The Pobble blog

Strong writing starts before a pencil touches the page.

It starts when students shape an idea, find the words to express it and try those words aloud. When they have opportunities to talk, listen, question and rehearse, they are better prepared to turn their thinking into writing.

This is where oracy can make a real difference.

Oracy is more than encouraging students to chat about a topic. It is the purposeful development of speaking and listening skills, including explaining ideas, asking questions, building on the contributions of others and adapting language for different audiences.

Research and guidance from the Education Endowment Foundation highlight the value of oral language approaches, particularly when they are woven into the existing curriculum. Spoken language can help students formulate ideas, expand their vocabulary and develop their understanding of sentence structures, all of which are essential for writing.

The good news is that building oracy into writing lessons does not require a separate programme or another lesson on the timetable. It can begin with small, purposeful opportunities to talk before, during and after writing.

Here are five practical ways to get started.

1. Begin with something worth talking about

Before asking students to write, give them a stimulus that makes them want to respond.

An intriguing image can provide an immediate and accessible starting point. Every student has something concrete to observe, but the image can still leave enough unanswered to encourage curiosity and imagination.

Display an image and allow students time to look closely before introducing the writing task. Ask them to notice details, share first impressions and suggest what might be happening beyond the frame.

You could begin with questions such as:

• What do you notice first?
• What might have happened just before this moment?
• How could the character be feeling?
• What details support your idea?
• What questions would you like to ask?

At this stage, there does not need to be one correct interpretation. The aim is to encourage students to observe carefully, explore possibilities and explain their thinking.

A Pobble 365 image can provide a ready-made starting point, with a new visual prompt available every day.

2. Use purposeful questions to deepen thinking

Good classroom talk needs more than an interesting topic. It also needs questions that encourage students to think beyond their first response.

Questions such as “What can you see?” can help students enter the discussion. Follow-up questions can then take their thinking further:

• What makes you think that?
• Can you explain your idea?
• Is there another possibility?
• What evidence can you find in the image?
• Do you agree with that interpretation? Why?
• Can you build on what someone else has said?

These questions encourage students to justify, clarify and develop their ideas. They also make listening important because students need to respond to what others have contributed.

Try to allow thinking time after asking a question. A few quiet moments give more students the chance to prepare an answer, rather than leaving the discussion to the quickest speakers.

For more ideas, explore our article on how to ask better questions to improve writing.

3. Give every student a chance to talk

A lively whole-class discussion can be valuable, but it does not guarantee that every student is developing their ideas aloud.

Structured partner talk gives everyone an opportunity to contribute. It can also feel safer for students who are less confident speaking in front of the whole class.

Make the purpose of the conversation clear. Instead of simply saying, “Talk to your partner,” give students a focused task:

• Agree on three words that describe the setting.
• Decide what the character should do next.
• Take turns to explain a different interpretation of the image.
• Choose the most effective opening sentence and explain your choice.
• Build on your partner’s idea by adding one new detail.

You could also provide simple speaking frames:

• “I think _____ because _____.”
• “I agree with _____, and I would add _____.”
• “Another possibility could be _____.”
• “The evidence that supports my idea is _____.”
• “I understand your idea, but I think _____.”

Clear roles can help too. One student might explain an idea while the other listens and asks a follow-up question. They can then swap roles.

Some teachers create a small conversation station where students can explore an image, question or idea aloud before writing. This does not need to be elaborate. A visual prompt and a few well-chosen questions are enough to get purposeful talk started.

4. Explore vocabulary and rehearse sentences aloud

Students may have an idea but struggle to find the language they need to express it. Talking before writing gives them time to explore vocabulary and test how a sentence sounds.

Choose a small number of useful words connected to the image, character or setting. Discuss their meanings and compare the effect of different choices.

For example:

• Is the character walking, creeping, stumbling or charging?
• Is the setting quiet, peaceful, deserted or eerily silent?
• Is the character worried, nervous, terrified or suspicious?

Rather than asking students to include every word, encourage them to choose the language that communicates their meaning most precisely.

Students can then rehearse a sentence with a partner before writing it down. They might say the sentence, listen to it and adjust it until it expresses the idea clearly.

For example:

First attempt: The girl walked into the forest.
After discussion: Clutching the torn map, the girl crept deeper into the silent forest.

This oral rehearsal allows students to concentrate on one element at a time. Does the sentence make sense? Is the meaning clear? Could a verb be more precise? Would another detail help the reader?

Pobble 365 prompts include vocabulary and sentence activities that can support this stage of the lesson. Teachers can use these as provided or adapt them to suit the needs of their class.

5. Keep talking as students move into writing

Oracy does not have to stop when students begin writing.

Talk can continue to support students as they plan, compose, review and improve their work. For example, students might:

• explain their planned opening to a partner;
• tell the main events of a story in order;
• rehearse a difficult sentence before writing it;
• read a sentence aloud to check whether it makes sense;
• share a paragraph and ask for one specific piece of feedback;
• explain why they chose a particular word or sentence structure.

Reading writing aloud is particularly useful. Students often hear missing words, repeated phrases or awkward sentences that they did not notice when reading silently.

Keep the discussion focused by giving partners a clear question:

• Which part created the clearest picture in your mind?
• Where would you like more detail?
• Which word was particularly effective?
• Is there a sentence that could be clearer?
• What would you like to know next?

The aim is not for partners to rewrite each other’s work. It is to help the writer hear how their choices affect a reader and decide what to improve.

How Pobble 365 can support talk before writing

Every Pobble 365 prompt begins with an image designed to spark curiosity, discussion and imagination.

The free daily prompt includes an image, story starter and questions, giving teachers a quick way to get students talking and writing.

A Pobble subscription provides access to the complete calendar of prompts and additional activities, including vocabulary support, sentence starters, sentence challenges and punctuation activities. Prompts are also available at three levels: Easier, Original and Harder.

This means a class can explore the same image and take part in the same central conversation, while receiving different levels of support and challenge where needed.

Teachers do not have to use every activity in a prompt. You might use:

• the image and questions for a short speaking and listening activity;
• the vocabulary support before a descriptive writing task;
• a sentence challenge as a focused writing warm-up;
• the full sequence as the starting point for an extended piece of writing.

The activities are there to provide useful options, rather than prescribe one way to teach the lesson.

Give ideas a voice before they reach the page

Oracy is not an extra step to fit into an already busy writing lesson. It is part of the process through which students develop, clarify and communicate their ideas.

A few minutes of purposeful talk can give students:

• an idea worth writing about;
• vocabulary they can use;
• sentences they have already rehearsed;
• greater confidence in what they want to say;
• a clearer sense of how their writing will sound to a reader.

Before your students begin their next piece of writing, pause and give them time to look, think, talk and rehearse.

The writing that follows may be stronger because the thinking has already begun.

Create a free Pobble account and use today’s Pobble 365 prompt to get your class talking, thinking and writing.