Early Writing: Fifth Blog Post

I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend, and has enjoyed the warm weather we were surprised with! This week our class will be focusing on developing their writing skills. A popular misconception people seem to have about young children's writing is that any "scribbles" or lines they make on a piece of paper is not considered writing. However, these early writing attempts represent children's attempt to communicate their thoughts and ideas with others. In order to encourage the development of children's writing, we as parents and teachers need to create as many opportunities as we can for children to practice their writing skills. As children learn to write, they are  learning about the meaning behind written and spoken words, as well as the understanding of the different sounds letters make. 

In the classroom this week the students will be working on their writing skills through 'shared' and 'interactive' writing. As an entire class and through smaller groups we will be composing and writing texts together. Through shared writing the students will create a story and I will be the only one writing the story down, then through interactive writing the students and I will "share the pen". It is important for children to feel encouraged about their writing and through these different writing opportunities the students will understand that what you say can be written down, these activities create meaning for the students. These writing opportunities will also provide the students with the ability to interact with the whole class and/or small groups which will allow them to receive support from their peers. I believe that children learn to see themselves as successful writers through active participation which can be achieved through shared and interactive writing. 

Children's writing development can be extended outside of the classroom through activities with you parents! This can be done through writing notes, helping to make grocery lists, labeling their drawings and much more. A great activity to do with your children is to make a book together. You can encourage your child to make a book by having them draw and prompting them with questions like "tell me about the pictures in your story" or "tell me about the last page." It is important to use the word make when encouraging your child with bookmaking because children may not see themselves as able to write a book at this age, therefore using the work make makes them feel more capable. When children add words to their books they are not only learning about reading and writing from left-to-right but are also gaining the understanding of how to place print and pictures on a page and understanding the idea of the spacing needed between pictures and print. 

Here are some fun activities you can do with your child to help further develop their writing skills:

• Kitchen Writing: Using sand or salt is a fun way for children to practice their writing skills 
• Shaving Cream: Shaving cream can be used for writing practice during bath time or even outside on an easel or table
• Gel Writing: Fill a zip-lock bag full of some hair gel as well as some food coloring and mix together. 
• Glue & Watercolor: Write your child's name in glue and then have them paint over the letters with watercolors 

Strength Based Writing: Fourth Blog Post

Good morning, 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week and enjoying the last few moments of winter. Although, I sure am looking forward to warm weather! This week our classroom has been focusing on developing our writing skills. Many people have a preconceived notion that children's "scribbling" or the writing of unrecognizable letters is not a form of writing. However, Marie Clay suggests that the letter forms that appear in children's early drawing and scribbling are not just random lines, but have meaning to them which in turn will later develop into writing behavior. The scribbling children do at this age is a process of learning for them, they are learning details about letters and words and the act of writing itself.  It is amazing to see the ideas that children are trying to symbolize through these scribbles and I have found that encouraging these forms of early writing attempts produces more confident learners as well as more confident writers.


These early attempts of writing are extremely valuable experiences for children and can reveal what they are learning about literacy. The best thing we can do as parents and teachers for our children is to provide as many opportunities as we can for children to develop their writing skills, in any form. Parents you can allow your children to help with making "to do lists" or grocery lists and encouraging their writing, even if it does not look "right". In order to encourage children's academic achievement and understanding of literacy, I have found that supporting children through a strength based lens is essential in fostering children's confidence. I believe that this means instead of focusing on what children cannot do, we need to focus on what children can do. We need to encourage and celebrate the fact that our children are writing, in any form! By focusing on the positives we are showing children that what they are doing matters, and encourages them to explore literacy in the ways that interest them right now. My goal in our classroom is to create an environment in which children feel proud about the things they are doing. By focusing on the positives of what our children are accomplishing we are inherently laying a foundation for children to form their identities as learners and writers.

Thank you all for continually checking our classrooms blog and providing me with feedback! It is very much appreciated! As always please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns, and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Stay warm!