Advice re Year 1 struggling writers, please!

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hal
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Advice re Year 1 struggling writers, please!

Post by hal »

I have mainly Key Stage 2 teaching experience, but am currently running some 'catch up' literacy groups for year 1 children who are falling behind.

I have considerable of training and experience in teaching phonological awareness and synthetic phonics, and this will form the basis of much of my work with the children.

However, I do need some ideas for a context for their writing, and also about possible teaching strategies.

I need ideas for/ have questions about:

Handwriting:
-do you still do mark making eg practise zigzags/ curly patterns etc in this year group even though they can write some letters? (or is that usually done only in EYFS?)
-how much practise time for handwriting and how many days per week works best for those with poor pencil control?
- any other activities to promote good pencil control/ motor skills/ layout of writing on page/ finger spacing?

Sentence writing:
- to get them to 'hold a sentence', I plan to get them to rehearse simple sentences aloud and to count the number of words in a sentence
-then I thought we might use 'magic lines' to draw in lines to match the number of words (they can then just use initial/ final sounds at start /end of line if they cannot segment the whole word)
- building sentences by placing word cards in order

I would really like some suggestions of a meaningful context for sentence writing, as our work will not be part of a topic. I have thought about writing sentences based around a picture or a sensory experience eg trudging through leaves or blowing bubbles, for example. I have only 30 mins per session so need to have time for some sort of stimulus and to model and write a sentence or two. Any ideas?

To be honest, I am struggling a bit with wanting to make the writing accessible to them when they generally don't know any vowels digraphs and only a couple of consonant digraphs yet. It's very hard to write anything interesting composed of CVC words! Should I skip the creative stimuli bit for a while till they have a few more graphemes under their belt?? (And do lots of speaking and listening/ vocab work but not have the expectation for them to write at the same level....)

Also, I need help with how to give verbal feedback to (the few)children whose writing cannot be read without mediation, but they cannot remember what they've written!


Any further ideas/ comments on my ideas, greatly appreciated!
hal
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Joined: Sun Oct 30, 2011 9:11 am

Post by hal »

In a nutshell, I suppose my question for Debbie/ others re the context for writing boils down to this....

Should I be aiming to get the children in this situation to learn to write simple sentences based on using CVC words that are within the realms of their phonic knowledge, or should I be aiming for more 'natural' sentences, which they may not be able to fully encode, but may be able to 'have a go' at and manage some initial/ final sounds.
Susan
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Post by Susan »

hal, I thought this RRF article by Tom Burkard had some connection with your question -it's about independent writing and spelling in the early years:

http://www.rrf.org.uk/archive.php?n_ID= ... eNumber=53

HTH
hal
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Post by hal »

Thanks Susan, it was interesting to read the analogy about giving children books before they can read them. However, many schools do give children reading books that they haven't a hope of decoding. ( Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favour of sharing quality literature, but just feel that children need decodable books too).


Susan, what's your view regarding my question about sentence writing? (Simple sentences or 'creativity' from the word go??)
Susan
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Post by Susan »

IMO, they should only be asked to handwrite using code that they have been taught and letters that they can form with reasonable confidence and accuracy.
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debbie
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Post by debbie »

Hello again, Hal. I suspect that your questions, and my responses, might be helpful for other teachers too. Thank you for raising these points. See my responses below.

I need ideas for/ have questions about:
Handwriting:
-do you still do mark making eg practise zigzags/ curly patterns etc in this year group even though they can write some letters? (or is that usually done only in EYFS?)
Personally, I think the best way to practise handwriting the letter shapes - is to practise handwriting the letter shapes!

I think it is a great idea to link the practice of handwriting with saying the sounds which the letters, or letter groups, are code for.

This is built into the phonics resources/programmes I am associated with - but teachers will also want to provide additional handwriting practice - perhaps grouping the letters according to their basic shapes (e.g. all letters starting with the 'c' shape: c, a, d, o, g, s, q - even f)

Here are some suggested groupings for additional practice:

c a d o g s q f

l t

h b k p

r n m

i j

u y

v w x

z e

I think pencil control and competence at writing and drawing is enhanced by art work and pattern making - but nothing beats the focus on the actual letter shapes - and writing on paper with good posture, holding the paper steady with the free hand - and slightly angling the paper for maximum comfort.

Don't forget the importance of the writing line too. Letters have special positions on writing lines and this needs to be included in the practice. Personally, I prefer a simple writing line for learners to see positional value - rather than writing lines with lots of additional lines to size the letter shapes. I think this can be confusing to see all the extra lines - and then what do learners do when they have lines in ordinary exercise books - where are they to place the letter shapes then? Keep it simple is best!

-how much practise time for handwriting and how many days per week works best for those with poor pencil control?
- any other activities to promote good pencil control/ motor skills/ layout of writing on page/ finger spacing?
You need to allocate as much time is necessary! For some learners, they will be very competent at writing letter shapes very quickly and don't need additional time. For other learners, they need plenty of time and patience in quiet circumstances - little and often is best - and this may well mean daily practice.

If you are providing additional 'catch up' lessons, make sure that the main class teacher is also enabling plenty of practice - even through artwork with pencils and pencil crayons to improve pencil control.

Of course you probably know that I promote the 'tripod pencil hold' - and watch out for leaners, even right-handers, writing with their wrists hooked around - therefore writing the letter shapes from 'above' rather than from 'below' the writing. I see this more and more in my visits to primary schools. It's very worrying.

With regards to finger spacing - encourage the learners to see the importance of a clear space between words which is bigger than the space between letter shapes. Show them a stream of writing without spaces between words to demonstrate how hard it is to read without the spaces.
Sentence writing:
- to get them to 'hold a sentence', I plan to get them to rehearse simple sentences aloud and to count the number of words in a sentence
-then I thought we might use 'magic lines' to draw in lines to match the number of words (they can then just use initial/ final sounds at start /end of line if they cannot segment the whole word)
- building sentences by placing word cards in order
I think that counting actual words in a sentence may well end up being a distractor. If the learners are really very weak at writing sentences, I suggest that you use very short sentences with controlled vocabulary which 'matches' the alphabetic code they know to date. Thus, the sentences are 'cumulative' and 'decodable' to them. If they are as simple as 'The cat is black.' for example, you can say each word very discretely and this should be enough for them to note the words as 'separate' from one another.

You can provide very simple dictation exercises with sentences consisting of words with alphabetic code they know, and a variation of this is to provide 'self-dictation' opportunities where the learner reads the simple sentence, holds the sentence in his or her head, and then writes it down.

It could be, however, that if you are involved with 'catch up' level work, that the learners are not even at sentence level. Are they good at word-level encoding (spelling - identifying the sounds all through the word and then writing down the graphemes for those sounds). If the learners are not competent at word level spelling, perhaps you need to be at the stage of only 'modelling' the writing of sentences, rather than asking them to write sentences?

I personally would not use 'magic lines' to mark the need for words. I promote the use of 'sound dashes' for tallying the sounds identified all through the spoken word to the thumb and fingers of the left hand, palm facing, as part of the supported spelling-with-editing routine - therefore I would not also use lines to denote whole words as this may become confusing.
I would really like some suggestions of a meaningful context for sentence writing, as our work will not be part of a topic. I have thought about writing sentences based around a picture or a sensory experience eg trudging through leaves or blowing bubbles, for example. I have only 30 mins per session so need to have time for some sort of stimulus and to model and write a sentence or two. Any ideas?


It may well be that you are at the stage with the learners where you are 'modelling' creative writing to give them the idea of how to do this - but that they themselves are not yet ready to be asked to do creative writing.

Free, creative or independent writing will inevitably include any letter/s-sound correspondence of our vast and complex alphabetic code. This means that you are asking a huge amount of learners to write freely.

This does not mean, however, that you cannot develop lots of enriched and inspiring speaking and listening opportunities (themes, topics) and you can do the modelling for the writing. Sometimes you will use words which consist of alphabetic code knowledge that the learners do know, and then they can describe what to do or have a go at writing some of the words. You may need to plan ahead as to 'which' words you can use for their greater contribution.
To be honest, I am struggling a bit with wanting to make the writing accessible to them when they generally don't know any vowels digraphs and only a couple of consonant digraphs yet. It's very hard to write anything interesting composed of CVC words! Should I skip the creative stimuli bit for a while till they have a few more graphemes under their belt?? (And do lots of speaking and listening/ vocab work but not have the expectation for them to write at the same level....)


What you do depends on your main brief. If you have learners who are seriously struggling with learning alphabetic code, handwriting and the skills of blending and segmenting, this surely needs to be the main focus of your time.

If you have learners with impoverished spoken language and vocabulary, perhaps with English as an additional or new language, this may well be your main focus - or perhaps you need to provide both language development and phonics development.

Both are needed of course - but what have you been asked to do? I would need to know more about your context before I could provide a steer on content of your lessons!

What I do feel, however, is that you should not ask learners to write beyond their technical skills or language skills.

Before you plan what to teach and how to teach it, what do the children 'need'?
Also, I need help with how to give verbal feedback to (the few)children whose writing cannot be read without mediation, but they cannot remember what they've written!
To be honest, it sounds from your question here as if these children are being asked to write before they have sufficient knowledge and skills TO write.

It could well be that you are not using the time constructively enough.

Could you not use part of the lesson for some wonderful conversations - and part of the lesson for very rigorous, synthetic phonics teaching?

If you cannot even read back what the children have written, then you certainly need to re-think the content of the children's lessons.

Please feel free to tell me more about the scenario - and I'll keep making suggestions! :)
Debbie Hepplewhite
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debbie
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Post by debbie »

Hal - are you not using a systematic, synthetic phonics programme of work?

Can you not work with the same SSP as the mainstream teaching - or is there not one in place?

It occurs to me that you yourself do not have enough support and material to use from the nature of your questions! :?
Debbie Hepplewhite
hal
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Post by hal »

Hi Debbie,

Thanks so much for your response I just want to start by putting my questions in context, as I have obviously come across as a bit clueless in some areas!

I work in a primary school and have successfully delivered some additional phonics tuition in key stage 2 and so have been asked to do some interventions in Key Stage One after Christmas.

When I said that I am 'currently running' these interventions, I actually should have said that I am currently doing some assessment and looking at samples of children's work (a small amount of it was still at the emergent writing level, hence my question about giving oral feedback when you cannot understand the writing !)

So... my numerous questions come from the position of wanting to carry out as much research in to key stage one practice as I can, before I start to actually teach these children. I can see that once I start to teach them, I will get more of an idea of their needs (I have only done the reading and phonics assessments and looked at unaided writing samples so far).

When I asked about contexts for writing, I was really looking for some ideas about simple stimuli for shared writing which are not genre specific.
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debbie
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Post by debbie »

If the children need extra provision for phonics teaching, I would focus on writing opportunities that come from the phonics programme of work.

The difficulty is with giving suggestions without knowing the full context, the children, what they are receiving in their class and so on, is that ideas would have to be picked out of 'thin air' and would not be any better than you yourself might think of.

I'm sorry not to be able to be more inspiring under the circumstances!
Debbie Hepplewhite
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