Five Pillars and Writing

 Leslee Allen: Writing - there is more than meets the eye!

This is huge for us as New Entrants because last year we held off formal writing until term 3, with amazing results. Because tamariki could then quickly form letters and match sounds, it was easier to teach other aspects of writing. However, we still did daily writing through rotations.

This year we only have 6 tamariki, 2 are boys. So where to now?

Writing: More than meets the eye

First off, I have a young boy with cerebral palsy and his gross and fine motor skills are lacking. So from checking out mahi done by another kaiako Kate in the ICT/MK room in the year 2/3 class, I have gleaned some ideas that I can adapt through an iPad for Marcel for his writing.

I am having a big re-think with writing. I can see some of the girls are ready to get stuck in - but I am really mindful that to try produce writing when letter formation and sound knowledge aren't consolidated can be tricky.

What I do love is that using the Heidi songs stages of writing, I can celebrate the stage for what it is - be it strings of letters or pictures. They are actual legitimate stages of writing. So I may need to be the scribe. It is really interesting because for so long, I haven't needed to push writing due to the developmental nature of my rooms. I am trying to think how I do that, how it is a natural process, how I model it and what kind of lessons would capture that effectively. And the whole time thinking about the needs of my tamariki.