Seven Stages of Writing - BARCLAY

Question 1

1. Scribbling

Answer 1

• Pseudo writing, marks on a page

Question 2

2. Mock Handwriting

Answer 2

• Often appears with drawings,

- Children produce wavy scribbles resembling cursive writing, can be revisited

Question 3

3. Mock Letters

Answer 3

• Make letter like shapes that resemble conventional alphabet letters

Question 4

4. Conventional Letters

Answer 4

• First word to appear is usually child’s name

- String of letters across a page: “What did I write?”

Question 5

5. Invented Spelling

Answer 5

• Child begins to cluster letters to make words (may not appear conventional)

Question 6

6. Approximated or Phonetic Spelling

Answer 6

• Children make the link between graphemes and phonemes

Question 7

7. Conventional Spelling

Answer 7

• Child’s approximated spellings become more conventional

Question 8

In which year was this theory established?

Answer 8

1996