Context of writing
A kindergarten boy wrote this story during writing workshop. In this particular workshop, students were encouraged to write about a topic in which they considered themselves an “expert.”
What is this child able to do as a writer?
- This student has a clear idea. He knows a lot and wants to share with his picture and sentences.
- He writes more than one sentence to share his expertise about hermit crabs.
- He has a solid concept of word.
- His sample includes multisyllabic words (‘sumtims’ for ‘sometimes’), and the spelling of that word includes a vowel in each syllable.
- His writing sample includes a digraph (/sh/ in ‘shels’ for ‘shells’) and a blend (/kr/ in ‘krabs’ for ‘crabs’).
- He is beginning to revise his writing. He has erased and rewritten words (‘liv’ and ‘shels’ ).
- He ends his sentences with a period.
What does this child need to learn next?
This child’s handwriting makes it difficult to read and difficult for him to re-read.
He is sounding out words phonetically but has trouble with spelling irregular sight words. A word wall with frequently used sight words and/or his own personal spelling dictionary would help him look for and use the correct spelling in his writing.
Being an “expert” piece of writing, the student could be encouraged to use a concept map to organize all the pieces of information he wants to include in his writing.