A few years ago in England the shorter SATs writing task at Key Stage 1 was to write a postcard style piece in character. The children had to listen to a short fiction book, taking onboard events and illustrations, and use what they had heard and seen to write an imaginery postcard as though they were a character in the story. Although it was the shorter task, it needed to have more detail than if they were sending an actual postcard in real life.
For children of six or seven this would have been quite a challenge had we not practised the genre before-hand with a variety of different fiction books. Obviously children who are older are more likely to have experience of writing postcards. The fiction book that I chose to use for the test was 'Where the Forest Meets the Sea' by Jeannie Baker in big book format. One reason for this choice was that the book has amazing illustrations which appear almost 3D.
Both the children and I really enjoyed this task and I have used the same genre since. I also recommend this writing activity for other age groups. I like it because the children can refer to events from the fiction book, use illustrations for inspiration and add their own ideas so they are not struggling to think of something to write.
During the few weeks prior to the SATs test I designed and used a 'Writing Postcards' prompt card to help the children understand the genre. This consisted of page 1 and page 2 placed back-to-back and laminated. Every child had a copy. Obviously this is no longer a SATs task but I recommend a similar approach. The activity fits in well with geography topics on the seaside too.
We spend several sessions brainstorming good openings to postcards. I advise the children to include information about the location in the opening sentence, which can be anywhere of their choice. I encourage them to begin by saying what sort of time they are having, whether it is good or bad, and to use the conjunction 'because' to give the reason.
Later in the same week we discuss the importance of mentioning the weather they, as their character, may have been experiencing on their holiday. I ask the children to suggest different types of weather and then we look together at the words provided on the prompt card. Again we brainstorm good sentences so the children are hearing lots of alternatives and we discuss their merits. I expect a compound sentence with a conjunction such as - 'The weather has been very hot and sticky so I have been wearing my shorts all week.'
At this stage the children write a selection of their own imaginery postcard openings and during the plenary session share their favourite with the rest of the class. Some children combine the two elements in the first sentence such as, 'I am having a great time here but the weather has been cold and rainy.' They are encouraged to use a variety of adjectives so that although they are all using a similar sentence structures, the openings are varied and still imaginative.
The next series of lessons are focused on using the 'Settings' section of the prompt card. Using adjectives of their own or those featured in the 'Thoughts and Feelings' section the children explain where they are. The children then need to think about the setting in terms of their senses using the senses prompts for support. When I try this activity with year 2 children I find children can be inclined to write a list at this stage such as 'I can see the ....', 'I can hear the...' so I make a point of asking them to begin their sentences in different ways. By way of additional support I have provided a few optional sentence beginnings on back of the prompt card (page 2) for the children to include if they wish, restricting their choice to two of the phrases throughout the piece. It also helps if you let young children look at the pictures in the book to consider what they can see or may hear, which is where big books come into their own.
Throughout this work children are encouraged to use two adjectives to describe nouns where they can. At intervals they are invited to share their wonderful sentences. Good efforts are praised enthusiastically, but where a sentence could easily be improved I will invite children to see if they can make the sentence even better by adding more detail or further adjectives. I find this motivates children to try to produce the best sentences that they can.
The next section of the prompt card is called 'Activities' and there are some random pictures. These just serve as reminders for children to include in their postcard details of activities they have been doing. They are encouraged to use and expand on things that happened in the story although they can add activities of their own. I encourage them to say how they felt and what they thought. The words under the title 'Thoughts and Feelings' have spellings they may need.
Finally, at the bottom of the prompt sheet is a reminder that they need to finish off the postcard with a suitable sentence. I have offered two possible beginnings but they can use their own along with their personalised message. Obviously they need to remember that they are signing off as the character and not as themselves.
If you have older children in your class they probably won't need such detailed input. I know that some may think this approach is quite prescriptive but having used it with several classes I know that children still have opportunities to being creative. I find that it serves as a useful 'prop' for children while they are building their confidence with the genre. Also if they are confident they can focus on good sentence construction with exciting word choices.