Year 1 English · Key Stage 1 · Writing – composition
Year 1 writing: saying a sentence before you write it
In Year 1, writing begins with talking. Children are taught to say aloud what they are going to write about, to compose a sentence out loud before they put pencil to paper, and to put sentences in order to make a short narrative. At the start of the year many children can say far more than they can yet spell or form, so the thinking and the writing are deliberately kept apart.
Saying and sequencing sentences, explained
Writing asks a five- or six-year-old to do many things at once: have an idea, find the words, remember them, think about sounds and spellings, form the letters and leave spaces. Something has to give, and it is usually the idea. So teachers separate the jobs. First the child talks, then they say one sentence exactly as it will be written, and only then do they write it. This is called composing orally, or rehearsing a sentence. A child who can say “I went to the park and I played on the slide” has done the hardest thinking before the pencil moves.
A key skill is holding the sentence in the head. Teachers often have children say it again and count the words on their fingers, or repeat it while writing each word, so that “the park” does not become “park” halfway through. Adults support this by demonstrating: they say a sentence, write it word by word while thinking aloud (“What’s the first sound? I need a capital letter to start”), and read it back. Children then copy that process, with their own ideas. At the start of the year, an adult may write some of the words, or the child may write only the first few, and that is entirely normal.
Once children can write a single sentence, they learn to put several in order. A short narrative in Year 1 is often just two to four sentences about something that happened, told in the order it happened. Teachers often use words such as first, then, next and last, and often work from a picture sequence, a familiar story or a real event like a class trip. The point is not fancy writing: it is knowing that one sentence follows another and the order matters, and that each sentence should be about the same story.
The classroom emphasis is on ideas, courage and effort. Spelling will not be perfect and handwriting is still developing, so teachers praise the sentence the child said as much as the one they managed to write. Children are encouraged to sound out words they do not know and have a go, because writing a word wrongly is a step towards writing it right. Writing is also taught alongside reading and phonics, so the same sounds and tricky words appear in all three.
Words your child will hear
- Sentence
- A group of words that makes sense on its own. It starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.
- Rehearse
- Say a sentence aloud, and then again, before writing it, so it is not forgotten.
- Compose
- Make up the words of a sentence or story in your head or aloud.
- Sequence
- Put things in the order they happen, such as the sentences of a story.
- Narrative
- A story, or an account of something that happened, told in order.
- First, then, next, last
- Time words that help show the order of events.
What the National Curriculum says
In Year 1, pupils should be taught to:
- Write sentences by saying out loud what they are going to write about
- Write sentences by composing a sentence orally before writing it
- Write sentences by sequencing sentences to form short narratives
Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Try it: from a spoken idea to three written sentences
A Year 1 child has been to the park and wants to write about it. How is it done?
- Say it. The adult asks, “What happened at the park?” The child talks: “I went to the park. I went on the slide. Then I had an ice cream.” The adult listens and does not correct the talking.
- Choose one sentence. The child picks the first idea and says exactly what to write: “I went to the park.” They say it again and count it on their fingers: five words.
- Write it word by word. The child says each word, sounds out what they hear and writes it, leaving a finger space between words, starting with a capital letter and finishing with a full stop. They keep saying the sentence if they lose their place.
- Read it back. The child points to each word and reads: “I went to the park.” Does it say what they meant? Does every word make sense?
- Do the next one. The child says the second sentence, “I went on the slide”, counts, writes and reads it back. Then the third, starting with “Then” to show what came after.
- Check the order. Read all three. Do they tell the story in the order it happened? Which would be the first? Which the last?
I went to the park. I went on the slide. Then I had an ice cream. Three short sentences, in the order they happened, each composed aloud before it was written.
Common mistakes and how to help
Only writing words they can spell
Children soon notice that spelling matters, so they play safe: “I like cat”, instead of “I like cats because they are soft”. Their writing becomes much simpler than their talking.
What helps: Praise the idea first and invite them to have a go at the harder words by sounding them out. Telling a child “write it the way it sounds” gives permission to use bigger words.
Forgetting the sentence halfway through
Working memory is small at this age, and the effort of forming letters and spacing words pushes the sentence out. The child ends up writing a different sentence or stopping.
What helps: Say the sentence again, count the words on fingers and repeat it before each word. Start with short sentences and make them longer as the child becomes more confident.
A long string of ‘and then’ with no stops
When we talk, we link events with “and then” and the listener follows along. In writing, the end of each idea has to be shown, but young writers don’t yet notice where one idea finishes and the next begins.
What helps: Read it aloud together and ask “Where does one thing that happened finish?” Mark the end of each idea with a full stop, then start the next one with a capital letter. Retelling the story one sentence at a time, holding up a finger for each, also helps.
Putting sentences in the wrong order, or mixing up two stories
Children often write the bit they remember most vividly first, whatever happened first. They may also be writing quickly and add ideas as they arise without checking.
What helps: Draw or number three pictures before writing, then write one sentence per picture. Use time words and ask “What happened first?” before they write.
How to help at home
- Talk first, write second. Ask your child to tell you about their day or something they did. Pick one thing and ask them to say it as one sentence: “Say it just as you would write it.” Even if they only write the first word, the talking is what the school is building.
- Count the words on fingers. Say a sentence together, then count the words on your fingers: “We went to the shop” is five. Repeat it before every word they write, so the sentence is still in their head by the end.
- Share the writing. If your child is tired, take turns: they write the first word or two and you write the rest, or you write a sentence and they write the next. Writing should feel like a conversation, not a test.
- Three pictures, three sentences. Draw three boxes on a page, or use three photos, and put them in the order they happened. Say a sentence for each, using first, then and last, and write them under the pictures. It makes a small story book.
- Retell favourite stories. After reading a familiar picture book, ask your child to retell it in three sentences, in order. It practises remembering a sequence and choosing the key ideas, which is what they do in their own writing.
Related topics
Leads on to
- Year 2: Writing for different purposes
- Year 2: Planning before we write
- Year 2: Revising and reading aloud
More on writing – composition
- Year 1: Checking and sharing writing
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