Alison Wilcox is a Law and Economics graduate from Cardiff University, who worked as a primary-school teacher for many years. Whilst teaching, she developed Descriptosaurus to scaffold and improve children's creative writing, with dramatic results, and she made the decision to give up full-time teaching to work on the Descriptosaurus series. To keep up to date with current practices in schools, Alison undertakes brief teaching assignments, works with schools to develop new resources and conducts workshops for schools and teaching alliances.

Adam Bushnell was a primary-school teacher and is now a published author of both fiction and academia. He has had fifteen books published for children and six books published for teachers on the teaching of writing. He works as a 'visiting author' in the UK and internationally, delivering writing workshops for primary school aged children. He also offers CPD (Continuing Professional Development) for schools and delivers keynote speeches at conferences about reading and writing in education.

Introduction

How to use this book

Part 1: Settings: Landscapes

1 Forests and woods

2 Hills and mountains

3 Seas and oceans

4 Islands and beaches

5 Caves

6 Modern street

7 Sounds

8 Smells

9 Touch

10 Sun

11 Wind

12 Rain

13 Thunder and lightning

Part 2: Characters

14 Characters' appearance

15 Characters (heroes) - personality

16 Characters (heroes) - animals

17 Characters (villains) - personality

18 Characters (villains) - animals

19 Defeating a villain

20 Dialogue

Part 3: Resources for 'Language in action'

21 'The Ninjabread Girl'

22 Modelled sentences

23 Innovating sentences model

24 Coordination and subordination

25 'Captain Moody and his pirate crew'

26 Modelled sentences

27 Innovating sentences model

28 Coordination and subordination

29 'Ruby Red'

30 Modelled sentences

31 Innovating sentences model

32 Coordination and subordination

33 'Jack and the Crystal Fang'

34 Modelled sentences

35 Innovating sentences model

36 Coordination and subordination

Part 4: 'Language in action' templates

Plot outline

Scene outline

Collecting descriptive words and phrases

Sentence parts and structure

Stretching a sentence

Experimenting with vocabulary and sentences