WITHOUT DOING IT FOR THEMFOR KINDERS

D E B O R A H H O F R E I T E R , M S.T O S A W R I T I N G A N D L I T E R A C Y K- 1 2

V I C E P R I N C I PA L M I R A C O S TA H I G H S C H O O L

How to Help Your Child’s Writing:

Survey of Writing

When was writing a favorite activity for you?

What made it so much fun?

When was writing a horrendous experience for you?

What made it so horrible?

Motivation is key

Ish by Peter H. Reynolds

What is the Philosophy of Writers Workshop?

Independence

Choice

Writing is a Process: Teach the writer not the writing

Authentic Instruction: Don’t teach something that you wouldn’t actually DO as a writer

Brian Cambourne’s Conditions for Learning

Think of a time when you had to learn something

difficult, such as:Cooking a new recipeDoing your income taxesWorking on a carPlaying a card gameRiding a bicycleLearning a new computer program

What process did you use to help you learn?

ImmersionLearners need to be

immersed in writing of all kinds.

Demonstration

Learners need to receive many demonstrations of how writing is constructed and used.

Expectation

“We achieve what we expect to achieve: we fail if we expect to fail. We are more likely to engage with demonstrations of those whom we regard as significant and who hold high expectations for us.”

Response

Learners must receive “feedback” from exchanges with more knowledgeable “others.” Response must be relevant, appropriate, timely, readily available, non-threatening, with no strings attached.

Approximation

Learners must be free to approximate the desired model —“mistakes are essential for learning to occur.”

Use

Learners need time and opportunity to use, employ, and practice their developing control in functional, realistic, non-artificial ways.

Responsibility

Learners need to make their own decisions about when, how, and what “bits” to learn in any learning task. Learners who lose the ability to make decisions are “depowered.”

Engagement occurs when:

The learner is convinced that he or she is a potential “doer” or “performer” of the demonstrations.

The learner believes that engagement with these demonstrations will further the purposes of his or her life.

The learner can engage and try to emulate without fear of physical or psychological hurt if the attempt is not fully “correct.”

Engagement is a compelling concept, especially when trying to explain

learning failure. It suggests the clutch mechanism of a car engaging the motor; the clutch connects the engine’s power to the drive shaft, and this sets the car in motion. If the clutch does not engage

properly, all that results is useless revving of the motor; the car does not

move. from Cambourne’s,

“Conditions for Literacy Learning”

Unless learners engage with the demonstrations provided by the persons or artifacts available to

them, it is highly improbable that such demonstrations will set learning in

motion. from Cambourne’s,

“Conditions for Literacy Learning”

Using Mentor Texts

Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee

Developing Better Writers

Supporting your child in writing

WHICH OF THESE DO YOUR CHILDREN THINK WHEN YOU ASK THEM TO DO SOME WRITING?

YAHOO!IT ’S HARDI HATE WRITING STORIESI DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT I HAVE TO DODOES IT HAVE TO BE TRUE?I CAN’T THINK WHAT TO WRITEI ’VE GOT AN IDEA BUT I CAN’T THINK OF A GOOD

ENDINGI CAN’T WRITE QUICKLY ENOUGHI ’LL DO IT QUICKLY SO I GET TO ON TO

SOMETHING LESS B ORINGCAN I DO A PICTURE?WILL I HAVE TIME TO FINISHTHIS IS A BIG BIT OF PAPER – DO I HAVE TO FILL

IT ALL?IS SPELLING IMPORTANTI CAN’T THINK WHAT TO CALL THE CHARACTERSWILL I BE ABLE TO USE THE COMPUTER?WHO’S GOING TO READ THIS

De-motivation for writing

The Mechanics

Writing begins with mark making Recognizing and writing letters of the alphabet

(the graphemes) Listening for sounds (phonemes): -

Initial End Middle

When children can hear all 3 they begin to write CVC

Words – e.g cat Learning the blends e.g. bl as a beginning blend

& nd as an end blend Learning the vowel phonemes & alternative

graphemes e.g. ai, ea igh, ow, ue All of these skills are closely related to spelling &

reading

Over to you!

Sound buttons – help to count the number of phonemes in a word

Cat c a t mouse m ou se

Goat g oa t cheering ch ee r i n g

Phonic Vocabulary

It is important to use the appropriate language when working with your child

Grapheme – visual representation of a soundPhoneme – a sound that can be made up of 1 or more

lettersBlend – two letters that can be blended e.g. cl, gr (

you can still hear both sounds)Digraph /vowel digraph – two or more letters

that when joined together make a completely different sound e.g. ch, sh, th & ea, oa, igh, ough – not phonetically decodable

Be resilient and have a go! You can work with a partner

meat

chief

sound

mountain

flower

How you can help?

Practice reciting the alphabet – practice actions & recognising phonemes

Practice writing the graphemes – correct formation Read and say lots of rhymes together Practice targets that are discussed and sent home

following parent interviews (these will be more specific to your child’s level of ability)

Provide lots of encouragement Provide lots of opportunities for your child to engage in

any writing activity

Type of activities

Play sound games Look for graphemes in words Listen for phonemes in words Provide different writing genres: -

Shopping lists Greetings cards Letters Stories Books Poetry

Encourage your child to use descriptive language when you are out and about.

Give them two short sentences and ask if they can find an interesting connective to join the two pieces of information.

Planning to motivate writing

Plan for thinking timePlan for talking timePlan to allow time for children to interact

with topic through drama/role playPlan to make it enjoyableTo become successful writers children need

to see writing as a special treat.

Mother’s Day card