ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the slow and uncertain way the teacher comes to terms with a new class, stressing the anxieties and doubts that surround the effort of encouraging their writing. It looks at children ‘beginning to write’ in response to particular ideas for writing, in the context of the lesson itself and immediately beyond. The chapter also describes the process of embarking on a piece of writing with a group of 8- and 9-year-olds. It to describe some of the situations that arise once writing seems to be under way. The expression could be misleading; some children take responsibility for their own work very early, even during a collaborative start. There is a point beyond which the sense that something is happening is strong enough for the teacher to feel what has been aimed at is, indeed, under way. The children are ‘caught up’ in what they are doing.
