ABSTRACT

Tim Bowler comment draws attention to the complementarity of the creative and the critical in writing and is a salient reminder that the teaching of writing needs both to address the creative, imaginative engagement of writers and to help them hone their critical faculties. Grammar and punctuation are inextricably intertwined, and punctuation choices are strongly intertwined with grammatical choices, and they are key tools of this critical engagement. It is important, then, as with all aspects of teaching, to approach the teaching of grammar and punctuation with a principled understanding of their role in the curriculum. The Northern Ireland Curriculum states that: Children should develop the ability to manage and communicate information effectively in their writing in order to produce more demanding, imaginative and factual texts including those in digital format. In the context of grammar as choice, constructive exploratory talk enables young writers’ learning about the choices available to them to develop.