Composition and Writing 

 

Writing

Definition: The ability to produce spoken language in a print form in a meaningful way. To write well, knowledge must be gained of how spoken language corresponds to print and how to correctly form the conventional symbols of the alphabet and punctuation and how those symbols are arranged.

 

Six Stages of Writing Development 

1.  Drawing

          o       First form of writing that children do

          o       Simply drawing unknown symbols that usually have some sort of meaning to the child, a way of expressing the ideas in their head,                     unsystematic

2.  Scribbling

          o       Drawing reduces to a variety of squiggly lines

          o       Children demonstrate the ability to follow a structure such as a list or letter, even if no conventional letters are shown

3.  Letter-like forms

          o       Children begin to produce shapes that have more resemblance to letters than previous writing

4.  Familiar units of letter strings

          o       Strings of letters appear but no actual words

5.  Estimated spelling

          o       More conventionally formed letters and separation of letter groups into words

          o       Knowledge of letter sounds is used to estimate spellings of words

6.  Conventional spelling

          o       Exposure to print in books and other settings allows children to gain knowledge of conventionall spellings of words

          o       This often does not appear, and is not expected, until children enter school

 

Shedd, 2008g

  

-         Children learn to write through their own discovery and creation of strategies, observing the examples provided by others, and from one another as the process of writing is figured out 

-         Children often come to understand the “moves” and resulting shapes that go into writing through tracing letters and copying the letters written by another person, before eventually being able to generate their own letters without these prompts 

-         Inventory principle- tendency of parents and other caregivers, as well as teachers, to make lists of the letters and/or words a child shows the ability to write 

Temple, Nathan, Temple, & Burris, 1993.

 

 Concepts that Children Come to Recognize in Writing  

-         Recurring principle- the same “moves” and symbols produced are repeated over and over in writing 

-         Generative principle- writing involves combining the same set of letters in different ways 

-         Sign concept- text is represented graphically 

-         Flexibility concept- new letters can be formed by varying other letters (ex: p, b, d, q all formed by the same combination of moves, just in a different orientation) 

-         Directionality- print is arranged in a certain way on a page 

-         Negative space- space is left between words, paragraphs are indented, etc. 

Temple, Nathan, Temple, & Burris, 1993.

 

  

Common Tendencies in Later Stages of Writing  

-         Invented spelling- spellings produced by children while still in earlier stages of writing, often an attempt to identify relationships between sounds and letters 

-         Letter-name strategy- associating letter names with sounds of spoken language and using these to spell words (ex: “lade” for “lady”) 

-         Incorrect use of digraphs- using only one letter to spell a digraph or creating an incorrect combination of letters 

-         Invented spelling of long vowels- markers that indicate that a vowel is long are lacking, such as silent e in a Vce combination or the second vowel in a double vowel combination (ex: “mak” for “make”) 

-         Invented spelling of short vowels- letter name strategy is used in place of correct short vowels, often when the sound in a word is ambiguous (ex: “veset” for “visit”) 

-         Vowel omissions- vowels missing from syllables (ex: “letl” for “little”) 

-         Transitional spelling- words look like English words, following conventional vowel and consonant patterns, but are simply spelled incorrectly (ex: “daysies” for “daisies”) 

Temple, Nathan, Temple, & Burris, 1993.

 

Composition

Definition: The ability to produce a set of words and sentences, either in speech or writing, that carries a particular meaning

 

-         Even before learning to write children are able to verbally compose, dictating previously learned stories or events of life, or inventing stories of their own 

-         Words, phrases, and full stories are often pulled from other people’s speech and writing 

-         Children must learn to be aware of audience, topic, and purpose as they learn to write in composition form

 

Modes of Compositional Writing  

-         Expressive mode- a free flow of ideas, thoughts, and feelings, composition that is closest to the self (ex: journal writing)

-         Poetic mode- writing as an art form, compositions that intend to explore how words can be used to convey meaning in an artistic way (ex: poetry, narrative- most fiction, but sometimes nonfiction) 

-         Transactional mode- composition intending to persuade or advise others, writing is focused around making an argument or presenting accurate information (ex: instructional texts, texts meant to argue a particular viewpoint) 

Britton, 1970

  

What do good writers do when they write?  

-         Good compositional writing involves paying close attention to the conventions of the mode and genre they are writing in 

o       Modes: expressive, poetic, transactional 

o       Examples of Genres: narrative, informational, procedural, producing and responding to literature 

-         Compositions should be focused on a particular topic and purpose 

-         Attention must be paid to: 

o       Style and syntax (variation of sentence lengths, transitional words and phrases, use of modifiers and description) 

o       Vocabulary and word choice (show ability to use speaking vocabulary in writing) 

o       Correct spelling 

o       Correct use of punctuation, capitalization, and other conventions 

-         Good writers also demonstrate the ability to go back to their pieces of writing and edit and revise 

o       Correct mistakes in spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure 

o       Make changes to sentences and organization of ideas to make ideas flow in a way that conveys the meaning they want it to  

New Standards Primary Literacy Committee, 1999

 

 A Six Trait writing rubric can be used to assess student writing in six areas: ideas and content, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. This rubric also provides a point scale with 1 being the lowest score, and 4, 5, or 6 the highest score, depending on the rubric. Writing can be assessed based on how well the criteria in these categories are met. Good writing demonstrates:

• Ideas and Content: Ability to address a topic in a clear and focused way with plenty of appropriate supporting details
• Organization: The writing is organized so that it flows from one idea to the next and allows the point being made to be enhanced through this organization, usually including an introduction, body, and conclusion
• Voice: Demonstrates a clear voice appropriate to the purpose of the writing 

o  Word Choice: Uses interesting and descriptive words that create interest and convey exact meaning 

o  Sentence Fluency: Uses correct and varied sentence structures that give the writing rhythm and pace and enhance meaning 

o  Conventions: Demonstrates correct spelling, grammar, and proper use of punctuation and capitalization which make the writing easy to read, showing clear evidence of editing

*See the bottom of this page for an example of a six-trait writing rubric

Elliot-Schuman, n.d.

 

Issues for SLLs  

-        SLLs are still gaining knowledge of letter-sound relationships, vocabulary, sentence structure, and other conventions of English in the realm of spoken language and reading 

-        Writing a new language adds a new layer of complexity as these students must apply these unfamiliar conventions to producing written text 

-        At every age there will be some aspects of writing that children are still learning or are still uncomfortable with in their native language, just like non-SLLs are. Not only are they trying to figure out how to write in their native language, but they must figure out writing in their new language  

                  ● These students should be given opportunities to write in English and in their native language 

-        For children for whom their native language does not use the Latin alphabet like English (ex: Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Hindi, etc.) will also have to learn how to produce an entirely different set of letter symbols and ways of putting letters together to form words and sentences. (Relates to concepts of print and letter-sound relationships) 

-        In a short period of time, depending on the age they are when they begin learning English, SLLs are expected to learn conventions of English such as style and syntax, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation, and mold these into different modes and genres of writing. (New Standards Primary Literacy Committee, 1999). This process is taught to non-SLLs over a period of years and many still struggle with it. 

-     These children should be taught to look for similarities and differences between spelling and sentence structure in English and their native language to help them develop their writing skills (Norton, 2007)

 

 

MLPP Writing Assessment 

This document provides writing prompts and guidelines for kindergarten through 3rd grade, questions to aid students in prewriting, checklists for revision, rubrics for teachers as to the skills to look for in writing at each grade in the areas of content and ideas, organization, style/voice, and conventions, and also descriptions and examples for the stages of spelling and writing.

Michigan Department of Education Early Literacy Committee, 2001

 

Blackburn-Cramp Developmental Writing Scale

This 8-level scale serves as a way to assess students' abilities in terms of writing development stages, word formation, sentence formation, and spelling development stages. The scale begins at the level of simply drawing and pretend writing and ends with the ability to write more than one sentence with some organization and conventions. This is an early childhood writing scale and most students will pass beyond the eighth level as they reach later elementary age.

Blackburn-Cramp Developmental Writing Scale, n.d.

 

Six Trait Writing 4-Point Rubric 

This rubric is an example of a 4-point writing scale for the six criteria of compositional writing. 

Elliot-Schuman, n.d.

 

Resources  

 

Britton, J. (1970). Language and learning. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books.

  

Elliot-Schuman, N. (n.d.). Six Trait Writing 4-Point Rubric. Retrieved on November 20, 2008 from

http://www.bham.wednet.edu/departments/currdept/asmtoff/4ptrubric.htm

  

Michigan Department of Education Early Literacy Committee. (2001). Michigan Literacy Progress Profile. Lansing, MI: Department of Education.

  

New Standards Primary Literacy Committee, (1999). Reading & writing grade by grade: Primary literacy standards for kindergarten through third grade. National Center on Education and the Economy and the University of Pittsburgh

  

Norton, D.E. (2007). Literacy for Life. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

 

Shedd, M. Writing and Composition. Presentation for TE 301 (g), East Lansing, Michigan.

 

Temple, C., Nathan, R., Temple, F., & Burris, N.A. (1993). The beginnings of writing. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.