Literacy

• Emergent writing


  Describe children's early scribbles of representations of written symbols
• Marie Clay Principles of writing development

  Described children's interactions with the writing in books and their imitation of this - principles of development.

  
  

  Recurring principal - when a child only knows a limited number of letters repeatedly use these to create a message.

  
  

  Directional principal - reading and writing from left to right, using a return sweep to start the process again.

  
  

  Generating principal - realise there are only a limited number of letters to use, but that these can be met mixed and matched in different ways.

  
  

  Inventory principle - begin to package knowledge, together into list of the letters and words that he or she knows.
• What is the functional principle of emerging print awareness according to Yetta Goodman?


  Writing serves a purpose and has a function for the writer
• What is the linguistic principle of emerging print awareness according to Yetta Goodman?

  Writer is a system organized into words, letters, and directionality
• What is the relational principle of emerging print awareness according to Yetta Goodman?


  Children connect what they write on the page with spoken words and understand the written alphabet system has meaning
• Vygotsky's social constructionist view

  Teachers and parents act as "knowledgeable others", offer scaffolding to help children learn.

  Children are active participants in their own learning, but need individually tailored support at crucial times.
• Zone of Proximal development Vygotsky


  Recurring process:

  Children reach a stage where they can attempt without support, then are able to perform unaided.

  
  

  Focus on a child's individual needs rather than seeing all children as having to reach government-driven definitions of development based on large-scale testing
• What did the Shirley Brice Heath study focus on?

  American preschool children and families from different community demographics (class and ethnicity)
• How did the middle-class community approach children's literacy? (Brice Heath)


  They developed children's literacy in a formal way, used books, and valued children's participation in literacy activities
• How did other communities approach children's literacy according to the study? (Brice Heath)


  They included some book reading but focused more on imaginative discussion and verbal commentaries
• Why did the former group tend to be more successful at school? (Brice Heath)


  Due to the value placed on their form of literacy that conformed to school expectations
• What does the study argue schools should do regarding literacy practices? (Brice Heath)

  Look to home and community practices, value alternative literacy practices, and incorporate them into the curriculum
• Gunter Kress 1997


  Studied own children, observed multimodal behaviour. Observed the ways in which children use objects and mix with toys to construct world in which they can act out narratives in play.
• Accuracy of writing


  Can refer to the wide range in which writers match what they produce target: e.g. use of lexical and grammatical features
• What are the characteristics of the Pre-communicative stage in spelling development? (Richard Gentry)


  Imitating by scribbling, showing understanding of symbols, assigning meanings and messages, and using a range of symbols.
• What are the characteristics of the Semi-phonetic stage in spelling development? (Richard Gentry)

  Linking letter shapes and sounds, awareness of word boundaries and how writing is organized on a page.
• What are the characteristics of the Phonetic stage in spelling development? (Richard Gentry)

  Understanding that phonemes can be represented by graphemes, making sound-symbol connections consistently.
• What are the characteristics of the Transitional stage in spelling development? (Richard Gentry)

  Combining phonetic knowledge with visual memory, being aware of combinations of letters and patterns.
• What are the characteristics of the Conventional stage in spelling development? (Richard Gentry)

  Having knowledge of the spelling system and rules, using mostly correct spelling, possessing a large sight vocabulary, and understanding word structure.
• Insertion


  Adding extra letters
• Omission


  Leave letters out
• Substitution


  Substituting one letter for another
• Transposition


  Reverse correct order of letters in words
• Phonetic spelling


  Use sound awareness to guess letters and combination of letters
• Over or under generalising of spelling rules


  Over generalising of a rule when not appropriate. Under generalising by only applying rule in one specific context.
• Salient sounds


  Only writing the key sounds in a word and missing out letters
• Katherine Perera (1984) Preperation phase of writing


  Up to 6 years old. Basic motors skills are required alongside some principles of spelling.
• Katherine Perera (1984) consolidation phase of writing


  7 to 8 years old. Able to express in writing what they can say.
• Katherine Perera (1984) differentiation phase of writing


  9 to 10 years old. awareness of writing as separate from speech, emerges, stronger, understanding of writing for different audiences and purposes.
• Katherine Perera (1984) integration phase of writing


  Mid teens. Heralds the 'personal voice' in writing. Evidence of controlled writing with appropriate linguistic choices made consistently.
• Genre theory - Jim Martin and Joan Rothery

  Research children's writing in Australian schools in the 80s. Early writing within school fell into distinctive groupings:

  
  

  Observation/comment

  Recount

  Report

  Narrative
• Genre theory - Frances Christie

  Narrative

  Recount

  Procedures

  Reports

  Explanations

  Expositions/discussions