I collected writing samples from my kindergarten classroom and they are from their journal writings. I will refer to the students as A, B, and C. Each student is in Stage 1: Emergent Spelling but are at different levels within this. Student A can write letters clearer and has started to show he is sounded out the letters of the words. Student A also knows the distinction between drawing and writing and the direction of writing on the page. Student B shows that he understands the distinction between drawing and writings and can make some letters. They are not easy to read but it shows that they are not just scribbles and he can also match some letter sounds. Student C is in the very beginning of stage 1, he does not have any letters written on the page only a picture which indicated he does not fully understand the distinction between drawing and writing (or maybe he didn't want to write that day). He does however, have his name written so he does know how to make some letters. Also, all three students have an understanding of directionality.
A literacy center activity I would use is the "journaling" that my MT uses. These samples are from a little earlier in the school year and I can already see a lot of improvement with all three students. If I were to implement this activity I would give my students a prompt like, "Write and draw what you did this weekend," and provide time for the students to create a story or explain to me on paper what they did. I would walk around assisting in sounded out words that are difficult and steering the students to use their word walls and alphabet sheets to help them in their writing. I would then go to the carpet and hold up each story and the student explain to the class what they wrote about. I think this would support students learning because they can write about something personal to them. All the students in my classroom love telling me what they did this weekend and giving them an opportunity to write about it to the class will improve their writing skills. I would do this a couple times a week or everyday to get help them practice their site words and work on their writing skills.
Julia,
ReplyDeleteI actually have similar writing samples. My MT gave me two different samples and showed me others. I was able to see the children were at various levels of high, medium, and low writing. Most of the students in her class are emergent writers as well. They know which direction to write and how to follow the template of the lines with the dashes between them. The children's spelling is for the most part correct but they seem to use letters from sounds they "think" they hear. These writing samples did not have pictures on them-but my MT says she still uses drawings to captivate childrens words. (Meaning a picture with quick explanation) The children have started to try and move away from that slowly. I think the activity you chose was a great one! By letting children free write or use a promp I think it really is a benefit. I have found children love to write about personal stories! Even in my preschool class the children love to express themselves through personal stories. I think this is a great activity and could help children blossom in their writing. Teachers underestimate most of the time what children actually can do and can write. They learn a lot even from eachother so by sharing with peers or with eachother, it makes a huge difference.
Julia & Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteMy writing samples are all in the beginning writing stages. Some more advanced students write clearly with correct capitalization, punctuation and most words spelled correctly or close. A majority of the writing pieces that I see consist of correct punctuation, most capitalization is correct, and most words aren't spelled correctly, but are spelled phonetically. Being placed in a second grade class has displayed more advanced writing than both of yours, but has also displayed the wide range that can occur in the earlier grade levels. Also in agreement with you both, a literacy activity I would use with my students would be writing about personal stories. My MT lets her students use their own personal lives when creating pieces associated with her lessons. For example, for a poetry unit, the students wrote poems about an event in their lives and included their lesson on emotions while writing. Incorporating different writing styles, yet still using their own lives, allows students to learn and absorb writing styles more effectively. For example, my MT can ask students to write a "seeing with words" piece, and they can immediately think of the one they wrote after that lesson, and have an idea of how and what to write.