English-speaking countries on how children can best be helped to learn to write – and to become writers, exploiting the rich possibilities that written text has to offer for enlarging their lives. It offers teachers solid information to guide their journeys through this contentious territory.