Swoop Week

A “swoop” is a descriptive writing activity where students respond to an image.

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Every student must write at least five sentences that describe what is happening in the image. 

The goals for the students are to:

  • Use different types of sentences
  • Identify the types of sentence they have written
  • Identify the subject, and the verb that are in their sentences

Mrs Spargue gave her class an example of a swoop as an activity for writing.  This shared writing task showed  how to use different sentence types in the writing process. It encouraged students to identify the subjects and the verbs in each sentence.

Room 3 students' swoops and reflections.

Over the week of writing this way progress was made.

I was most proud of my swoop about the hangi because I used different types of sentences. In my first swoop all of my sentences were simple.

Making sure we had the correct punctuation in our sentences was challenging, especially getting the commas in the right places.

I enjoy writing swoops because you don’t have to write too much but you do have to think a lot.

The adverb start is my favorite kind of sentence because you start with how the subject is feeling.

I managed to include two preposition start sentences in my swoop about the football stadium.

I got to choose my own picture to swoop about.

Visual prompts were used to show different types of sentences that could be used  in our writing.  These examples also show students how to include the correct punctuation. Punctuation is a goal for the whole class to work on and it is good to reinforce how to use it correctly as often as possible.


jC StaffPhotos2026 Sara

Sara Sprague

Every child deserves to feel valued, respected, and genuinely cared for by their teacher. Creating a classroom where students feel safe, supported, and confident to learn is at the heart of my teaching practice.

I have a passion for all areas of learning, with a particular enthusiasm for mathematics. I enjoy supporting students to make meaningful connections between mathematical ideas, recognise patterns, and develop a deep understanding of how our number system works.

In my classroom, students are encouraged to be brave, collaborative, and open to new challenges. It is a space where taking risks is celebrated, reflection is valued, and success, big or small, is recognised.

Outside of school, I enjoy mountain biking and staying active with my energetic dog, which helps me bring energy and balance to a busy classroom environment. Supporting students to grow, learn, and thrive is at the centre of everything I do, and I am excited to continue this journey at Wairakei Primary School.

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