Writing+and+Composition

** What it is: **  Writing is the representation of a language done by putting together letters, words, and symbols, to make sentences and meaning. According to McCutchen (2006) “Writing is a communicative act, writing is undeniably a social event between the writer and the audience…writing is also a cognitive act.” It’s done in means to communicate, not necessarily directly, but always to form a type of meaning or message. There are four main means for writing; communicative, social, cognitive and situated. Writing is incorporated for many reasons; purpose, context, process, permanence, audience, author, strategies, and problem solving. Composition differs in the way it is the actual act of producing the writing. It involves the actual planning, the production, and the revision stages.  (Writing and Composition PowerPoint, 2011)  ** Why it’s important: **  Writing is very essential for everyday life. It is used throughout our culture and is often necessary in means to communicate. If a student is unable to write, they are eliminating a large population of people they could communicate with. Not only is writing necessary to communicate but also it is used daily in many other ways. It is necessary for a job application, sending a letter, an email, a grocery list, a recipe, and many more. Writing is very necessary and important for schoolwork. To form a well thought out paper you need to go through each step (planning, production, and revision) in order for it to be appropriate to use in a school setting.  ** How it is expected to develop: **  Writing development is very different for each student. There are four main steps in writing progress; discovery, development, through examples, and experimentation. (Writing and Composition PowerPoint, 2011) The discovery stage is creating individual strategies for writing. One strategy may be found to be beneficial for a particular student, yet may be useless to another. Next is development, strategies need to progress, from one to the next increasing in difficulty. The last two examples and experimentation are very essential. With time students will be exposed to more and begin to experiment, which will help them gain knowledge and help them become better writers. Student’s writing stages will progress over time, but these stages are by no means rigid or definite.  There are six stages in writing, set by Sulzby (1985.) Drawing, Scribbling, Letter-like forms/units of letter strings, estimated spelling, and conventional spelling. Each of these stages is just as important as the next, and many are often repeated before progressing.  · Drawing is generally first, which is when children begin representing their ideas through pictures.  · Scribbling comes next for children ages (-2 ½ - 3) here they begin to scribble on a page in a structure that appears to be a sentence or a story. Complete letters or words are absent in both of these first two stages.  · Letter-like forms/units of letter strings is made up of more than just scribbles are pictures. Letters or letter formations begin to become apparent and children may often even string letters together. There generally are not actual words in this stage, just letters placed next together.  · Estimated spelling comes when children can begin to use their knowledge of letter sound. They use sounds they know to help them in their writing, therefore often words are not spelt right, but sounded out and portrayed that way.  · Conventional spelling comes with time. As students practice with their writing at any of the previous stages, they gain experience. This stage comes when students are exposed to writing in their environment over time, whether through print in a book, or print on posters. Children will begin to spell more conventionally and complete words will be present.  <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">** How it is assessed: ** <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Writing is assessed in many different ways, depending on how it is taught. It can be assessed very easily by looking at the final product. By looking at the final piece of writing, it will be easy to find the errors such as spelling or context. Another way is to assess the process when a student is producing the text. This includes the pre-writing, the writing, and the revisions. Here it will be evident the steps a student is taking, and if they are progressing with time or thought. Lastly, writing can be assessed by looking at the strategies applied to communicate effectively to the audience, and it’s purpose. <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> (Writing and Composition PowerPoint, 2011) <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">** Instructional Strategy: ** <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Early Writing Strategies vary with age and level. There are four main strategies. Tracing, which is writing over letters than someone else has produced. Copying, which is done by using the letters someone else has written as a prompt, and producing back. Generating, done by a student producing his or her own letters without and type of a prompt. Lastly, inventory principle which is a student making a list of letters or words. An easy way for students to practice generating letters or words is to use their names. A first piece of writing for many children will be their own names, from their they can re-arrange the letters in their name and create new words or letter arrangements. <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Authentic Literacy Activities “Replicate or reflect reading and writing activities that occur in the lives of people outside of learning-to-read-and-write context and purpose” (Writing and Composition PowerPoint, 2011). This is a very functional strategy because it reinforces the importance of writing, and how it is used in everyday life. There are many examples of this activity. <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;"> · Students could create an itinerary after reading a travel brochure or book. <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;"> · Students could write a recipe for their favorite food or meal. <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt .5in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;"> · Create an informational brochure on their favorite animal. <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> With activities such as these, students are realizing the importance of writing and become aware of how it is used in everyday life, outside of a classroom.