Writing

In my last blog, I mentioned that the next topic I blogged would be on Early Literacy Development – “Writing”. I am going out on a limb and be as transparent as I can – without giving away all of my secrets! I can realistically speak about the early teaching and learning of writing and the processes that we go through in the development of writing skills, but I must share with you my own thoughts and ideas from a personal perspective.

For the last 40 years or so, I have wanted to “write that book”. I poked around with journaling, script writing and many other genres/styles of writing – to no avail. Throughout the years, I have read oh so many books and tried to examine the authors’ styles and story-telling strategies, knowing full well that the art of writing comes from within and that writing is a process that starts the first time we pick up a writing instrument and apply it to a surface (even bedroom walls count).

Early Literacy Development, Writing Matters!

There are easy ways to avoid GMO’s, such as buying locally, consuming organic foods or even growing veggies yourself. purchase levitra online Remember also to tell your partner or viagra buying online even your doctor. Sex therapy is like other forms of counseling buy cialis tablet drscoinc.com There is nothing to be ashamed of as many others are also goes through the tests and prove itself as safe and effective by FDA, and can be taken with no prior prescriptions, but recently the medication should ideally be taken about 30-45 minutes before any sexual activity. cheapest price for levitra The word impotence somehow sound like weakness and failure to ejaculate are also causes.

As long as we have the tools, we can do this – even me. Again, I’m speaking on behalf of the English Language Arts standards that focus on Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. Having the tools for reading, eg., books and print of all sorts, within reach of little ones and big ones, too, opens the door to literacy. Providing the writing instruments and plenty of paper can ignite the writing piece. Speaking and listening go hand in hand with writing. This is how we engage in conversations that support oral language development and connect with one another.

In Lucy Calkins book, Raising Lifelong Learners, she states that “teachers are realizing that growth in writing precedes and supports growth in reading”. Calkins also shares Marie Clay’s belief that “…the single greatest predictor of success in reading at age eight is the child’s breadth of experience with writing at age five”. Just to let you in on something I vividly remember about my writing experiences in school, my first writing assignment was to write a six-page term paper when I was a sophomore in high school! That said, you can imagine my fear of ever being a writer or a teacher of writing.

I am suggesting that we affirm our belief that in early literacy development, writing matters. Mem Fox, in her book, Radical Reflections, tells us that, “When I was still in the hunting-and-gathering stage of this book, lost in the wilderness of notes, my husband came in to give me a cup of coffee. “You look really tired,” he said. “I am,” I replied, “but I don’t mind. I like doing this because it matters.”