7. Writing

a. Developmental writing and creating a writing environment

One of the best ways of introducing developmental writing to student teachers is to look at examples of children’s early writing.

Activity i

Student teachers look at a piece of writing by a young child to note what the child knows about writing. Some of the most interesting examples are from nursery children. We ask them to draw on understandings gained from the work of Marie Clay (1935), Nigel Hall (1987 and 2003) and the unpublished LINC materials. Discussing what each young writer has learned encourages a positive approach to children’s writing and highlights the importance of valuing their intentions.

We then ask them to set appropriate targets for the child, using both NC and PNS materials, and consider the kinds of activities that might best achieve these.

Activity ii

Student teachers work together to design a writing area for a specific classroom, to choose appropriate resources and to discuss their reasons for doing this. This could involve drawing up a plan, labelling the different features and listing resources. They need to think about what this area is for, to understand that it is intended to stimulate children to engage in independent writing and provide enjoyable experiences of writing for different purposes and in a variety of formats. They will need to think of a range of resources and the precise rationale for their provision, and understand that this will enable children to make important connections between reading, writing, speaking and listening as they use these resources.

The practical activities and resources they suggest could be linked to a particular theme, such as a post office. This might require the provision of a variety of writing materials, different colours, sizes and types of paper; envelopes and packaging, stamps, and related texts such as The Jolly Postman (Allan Ahlberg, 1986) or Dear Daddy (Philippe Dupasquier, 1985). A postbox with regular collections and deliveries to members of the class and others would give children a sense of purpose and audience.

See also 4f. Creating a writing environment.