Stages in Writing Development

Stages in Writing Development

1. Transitional Stage

   • One letter may represent an entire syllable or word
     • Words and syllables often represented by single initial consonant sound ( beginning phonemic spelling
       • Writing continues to include random letters and letter strings ( few mock letters)
         • Beginning awareness of punctuation
           • Continued imprecision in the marks children use to compose letters ( lack of uniformity)
             • Awareness of spacing but often improper
               • Begin to understand that capital letters are used in different ways.
                 • Adds final consonant and vowel sounds in their writing
                   • As writing matures, more words are spelled conventionally; but some letters are still invented or omitted
   • Teaching Strategies for Transitional Stage
     • Continue to develop the awareness that writing is purposeful
       • Talk about the differences between oral and written language
         • Read, write, and dicuss a range of different forms of writing for different purposes and audience.
           • Help children build lists of high- frequency words from their reading and writing
             • Demonstrate and talk about the writing of whole text from letter to word to sentence to paragraph.

2. Intermediate Stage

   • Compose text using various genres
     • Compose text according to purpose and audience
       • Demonstrate success in conforming to expository text structures in informational writing ( descriptive, problem/solution, time/order, compare/contrast, cause/effect, and procedural)
         • Write independently for self and others
           • Incorporate descriptive language into writing
             • Gather information on a topic, sort it into categories, and use categories to write paragraphs
               • Use graphic organizers to plan and organize writing independently
                 • Revise writing for content and clarity
                   • Edit writing for spelling
                     • Edit writing for correct use of capitalization, punctuation, and proper nouns
                       • Edit writing for standard grammar usage and subject/verb agreement
                         • Develop a writes's voice
                           • Write for different audiences
                             • Use resources including dictionaries, thesaurus, spell check and other text references
                               • Apply knowledge of writers' craft from the texts they have read to original writing
                                 • Develop a topic and extend over many pages
   • Teaching Strategies for Intermediate Stage
     • Model writing elaborating (voice)
       • Demonstrate how to critique their own writing and other's writing
         • Discuss writing in different genres
           • Relate how to use what they know about reading text to write
             • Demonstrate how to develop a sense of audience in their writing