Early+years+writers

__** ﻿ **__

Early Years Writers media type="custom" key="9553704" align="left"The aim of the investigation was to identify similarities and differences between a class of five early years writers. The class consists of; 2 grade 1 students, 2 grade 2 students and 1 grade 3 student. Each student undertook a writing interest survey and also provided a written piece of their work for analysis. These samples were used to evaluate the students attitude to writing and each students phase in their written literacy development in accordance with Hill (2006, p.6) and the Victorian and Essential Learning standards (DEECD).

Hill identifies six developmental phases of written literacy development beginning from birth, these are; Beginning, Early emergent, Emergent, Early, Transitional and Extending. Hill states that both written and oral language are closely related. From birth we begin to learn through sounds and gestures and as we develop, these sounds and gestures are organised into words and sentences. From oral language, we can develop our written language into words, sentences and paragraphs. There are three phases of writing literacy development that are directly related to the five students in this class. They are recorded in figure 1. The You tube video also provides some additional information on the Emergent writing phase.

The speed of writing increases and the ideas rather than the mechanics of writing take over. ||  The writing interest survey revealed that all the students liked to have someone write to them and they all believed that they were good at writing, yet there was one student who stated that he did not enjoy the writing experience. The analysis of the students work samples showed some similarities between the class members. All students could write a simple sentence and understood that people communicate through the written word and that these words provide information. Their work showed evidence of an awareness of text conventions such as; spacing between words, directionality with three of the five students using punctuation (grades 1 and 2). However, there were a number of differences identified in their writing abilities; the students assessments are recorded in figure 2.
 * Figure 1. Hills' Phases of Writing Literacy Development (2006, p.6) media type="custom" key="9434558" align="right"**
 * <  ||< **Writing** ||
 * < **Emergent** ||< Write letter and words. Leaves spaces between words. Understands that another person can read their written words. ||
 * < **Early** ||< Writes about topics that are meaningful. Can write in simple sentences. Is aware of and can use most forms of punctuation. May use reptitive sentences such as l like. ||
 * < **Transitional** ||< Can write several sentences with several ideas and includes punctuation. Records own ideas. Checks spelling and punctuation.

**Figure 2. ** **Phases of Literacy Development (Hill 2006, p.6) & Vels Assessment Levels ** **Development ** || Transitional || Transitional  || Emergent  || Transitional  || Early  ||
 * || **Sam **  ||  **Harry **  ||  **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Charlie **  ||  **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Nathan **  ||  **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Rachelle **  ||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Year Level ** || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">1 || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">1  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">2  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">2  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">3  ||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Phase of Literacy **
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">VELs Writing Level ** || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">1.25 || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">1.25  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Progressing to level 1  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">1.25  || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">1.25  ||



<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Figure 2 identifies the diversity amongst these students. Three students (Grade 1 & 2) are all at the Transitional phase, yet the grade three student is yet to consolidate the learning outcomes for the Early phase. However, all four students (Grades 1, 2, & 3) have been evaluated at the VELs level 1.25. Charlie whom is in grade two is still at the Emergent phase and is progressing to level 1 of VELs. However, although age brackets are listed with the phases of literacy development, Hill (2006, p5-7) acknowledges that these phases are not closely age related and should be used as a guide for future learning.

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 160%;">Emergent Writers (3-5 yrs) <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Currently Charlie is in grade 2 and has been assessed as an reader in accordance to Hill’s Phases of literacy development and is at theVELs level 0.5 progressing to level 1. Charlie’s writing has shown evidence of his ability to write a simple sentence. He is aware of the relationship between letters and sounds when writing and attempts to spell unfamiliar words e.g.: gost for ghost. He is beginning to use vowels is his words and he can draw a picture to support his writing.

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Early Writers <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Whereas Rachelle is in grade 3 and has been assessed at the phase of writing literacy in accordance to Hill (2006, p.6) and at the VELs level 1.25 progressing to level 2 as her work sample shows evidence that she can write several sentences on a familiar topic and can use repetitive sentences such as; I was. Once Rachelle learns to incorporate punctuation into her work she shall then move onto the transitional phase.

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 150%; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">﻿Transitional Writers

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Harry and Sam are both in grade 1 and Nathan is in grade 2. All have consolidated the outcomes identified by Hill in the Emergent and Early phases of writing. Harry and Nathan were yet to solidify any learning outcomes in the phase, yet Sam had increased his speed of writing to achieve one of these outcomes. Although these three students were in two different grade levels, comparing their results toVELs, all three students were all assessed at the same level of 1.25 and are progressing towards level 2.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Harry, Sam and Nathan’s work all showed evidence of their ability to write personal recounts and recount a narrative using simple text. They were aware of the relationship between letters and sounds when writing and attempt to spell unfamiliar words. They are able to write phonologically e.g. tran for train, and confidently use many of high-frequency words such as; on, was, like and the, in their writing. They use capital letters and full stops correctly and can use repetitive sentences such as ‘l like…’, leaving spaces between each word and can write several sentences on a specific topic.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Text types - **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">The text types observed in the classroom were recounts. The recounts were either personal retellings of a factual event or the retelling of a narrative. Hill (2006, p.314) states that teachers find this genre useful to teach in the early years as it is easy to find examples. It also provides early years writers with the opportunity to write about past experiences that are meaningful to them. Hill (2006, p.309) identifies a number of key frameworks and language features that make up a recount. The main features identified in Rachelle’s work sample were: · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Orientation: who, what, when, where · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Events in time order/chronological events: before, during and after · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Simple past tense: was, said · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Action verbs: one day, said · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Specific participants: herself, friend Paul Kelly · <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Sometimes includes a personal reflection: ‘I love Paul Kelly’ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Rachelle’s written work referred to who was involved in the story, for example; Rachelle refers to her friend and the singer Paul Kelly, she states where they were ‘in the car’, she then proceeds to explain what happened when she was ‘listening to Paul Kelly’, when it happened ‘one day’ and then concludes with a personal comment ‘l love Paul Kelly’.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Implications for teaching ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">There was a great deal of diversity amongst the five students in the class. As teachers we need to understand that students in our classrooms come from a variety of backgrounds with different abilities and life experiences. Overall the five children were spread across three grade levels (grade 1, 2 & 3) and evaluated at three different phases in literacy development (emergent, early and transitional) and two levels of VELs (0.5 and 1.25).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">These results indicate that we cannot assume that all students will learn at the same rate or in the same way. Every student is an individual, and therefore, we need to be aware of our student’s strengths and create appropriate lesson plans to support their weakness. To ensure students continue to achieve in our classrooms we must use their developmental phase of writing literacy and their VELs level to help guide us in future lesson planning. By continually reflecting upon our teaching practises we can ensure that activities are relevant to the ability level of each individual student.

Encourage Early Years Writers with games and activites...



[]

[]

[]

[]

Additional information on Early Years Writers:Click the Literacy Development link

[]