Beginning to Write

Especially in regards to the Workshop Model, teachers focus more on understanding/comprehension with reading and information retention than spelling. As students begin to write, they often write letters to represent the sounds they hear, however, they sometimes do not hear all the sounds. This process of learning to write is often referred to as "invented spelling." This is a crucial part of learning to spell correctly because it allows students to find important sounds of words. As a parent, be sure to encourage this type of spelling by noting what they did well at. Maybe they wrote this sentence:

"I waked mi dg to the prk."

This is good! Notice how many sounds they included? You can say "you got most of the sounds!" or "I can read that, good job!" This will encourage your child to continue writing and listening for sounds in words they are trying to portray with letters.

As Borowski and Mayne note, young children who are asked to only write words they know will stop taking risks and limit themselves to writing only words they are sure of, which lessens creativity (2010)! They need to be encouraged to write words that portray what they are creating so that their stories are able to be imaginative and delightful.