Literacy and Writing

Language is crucial to both reading and writing so it is important to develop background knowledge and language skills. There are three factors in what Sue Kempton describes as the language wheel, Talking, Writing, and Reading. These three steps should be used at all times in building comprehension. They can be used in any order.

Today a boy read a book about wolves during free read. He got so excited and then shared everything he learned about wolves and their territories during the circle. At first he was calling them spaces, each wolf pack had it's own space. But another boy raised his hand and told him about tigers and how their space is called a territory. After he divulged to the class all he learned about wolves, their territory, alpha males, and quite a bit more, it was time for writing. This student went and proceeded to write a fiction story about a pack of wolves using the knowledge he developed just earlier that day. This is a prime example of a student first reading about something, followed by talking about it, and ending by writing about it.

When kindergarteners are writing I've learned that it is also important to NOT worry about spelling at all. Is it better for a student to express everything they want to say with imperfect spelling? Or is it better for the student to stick with simple words and phrases that they already know? Would you rather read,

"I love my mom. We go to the park. It is fun."

Or would you rather see, "I DurldoD (discovered) at h (that) a Polar ber (bear) Sim (swims) in the wodr (water) to cach (catch) fish with his shorp (sharp) clos(claws)!"

In this phrase the student spelled all sight words correctly but still took risks in writing words she did not know, such as discover. It is important to teach kids how to communicate and think and put their thinking down on paper. When thinking is captured and written down it becomes permanent. This is the ground work for further building and developing. Grammar can be taught when students know how to express themselves. Encourage students to finish their thoughts and sentences. Add depth by asking questions to pull out their thinking.

In order to learn from past mistakes it is important to see and remember where mistakes were made. In the classroom I am in currently, there are no erasers on pencils, instead students put a single straight line through it.

"The dintis pulld for four teeth"

This makes the teacher and the student able to see the mistakes that were made as well as how they were fixed. Over time it shows the progress wrought in the students writing.

So what it comes down to is using the language wheel, talking, writing, and reading, to build understanding and language skills in students. Remember that it is more important that a student expresses themselves and there understanding rather than convey things perfectly. Building the confidence of students and their abilities is vital.