On the Write Track

James Clements is an experienced teacher, researcher and education writer. He has worked with groups of schools, education organisations and governments in the UK and across the world to support the teaching of English. Prior to this, James was a primary teacher and school leader in central London. He is the author of Teaching English by the Book and co-author of' Understanding and Teaching Primary English.

Winner of the UKLA Academic Book Award 2023 - judges noted, 'On the Write Track thus seems likely to be a staple for many years to come, not just for early years and primary teachers but also secondary English teachers, initial teacher education students and teacher-researchers. Children learning to write in the classrooms of anyone who engages with this publication will undoubtedly benefit from its benign but robust advice.’"In On the Write Track, James Clements offers writing scheme-weary primary educators something refreshingly simple, sensible and well-researched. He argues for several pathways (or in his words, a number of ‘tracks’) teachers can choose to take with their students, responding and using their professional judgment wisely... On the Write Track is worth reading and using for all primary teachers due to its equal balance of depth and accessibility." - Robbie Burns, Schools Week

• On the Write Track: An introduction 1. Theory and principles 1. What can we learn from the research around teaching writing? 2. Finding the right track: a personal philosophy for teaching writing 2. Assembling tracks: practical approaches to teaching writing Introduction 3. Starting with children’s interests 4. Starting with children’s experiences 5. Starting with imagination 6. Writing and poetry 7. Children’s literature and writing 8. Using and creating film, multimedia and multimodal texts 9. Starting with knowledge 10. Spoken language and writing 11. Drama, play and writing 12. Collaboration: working and writing together 3. Building a process-led sequence for teaching writing Introduction 13. Pre-writing: Laying the foundations 14. Planning: Organising and playing with ideas 15. Drafting: Putting words onto the page or screen 16. Revising: Evaluating, editing and polishing 17. Creating outcomes: Producing something to be proud of 4 . Using language for effect Introduction 18. Grammar and syntax for writing 19. Punctuation for clarity and effect 20. Vocabulary for expression 5.Putting it into practice