Developmental Stages of Writing Wk2

7/27/2019 Developmental Stages of Writing Wk2

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DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES OFWRITING

-WRITING READINESS-

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TSL3073

TEACHING WRITING SKILLS INTHE PRIMARY ESL CLASSROOM

Mohd Iskandar bin DaudIPGKKB


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Writing readiness

What is writing readiness?

The skills and understandings necessary for

minimum success in completing a writing task

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Factors affecting writing readiness

1. Maturation- sufficient stage of mental and physical development

2. Experience- exposure to basic skills is necessary before complextasks are tackled.

3. Relevance of materials and methods of instruction - children are

more ready to learn materials that meets their needs and fitstheir already established interests, children are more ready tolearn skills of spelling, reading and writing when they are havingfun doing

4. Emotional attitude and personal adjustment - Emotional stressblocks readiness for learning especially those resultingfrom unmet needs, overprotection, rejection in the home,previous experience of school failure, and other home difficulties.

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Building Learning Readiness

Begins before the child even enters school:

The parents should provide books, drawing, reading, andwriting materials at home.

The children should have knowledge about books, pictures,and rudiments of writing.

From childhood through school, children should beexposed to skills both for their immediate usefulness andfor their preparation for new learning.

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Building Learning Readiness

Building learning readiness necessitates the following steps:

1. Analyze the skills, understanding and knowledgerequired in studying a given material.

2. Use diagnostic pre-tests and other devices to determinethe level each prospective learner possesses (theprerequisite skills, understanding and knowledge as well asthe specific areas of strengths and weaknesses)

3. Design the instructional programmed to match the

individual needs and abilities of each learner

4. Build up the fine motor skills

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Building fine motor skills

In order for a child to write meaningfully, he/she must first buildup their fine motor skills.

The skills along the path to writing are as follows:

Scribbling with crayons - put plenty of paper and writing materials in writing

areas at home Making circles and other basic shapes - Point out shapes in the room, use

stencils

Gaining more control of small muscles Activities like squeezing, pinching ,cutting, lacing and stringing, tracing, etc

Making representational drawings get the child to explain the drawing

Beginning to recognize letters - Refer to his/her name written on a card, Pickout letters they know, play Bingo, etc

Consolidating letter recognition - label the room, finding and naming letters,etc

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Building fine motor skills (cont)

How to help writing readiness of a child? (cont)

Begins to recognize written names and some words - picking out knownwords, notice similarities and differences in words

Realizes the permanency of words (r-u-n always spells run) - Read familiarbooks with only one or two lines on a page, Notice word labels in the room

Begins to imitate letters - provide a well-stocked writing area, provide wordand picture cards, provide letter cards and stencils, provide chalk and achalkboard, etc

Writes name - model writing his/her name and get him/her to copy it, Writeother names if they know how

Writes other words - a journal, stories, etc Improves through practice and positive feedback - Write letters to family

members, write rhymes, reminders for parents, etc

Encourage all efforts to write! **

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Writing Readiness

Mechanics

Penmanship

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The mechanics of writing

Def - Mechanicsis the term we use to describe thetechnical aspects of writing, such as spelling, punctuation,capitalization, etc

If a piece of writing is not mechanically well-written hard

to figure out what is trying to be said, seen as poorlywritten, reflects the writers attitude and may be cognitivelevel too

Good mechanics make a story easy to read, and that will

attract more readers. See example:

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Memorable Students

they are the memorable students in any class theyparticipate fully in any mischief they see no point in

volunteering for extra jobs they delight indistracting their classmates they take no pleasure inlearning they are never satisfied

Not only is the above example difficult to readbecause of the lack of punctuation and capitalization,but it also impossible to understand the meaning ofit

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With punctuation, it the same passage can be read this way:

Memorable Students

They are the memorable students. In any class, they participate

fully. In any mischief, they see no point. In volunteering forextra jobs, they delight. In distracting their classmates, theytake no pleasure. In learning, they are never satisfied.

OR

They are the memorable students in any class. They participatefully in any mischief. They see no point in volunteering forextra jobs. They delight in distracting their classmates. Theytake no pleasure in learning. They are never satisfied.

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So are these memorable students good students or badstudents? Based on the original text, we have no way ofknowing. Can you see how important mechanics are tomeaning?

Some basic mechanics of writing: Sentences

To put it simply, a sentenceis a complete thought or idea

Punctuation

marks such as periods (.), question marks (?), exclamation points (!),

commas (,), apostrophes (), quotation marks (), semi-colons (;), andcolons (:)

When used correctly, they make writing look more organized and easier toread and understand

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Paragraphing A paragraphis a group of sentences that all revolve around the same topic

or idea

Huge paragraphs are hard to follow. It is easier to read, both from acomprehension and a physical standpoint, when text is broken up into

smaller paragraphs with empty spaces in between

The general rule is, you should start a new paragraph every time you starttalking about something new

Grammar (Tense, Subject-Verb Agreement, etc) The most important thing to remember about tense is to choose one tense

and stick to it. This is another problem some beginning writershave. Many kids, when learning to write in school, switch tenses like crazy.

SVA - different forms of every verb that go with different subjects, dont getconfused

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Homonyms

words which sound the same, but are spelled differently and havedifferent meanings.

another lovelyfeature of the confusing English language

Eg:Your/Youre, There/Their/Theyre, Its/Its, To/Too/Two,Then/Than, Lose/Loose commonly confused

Practice (proofreading) Reading over what youve written with a critical eye, judging on not just

content, but mechanical correctness as well, is crucial.

It helps you catch and correct your mistakes before readers see them

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Proofreading practice

Kevin Howie Brian AJ and Nick piled onto the bus, they had justfinished there concert that night in Chicago and was on theyre way tograb a bite to eat than they would be driving on to the next cityMilwaukee. Wear should we eat? asks Howie his body jerkingbackward as the bus lurched away from the venue. How about

McDonalds? AJ suggested smiling. You always want two go tooMickey Ds AJ complained Kevin cant we eat healthy fouronce? Howie agrees with Kevin but the to were quickly overruled bythe other three who insisted on fast food, before they knew it the buswas pulling up in front of the familiar golden arches.

Oh my God its the backstreet boys screamed thegurl at thecounter when they walked in to order. I love U guys so much your myfavorite band, will U sign a song 4 me? Sure Nick agreed andbreaks into dont wanna loose you now, the other guys came in ontheyre parts but the girl was squealing louder then they could sing

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Answer (50 errors)

Kevin,Howie,Brian,AJ,and Nick piled onto the bus. They had just finishedtheirconcert that night in Chicago and were on theirway to grab a bite toeat. Thenthey would be driving on to the next city,Milwaukee. Whereshould we eat?askedHowie,his body jerking backward as the bus lurchedaway from the venue.

How about McDonalds?AJ suggested,smiling. You always want togo toMickey Ds,AJ, complained Kevin. Cant

we eat healthyforonce? Howie agreedwith Kevin, but the twowere quicklyoverruled by the other three,who insisted on fast food.Beforethey knew it,the bus was pulling up in front of the familiar golden arches.

Oh my God, its theBackstreet Boys!screamed the girlat the counter

when they walked in to order. I love youguys so much;youremy favoriteband! Willyou sign a songforme?

Sure, Nick agreed and brokeinto Dont Wanna Lose You Now. Theother guys came in on theirparts,but the girl was squealing louder than theycould sing

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Penmanship

Def - Penmanshipis the technique of writing with the handusing a writing instrument

The various generic and formal historical styles of writing arecalled hands, whilst an individual personal style of penmanship

is referred to as handwriting Motor control - Handwriting requires the motor coordination of

multiple joints in the hand, wrist, elbow and shoulder to formletters and to arrange them on the page.

Holding the pen and guiding it across paper depends mostlyupon sensory information from skin, joints and muscles of thehand and this adjusts movement to changes in the frictionbetween pen and paper

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Penmanship

With practice and familiarity, handwritingbecomes highly automated using motor programsstored in motor memory

Compared to other complex motor skillshandwriting is far less dependent on a moment-to-moment visual guidance

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Reasons for good penmanship

In the United States each year: the health of at least 1 in 10 Americans is endangered by the poor

handwriting of their physicians.

up to $95,000,000 in tax refunds are not delivered because of unreadabletax-forms.

$200,000,000 in time and money is lost because poor handwriting results insuch problems as confused and inefficient employees, phone calls made towrong or non-existent numbers, and letters and packages delivered toincorrect addresses -- or not delivered at all.

The repercussions of poor handwriting aren't limited to the

workplace; they begin in the classroom - repeated research hasshown that even when teachers are told not to take off points forbad handwriting, poor handwriting results in lower grades -- as

much as a full letter grade lower -- for similar or identical work.

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Poor penmanship20

physicians

handwriting is

notoriously bad, and

with the increasedimportance of

prescription

medicines in treating

diseases of every

sort, poor

penmanshipincreases the

probability of fatal

medication errors


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Teaching handwriting

Effective handwriting instruction should focus on the threecomponents of handwriting - letter formation (form and slant),size, and spacing.

When teaching handwriting, teachers should focus on one

component at a time -- first, letter formation; then, size; andthen, spacing.

The form and slantof specific letters will depend on the styleof handwriting being taught. Whatever style you're teaching,however, children first must learn the starting and stopping

point of each letter. That can be accomplished by having childrentrace the letters with their index fingers before they beginwriting.

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Posture and paper position also are important to ensurecorrect letter formation and slant. Students should situpright with both feet flat on the floor, placing the paper ata 45 degree angle toward the writing-arm side of the body

and tilting it to conform to the position of the writing arm'sforearm.

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Teaching handwriting23

Paper position and correct posture


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Letter size-- more accurately, letter proportion -- is fairlyconsistent across handwriting styles. Similarly-shapedletters should be the same height. For example, smallletters (a, c, e, i, m, n, o, r, s, u, v, w, x, z) should be half the

size of ascenders (b, d, h, k, l, t) and descenders (g, j, p, q,y).

Capital letters should be about the same height asascenders.

Proper proportion can be taught using handwriting paperwith a dotted middle line.

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Handwriting paper

with a dotted middle

line.


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Follow the direction of arrows when writing letters and numbers


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Proper spacingincludes both spacing between letters andspacing between words. The space between each letter in a wordshould be the same. The space between each word also should beconsistent. Students can use their pinkies to measure the correctdistance between words.

Proper grip of the pen or pencil is another important aspect ofgood handwriting. Instruct students to hold the pen or pencilclose to the writing tip with the thumb and index fingers. Themiddle finger should be curved under the writing utensil, with

the utensil resting lightly on the area between the tip and firstknuckle. The fourth finger and pinky should be curved in towardthe palm.

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Proper pencil grip


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Common Things that Contribute to Poor Handwriting

Posture - sprawling on desk, holding head up with onehand, knees not under desk & aligned with paper

Pencil Grip awkward, incorrect fingers used to holdpencil

Writing on the lines - writing in the space in top margin,writing along the bottom edge of the paper under last line,not writing on the lines

Starting at the margins - not starting at the left margin,

indent too large (should only be the width of a finger) Spacing - too much space between words like in primary

(should only be the width of the letter m)

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Common Things that Contribute to Poor Handwriting

Speed - slow (lack focus, no continuous writing), slow(needs to think of letter formation while writing), lack ofspeed means that student cannot keep up with transcribingnotes from the board (constantly behind), too fast (writing

becomes illegible) Neatness - smudged, blotchy, irregular letter size

Writing tools - pencil not sharpened well enough, pencillead is too hard (writing is very light & hard to read), pencil

lead is too soft (smudges), writing tools not at hand (lost,misplaced - time wasted)

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Cursive vs. print

What is cursive writing? Joined-up writing, joint writing, linking, running writing,

or handwriting is any style of penmanship in which the symbols ofthe language are written in a conjoined and/orflowingmanner

Generally for the purpose of making writing faster The terms cursive or script are popular in the U.S., known as Joined-

up writing in the U.K., double writing in Australia and linking in NewZealand.

The term handwritingis common in the United States, Canada,

Australia and New Zealand Quite distinct from the so-calledblock letter,print-

scriptorprintingmethod of writing, in which the letters ofa word are unconnected

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Types of cursive writing

D'Nealian

Getty-Dubay

Zaner-Bloser

Palmer Method

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ManuscriptModern(DNealian)

CursiveModern (DNealian)

Types of cursive writing34


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ManuscriptItalic(Portland, Getty/Dubay)

LinkedItalic (Portland,Getty/Dubay)



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ManuscriptZaner-Bloser CursiveZaner-Bloser



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ManuscriptPalmer CursivePalmer



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Reasons to teach cursive handwriting

1. Learning cursive writing helps students develop reading,communication, and fine motor skills

There is a direct link between the process of learning to write incursive and the ability to read fluently.

Several studies also suggest that cursive writing improves thefluidity of thought in written communication and helps to developstudents fine motor skills, including hand-eye coordination

2. Students must be able to read cursive handwriting

Not only will these students struggle with cursive writing - they

cant read it either.Studying for a test is difficult when students cantread their own notes.

Scholars point out that without instruction in cursive handwriting,students wont be able to read historical documents such as theDeclaration of Independence

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http://www.fonts4teachers.com/Cursive_Font_Set_p/cursivewritingfont.htm


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Reasons to teach cursive handwriting

3. Cursive writing receives higher marks. Multiple studies have found that neatly written papers receive higher

marks than papers with messy handwriting

Some researchers also suggest that papers written in cursive receivehigher marks than those written in block, or manuscript, style

4. Students can write in cursive faster than they can print

5. Illegible writing creates problems for society.

Undeliverable tax refunds, letters and packages sent to wrongaddresses, and employee mistakes in the various areas

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Tutorial40

Collect samples of peers handwriting.

Study the sample of handwriting.

Identify the problem.

Discuss techniques to be taught to overcome theproblem.

Present this to class.


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Self Study41

Read Chapter 5 - Chitravelu, N.et.al. (2005).ELTMethodolology: Principles and Practice, Selangor:Fajar Bakti.

Make notes and graphic organisers on this topic andfile them in your folio.

Developmental Stages of Writing Wk2

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