Writing Conference

Writing Conference

I would sit with Sam in the special writing area, the place where writers talk about their writing. It is important to promote to children that writing is a way of communication, to convey a message – and that’s why we need to share and talk about writing, to celebrate our achievement, and to look for ways of improving, so that we can become even better writers!

After pulling out Sam’s writing sample, I’d ask him to tell me about what he drew, showing interesting in his work. When he says that he doesn’t know, I’d encourage him to describe the colours that he used, commenting on how colourful his picture is. Although he cannot identify the sounds and words from the random letters that he has written on the page, I would prompt him by saying, “Sam, I noticed that you’ve used the colour green, do you know what letter does the word ‘green’ begin with?” I would say the word and emphasize on the /g/ sound. We will sing this phonics song together: “The G says /g/, the G says /g/, every letter makes a sound, the G says /g/.” (sung to the melody of “The Farmer in the Dell”) I would encourage him to write the letter G. Then I would say, “You know what? You have written the last letter of the word greennnn on your page! Let’s say the word again and try to figure out if it ends with ‘A’, ‘R’, ‘B’, or ‘N’!” Then we’ll sing “The N says /n/, the N says /n/, every letter makes a sound, the N says /n/.”

I would start creating an alphabet booklet with him – a stack of 26 cards, bind together by a metal hoop. I would tell him that we’re going to keep track of the letters that he knows. We’ll start with what he can print – “A”, “R”, “B”, “N”, and “G”. I’ll ask Sam to write each letter on a card, name the letter and sound it out with him, and draw a picture (or put a sticker) beside it. For example, “A sounds like /a/, and apple starts with A. So I’ll draw an apple beside the letter A.” Before we decide on “apple”, I’d ask him to give me a suggestion of what might start with the letter A. If he can’t come up with anything, I’ll give him a choice of words to choose from – apple, airplane, ant, etc. The visual representation and his interaction in choosing the representation would help him associate the letter with its sound.

I would encourage him to tell me more about his picture – “Why did you use these colours? What is your favourite colour? What colour are you wearing today?” Oral language development is important to learning writing, so I would work on prompting him to talk more to express his ideas.

After praising him for his effort of sounding out words and describing his picture orally, I’d encourage him to print his name on his work, because it tells people that he is the writer of the message. If he struggles to write his name, I’d use a highlighter to write it and ask him to use a pencil to write over it. If he’s able to do that, I’ll ask him to try copying his name, without the help of the highlighter.

Assessing Developmental Growth

According to the Gentry Writing Scale, I would say that Sam’s writing developmental growth is between the Non-alphabetic writing and Pre-alphabetic writing stages. He can write some letters with clarity, but the letters don’t represent sounds. He hasn’t shown a sign of pre-communicative spelling because he only wrote isolated letters. I would scaffold his learning by supporting him to move deeper into the Pre-alphabetic writing stage.

Next Steps

Printing his name:
I would encourage Sam to print his name as much as possible. A daily opportunity to print his name in the morning would be good practice. I’d remind him that all writers write their name on their work, because they’re proud of themselves, and that I’m proud of him as a writer too. Other activities that would reinforce name writing would be shaping his name with play dough, molding the letters of his name in sand, and using magnetic letters to spell his name.

Letter/sound correspondence:
I would continue to guide Sam to build his personal book of alphabets. When he learns a new letter, we would add it to his book, sounding out the letter, and drawing a picture of a word that starts with that letter. This booklet should be reviewed one-on-one on a regular basis, to reinforce letter names, letter formation and letter/sound correspondence. It can also be done in a small group setting, which would be beneficial, because different students might have a different picture that corresponds with the letters, and they can hear each other sounding out the letters, and perhaps also help each other.

Read-aloud/Shared reading/Songs/Poems:
Since reading and speaking are integrated with the learning of writing, it is important to engage Sam in different kinds of reading and oral activities. I would encourage him to listen and read along during story time, to sing, and to read poems aloud. Poems and rhymes give students an opportunity to practice hearing prominent sounds and rhyming words. Texts that are read should be displayed in the classroom, in places that can be easily accessed. I would also encourage Sam to be the “pointer” during reading time, to reinforce his concept of words.

Opportunities to practice writing:
I would set up a mailbox system in my classroom, where each student has his/her personalized, decorated box. Students are encouraged to write to each other and to me, and I’ll write letters to them using pictures and words throughout the whole year. An example of a note that I’d write is, “I like how you play nicely with Sarah today.” and draw a picture of two kids playing together. If a student needs help reading the note, they’re welcomed to ask a peer or ask me to read it out. This routine would promote the use of writing to convey a message and communicate, and it will also promote a safe learning environment where everybody learns together and show appreciation for each other. If Sam struggles to write a message, or even draw a picture with meaning in the beginning, I’d encourage him to start with using colours, something that he’s comfortable with. I can ask him to think about, “What colour do you feel like today?” and ask him to use that colour to create a picture, and try to write the colour name.

Teachable Moments

I would observe Sam’s use of speech while he engages in playing and learning. For example, if he’s playing doctor at the dramatic area, I would ask him to use paper and pencil to write down what’s wrong with his patient. If he’s playing with the kitchen, I would ask him what he needs to buy to cook a certain dish, and prompt him to write a shopping list. I would look for moments when he expresses himself orally, and encourage him to put his oral ideas on paper, because everything that’s said can be written down!


References:

Gentry, J. R. (2005). Instructional techniques for emerging writers and special needs students at kindergarten and grade one levels. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 21, 113-134.

Ministry of Education. (2005). A Guide to Effective Instruction in Writing, Kindergarten to Grade 3. Queens Printer for Ontario.