Essay Example on Learning to Write and Spell: A Foundation for Language Skills

Introduction

Writing and spelling normally reinforce one another. Spelling assists a child in seeing the language patterns and developing an understanding of ways in which words are put together. Through having children learning how to spell, children normally realize that English language usually follows a given set of rules which makes them understand those rules easily when writing or reading. While children learn certain letter-sound matches and begin to read, they also start experimenting with writing. Therefore, it remains paramount for teachers and parents to use various activities with the children to help them develop their spelling and writing abilities. This paper will discuss the stages of writing development and the stages of spelling, provide examples of progression of children's writing, explain strategies and activities for developing writing and spelling skills, justify the strategies using relevant research, explain how the strategies may be effective components of a literacy program, and include a theory reflected in the readings.

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Stages of Writing and Spelling Development

Writing development has five key steps; prewriting, publishing, revising, drafting, and editing (Treiman, 2017). All five stages have a clear perception of the entire writing process. Prewriting is the initial stage of writing development. It represents a stage where the children are given a given assignment to test their writing skills.. During this stage, it is paramount for the teacher to take into considerations the needs of the intended audience (Berkling, 2016). Therefore, the prewriting stage involves finding an idea and attempting to develop the idea as well as accumulating the pertinent information which supports the identified idea.

Drafting comprises the second step in writing development. The drafting refers to putting ones ideas and points on the paper and arranging these points in an understandable way. During this stage, all writers normally carry out research concerning their topics developed at the prewriting stage, and they start accumulating all information in this stage (Kenner, Terry, Friehling, & Namy, 2017). At first, the children are encouraged to do one rough draft which is then followed by attempting to arrange all the crucial points in a manner that is best possible and gradually preparing of the final draft.

Revising usually entails the third step of writing development. During the changing stage, a given draft becomes scrutinized thoughtfully and the points become incorporated, which result in rearranging of the formulated draft. During this stage, all new points become added, and there are some points which become replaced, and others are removed according to the available requirements. The revision should be done in an indispensable manner, which makes the outlook cogent and catchy.

• The fourth stage is editing. Editing involves the creation of a fine tone of writing and checking every line thoroughly; one should check grammar, document format, spelling, and sentence structure.
• The fifth stage is publishing. Publishing is the final stage whereby the children submit the work they have done to the teachers.

Individuals from their childhood undergo several stages that entail spelling development. The five important stages of spelling development include pre-communicative, semi-phonetic, transitional, phonetic, and correct stages (Bingham, Quinn, & Gerde, 2017). During the pre-communicative phase, a child regularly makes use of the symbols from alphabet but shows no given knowledge of the correspondence of letter-sounds. In this first stage, a child may be lacking entire alphabet knowledge and the differentiating between the lower-case and upper-case letters. The semi-phonetic stage is the second stage of spelling development. In this stage, children begin understanding the letter-sound correspondence-signs which become assigned to the letters (Suggate, 2016). The phonetic step is the third stage whereby the child makes use of a letter or a particular group of letters in representing sound which they hear in a given the word. The transitional step is the fourth stage of spelling development. The person spelling starts assimilating popular alternative for sound representation by moving from dependence on sound for representing words to reliance on the visual image as well as an understanding of the structure of the word. The final stage of spelling development is the correct stage. In this stage, the child spelling appears to understand orthographic language system as well as its fundamental rules.

Examples of Progression of Children's Writing

There are several examples of the children's writing that start from drawing to conventional writing. Children frequently move through a given series of steps while they are learning how they should write. These stages usually reflect the growing knowledge of children regarding writing as part of literacy conventions that include sounds, letters, and word spacing within the sentences. Drawing is an example of development in children's writing (Suggate, 2016). Most of the children start their writing process through drawing and scribbling. A scribbling child is seen as creating a record that is permanent regarding their thoughts and ideas.

Letter-like shapes and forms include another example of children's writing development. During this stage, children usually start displaying their understanding by showing that symbols may be used to convey meaning. The writing begins to include shapes such as squares and circles, as well as other figures. Children in this stage usually write something and start enquiring what it says.

Letters include another example of children's writing. While the writing of children continues developing, they start making use of random letters. Most of the children begin with consonants. The pieces of writing usually represent strings of the upper-case consonants, having no much attention given to the word spacing or directionality.

Letters and spaces entail an example in children's writing that shows that they are practicing their craft since they are learning several concepts concerning print. Whenever children start pointing to individual words on a given page while they are reading and it worked in a way that it matches their speech to that of the printed word, then the concept of the word is believed to be developing (Berkling, 2016). During this stage, many children start writing with the starting and ending sounds. Children also begin spelling some of the high-frequency words correctly. The vowels may become inserted into the words, and when the children become more advanced in writing, they begin writing the words in a way they sound.

The conventional spelling and writing example of a writing stage involves having most of the children spelling the words correctly, having a reliance on the phonics knowledge for spelling longer words. The children usually make correct use of the punctuation marks and utilizing capital and the lower case letters in the right places. Thus, the writing for various purposes starts becoming more significant.

Strategies and Activities for Developing Writing and Spelling Skills

Writing and spelling involve essential skills which every child requires learning for them to read and write successfully. Therefore, teachers have the goal of instilling the writing and spelling skills in the child such that they can create phonemic awareness and be able to represent the written language accurately.

One strategy for supporting writing and spelling skills among children is the development of phonemic awareness. In a case whereby the child knows how to do this, they have a more comfortable time when learning how to write and spell. The significant perfect activity which helps in the development of phonemic awareness is teaching the children how to do rhyming and enhance their ability of hearing. Rhyming helps children in developing phonemic awareness skills that in turn assist them in learning how they should spell (Bingham, Quinn, & Gerde, 2017). The other activity that is used for developing spelling and writing skills from birth through early childhood is learning the patterns used for spelling. It is crucial for children to practice and learn the typical patterns of grammar. After the children learn these patterns, it assists them in attaining spelling success (Kenner et al., 2017). The activity of learning the designs used in spelling involves having the teacher exploring the patterns together through the reading of a similar book and asking the children to search for the spelling pattern used in the story.

Strategies Justification

Spelling is crucial, given that it helps in reading as it builds the connection which is shared between the letters and sounds. The learning of high-frequency words entails a great way of improving writing and reading. The teaching of the spelling patterns helps children in becoming relaxed about the activity of spelling. Phonemic awareness involves having a child be able to recognize as well as distinguish the sounds that are in the words which are followed by the ability of translating the sounds into print (Kenner et al., 2017).

Components of a Literacy Program

Phonemic awareness is a useful component of a literacy program given that it is vital for any given language, which has an alphabetic system of writing. The teaching of phonemic awareness usually teaches children to understand, identify, and sound manipulation. The teaching of phonemics also assists the teachers in recognizing whether the children are having difficulties with writing and spelling (Suggate, 2016). The activity of teaching children spelling pattern is relevant as it assists in the writing process. This activity is appropriate for a literacy program as writing help the childrento develop skills of reading comprehension.

Reflected Theory

A theory that has been reflected in the above readings is the Phase Theory by Ehri. The Phase Theory asserts that students need a working knowledge about the alphabetic system, which develops and changes as the starters accumulate spelling, writing, and reading skills (Treiman, 2017).

Conclusion

In conclusion, writing and spelling is a significant skill which every child needs to learn for them to read and write successfully. The five steps for writing development are prewriting, drafting, revising, drafting, editing, and publishing. Spelling has five crucial stages; pre-communicative, semi-phonetic, phonetic, transitional, and, and correct stages. The teaching of the spelling patterns and supporting phonemic awareness are important strategies used for developing writing and spelling skills. Children frequently move through a given series of steps while they are learning how they should write. These stages usually reflect the growing knowledge of children regarding writing as part of literacy conventions that include sounds, letters, and word spacing within the sentences. Drawing, letter-like shapes and forms, letters and spaces include examples of progression in children's writing. The Phase Theory emphasizes that students need a working knowledge about the alphabetic system.

References

Berkling, K., (2016). Corpus for Children's Writing with Enhanced Output for Specific Spelling Patterns (2nd and 3rd Grade). In LREC. Retrieved from: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6fbc/47284b07c384d8e9f8cf6f0441a479458c31.pdf

Bingham, G. E., Quinn, M. F., & Gerde, H. K. (2017). Examining early childhood teachers' writing practices: Associations between pedagogical supports and children's writing skills. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 39, 35-46.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2017.01.002

Kenner, B. B., Terry, N. P., Friehling, A. H., & Namy, L. L. (2017). Phone...