Teacher Only Day 26 Feb
PL - Writing
Ministry of Education literacy/writing texts - these are the nuts and bolts of teaching writing.
Look at the writing progressions - for me, the interest is in what children bring with them to school, and then in the first year. There is an inextricable link between writing and reading.
Sound sense is a great resource
Other resources:
Jill Eggleton Lighting the Literacy Fire is great for Li writers
Dancing with the Pen - Effective Literacy Practices has replaced this.
Gail Loane - I've Got Something to Say
Living Between the Lines - Lucy McCormick Calkins
In the Early World - Elwyn Richardson - holistic curriculum based on child interest
Key points:
focus on storytelling
draw and tell
respond to the storyteller's message - ask a question
record the child's story
the child can show or read their story to the class
detailed drawing is OK! Plans (JE) are for older children
children need experiences to write, they need to notice things - shadows, ants, leaves
Play word games - huge input of vocab, describing words
Read, read, read
In my room, which is play-based learning, there is emergent literacy learning happening right throughout the day. Children have opportunities to write in their play, often is of their own design, with me acting as a provocateur.
So........these are my further actions and following thoughts....
With all this in mind, I decided to make a change to my instructional writing programme.
I decided that we would focus solely on draw and tell, and if children could write, or wanted to write, about their drawings they could.
I gave a timeframe for this - 6 weeks to see what would happen. In fact, I am making changes after 4 weeks after reflecting on the following:
What I noticed:
Children who were not confident with writing drew and told the most amazing stories
eg K who is still learning to write his name, and is at the stage of writing random letters.
C who is still developing fine motor skills and pencil grip as well as gaining developmental knowledge of drawing
Then there was the flip side - children who had been confident writers when writing with me at 'instructional' writing time, were quite lost with this new process. Even though they had the alphabet card, and have hfw knowledge and can write those words, they really struggled.
B, who is a very confident reader (at high Red), but really struggles with writing, from the drawing through to the story. This was very difficult for her. I'm not sure if it was the freedom, completely unstructured for her? I know she has so many experiences in her life, but all her stories (and drawings) are very similar. She didn't cope with not having me by her to reassure her of letter sounds etc
Some children did great, with some independent writing happening.
M had a go, and although his own writing is at an emergent level he had more to say which I recorded.
So this all led me to think about learner styles, and in particular dispositions to learning.
Other reading I have done on early writing has gleaned the following.
A point of view blog, a Christchurch teacher of 5 and 6 year olds, has also been thinking about writing developmentally and looks at writing in conjunction with play-based learning.
She also talks about learner identity, which I think is closely aligned with learners dispositions.
This is a great blog that looks at what children need to have developmentally before they begin to write, and as an advocate of learning through play, these essential developmental milestones can be acquired via play.
This teacher has designed a list of attributes or abilities that children need in order to begin to write. Some are similar to what we use from Jill Eggleton, but I'm really interested in the pre-writing ones.
This is a great guide to writing stages
I have also been watching Yolanda Sorryl phonics videos on youtube, some aspects I think I can incorporate into my practice.
I really liked the emphasis put on motor skills to develop writing skills, something I have known about for a while, and focusing on fine motor skills along with strengthening core skills. Robyn Cox has talked about this for years.
There is also the PMP focus - something I had looked at in ECE, we called it Foundation Skills, but the same focus of looking at the link between motor development and formal learning.
I like the following skill lists and would like to incorporate this somehow into my practice, using it to get a better idea of where children are at in their development and continuum to being writers. I think much of this can be observed in play, so the assessment is formative and authentic.
PL - Writing
Ministry of Education literacy/writing texts - these are the nuts and bolts of teaching writing.
Look at the writing progressions - for me, the interest is in what children bring with them to school, and then in the first year. There is an inextricable link between writing and reading.
Sound sense is a great resource
Other resources:
Jill Eggleton Lighting the Literacy Fire is great for Li writers
Dancing with the Pen - Effective Literacy Practices has replaced this.
Gail Loane - I've Got Something to Say
Living Between the Lines - Lucy McCormick Calkins
In the Early World - Elwyn Richardson - holistic curriculum based on child interest
Key points:
focus on storytelling
draw and tell
respond to the storyteller's message - ask a question
record the child's story
the child can show or read their story to the class
detailed drawing is OK! Plans (JE) are for older children
children need experiences to write, they need to notice things - shadows, ants, leaves
Play word games - huge input of vocab, describing words
Read, read, read
In my room, which is play-based learning, there is emergent literacy learning happening right throughout the day. Children have opportunities to write in their play, often is of their own design, with me acting as a provocateur.
So........these are my further actions and following thoughts....
With all this in mind, I decided to make a change to my instructional writing programme.
I decided that we would focus solely on draw and tell, and if children could write, or wanted to write, about their drawings they could.
I gave a timeframe for this - 6 weeks to see what would happen. In fact, I am making changes after 4 weeks after reflecting on the following:
What I noticed:
Children who were not confident with writing drew and told the most amazing stories
eg K who is still learning to write his name, and is at the stage of writing random letters.
E who is a fantastic storyteller, and knows I am, and use random letters including his name
Then there was the flip side - children who had been confident writers when writing with me at 'instructional' writing time, were quite lost with this new process. Even though they had the alphabet card, and have hfw knowledge and can write those words, they really struggled.
B, who is a very confident reader (at high Red), but really struggles with writing, from the drawing through to the story. This was very difficult for her. I'm not sure if it was the freedom, completely unstructured for her? I know she has so many experiences in her life, but all her stories (and drawings) are very similar. She didn't cope with not having me by her to reassure her of letter sounds etc
Some children did great, with some independent writing happening.
M had a go, and although his own writing is at an emergent level he had more to say which I recorded.
So this all led me to think about learner styles, and in particular dispositions to learning.
- Some children were curious - they managed the change - we were doing something new and different.
- Some children were playful - their drawings and stories were creative and detailed
- Some children persevered - it was really tricky and different, but they gave it a go
- Some children were confident - they had a go and found they really enjoyed this new process
This links to the following, and in particular knowledge of the learner. One style will not fit all, so important to consider in any instructional programme. Even within a small group, there will be differing learning styles, and dispositions to learning.
Other reading I have done on early writing has gleaned the following.
A point of view blog, a Christchurch teacher of 5 and 6 year olds, has also been thinking about writing developmentally and looks at writing in conjunction with play-based learning.
She also talks about learner identity, which I think is closely aligned with learners dispositions.
This is a great blog that looks at what children need to have developmentally before they begin to write, and as an advocate of learning through play, these essential developmental milestones can be acquired via play.
This teacher has designed a list of attributes or abilities that children need in order to begin to write. Some are similar to what we use from Jill Eggleton, but I'm really interested in the pre-writing ones.
This is a great guide to writing stages
I have also been watching Yolanda Sorryl phonics videos on youtube, some aspects I think I can incorporate into my practice.
I really liked the emphasis put on motor skills to develop writing skills, something I have known about for a while, and focusing on fine motor skills along with strengthening core skills. Robyn Cox has talked about this for years.
There is also the PMP focus - something I had looked at in ECE, we called it Foundation Skills, but the same focus of looking at the link between motor development and formal learning.
I like the following skill lists and would like to incorporate this somehow into my practice, using it to get a better idea of where children are at in their development and continuum to being writers. I think much of this can be observed in play, so the assessment is formative and authentic.
Foundation Skills - Writing
Oral language:
I can use my hands and movement to communicate.
I can understand when someone speaks to me.
I join in a conversation
I can use what I hear in my own way.
I love listening to stories.
I can retell a story
I can tell my own story.
I can talk about what is happening now, yesterday and tomorrow.
I can tell you about something that happened to me.
I can recognise print symbols in my own world and culture.
I use print symbols and concepts with enjoyment, meaning, and purpose.
I enjoy listening to rhyme.
I can use rhyme on my own.
I can say a simple alliteration phrase.
I can use many different words to express myself.
I can use nouns, verbs, adjectives orally.
I can use the prepositions on, up, over, through, in between, in, to describe what I am doing.
Play:
I can take part in imaginative play by myself
I can take part in imaginative play with others
I can use my imagination to visualize something.
I can use my imagination to tell a story.
Writing developmental stages:
I can draw a picture
I can scribble something that means something to me
My scribble writing is real writing to me. It is written in a line.
I can write letters
I can write letters in a row.
I can read what I write.
I can write letters from left to right and top to bottom.
I can write letters meaningfully into words.
The words have spaces.
I can copy words found in my environment.
Math skills:
I can tell the difference and the similarities between two or more objects.
I can describe colour, size, shape, position, distance, direction, and orientation of an object.
I can make a pattern, sequence and order.
I can make a whole into parts and parts into a whole.
Physical skills:
I can hop
I can skip
I can jump with two feet together
I can balance on one leg
I can copy actions involving crossing my midline
I can cut and paste shapes
I can colour simple pictures.
I can pick up small objects using a tong or tweezers.
I can unscrew a lid on a bottle and screw it back up.
My eyes can track smoothly across the midline and follow movement without moving my head.
Both eyes move at the same time working as one.
My eyes and hands work together as one.
I realise it is very comprehensive, but I think it tells you a lot about where a child is at developmentally, and if they are ready for formal learning.
Where to next?
The changes I have made will consider children that are enjoying the draw and tell process, the children who usually do not enjoy so much the instructional writing sessions. I will continue with this for these children.
Children that are 'ready to write' i will facilitate writing with them. I want to build a group up to be independent writers.
So with learning styles in mind, developmental stages, and learning dispositions (to foster, grow and develop), I'm hoping I will start to see some movement with children's writing in my class.
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