Writing is EVERYWHERE!
Writing is on street signs that you read, on products that you buy, on clothing that you wear, and so much more. It surrounds us all day long.
In our text, “When Readers Struggle: Teaching That Works” Pinnell and Fountas state:
Reading and writing are reciprocal processes in that what is learned in one area can be used to strengthen and expand the other. Both reading and writing are part of a larger processing system, and they are related at every level of language learning.” (p. 293)
Pinnell and Fountas discuss that reading and writing should coincide with one another. They said that readers often think like writers as they consider how to craft their ideas. It would be beneficial for students to use both writing and reading skills at the same time during a unit because they can express their ideas that they gain from readings and use those ideas for their writing.
All Children Can WRITE!
Children think about writing differently compared to adults. As an adult, I think of writing as more of a routine now because I have always been exposed to writing, but its a new concept to children and it is a way for them to explore and express their ideas.
Donald H. Graves explains: “Writing is a medium with which people communicate with themselves and with others at other places and times.” (p. 8)
According to Graves, the following ingredients help to build a structured, predictable community of more independent writers:
- Write daily, at the same time if possible, for a minimum of 30 minutes.
- Work to establish each child’s topical turf, an area of expertise for each writer.
- Collect writing in folders so that writers can see the accumulation of what they know. Papers do not go home; rather, the collected work is present in class for student, teacher, parent, and administrator to examine. Some writing is published in hardcover or some more durable form.
- Provide a predictable pattern of teacher participation by sharing your own writing moving in the midst of students during writing time, and responding in predictable structure to your students’ writing.
- End each writing time with children responding to each other’s writing in a predictable format: receiving, questioning.
- Set up classroom routines in which you examine the entire day to see which responsibilities can be delegated to the children. Solve room problems in discussion. The group learns to negotiate, whether in working with a draft or solving a classroom problem.
- Continually point to the responsibilities assumed by the group, as well as the specifics of what they know.
Writing is IMPORTANT!
Without writing skills, a child will have many difficulties in their life. They won’t be able to write essays or write a poem, but most importantly, they wont be able to write an outstanding job application or write a resume.
Our society is becoming an increasingly visual world, but writing will always be around and is just as important and useful when trying to communicate with another person or even writing down one’s thoughts and feelings.
Understanding Dysgraphia
Understanding Dysgraphia is important to understand when learning about the conceptions of writing because it deals with handwriting of a student.
Below is information from a website by Erica Patino about understanding dysgraphia
Multimodal Critical Literacy Blog 
An interesting fact that you discussed in your blog was the differences in how an adult sees writing and how a child sees writing. To adults and us, writing is a boring routine, that has rules, grammar, and spelling that we need to constantly be aware of. After writing, we are taught that we need to self-revise our papers and maybe even have someone else edit them as well. To children though, writing is fun. Writing is a way to express their thoughts and ideas. They do not usually worry about spelling or any rules, that is until their teachers start to teach them the correct way of writing. I wonder when the love and creativity of writing changes to hatred and uninspiring act. Why do so many kids as they grow up gradually start to hate writing? Not only why, but also how can we help and nurture their love for writing?
It’s also important to recognize that even though the world is becoming more technological, print is always going to be around. Writing, although not always with a pen and paper anymore, is still an important subject to teacher. As students make their journey through school, they do need to learn the important skills on how to write well and formal. As you mentioned job applications, resumes, college applications, essays for school, etc., they are all recognized and held at a high value in determining whether an individual is “good enough” to be accepted, hired, or pass the class.
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Great post! I agree with Kim’s comment on your observation of the differences between what kids see vs adults when looking at writing. I really do believe that, like in many aspects of like, much of the creativity we have as children is altered as we grow older. We start taking less risks and feeling as though writing is a chore.
As you mentioned, writing IS ALWAYS going to be an important aspect in our society and it is so important that we, as future teachers, are there to encourage students when they are writing to take risks and write what they feel is important to them.
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