ABSTRACT
Recounts offer child authors the exciting opportunity to flex their creative ‘thinking muscles’ by imagining and writing about what they believe local heroes, role models or global superstars ‘do with their days’ when they have to spend their days stuck in school. As child authors will have access to many of the resources in paper and electronic format, there is little doubt that writing literary recounts will enthuse them to reflect on memorable events that they have seen on the screen, read on the page, or have ‘lived’. Working in pairs or threes, let child authors collaborate on a joint recount of the event, making sure that their different handwriting signals their various written contributions. When teaching child authors, it is important that they are aware of, understand and can use the key vocabulary that is associated with recount texts. Writing about personal experiences has been found to have a positive impact on children’s mental health and their well-being.
