Quick wins with Clicker’s writing support tools

Voice Notes
Predictor
LearningGrids
Talk Sets
Clicker Boards
Additional resources

In this blog post, I will outline a few quick and simple things you can do with the writing support tools in Clicker to help your pupils write. Everything in this blog post is easy to implement, with minimal preparation and maximum impact in the classroom. However, if you have any questions about any of the tips, we’re more than happy to help.

Whether you're supporting emerging writers, encouraging reluctant learners or aiming to boost writing confidence across the board, these practical tips will help you get the most out of Clicker right away.

Let’s explore how Clicker can become a powerful tool to help develop pupils’ writing skills, one step at a time.

Voice Notes

Using Voice Notes pupils can record their own audio notes before they write, in three quick clicks!

Pupils can rehearse their sentences and capture their initial thoughts and ideas before they begin writing.

Pupils can listen to their Voice Notes as many times as they need.
Voice Notes can bridge the gap between thinking and writing.
They also help to develop oral language skills. Pupils can explain their reasoning aloud, which is also a huge benefit for EAL pupils.

Teachers and teaching assistants can also use Voice Notes. They can:

Pre-record instructions, broken down into smaller steps, to help learners break their tasks into manageable steps.
Leave personalised audio feedback on pupil work, quickly and informally, without adding to teacher workload.
Show modelled thinking, as this can be pre-recorded into the document for the pupils to access.

Voice Notes are easy and simple to use, not just for staff but pupils too!

Here is how you can access Voice Notes:

Predictor

Clicker’s built in Predictor suggests words even before your pupil has begun to type, offering writing support for pupils who struggle with ‘blank page syndrome’, or find it difficult to get started and maintain momentum with their written tasks.

The Predictor is an intuitive tool to boost children’s confidence and independence, helping them to see their thoughts correctly turned into writing without waiting for adult support. It also suggests a wider range of more advanced and varied vocabulary to support vocabulary development.

Additionally, the Predictor works alongside any open writing grids, such as Word Banks, to suggest vocabulary that is relevant to the topic or subject pupils are writing about.

Here is how you can turn the Predictor on and off:

LearningGrids

Clicker's LearningGrids are a valuable lesson resource tool for teachers and pupils.

LearningGrids is our bank of thousands of ready-made resources tailored to different subjects, topics, and ability levels across the curriculum. All designed by our in-house curriculum team, these resources are high-quality and closely aligned with curriculum needs. They are regularly updated and expanded, ensuring fresh, relevant content is always available to save teachers’ time.

Here are some of the resources you can assign to learners to give them a quick writing boost:

Word Banks: When using a Word Bank, the learner has point-and-click access to the key words from the topic at the bottom of their document. This means they can use those words without having to worry about spelling or word recall.
Sentence Sets: Each grid in a Sentence Set contains all the words a learner will need to build a sentence. This support helps to develop early writing skills like left-to-right directionality and capital letter use.
Connect Sets: A Connect Set provides learners with clusters of words and phrases to help them build a coherent piece of text.

For pupils, LearningGrids provides structured support that boosts confidence and independence when reading and writing.

Additionally, you can easily customise any of the resources on LearningGrids to fit your classroom needs, or you can create your own.

By creating a custom Word Bank, for instance, you can tailor the writing support to match current topics, classroom themes, or individual pupil needs.

Here’s how easy it is to create a custom Word Bank:

Talk Sets

Talk Sets are a great way to support the development of speaking and listening skills.

These picture-based resources can be used to create three different types of activity to support children where they are:

Listen and Say: The learner listens to a recording of new words, then practises saying them with the Sound Recorder.
Talk About: The learner can click on an image to record their thoughts and understanding of the topic.
Tell the Story: The learner has a series of images that follow a sequence, and they can record themselves talking about each one to tell the story from start to finish.

Talk Sets are particularly effective for those who struggle to express themselves in written form, and for English language learners. Learners can record their knowledge or opinions easily and quickly. Talk Sets take away the pressure of writing and help children to express what they know!

Here is how to record into a Talk Set:

Clicker Boards

Clicker Boards are a powerful tool for gathering pupils’ ideas and thoughts before writing. They help learners to organise their thinking and prepare for writing tasks through an easy-to-use mind mapping or planning tool.

With a Clicker Board displayed on your interactive whiteboard, pupils can share their ideas whilst you collect them in the moment and build a visual bank of inspiration for them to draw on.

You can also add Voice Notes to your Boards, helping to turn thinking into writing.

Here is how you can add information to a Clicker Board:

Once you have collected vocabulary and ideas, you can turn your Board into a Word Bank to support and guide the writing process in the Document. By organising key words and phrases in one place, young writers are better equipped to translate their ideas into coherent, well-structured text.

Here is how you can turn a Clicker Board into a Word Bank: