4.++Early+Years+Writers

=**EARLY YEARS WRITERS** =

// “Most children go through predictable stages in learning to write” (Hill, p.281, 2006). //
There are numerous stages in children’s writing development of which includes the Beginning, Early Emergent, Emergent, Early, Transitional and Extended writing stages. Within the first stage, beginning writing, the child draws to communicate messages generally through large circle shapes and scribble like lines with the occasional use of various letters and number shapes. In the second stage, early emergent writing, the child explores the use of symbols through letters and drawing in order to represent words. In the third stage, emergent writing, the child begins creating shapes that look more like letters and that begin to represent sounds in words and there may be spaces between these letters. In the fourth stage, early writing, the child continues to create and invent the spelling of words although the difference between capital and lower case letters and the spacing between words is known. In the fifth stage, transitional writing, the child increases the volume of writing with many repetitive sentences and phrases although the use of punctuation is well developed. In the final stage, extended writing, the child writes to an extent that resembles that of an adult (Hill, 2006, p.283-286).

Amongst the six children graded between prep to grade three who had their writing abilities assessed in accordance to Hill’s writing assessment sheets, Figure 13.10 and Figure 13.13 (p.290-292, 2006), there were a variety of results that showed different skill levels and different developmental stages of writing.

There were four students within the group that assessed their child using Hill’s ‘Emergent and early writing assessment sheet’ (Figure 13.10, p.290). This assessment sheet has three sections including written language, ideas and text conventions of which required the student to place their child in the category that best represented them. This resulted in three children being placed at a four in written language which meant that the child could write a simple sentence and one child being placed at a six which meant that they could write a paragraph. It also showed that two children were placed as a three in ideas showing that their ideas were limited to copying writing, one child was placed at a four identifying that they used sentence stems such as ‘I like...’ and one child was place at a five which meant that they could record their own ideas through the use of sentences. The last section of this assessment related to text conventions of which two children were placed at a three identifying their use of spaces between words and lines and two children were placed at a four meaning that they used punctuation appropriately.

The other two students assessed their child’s writing abilities using Hill’s ‘More complex writing assessment sheet’ (Figure 13.13, p.292). This assessment sheet has four sections including Ideas, Organisation, Language and Mechanics which requires the student to give the child a summary score from one meaning never to five meaning always in each category and then the child’s score is added to show their progress. This resulted in one child scoring a four and one child scoring a five within ideas. The child that scored a five received this because her ideas were original and interesting, the writing was worth reading and there was a good story line as she wrote a poem that the student said was fun to read as the child’s enthusiasm, originality, personal inspiration and use of vocabulary was evident. Within organisation one child scored a three and a half and the other child who scored a five previously scored a five again because she constructed one her writing pieces with an introduction, body and conclusion. In the language section one child scored a four and the other child scored a three and a half and this related to the child’s use of sentences and appropriate vocabulary. Lastly in the mechanics section one child scored a four and the other scored a three and this related to punctuation, spelling and paragraphing. At the end each of the children’s scores were added and they had different results, with one child scoring fourteen which placed them in the category that said they were showing good progress, and the other child scored an eighteen which placed them in the category that said they were showing excellent development.

Therefore in accordance with the child’s writing samples and Hill’s various writing assessment sheets it can be seen that each child is in a different stage of writing development. One child is considered to be within the emergent stage because he can write short sentences whilst leaving gaps between the words and shows some understanding of punctuation. Similarly another child was considered to be between the emergent and early stage because she wrote a simple sentence with spaces but forgot the full stop although she wrote about meaningful topics and understood that the student could read her writing. Whereas another child was considered to be within the transitional stage as she wrote a poem, description and a story all of which showed great ideas with a great volume of writing and effective punctuation although correct spelling and the mixture of simple and complex sentences was lacking.

Thus it is evident that through continuous practice in the early years of schooling all children progress through the writing developmental stages of which involves their knowledge and understanding of writing alongside their ability to write improving.