ABSTRACT
Alec stands in front of the interactive whiteboard ready to begin the lesson. He reminds the class that they are going to write an account of yesterday’s trip to the local castle. The children are encouraged to share their recollections. They remember with excitement the walk through the castle’s dungeons. One of the children compares the smell of the dungeons to his dog when it has been swimming in a local stream. Alec is genuinely enthused by the children’s reflections. He is naturally tempted to build on their excitement by exploring ‘tales from the dungeons’ in an open-ended way that could lead to a range of writing. But he knows that the school’s scheme of work, building on the national curriculum, requires him to teach the features of the ‘recount genre’ that lesson.
