4.+Early+years+writers


 * 3. What have you learnt about early years writers, text types and phases of literacy development through your engagements with early years learners?**

 Writing surveys such as that displayed in Hill, 2006 p430, are useful tools to help teachers further explore the child’s interests in writing. It is important for teachers to conduct surveys such as this one in order to determine what the children already know about various topics and what they may be interested in learning more about. This would help a teacher plan activities and projects. Information such as the data gathered from this survey may also be beneficial for teachers when it comes to evaluating and assessing the students and their understanding of the topics. (Hill, 2006 p432)
 * __ Writing Interests __**

// What do you like to write? // Stories about fairies and mermaids and princesses and stuff
 * Example of a writing interest’s survey (adapted from the Reading Survey Hill, 2006 p430):**

//Who do you know who is a good writer?// My mum and dad and my teacher

// When do you like to write? // At school or sometimes at home and sometimes my dad lets me type up his uni essays.

//Who writes in your family?// Mum and Dad write uni essays and mum writes reports for her work.

// Why do people write? // To entertain people or to help people learn things. Like my mum and dad’s uni text books, they write lots of information in those books.

// How much do you like writing? // I don’t like writing at school that much because sometimes we have to write about boring things. But when we allowed to write stories I love writing.

// How well do you write? // Pretty good

// How much do you like writing at school? // I like writing at school when we get to write our own stories or about what we did on the weekend.

//How much do you like writing at home?// Quite a lot

//How much do you like someone to write to you?// I like that, it’s fun

//What do you like to write?// Stories

//What do you do if you come to a hard word in writing?// Have a go and sound out each letter. Sometimes I will even check in my little dictionary that our teachers made us. And sometimes I ask my friends or my teacher how to spell the word.

This particular child states that she likes to write stories about fairies and princesses in creative writing time at school. She also stated that people write to entertain people and to help people learn like her Mum and Dad who read university text books. The results display a clear link between her understanding of the purpose of writing and what she has observed at home. This emphasises that many children like to mirror the behaviours of their parents and they draw on their experiences at home to generalise information about the world. In my experience I have noticed that most children enjoy open ended writing activities. For example being given a small picture to then go and write a story about. That small prompt sparks ideas in the children’s mind and they are then able to sit down and write a story. Every child’s story ends up being completely different despite having the same picture prompt. There were always common themes amongst the stories that even the children themselves would pick up on in sharing time. Their writing interests became clear and the majority of the girls and boys seemed to be very similar. The boys would tend to write stories about superheroes saving the day and girls would write about mermaids and princesses and animals who would get trapped and then rescued. Without a prompt children seemed to be overwhelmed by the many things they could write about and would simply sit there for ages worrying and thinking about what to write about and end up writing next to nothing.

There are 6 different phases in literacy development: beginning writing, early-emergent writing, emergent writing, early writing, transitional writing and extended writing. (Hill, 2006 p5) __ Beginning writing __ : (0-3 years of age) In the beginning writing phase, babies, infants and toddlers learn to hold pencils etc and scribble. The scribble will slowly change into drawing and writing like scribble. At this stage, children begin to make the distinction between symbols for drawing and writing. Gradually, through the observation of people such as their parents that writing can convey a message and is a way to communicate. (Hill, 2006 p7) __ Early-emergent writing : __ (3-5 years of age) In this stage of literacy development, children’s writing becomes a combination of drawing and number and letter symbols. The begin to learn that different symbols represent different meanings. Children start to copy letters and learn to listen to the way words are spoken and representing the sounds of the words with letters. (Hill, 2006 p8) __ Emergent writing : __ (Kindergarten) At this stage, children begin to learn the concept of a word and a sentence. They recognise that spaces are left between words and begin to understand and use punctuation. They further develop their skills in sounding out words and representing those sounds with letters. (Hill, 2006 p8) __ Early writing: __ (Grade 1) In the early phase of writing children begin to write simple sentences and utilise punctuation on a regular basis. Linking ideas with words such as “and” and sentences sounding slightly repetitive are common at this stage. At this stage children also begin to grasp the concept of phonics. (Hill, 2006 p8) __ Transitional writing: __ (Grades 1-2) Children are in the transitional stage of writing if they are able to write several sentences with multiple ideas and use the correct punctuation. Children will also begin to use paragraphs to mark the beginning of a new idea. Children are able to edit, proofread and revise their own writing. (Hill, 2006 p9) __ Extended writing : __ (Grades 2-4) Children are able to write complex texts and use a variety of text types to cater for different audiences. Children can tailor their use of vocabulary for different writing styles. Their editing skills have developed to the stage where they are now also checking that their writing ‘flows’. (Hill, 2006 p10) __ Types of writing common in grades prep – 2 __ In my observations of a grade 1 and 2 class most children seemed to be in the early writing and transitional writing stages. They were all able to write several sentences of multiple ideas and were slowly grasping the concept of punctuation and their correct use. The teacher encouraged the students to revise their own writing and to sound out words they couldn’t spell. They were not allowed to ask the teacher to help them spell a word, they had to have a go writing it for themselves or look for the word displayed somewhere in the classroom to copy. This was a great way to encourage students to be independent and responsible learners. At the end of the writing task the teacher would sit down with the student’s one on one and get them to read their writing to her and she would then help them correct their spelling. This was great, because she was able to see what the child was capable of doing on their own without help and could effectively evaluate what stage they are at with their writing.
 * __ Phases of Literacy Development: __**
 * Narratives
 * Letters
 * Reports
 * Poems
 * Personal Recounts

Assessing children’s writing and drawing is important as it allows us to gain access into what they are thinking and it gives us an insight into the child’s knowledge of layout and spatial awareness. (Hill, 2006 p321) When children begin to write as well as they read, it shows that they are beginning to make links between speaking, writing and reading. (Hill, 2006 p321) In order to assess a child’s writing standard 3 aspects can studied; child’s written language, that is whether they write in letters, words or paragraphs’ a child’s written ideas, whether they are original, create a message or copied text and text conventions, that is the words are written left to write, punctuation is included and if a child is revising and editing (Hill 2006-2012, p323)
 * __ Assessing Writing __**

__ VELS writing levels __ Teachers use the VELS progression points to determine what level a child is, and should, be writing at.
 * As outlined by VELS, at level 1 children should be working towards: **
 * understanding that their writing can communicate ideas, feelings and information
 * use of letters and some words in the writing of brief texts about topics of personal interest
 * emergent writing showing concepts about print, including left to right, top to bottom
 * reading back from their own writing at the time of writing
 * approximate use of letters for some letter–sound relationships and common words
 * use of a variety of writing tools, including crayons, pencils and computer software

“At Level 1, students write personal recounts and simple texts about familiar topics to convey ideas or messages. In their writing, they use conventional letters, groups of letters, and simple punctuation such as full stops and capital letters. Students are aware of the sound system and the relationships between letters and sounds in words when spelling. They form letters correctly, and use a range of writing implements and software.” ( VELS, 2012)

 “At Level 2, students write short sequenced texts that include some related ideas about familiar topics. They write texts that convey ideas and information to known audiences. They select content, form and vocabulary depending on the purpose for writing, and describe the purpose and audience for their own and others’ writing. They use appropriate structures to achieve some organisation of the subject matter. They link ideas in a variety of ways using pronouns, conjunctions and adverbial phrases indicating time and place. They accurately spell frequently used words, and make use of known spelling patterns to make plausible attempts at spelling unfamiliar words. They use capital letters, full stops and question marks correctly. They reread their own writing and use a range of editing resources to revise and clarify meaning. They write upper- and lower-case letters legibly with consistent size, slope and spacing.” (VELS, 2012)
 * At level 2 children should ideally be working towards: **
 * 1.25 **
 * inclusion of their own experiences when writing for personal purposes and audiences such as in lists, letters, cards, posters
 * inclusion of one or more generally readable sentences
 * some correct use of capital letters and full stops
 * drawings that support the intended meaning of their writing
 * plausible attempts at spelling unfamiliar words, matching sound–letter relationships and using some simple spelling patterns
 * 1.5**
 * experimentation with a range of short text types; for example, recounts, letters, lists, procedures
 * sequencing of a small number of ideas in short texts for different purposes and audiences
 * rereading of their own writing, checking that it makes sense
 * combination of writing with drawings or computer graphics to support meaning
 * correct spelling of some high-frequency words and plausible attempts at spelling unfamiliar words
 * 1.75 **
 * inclusion of information and ideas in short texts for known audiences and selected purposes
 * use of strategies to revise writing; for example, reading aloud, use of feedback from others
 * mostly correct use of capital letters, full stops, and question marks
 * correct spelling of unfamiliar words, using knowledge of sound–letter patterns

Victorian Essential Learning Standards, 2012 cited 30th May 2012 <[|http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/support/progression/english.html#lev2]>

Emily Banfield

There are 6 different phases in literacy development described in the text: beginning writing, early-emergent writing, emergent writing, early writing, transitional writing and extended writing. Through the engagement with our interviewed early learners, examples may be taken from the early writing phase, where children “continue to create or invent spelling words, a letter may represent a syllable - for example: bcos, the difference between lower and upper case is apparent and spacing between words becomes consistent. They are also aware of different genres of writing - narratives and information texts (Hill 2012, p. 319).” Grace

In order to assess a child’s writing standard 3 aspects can studied; child’s written language, that is whether they write in letters, words or paragraphs’ a child’s written ideas, whether they are original, create a message or copied text and text conventions, that is the words are written left to write, punctuation is included and if a child is revising and editing (Hill 2006-2012, p323). In one year level, particularly the younger year levels, children can be on a variety of different writing levels, from writing only one or two letters to demonstrate a word to writing full sentences with correct spelling and punctuation. Students that really stood out were the ones who were able to read over and edit their own work without assistance from a teacher. Generally students with better writing skills were also the stronger readers in a class. Siobhan Judge

** Thought my interview with an early years learner, I became aware that his writing development was ‘Early writing’ as described in Hill (2006, p. 317). In this phase of development children ‘create or invent spelling words’, Child A wrote ‘kumeeing’ instead of coming. Child A also understood the difference between lower and uppercase letters as described in the early writing phase in Hill. **

** It is important for children to learn how to write different text types as well as read them, the child I interviewed told me about the writing he was doing at school at the time. He was learning about programming and instructional writing (i.e recipe). **

** Ashley Willis **

Assessing Writing is to identify the child's knowledge and skill of writing. It is important as the children make links between speaking, writing and reading when they start to write and read. It has three main elements (Hill, 2012 p.322): 1.' Written language' is to see how much the child know about letters, words and sentences. 2. 'Ideas' is to see the child's writing convey of an idea or ownership. 3. 'Text convention' has to do with the placement and directionality of writing of words. For example, spaces between words and lines, punctuation used appropriately and editing their work.

ESTHER HONG

Through my experiences with beginner writers, it has become apparent that children learn and develop writing skills at very different paces. For example, In my classroom I had prep students writing full sentences in very clear handwriting, who would be classed as ‘transitional writing’ (Hill 2012, p. 318) while other students were simply using (sometimes very difficult to read) ‘drawings or letters to represent words’ or even full sentences which is classified as 'early emergent writing' (Hill 2012, p. 316).

The types of writing that children learn are really important, as all I saw my prep class doing while I was on placement was recount writing. There were no other forms of text types being used in the classroom (when looking back through students work) which I found to be surprising because it wasn’t allowing the children to use their imaginations in narrative or learn to write basic instructional pieces. By learning about different text types children can develop their reading, but also learning new words and phrases to use in everyday writing and speaking.

<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';">-Caitlin Mason