Child Writing Development

Question 1

7 stages of writing development

Answer 1

Drawing
Letter-like forms
Copied letters
Child’s name
String of letters
Words
Sentences
Text

Question 2

The term used to describe children’s early scribble or representations of the written word

Answer 2

Emergent writing

Question 3

Kathy Barclay’s 7 stages of writing

Answer 3

Scribbling
Mock writing
Mock letters
Conventional letters
Invented spelling
Approximated or phonetic spelling
Conventional spelling

Question 4

Ascenders

Answer 4

Letters that go up

Question 5

Descenders

Answer 5

Letters that go down

Question 6

Understanding of genre

Answer 6

• Children are aware of genres related to their own experience e.g. letters to Santa, invitations
• Understanding of register - children need to learn how to use appropriate grammar and lexis for the type of text
• Importance of purpose and relationship between the reader and writer (importance of politeness)
• Pragmatic awareness becomes more sophisticated overtime

Question 7

Brittons 3 modes of children’s writing

Answer 7

Expressive
Poetic
Transactional

Question 8

Expressive mode

Answer 8

Resembles speech, first person perspective, content based on personal preferences

Question 9

Poetic mode

Answer 9

Gradual development; encouraged early on; uses imagery and phonological devices

Question 10

Katherine Perera

Answer 10

• Suggested an alternative way of classifying texts
• Chronological and non-chronological
• Chronological texts rely on action words and on linking ideas with connectives to connect events
• Non-chronological texts are more creative and abstract and based on logical connections between ideas

Question 11

Transactional mode

Answer 11

Develops last, around secondary school age once children have disassociated speech from writing, essays, impersonal, formal, 3rd person creates a detached tone, formal sentence structures and graphological features are used to sing post sections and ideas and structures tend to be chronological

Question 12

B.M. Kroll (1981) 4 stages in the development of writing skills

Answer 12

Preparation
Consolidation
Differentiation
Integration

Question 13

Preparation

Answer 13

• Up to 6
• Basic motor skills; some principles of spelling

Question 14

Consolidation

Answer 14

• 7-8
• Writing similar to spoken language (colloquial register, repeated use of ‘and’ to link clauses, some incomplete sentences)

Question 15

Differentiation

Answer 15

• 9-10
• Writing is separate from speech; writing for different purposes and audiences more strongly understood

Question 16

Integration

Answer 16

• 11 onwards
• Personal voice in writing; writing is more controlled and appropriate

Question 17

Francis Christie and genre theory

Answer 17

Narratives
Recounts
Procedures
Reports
Explanations
Expositions and discussions

Question 18

Narratives

Answer 18

Introduce characters in some setting, unfold a series of events leading to a complication and offer some evaluation with a resolution - story books and literary text

Question 19

Recounts

Answer 19

Reconstruct experience in temporal sequence, found early in writing of personal experience

Question 20

Procedures

Answer 20

Direct behaviour in undertaking activities and which are found in games, recipes,manuals and science experiments

Question 21

Reports

Answer 21

Classify some phenomenon and describe it, use in social and natural sciences

Question 22

Explanations

Answer 22

Identify some phenomenon or historical event and explain how or why it occurred or what the consequences are

Question 23

Expositions and discussions

Answer 23

Argumentative genres, involved in exploring issues and arriving at opinions on the basis of evidence

Question 24

Rothery’s categories of children’s writing

Answer 24

Observation/comment
Recount
Report
Narrative

Question 25

Observation/comment

Answer 25

Observation (I saw a tiger) followed by an evaluative comment (it was big); or a combination (I saw a big tiger)

Question 26

Recount

Answer 26

Usually a chronological sequence of events, e.g. A recount of a school trip

Orientation (scene setting) - event - reorientation (closes the story)

Question 27

Report

Answer 27

Factual account of events or things

Question 28

Narrative

Answer 28

Story genre where events occur and are resolved at the end

Orientation-complication-resolution-coda (coda emphasises the point of a story)