Stage-matched early writing instruction: match teaching to the child's position on the writing-feature continuum¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 1 study (1 associational), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article recommends that writing instruction be sequential and matched to the child's current stage of writing development. For children still scribbling or showing only universal features, teachers should "promote understanding of basic writing features by acknowledging and highlighting specific features observed in their student's scribbles." For children showing language-specific features, name writing is an ideal starting point for teaching letter names and shapes, and advanced preschoolers using invented spelling benefit from increased social opportunities interacting with letters and words.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Teachers must assess where the child falls on the continuum of developing writing features before choosing instruction

Constraints¶

• The article states it might not be fruitful to teach letters to a child still at the scribbling phase; longitudinal research is needed to confirm the significance of early skills

Target Learners¶

• preschool children aged 3-5 years

Target Learning Goals¶

• emergent writing, letter knowledge, invented spelling

Affordances¶

• Linearity Hypothesis Writing Development

Claims¶

• Writing features develop sequentially: universal features (linearity, segmentation, simple units) are acquired before language-specific features [+W]
• Children's writing proficiency is task dependent: children use more advanced features on easier tasks and regress to basic features on harder tasks [+W]
• Preschoolers' writing and writing-related skills increase significantly between ages 3 and 5 on letter, name, and CVC word tasks [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Drawing and Writing Developmental Stages
• Art and Writing Skill Development Stages

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Puranik, Cynthia S., Lonigan, Christopher J. (2011). From Scribbles to Scrabble: Preschool Children's Developing Knowledge of Written Language. Reading and Writing. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-009-9220-8