¶ … Teaching writing to young children
Learning how to write is an important tool in encouraging young children to get excited about reading. A 2010 experimental study in the Journal of Educational Research (Jones, Reutzel & Fargo 2010) compared two common techniques used in kindergarten classrooms to help young readers learn to write: interactive writing and the writing workshop method. "As children write, they analyze thought and meaning, experiment with words and form, and learn concepts of directionality, sequencing, and spacing" (Jones, Reutzel & Fargo 2010). Previous studies indicated that even the very youngest readers could benefit from writing instruction, given the way that writing can help them analyze words letter by letter and that "letter-sound correspondence cannot be learned outside the written system" (Jones, Reutzel & Fargo 2010). The benefits of writing instructions at the kindergarten level exist "even after controlling for socioeconomic status (SES) and IQ effects" (Jones, Reutzel & Fargo 2010).
The interactive writing technique, as its name suggests, is the act of writing as a group. The topic is mutually decided upon and...
"Teacher guidance focuses student attention on applying letter-sound correspondence, segmenting and blending, letter identification and formation, and high frequency word recognition" (Jones, Reutzel & Fargo 2010). The act of writing interactively is used to reinforce a variety of grammatical concepts yet also to inspire creative writing.
In the writing workshop format, "each student writes on a self-selected topic, negotiating the text with a focus on sharing personal experiences in a meaningful way. Students assume ownership of their writing and work at their own pace. Students are often encouraged to use invented spellings. Mistakes are not corrected and, in fact, serve as an indicator of student knowledge and progress" (Jones, Reutzel & Fargo 2010). This activity is not directive like interactive writing, although there is an aspect of student 'sharing' inherent to the process. Interactive writing is fundamentally skills based, while writing workshops are process-based and focus more upon students 'owning' the writing process. Learning sequencing…
Roskos (2004) contradicts that in their article becasuse they explain how wonderful early literacy has become with getting new technology but forgets to mention that only schools that have the money are able to have theses luxuries. The article is misleading because it makes it appear as though all school have all the proper tools they need when it comes to assessments and that simply is not true. (Boudreau,
Literacy Coaching: Elementary Grades Learning to read and write begins early in children's development, long before they enter kindergarten. Moreover, literacy skill development in early childhood provides the foundation for children's long-term academic success. Over the past two decades, researchers have identified key emergent literacy skills that develop progressively in children during their preschool years and are highly predictive of later success in learning to read (Elish-Piper, 2011). These skills include
G., using prior knowledge, self-monitoring for breaks in comprehension, and analyzing new vocabulary);growth in conceptual knowledge (e.g., reading tradebooks to supplement textbook information) (Alvermann, D, 2001). However a very important thing I should mention is the existence of big gaps in adolescent literacy achievement in high school, as I noted above, but, the gap was also defined as the disparity in White and Black students' achievement and in richer and poorer
Language and Literacy Development of Head Start Children: A Study Using the Family and Child Experiences Survey Database." The report opens with a description of the Head Start program, established in 1965, and sums up their goal: to provide a comprehensive development program for low socioeconomic status (SES) children and their families. In 1995 it was decided to evaluate the Head Start program's quality and effectiveness. To that end, the
Educator Patricia M. Cunningham says in "What Research Says about Teaching Phonics," for example, that children do profit from systematic phonics instruction. However, there is more than one effective way to teach phonics. Positive results are the result of a high level of interaction, classroom management, explicit skills teaching, curriculum integration and a great deal of enjoyable reading and writing practice. References Gambrell, L.B., Morrow, L.M., Pressley, M., & Guthrie, J.T.
We therefore envision the Holy Cross Literacy Garden as an immensely beneficial social and educational community resource that will benefit not only our parish but the entire community. However, planning, developing, constructing, planting, and maintaining a literacy garden will require hard work, dedication, and funding. We currently seek community volunteers as well as grant money to help us complete the literacy garden. We expect a large turnout of volunteer manpower