Content & Mechanics: Understanding First Grade Writers

8/11/2019 Content & Mechanics: Understanding First Grade Writers

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Content & Mechanics:Understanding First Grade

Writers

PISMP TESL SK JAN 2013


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Writing

Process

Organizing ReflectingPlanning


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The Complexity of the Writing Process

Children travel through stages of development asthey gain an understanding of the processes ofreading and writing (Graves 1983; Calkins 1986).

Writing development is not necessarily linear, even inyoung children (Flower & Hayes 1980). Effectivewriters do not always follow a strict succession, from

planning the ideas to translating the ideas intowritten words to reviewing the product.


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The Complexity of the Writing Process

Both content and mechanics are important skills toaddress with beginning writers(Avery 1993).

However, it is important that teachers begin bynurturing childrens desire and attempts tocommunicate through writing, regardless of writingability. Writers first need to have a genuine purposefor writing and become comfortable in taking a risk

before learning all of the conventional rules of writing(Routman 1991).


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Problems Faced by Teachers

Our theoretical backgrounds and teachingexperiences lead us to believe that the mastery ofwriting skills occurs at a different point for eachchild.

This pedagogical lens encourages us to value theknowledgeeach student brings to the writing processas we carefully support individual growth along thedevelopmental continuum.


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Unfortunately that support is easy todescribe in theoretical terms yet quitedifficult to enact in a real classroom

setting, especially when teachers have toaddress state standards that seem todisregard the developmental process.

We sometimes find ourselves not havingthe time to let the children grow at theirown pace.


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As we reflected on these struggles, we realizedwe had somehow lost sight of what wasimportant to us as teachers: buildingrelationships with children that allow us tolisten to them, share responsibility for learningwith them, and use their insights and needs toguide our instruction.

Overemphasizing mechanics would hinder thecreative process of developing interestingcontent.


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Developing Question

How can we effectively emphasize story

content in our writing instruction?

When we do emphasize content, what

emerges within our studentswriting?

What does this journey look like for the

students and for us as teachers?


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How To Help Children To Write?

Some of these initial action ideasincluded focusing children on writing

content by using story webs and other

tools that help develop storylines andusing samples of other first gradewritingas models for their own work.

Collaborationhelped the children improvethe content of their writing.


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Design of Study

Children anlalyze the technique of someof their favourite author.

Children discuss the use of descriptiveand informative writing with theteacher.

Children talk about how they as authorscan use personal experience as theirstory ideas.


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Data Collection and Analysis

Teacher journal

Teacher conferences

Observation and transcripts of children

conversation.

Children writing samples

Interview responses, written reflection of the

writing process by the children.


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Findings and Discussios

1. A disconnect between what the school system wanted children to focus on in

their writing and what was natural to them as writers.

2. Our own difficulty focusing on the content of writing as we found ourselves

unconsciously commenting on the way the children writing look.

3. Defining the inconsistencies we saw in childrensattention to mechanics as their

stories gained variety and depth of content, their attention to mechanics

decreased.

4. The struggle children had making complex writing ideas look right, because

they lacked an understanding of complex writing structures.


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Teachers Struggles to Focus on Content

Proper punctuation is concrete rather than an

abstract concept, so we found ourselves

migrating toward this area even when we had

consciously decided not to. We kept getting

trapped.


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Defining the Inconsistencies in

Childrens Attention to Mechanics

As stories gained variety and depth of content,

attention to mechanics decreased. In other

words, when the children began to explore

with their writing, punctuation skills they

had previously mastered suddenly

disappeared.


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Expressing Complex Ideas

We faced our anxiety about writing instruc-

tion and discovered the importance of

accepting the nonlinear fashion in which the

first-graders grew as writers.


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Conclusion

Teachingis a dynamic process that requires us

to be reflective practitioners who continually

create, analyze, and reevaluate the

experiences we create for the children in our

classrooms.


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Summary

If we are too focused on mechanics, itwill hinder childs ability to be creative(content); and vice versa.

Teachers are trapped to catch up onthe syllabus and wanting to help theirstudents to develop their skills.


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Thank

You

Documents

Content & Mechanics: Understanding First Grade Writers