HELPING WITH WRITING

To introduce the writing process

To discuss the stages of writing and the links to spelling

To explore the ways that classroom helpers can assist in this process

WHY DO WE WRITE?

Think back to your last piece of writing... What did you write? Why did you write it? Who was it for? What form did it take? Was the writing neat? Was the spelling accurate? How important was neatness and accurate spelling on this occasion?

A WRITER NEEDS...

A reason to write Someone to write to Knowledge of a variety of writing forms to

use e.g. Letter, list, note, instructions, story To know when correct spelling and neatness

are important

Pre-writing: What do you do?Planning What do children do?Writing: What do you do? Composing What do children do?RecordingRevisingPost writing: What do you do? Sharing What do children do?Publishing

STAGES OF WRITING

INITIAL STAGE

•Scribbling and drawing

EXPERIMENTA

L STAGE

•Invented letters•Conventional letters

•No spaces•With spaces•Invented words•Children use their knowledge of sound and letters when writing

•Approximations gradually develop towards adult model

DEVELOPING STAGE

•Conventional words

•Further developments are made in understanding the relationships between sounds and letters

SPELLING STRATEGIES

Say it slowly; what sounds do you hear? Circle the word (or part) you think is wrong Try it again Look in your own writing and around the room for charts

and lists Ask a friend Use a dictionary or word book

LEARNING WORDS (Look, say, visualise, write, check)

Look at the whole word carefully Close your eyes and picture the word in your mind (like a

camera) Write the word three times in different places Check it is correct

ACTIVITIES CLASSROOM HELPERS MAY BE INVOLVED IN... Talking about writing : conversations

Give children time to thinkEncourage planning ideas firstSay sentences aloud before beginning

Listening to children read their writingListenPraise effortsAsk ‘What do you want it to say?’

Word / letter gamesDiscuss the procedureEncourage turn-taking

Publishing Handwriting

Ensure children know what to doPraise and encourage efforts

Helping with spelling, grammar or punctuation

HELPFUL SPELLING STRATEGIES

How the word sounds may help Say the word slowly so each sound can be articulated Use sound / letter charts Focus on letter identification

What the word looks like may help Recall how the word looks from memory Try writing the word several ways and decide which looks best Recognise and apply visual patterns, e.g. I know how to spell

main so I can spell strain, brain.

What I know about the word may help Apply analogies for why the word is spelt that way Build on words already known to get unknown words, e.g. I can

spell the compound word birthday because I know how to spell birth and day and it means the day I was born

If I can spell jump I can spell jumps, jumped, jumping, jumper

UNDERSTANDING WRITING THROUGH READING

There is a difference between written and spoken language

There is a difference between print and pictures

Print is a constant message that is written down

Generally, writing goes from left to right and top to bottom

of the page

Print is made up of words, letters, spaces, and punctuation

marks

Letters and groups of letters can represent a range of

sounds

IT IS IMPORTANT FOR YOUNG WRITERS TO...

Get their ideas down in writing

Have opportunities to talk about the writing they do at home and at school

Understand the things good writers do

Have an audience who listens to them read what they write, helps them to hear what they have to say and provides a way of celebrating the writing

REVIEW

What are the important understandings we have gained?

What are the benefits of our partnership for your child?

Do you have any thoughts or reflections on the program so far that you would like to share?

Points to consider; Students begin to read and write at home well before they come to school Parents are the students first teachers and make a great contribution to their literacy

development Students develop their own natural learning strategies long before their formal

education Students learn by doing, so they learn to read by reading and write by writing