Week 3 & 4 Reflect

 

Week 3 & 4

 

Shaquan Williams:

As our students transition through writing, they may require some assistance. To provide this assistance, the teacher engages the students in activities that will help them to develop their writing through strategies. One of these strategies is known as word processing. Word processing usually refers to the act of using technology to create, edit, save, and publish information. But how is this done? Word processing usually refers to the act of using technology to develop their writing skill. Word processing enables this through easier transcription and revision. According to (MacArthur & Graham 1987), word processing is not simply giving the students access to technology but also teach them how to use technology to write effectively. This is put into play as word processing allows students to easily review and revise their composition, highlight key ideas, rearrange sentences or paragraphs to flow more logically on the internet thus allowing them to communicate their ideas better but also reach a wider audience and interact with informational text on the internet. Some benefits include that students can put down their ideas and not have to worry about spelling errors thus facilitating revising and editing. All the strategies like word processing facilitate the improvement of student’s writing skills depending on their writing stage level and as they transition between them.

What are the writing stage levels?

The writing stage levels consists of 4 stages:

•           Emergent stage- At this stage, writers are learning what writing is. They are learning about manipulating letters and words and also making the connections to the sounds.

•           Early stage- This is the stage where they begin to critique their work and cross out things that seem wrong, analyze sounds, and self-correct misspelled words.

•           Transitional stage-Transitional writers develop rapidly due to the influx of words. Transitional writers use syllables and analogies to record unknown words so it can be recorded in their writing vocabulary. They also begin to write longer paragraphs and editing and checking for spelling and punctuation.

•           Fluent writers- Finally in this stage, writers begin to write independently and in expository form. They also edit for errors of any kind and write to appeal to the audience at the time.

 

Makiba Ward:

As students continue to engage themselves within the writing process (involves generating ideas, developing and organizing the ideas, and revising and editing) there are some best writing strategies that teacher can engage his/ her students in for effective writing such as Strategy instruction, Summarization, Peer assistance, Setting product goals, Word processing, Sentence combining, Inquiry activities, Pre-writing activities, Process writing approach, Study of models and grammar instruction. With the knowledge grasp on each writing strategies, two stood out the most to me: Peer assistance: Establishing routines that permit students to frequently work with their peers to plan, draft, revise, and/or edit compositions, such as when writing group papers, creates a positive writing environment. This allows students to learn from each other while promoting less competition among classmates but increasing writing expression. Sentence combining: involves teaching students to use the generative combinatory nature of syntax to combine simple kernel sentences into more sophisticated ones (e.g., the kernel sentences, “My dog is a standard poodle” and “He is energetic and needs lots of love” can be combined to form the more sophisticated sentence, “My energetic male standard poodle needs lots of love”) and, sometimes, to deconstruct unnecessarily complex sentences.

What are the different development stages of writing? Writing is processing from different development stages such as Preliterate: At this point, students know that their drawings and scribblings mean something, and are becoming aware that words move from left to right when spelled and when printed on paper. Early Emergent: students become aware of the different shapes of symbols that make up the words in a line of print, shapes in writing actually resemble letters but are not actually letters; many letter-like marks are unique, Example: letter-like forms. Emergent: students begin to move from mock letters to real letters; random letters or letter strings are used in sequence, Example: letters or letters strings. Transitional: characterized by a lack of uniformity, improper spacing, and early comprehension that capital letters are used in different ways. They also begin to add final consonant and vowel sounds when writing. As their writing matures, more words are spelled conventionally as they continue to rely on obvious sounds; but some letters are still invented or omitted, Example: Writing via invented spelling. Fluency: Writers have developed a personal style and are able to manipulate forms of writing to suit their purposes, during the standard spelling/proficient writing stage, Example: Conventional spelling.

In conclusion, the writing strategies and the stages of writing are important markers of student development and must be adequately monitored. Thus, teachers must know when students are to move from one stage to another and how to help them along. It is also the teacher’s responsibility that students get off to a good start with writing and monitor their progress as they enter and exit grade levels.

 

Derika Joseph:

Sometimes as new writers, our students may have difficulties with their writing. As a result, they may require some assistance. This is where the teacher comes in and engages students in some strategies we call “Best Practices in Teaching Writing". For example, one of these strategies requires the students to work in groups, to compose, draft, edit, etc. a composition together, before publishing. This strategy is known as "peer assistance/collaboration" and is best to help struggling students with their writing. Likewise, for more interest and older students, the teacher could try a strategy that requires the integration of technology. Students may use platforms, such as Microsoft Word Document, to compose and send their writing drafts to the teacher. The teacher may edit, give feedback, and resend to the students. This repeated interaction is called "word processing", where the teacher uses this platform to teach Writing.

 Furthermore, these and other strategies can help to improve students' writing skills, depending on their writing stage or as they move from one stage to another. These stages include: The Emergent Writing...when a child makes the first effort to create and use print, which involves printing letters, message compositions, etc., The Early Writing...when a child has control over beginning letter-sound combinations, etc. and involves them in analyzing sounds in sequence, etc., The Transitional Writing...when a child uses invented spelling, etc. and involves them in recording unknown words using syllables, etc., and The Fluent Writing...when a child begins to develop strategies for the craft of writing and involves composing text using various genres, etc.

 Thus, overall, no matter what stage a child is at or moving to, it is important that as teachers, we select the best practice strategy, out of so many and which best suits our students, in order to not only motivate and improve the student's writing skills, but to also boost their self-confidence so they can believe in themselves and always do their best.