*WRITING

=__**WRITING**__=

In our modern, hight tech world, which we live in today, I believe that writing is used in our lives just as much, if not more than say 80, 90 even 100 years ago. Its form or appearance may not be quite the same, but it is still a huge means of communication in today’s world. The old fashioned style of writing a letter and posting it in the mail is becoming more and more rare but, it is, through the resources such as emails and text messaging which have drawn so many of us into this high technological way of communicating… still writing.

Although we rely so heavily on this technology it is still so important that the basis of writing is taught, learnt and as a result grasped at an early primary school age. The basic processes of writing need to be taught as well as aspects such as grammar, spelling, and punctuation, which also fall into the category of writing. The essential writing stages are also fundamental to creating fluent and interesting writing. Through a wide range of writing activates, these necessary skills can be executed through interesting, motivating and informative ways-ways which will set these tools of writing in a students memory for life.

**-FROM AN EARLY AGE**
Through observation children are confronted with writing and text at a very early age and it is probably at an unthinkable age that children start to take notice and meaning from text. Probably the most well know symbol, world wide is ‘The Golden arches, “most 2-year-olds can associate the McDonald’s golden arches with a hamburger.” (Hill, 2006, p. 281)

Children engage with writing at such an early age through the means of television, story books, the family shopping list, birthday cards and so on. It is in most cases that children “begin by exploring writing through play”, (Hill, 2006, p 283) by making pretend notes on paper, home made cards to the grandparents, and squiggles on the chalkboard. When beginning to write, the scribble like formation of the child’s text has normally been observed, then copied by the child.

**-THE DEVELOPMENT OF WRITING**
In most cases, children starting out at primary school have a diverse spoken language, and it is aimed by the teacher to teach a child to write in the same diverse manner as they speak. This involves the students starting with the very basics from learning to hold a pencil to letter configuration, moving onto word and sentence formation, which expresses understanding to others.

To get a child well into the long road of writing, there are many defined stages to the development of writing. Children start this journey of writing by investigating individual letters, looking at their formation, capital letters etc. These early stages of writing, most adults are “calling scribble and may underestimate children’s attempts at adult writing.” (Hill, 2006, p. 281) Children may also use a lot of illustrations at this stage of learning, which help to express a message. The use of single letters are also used to represent words, eg. ‘S’ stands for his name Sam. The ‘Emergent writing stage follow with a lot of practice, concentration and persistence. “The child begins to create more letter-like shapes, and letters begin to represent sounds in words such as ‘lIk’ for like and ‘PPL’ for people.” (Hill, 2006, p.284) Progressing from ‘Emergent writing’ come the stages of early writing, during ‘early writing’ the use of capital letters and lower case letters grow to be visible in a child’s writing as well as spacing between words become more consistent. During the stage of ‘early writing’ a lot of repetition is used in a child’s writing piece this is a sign of confidence building with what they have already learnt. ‘Transitional writing’ progressively emerges, this is where a child’s writing increases in volume, punctuation is developed, and understanding and meaning can be taken from it. The different genres of writing are explored and as a result utilised by the student. ‘Extended writing’ is the final but ongoing stage of a students writing, this is where refining plays a part, punctuation, grammar, and spelling is accurate in most cases, and the different writing text types and genres are extensively investigated.



**-TEACHING WRITING, A TEACHERS ROLE**
There are quite a number of successful teaching strategies, teachers use to encourage writing with their students. Some of these include modelled writing, shared writing, independent writing and guided writing. Out of these strategies, modelled writing is one of the most valuable ‘lesson starters’ for a teacher. It is a time to lead by example- to direct and guide students in the right writing direction. “Modelled writing is a means of demonstrating the processes and products of writing. The teacher ‘thinks aloud’ while writing for the audience of children and shows how writers make selections about what to write and how to write.” (Raison, 1994, p 28) It is a time when a teacher can pinpoint a specific area of interest and through their demonstrations clear up any confusion, or difficulties students may be encountering. “As teachers illustrate procedures through modelling, children see that writing is an interactive process; they are reassured that writers ‘make mistakes’; they become aware of the processes of editing; and they develop confidence in using the processes themselves.” (The Education Department of Western Australia, 1997, p16)

Raison 1994, uses a set of clear, useful and practical listing of what ‘Children need’ when it comes to their writing. This, used along side some of the teaching strategies spoken of earlier, is a recipe for a successful lesson of writing. Raison’s recordings could be set up as a ‘teachers checklist’ to create a writing rich environment. “Children need: -	opportunities to write everyday -	to learn to write by writing -	to learn to write by talking about their writing -	to be aware of adults writing in a variety of contexts for many purposes -	to see regular demonstrations of the writing process -	to be surrounded by a print-rich environment that they helped create -	to have their writing efforts valued -	to have time to refine their writing, through editing and revising -	to have time to share their finished writing -	to be encouraged to set personal goals and take responsibility for their writing -	to reflect on the process of writing -	to write for purposes which are clear to them” (Raison, 1994, p16)



**-WRITING STRATEGIES**
To create an engaging, smooth and well set out piece of writing, children should be encouraged to brainstorm background ideas and knowledge before they start to write. An organised student will come to a final piece of well thought-out and captivating piece of writing due to their planning. To equip students with the strategies of a well planned piece of writing a teacher should introduce their students to some factors to consider when writing. A rough plan should be drafted, which includes the theme of the piece, characters, the setting, the plot and point of view. “The theme is the author’s purpose for writing the story,” (Hill, 2006, p 98) and the main idea of the piece. Characters, are the main figures in the text, “we see or hear about their thoughts, understanding their actions and see and hear them speak.” (Hill, 2006, p 98) “The setting is the geographical location and the time- either past, present or future- where the story takes place.” (Hill, 2006, p 98) The plot is the plan, scheme or main story of the text, it “is the action.” (Hill, 2006, p 98) Point of view is the perspective from which the story is told form. “The story can be told in first or third person, or by an omniscient narrator.” (Hill, 2006, p 98) Some of the more minor aspects to still keep in mind are illustrations, the climax, order of operations and the audience. With all these factors addressed a student should be able to create a piece of writing which is fluent and also to the point that they wished to formulate.



**-CREATIVE WRITING**
“Creative 1. Having the quality or power of creating. 2. Resulting from originality of thought or expression.” (The Concise p. 285) Creative writing is a time for students to use their imagination and as a is is encouraged to let free their feelings, and express emotions and beliefs into their writing. Creative writing can be introduced through all the different teaching strategies, which are, modelled writing, shared writing, independent writing and guided writing. An important time for creative writing is the final step, the ‘sharing time’. This ‘sharing time’ gives the “opportunity to be seen, to voice an opinion and to be heard by fellow peers. It is through this power of being included and valued that ultimately motivates the students to actively participate in their own learning.” (Gibbs, 2001)