This
unit looks at:
-
activities
that help children to learn and practise handwriting
-
link
writing with reading, listening, and speaking
-
Help
children to write more freely.
Writing
Like the other three language skills, writing is
about meaning. Early writing activities such as copying, tracing, and making
letter shapes are handwriting practice. Finding the letters for computer work
is a matter of recognition and developing keyboard skills. But children always
have to think about the meaning of what they are writing and whatever the
lesson focus is - handwriting practice or keyboard skills or expressing
meaning, or a combination - children should enjoy the activity and feel
successful. In any case teachers have to know how to work healthy and in the
correct way with computers to teach properly to the children and because they
have to know the right use of this electronic tools.
The act of writing and learning suggest that involving
children and adults with meaningful writing occasions such as journal writing is
one of the most important methods to communicate the importance of writing, not
only as a fundamental communicative skill, but also as a mean for personal
learning and development. We have to know that most of the activities used in
reading can be used in writing too.
The most important knowledge that teachers have to
know about when start to teach writing is that children have to put
into words the things that they want to present before start to write.
We have to remember two things that make a great
difference when children are learning to write in English; their age and their
degree of familiarity with roman script.
When children write, they have to pay attention to
several things at the same time like develop finger control and be tidy, the form
letters, become familiar with the relationship between sound and spelling in English,
keep the picture of the letters in their minds or learn when to use capital
letters and how to punctuate.
How do we teach handwriting?
Children can be taught English style letter formation
and print in the English lesson or equally, they can use Spanish style cursive
right from the start. They easily adapt from one style to another. Teachers
sometimes worry excessively about these details and a whole-school handwriting
policy is a good plan to remove unnecessary conflict. The upper case/ lower
case debate is perhaps more significant as the children would appear to make
quicker progress in reading if they can learn lower case letters from Infants,
and not just capital letters.
Whatever the school policy in handwriting, teachers
must always check that the children use a comfortable pencil grip and have good
posture in writing sessions.
Practising
the alphabet
For writing and learning how to spell, children may
need to know the formal names of the letters and the order of the alphabet.
This also helps them look up words in a dictionary.
As teachers we might to know that very young learners
enjoy singing the alphabet song, making the letters writing in different colours
and chatting in their mother tongue while doing their writing.
Teachers also have to know that they are always an
example of behaviour and because of that children mimic all the actions rather
good and bad providing a particular learning behaviour.
Teaching
TIPS
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Practise letter shapes by tracing over dot letters, using letters cut
out of rough paper and stuck on cards; tracing the shape in the air- air writing,
asking children to put their names or initials on their drawings and other
artwork.
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Some ideas that can improve the motivation of children
to writing and practise their writing skills are:
Palm-writing: feel the shape and say the letter.
For this activity is advisable:
- Let children work in pairs.
- The first child has the letter.
- The second child closes his/her eyes.
- The first child draws the letter out line on the
palm of the second child's hand.
- The second child says the letter.
Back writing -feel the shape and write the letter
For this activity is advisable:
- Let children work in pairs.
- The first child has the letter/short word.
- He/ She draws the outline on the second child's
back.
- The second child writes down the letter or short
word.
- They check together.
From
speaking to writing and from reading to writing
From speaking to writing: making memory games and
quizzes.
When children can physically make the letters of the
alphabet or use a keyboard, they can do activities to practise their writing,
e.g. tracing by hand, finishing words, or copying by hand or on the computer. But
as meaning is the most important aim of writing, it is always important to link
these activities with what children already know and what they are learning.
From reading to writing: making lists.
Spelling
Spelling is a link between reading and writing. Today,
with more telephone communication, people often have to spell names and
addresses out loud.
We also can do many games related with writing which
also improve speaking louder skills, for example:
WHO AM I?
Get each child to write down (in secret) a word they
can see in the classroom. (If they label things in the classroom you will have
a lot of words on the walls.)
The whole class can then play a question game (spoken
or written) to guess the word. They can either say the questions, or write them
and give them to the teacher or another child to read out loud.
Writing
with other children and children writing freely
When children write individually about what they know
or feel themselves:
- They are
writing to communicate with others
- They are
developing self-confidence.
As a teacher you know that:
- All creative effort should be praised and encouraged
- Spelling and
handwriting can be looked at separately
- The child's message is most important.
Children know a lot about stories. They understand the
structure, that stories have a beginning and a middle where you tell what
happens, and that there are different ways to end. Children can be quite sophisticated
in the way they tell stories. This is part of the knowledge they bring to
class.
Teaching
TIPS
|
ü When they start doing this activity on their own,
children may want to keep the same questions you used on the board but you
can encourage them to ask other questions and answer them.
ü lf they don't put in the name of the person they are
writing about, the activity can become a guessing game. Let the other pupils
read the descriptions and guess who this is.
|
ü Children learn from reading one another's work. You
can display what children have written on the wall. They can pick the
funniest /the best or guess who the person is if it is not said.
ü lf your pupils can use a computer, they can describe
characters that they and the other children know e.g. favour rite cartoon characters,
and use them for a computer quiz.
And they can use the
spell-checker.
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BANDS OF ATTAINMENT FOR
READING AND WRITING - FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD CYCLES
The follow statements of the outcomes that children
should be able to do at the end of each stage of primary have been selected
with the criteria that those which appear in the next paragraphs are the
outcomes which the most of the children will learn finishing the second year of
each cycle. So 70% of children should be able to:
First
cycle:
Pupils recognise a wider range of familiar words in
simple texts. They use phonetic, graphic, syntactic and contextual cue to
attack unfamiliar words and t establish meaning when reading aloud. They
express opinions relates to major events and ideas in stories, poems and
non-fiction texts.
Pupils’ writing communicates meaning, and appropriate
and interesting vocabulary is used. Their writing is organised in a series of
sentences with fairly accurate use of capital letters and full stops, and
simple familiar grammatical structures are used. Familiar monosyllabic words
are generally spelled accurately. Pupils use word banks, phonics walls, picture
dictionaries and other resources to attempt to write less common words. In
their reading and writing pupils show an awareness of typical features of
different types of text.
Second
cycle:
Pupils read a range of texts with increasing fluency
and accuracy. They read independently, using strategies appropriately to
establish meaning. In responding to fiction and non-fiction they show
understanding of the main point and express preferences. Pupils use their
knowledge of the alphabet to locate books and find information. Pupils writing
communicate meaning in both narrative and non-narrative forms, using
appropriate and interesting vocabulary, and showing some awareness of the
reader. Pupils demonstrate an accurate use of: capital letters, full stops,
question marks, exclamations marks, commas and inverted commas. The basics
grammatical structure of simple sentences is usually correct. Spelling of
familiar words is usually accurate.
Third
cycle:
Pupils show understanding of a range of texts,
selecting key points and using inference and deduction where appropriate. In
their responses, they identify hey features, themes and characters and select
sentences, phrases and relevant information to support their views. Pupils
retrieve and collate information from a range of sources. Pupils’ writing in a
range of forms is thoughtful and interesting. Ideas are developed and organised
appropriately for the purpose of the reader. Vocabulary choices are becoming
more adventurous. Spelling, including that of polysyllabic words that conform
to regular patterns, is generally accurate. Punctuation within a sentence is
usually accurate. Texts are organised into paragraphs.
