The Teaching of Writing.

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The Teaching of Writing

There are many forms of writing and initially I found it very hard to decide what to write? Should I write a letter, a poem or a literary form of writing such as narrative, personal or descriptive writing? After gathering a flock of ideas I chose to write a descriptive piece of writing from personal experience. Though prior to and during PGCE course, I have written letters, essays and assignments but writing for implied readers was quite challenging in itself. It also reminded me of my old college days in India when I use to write poems and stories in English, Punjabi and Hindi. I clearly remember the huge popularity I gained when my very first poem was published in a weekly magazine at age of 15 and I was thrilled. It certainly increased my confidence and urged me to walk along this road for further 6 years. I would like to share this with everybody;

They met, “hello”,

And then parted, “Bye”,

Next day an impatient tongue twittered, “They are in love”.

My next step was the audience and the level I should be aiming. Audience encompasses real and implied readers. It is equally important to take an account of connection, or tenor, between the writer and the reader. Many thoughts went through my mind such, as I should be clear, informative and interesting. This even caused more confusion in my mind and I thought I am not writing a newspaper article or report. I gathered my thoughts and started planning on an original piece of work, maybe an experience. I knew that I would not get far without brainstorming. So I decided to make a framework for my story, which led, to a first draft copy and then to the final product. I was also aware of the fact that every piece of background detail will make my story far more real to my readers. Variety is the spice of life. In general to mix description with action, phrases and clauses, similes and metaphors as well as simple adjectives and adverbs are important to make writing interesting and appealing to readers.  As a writer I felt that being able to write opens up several channels of communications and give a new dimension to the existing experiences.

During the spring term university sessions on Organising Writing in the Classroom which further led to ‘composition’, ‘transcription’, ‘grammar for writing’, ‘non-fiction’ and ‘assessing children writing’ with detailed discussion, practical activities and case studies extended and supported my knowledge in the above. I was able to use this knowledge to support children’s writing skills during my school placement. It also gave an insight into the NC requirements for teaching of writing and made me aware of my own knowledge gaps in this area which prepared grounds for expected level of understanding needed to carry out a piece of writing.

Written language is a dominant feature of our environment. From the time they open their eyes, children see written language all around them: on the street signs and food packets, in shops, on the television and in the home.

Written language is also a dominant feature of the classroom. The written shape with which most children are familiar with is that of their own names. For younger children, their own special picture often accompanies the word so that they come to recognize the writing through its association with the picture. Children need to be provided with a range of stimuli to encourage and promote the development of writing skills. "Children gain more experience of writing through seeing it around them, imitating what they see, exploring its features for themselves (Browne 1996).

Initially from a young age children need to experience opportunities for writing. They need opportunities to use writing tools, and to observe adults modelling the writing process. I have witnessed a good opportunity to convey writing to young children during my second teaching practice. In the Home Corner there is usually ' post-office', ‘café’ or 'doctor's reception' set out. Children are provided with appropriate writing materials such as note pads, pencils and diaries that encourage them to write, and also convey the purpose of writing to them.

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Children's writing progresses through stages. In the initial stage the child recognizes that the marks he has made on paper represent a message and there is direct link between speech and writing. They also begin to follow writing conventions, for example text is written top to bottom and left to right. During these first stages children begin to generate writing that looks like short squiggles. They also develop an understanding to relate the sounds of words to letter shape from the recognition of their own name, and begin to leave spaces in between their markings, so that they ...

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