CLA - Writing

• Early Exposure

  • early reading allows for phoneme-grapheme correspondence, this will enable them to move to written language after a connection has been established
• Early Exposure

  • there is strong evidence to suggest children exposed to a rich reading environment are more likely to be successful in their writing.
• Early Exposure

  • Imitation and Modelling = children are more likely to imitate writing styles, structures, and techniques they encounter in reading
• Early Exposure

  • Critical Thinking & Analysis = as children read, they are more likely to learn to analyse characters & settings, this translates into their writing.
• Early Exposure

  • it seems logical that if children have derived enjoyment from language and the reading experience then they are more likely to appreciate the importance of the written word
• Early Exposure

  • first reading is often not independent but shared with parents
• Early Exposure

  • a child will begin to associate early reading with relaxed home time with a parent or relative
• Early Exposure

  • often, early books will introduce key learning concepts to children, such as colours or numbers through interactive features such as flaps or buttons
• Early Exposure

  • books, such as 'Peepo' in which a child can 'peep' to see the picture beyond, successfully introduce language in ways that will appeal & encourage them to explore language features
• Learning to Read

  • as a child gets older, the link between reading and writing becomes more obvious
• Learning to Read

  • Jeanne Chall (1983) suggested a number of stages in which a child progresses their reading.
• Learning to Read

  • as a child enters the initial reading & decoding stage, they re explicitly taught methods to make sense of texts they encounter
• Learning to Read

  • Look and Say Approach = children identify familiar words and read them accurately
• Learning to Read

  • Phonic Approach = children begin to blend sounds with words in order for them to decode the word as a whole
• The Process of Writing Development

  • listening to stories and talking about them with a caregiver will develop a child's oracy as well as early literacy
• The Process of Writing Development

  • the general cognitive awareness of how language works needs to be in place before writing can develop
• The Process of Writing Development

  • a child needs to have a wide lexical range and understanding of how these work together in terms of grammar and syntax
• The Process of Writing Development

  • picking up & holding a pencil is one of the first challenges children will encounter when learning to write
• The Process of Writing Development

  • carers in early years settings will often try to encourage a tripod grip when writing or drawing
• The Process of Writing Development

  • this is also when children tend to refine motor development from gross to fine motor skills
• The Process of Writing Development

  • reading or looking at books helps children to develop an awareness that writing is positioned from left to right and in straight lines
• The Process of Writing Development

  • early writers struggle to keep words in a logical order, or in a straight line
• The Process of Writing Development

  • to avoid the struggle of alignment, children are usually given paper with widely spaced lines to write on
• The Process of Writing Development

  • sometimes children will focus too much on producing a letter that they don't realise their words are going slanted
• The Process of Writing Development

  • before a child can write coherent letters it is likely that they will be in the emergent stage of writing
• The Process of Writing Development

  • at the point of emergent writing, the child will be engaged in a complicated process of making signs on the page to represent a particular letter
• The Process of Writing Development

  • production at the emergent stage may include recognisable letters but will not make sense when placed together
• The Process of Writing Development

  • during the emergent stage, it is arguable to say that the child is imitating what they have seen but has not fully grasped the complexity of writing
• The Process of Writing Development

  • Barry Kroll proposed that a child goes through four stages in the writing process
• The Process of Writing Development (Kroll)

  • Preparatory Stage = children develop fine motor skills, grip with basic spelling principles
• The Process of Writing Development (Kroll)

  • Consolidation Stage = children write as they speak, use short declaratives, and fair use of conjunctions such as 'and' or 'but'
• The Process of Writing Development (Kroll)

  • Differentiation Stage = children differentiate speech & writing, explore different styles of writing, still errors, writing tends to reflect thoughts & feelings
• The Process of Writing Development (Kroll)

  • Integration Stage = children develop a personal style to their writing, change their writing according to audience & purpose
• The Process of Writing Development

  • the ages attributed to Kroll's proposal weren't originally associated with the stage but were later added by Katherine Perera
• The Process of Writing Development

  • all children progress at different levels but it is expected that children will fall in the stages (Kroll) at aprox. the same ages
• Attitudes and Theories

  • supporters of the creative model argue that a child should be allowed to experiment creatively without strict language correction
• Attitudes and Theories

  • If accuracy doesn't become a primary concern, the child is less likely to be afraid to make 'mistakes' in their writing
• Attitudes and Theories

  • However, there are equally as strong arguments to suggest that when a child understands the conventions of writing, progress will be more rapid
• Attitudes and Theories

  • the issue of promoting 'accurate grammar' leads to wider discussion about the nature of Standard English
• Attitudes and Theories

  • when children learn to write, a strict model could be stifling individual language patterns or idiolect