The learning and teaching of writing is a big milestone in education and language development. As with many skills, from my own experience growing up and observations as a teacher, there will not be a one-size-fits-all approach. We may well all have our own learning journey. We may well all develop at our own rate.
We consider here the early stages of writing letters, words and short phrases. This is a stage at which students can and will, through play and self-initiated activities, practice writing. Curiosity is, without a doubt, a great and beautiful motivator.
Nonetheless, there may come a time when we want to provide more formal and structured support.
In my class of five- to six-year-olds at the moment, we are providing opportunities for free writing through our inquiry-based activities. Inspired by one another, and a literacy corner with many words available to read and copy, students have been taking this practice further themselves.
A growing number of students are able to form letters with increased independence and confidence.
However, we did begin the routine this academic year of writing practice every morning on arrival. We have been using writing books with a few pages for each letter, first tracing and then writing. The full effectiveness and necessity of this is not the topic here. At the very least though, it does provide security and a reference for accurate writing of letters, while they are still having the opportunity to see that there can be more openness to letter formation.
We did find, however, that while we had introduced the routine to students, focus on following the procedure accurately with regards to the size, shape and spacing of the letters was proving challenging.
Wanting to focus on meaning, we began at the beginning and had an open discussion on why we were to have the routine of practicing writing in the morning and the processes to follow for it. We did get very clear ideas, for example, “it will help me to write properly”, “it will help me to focus” and “when I go to big school, I will need to write.”
We slowed down again and went back to the start. We looked at the letter Aa. I photocopied the page from the book the students are using. We looked at it and analysed it together. The uppercase ‘A’ should be two spaces high and take up the top two spaces. The lowercase ‘a’ should be one space and in the middle space. We homed in on the size and spacing. We noted the gap between each pair of uppercase letters also.
Students set to work on this page for a second time. They were able to do so with control.
I actually prepared a self-assessment with each of the five criteria – size and position of each letter, and then space between the letters. We went through this slowly together. Both answering for each category, students did take the time to look over all their writing. Interestingly, although this was completely a self-assessment, without fail, all students had ticked the same boxes I may have done. We noted again that we should pay attention to all five areas when writing.
The outcome. Well, we did the self-assessment a day after the writing. Even in the time between, a girl specifically highlighted how she was following our criteria when practicing a different letter. This has happened again in the day since the self-assessment. Actually, I observed today all students paying greater attention. There has also been an increase in self-initiated writing practice over the last two days, although that may well just be a coincidence.
What can we learn from this, however?
Well, ways to guide writing development can continue to be reflected upon. A balance between open and project- or play-based early practice and more structured coaching to support could well have benefits, with intrinsic motivation, drive and curiosity nurtured throughout.
Early years can be an appropriate time to start self-assessment, with scaffolds and supports as necessary. Indeed, it can be an opportunity to ensure agency and autonomy over writing development—something which can continue.
Finally, at all times we need to focus on the why. Never be afraid to slow down or even take some steps back and discuss and address any issues or challenges directly with students.