Year 6 writing units often span several weeks as pupils develop the independence and control needed to produce detailed texts. Planning, drafting, revising, editing and publishing all take time. Developing pupils ability to produce longer pieces is important; however, short writing tasks can also provide pupils with valuable writing practice.

For the purpose of this article, a short writing task refers to any creative writing task where the writing outcome might be a paragraph or half a-page to a page of writing.  This blog post explores the benefits of giving pupils opportunities to write brief creative pieces and includes freebies and resource suggestions. Here are seven reasons why I feel educators should consider incorporating short writes into their year 6 timetable.

1. At the beginning of the school year, educators are likely to want know how their year 6 pupils respond to writing tasks. Personally, when working as a year 6 teacher, I really wanted to get to know the pupils quickly. For me, this meant moving beyond the data sent up by their previous teacher and viewing pupils' writing output for myself.  Embarking on a long writing unit at the beginning of the year means waiting weeks to discover how pupils write. This could result in a delay in creating meaningful writing targets for them.  Giving pupils one or more short creative writing tasks at the beginning of the year allows teachers to get to know pupils' writing style without delay.
2. During longer writing  units which involve lots of planning and preparation, there is the possibility that pupils could go weeks without producing even a paragraph of writing. Short low-stakes writing tasks can help them keep practising and developing their writing skills. Quick writes, such as short-burst writing tasks done during registration, can help pupils practice sentence structure, punctuation and experiment with vocabulary. Practice makes perfect. Leaving long gaps between creative writing will not aid pupils in building their writing skills.
3. It can be difficult to arrange teaching units so they fit perfectly into a term. For example, teachers may find they finish a teaching unit with a week or few days before the end of term. Doing one or several short writing tasks can be a great way to make effective use of this time.
4. Teachers often provide written feedback after a longer writing task which advises pupils on what they could do better next time. Sometimes, this is text type specific and it might be a long time before pupils have an opportunity to apply what they have learnt in a similar context. For example, if a child has written a set of instructions, they might not write another set until the following year. Short writing tasks which enable pupils to practise and recap writing text types they have recently or previously been taught about help to  reinforce understanding and writing skills.
5. In year 6, pupils are expected to build their writing stamina. Writing lengthy pieces is not the only way for pupils to achieve this goal. Regular creative writing practice which includes writing short pieces also build writing stamina. Pupils will develop the skills and enthusiasm to write more if they engage in writing on a frequent basis.
6. Providing pupils with the opportunity to complete short writing pieces builds confidence simply because the expected writing output is limited. Imagine a reluctant writer who is filled with dread at the thought of all the blank pages they are expected to fill. This fear is reduced if they are presented with a writing task that is just half a page to a page long. Plus, as noted in point 5, writing short pieces regularly builds a pupil’s stamina, so frequent shorter tasks can help a reluctant writer progress to longer pieces.
7. An overview of writing done in recent months is used to make a final writing assessment judgement at the end of year 6. If pupils have only been working on longer texts which take weeks to produce, teachers might find they only have a handful of pieces from which to form a judgement. They might also find that there are gaps in relation to evidence needed to assess some of criteria in the KS2 writing assessment list. Giving pupils short writing tasks prior to submitting final writing assessment judgements will help to build writing skills. In addition,  suitable independently written short pieces could also be used to provide evidence.

Here are some ideas for short creative writing tasks which you can use with your year year 6 students.

Short Burst Writing

Excite pupils' imagination by showing them a picture with an interesting image and asking them to produce writing inspired by it. This makes a great short writing task for registration at the beginning of the morning or afternoon. Wondering where you can get a great selection of pictures? Click the button below to view the fabulous website 'Once Upon a Picture'. Content is suitable for primary pupils and you'll find a huge range of prompts that will get pupils thinking and writing.

Quick Writing Sessions

In previous years, SATs writing was not teacher assessed. Instead pupil's writing was done under test conditions with set tasks. Over time, this was judged to be unfair and overly pressurised hence the move to teacher assessment. However, the tasks that pupils were given to do during this period are still available for teachers to use as writing prompts. These tasks are variable in quality, but they do not include some stimulating ideas for creative writing that can be completed in a short amount of time.

Below is a sample of some of these short writing tasks. Click the image below to download.

To download the complete set of Year 6 20-minute writing tasks, featuring 10 prompts, scroll to the end of this blog post and complete the form to access our free resource library. There, you’ll find the full set of 20-minute writing prompts, six 1-hour writing prompts, and a wide selection of free reading and writing resources for primary pupils.

Year 6 Writing: Short Units

Here are some short writing units which are available from Primary Texts. They can be used for interventions but are also ideal for creating short writing units for the whole class. They feature a range of short, engaging creative writing assignments linked to a variety of purposes

These short writing units  are ideal for if you have a time left over after completing a longer unit before the end of a school term. Each assignment takes around 5 lessons to complete. Units also include ideas for extension.

These writing resources have been designed to support pupils using the process outlined in the DFE Writing Framework. Although the units are short they follow a sequence which involves planning, drafting, writing and editing and publishing.  The resources feature engaging prompts which aim to stimulate pupils and motivate them to write. Click the images below for more details.