The educator and child:

• engage in a back-and-forth conversation to build up a message (for example, a name, caption, narrative or shopping list)
• work together to write the message.

The educator:

• helps the child to clarify, sequence and organise their thoughts
• generally begins by ​‘holding the pen’, gradually handing over more of the role of writing to the child, as the child becomes more confident and proficient.

The child often provides the ​‘source material’ at the start, making up a story or suggesting the content to write down.

There is promising evidence that Interactive writing can have a positive impact on both communication and language outcomes and early literacy outcomes.

The evidence base to support this approach is relatively small. Educators may consider using multiple approaches to teach early writing in combination. We recommend this because:

• other writing approaches may be just as effective as Interactive writing
• while research tends to show a positive impact, some studies either found no effect on children’s language and literacy or an effect on only some outcomes.

Evidence indicates that creating a literacy-rich environment is likely to be important. Educators can do this by providing a variety of books, writing materials and displays of children’s compositions.

Some evidence indicates it might also be important to:

• help children practise letter formation and writing through a variety of multi-sensory activities (for example, air-writing, playdough and other materials)
• teach the writing process (planning, drafting and revising)
• provide explanations, think aloud and model writing
• engage children in discussions about: 
  • letter-sound correspondence,
  • writing genres (for example, stories, signs, lists),
  • writing processes (for example, drafting and revising),
  • and writing conventions (for example, when to use a capital letter).

In several studies, educators encouraged children to say their message out loud by prompting or sensitively asking questions.

However, most studies do not describe the educators’ role in depth. The following practices may support the delivery of this approach:

• Thinking aloud: verbally expressing thought processes to make them explicit. For example, the educator says, ​‘I’m going to write your name here, so I need a capital J for Jasmin’ to help children understand writing conventions
• Explaining and showing: providing extra information to support children’s understanding. For example, before a trip to the shop, the educator explains they’ll need a list, as this reminds them what to buy. He shows the children the start of a list and how to add to it
• Evaluating: prompting children to reflect or providing feedback about their learning. For example, after a child has written a caption to describe a picture, the educator encourages them to reflect on what they have written
• Sequencing: using language to organise a story, event or experience into simple, ordered steps. For example, the educator repeats a child’s story with a clear beginning, middle and end. They use this sequence to plan how to write the story down.

It is important to scaffold children’s learning carefully, so that over time the child takes on an increasing role in writing the message.

Interactive writing is an important approach to consider, so we have provided a summary of suggested practices.

However, because of the relatively small evidence base for this approach, we have not created any video exemplification. The small number of studies we have included show promise. We will revisit Interactive writing during the next update to the Evidence Store.