Many children find writing difficult. Almost all children can write a sentence, yet even as they approach year 3, many of the children I meet struggle with the anguish of putting pencil to paper. The problem often starts with a blank sheet of paper. That space is a scary place for many. But that isn’t the only problem — many who struggle to write also struggle to decode and spell accurately.
Peter Reynolds discusses this in his book, The Dot about Vashi and her lack of marks on paper, and Abby Hanlon puts the problems across beautifully in, Ralph Tells a Story. I use both books to calm the nerves of my students so they don’t feel entirely alone — if it is in a story, you’re not alone. Others have and do feel like this too. I always think great conversations can come from books.
A story can soften the blow of a hard conversation. The type that makes you twist and turn inside before you come out the other end feeling better.
Reading and talking about problems is one thing, but we must combat sentence fatigue by taking it slowly, working step by step, and modelling the process with lots of repetition through playful practice.
It’s crucial that when we help children build sentences, it starts orally. My students always have something to say as we meet or something to show me. They will often interrupt sessions with amazing facts and tales of the weekend. But when the tricky bit about writing begins, they have nothing to say. Talk of the bunny, the trip to the beach and do you know “I am growing wheat in my bathroom,” all float away.
As many have said, including Pie Corbett of Talk for Writing and Ros Wilson of Big Writing,
“If you can’t say it, you can’t write it.” We have to help children develop the habit of saying their sentence first. Next, say each word as they write. Finally, read back their sentence.
The talk of the beach and bunny and the wheat often involves sentences that would take too long to get on paper. These children are great communicators. They have lots to say. We have to hone these skills through games and instruction, so they come out the other side able to write.
There isn’t as much research about writing as there is for reading. This is an area that requires more research. The studies out there show that writing places a heavy load on working memory.
We know that if we provide scaffolds for writing, we reduce the demands of the task.
Working memory can’t hold onto anything for too long and can only hold a few items before all is forgotten. So, in the early years, it might feel a little overwhelming, especially because there is so much to think about:
the need to hold the pencil correctly,
thoughts about what to write,
how to write, and don’t forget the punctuation,
my t-shirt is a little itchy, and Archie keeps talking to me across the table.
It is all too much! It is no surprise that children struggle.
Starting with word games that can build up to be sentence games helps our young writers learn writing conventions step by step. Learning to write sentences takes time and lots of repetition. Playing games is an effective way to develop writing, creativity and vocabulary.
Use the picture cards as a prompt for writing words.
Ask me to tell you the picture. Prompt me to say the sounds as I write or build the word. Talk about the picture. Ask your child to describe the picture.
Build a word, then mix it up.
Use alphabet tiles, post-it notes or stones. Ask me to unscramble the word. Help me to build the word and read it back. We also use our word cards to read the word. Cut up the letters, mix up and unscramble. Add words to sentences.
We shouldn’t be asking our young writers to write at length — it should be quality over quantity.
Sentence games that move from word level to sentence level through to sentence combining can teach the conventions we need within phonics instruction sessions.
Sentence and word games help the writing process. In the beginning, activities should be short to help your students stay engaged.
Use a picture or a word as a prompt and encourage your child/student to say what the picture is. We use these sentence mats to move on from world level to sentence level.
Ask wh- questions to build the sentence.
Where is the pig? What is the pig doing? Later on, as your students become more confident, adding on to simple sentences with actions and describing words helps build longer sentences. Try using two or three prompts once your children get the hang of adding one word or picture prompt to a sentence.
Say the sentence. Repeat the sentence and count the words to know how many words should be on the paper.
Before writing, the oral construction of sentences must be a rigorous practice that becomes a positive habit. This is a great daily review activity. All students write their sentence because of a picture or word prompt. They can show their whiteboards to the teacher to quickly assess the writing. The teacher might also dictate a sentence. This helps to form good punctuation habits. Punctuation is tricky, but continued modelling and repetition will see most children able to punctuate a simple sentence by the end of their Foundation year. In the beginning, our young students need a solid foundation. Learning that a sentence starts with a capital letter, ends with a full stop and has to make sense on its own is enough new knowledge to handle. Once students have a firm grasp of writing sentences and can edit their own sentences, they can move on to writing paragraphs and more elaborate punctuation.
My free sentence activity pack has word and sentence games to play at home or in your classroom.
Early writers know little code knowledge and can get tangled up in what they want to say. They can come up with brilliant sentences with too many tricky words. Dictation is a great activity to model how to write a sentence. This quick activity helps children feel successful because you have taken away the creating part. We often use our dictated sentences as an add on activity. This also doubles as a decoding activity because the children have to read the sentence back to add in extra detail.
Children have to build up their writing stamina. In the beginning, most children won’t be able to write at length, writing should be a structured activity that builds on phonics instruction. If we ask young children to write without structure and instruction most children flounder. I’m not saying that everything should be structured. There is a time and a place for emergent writing. But if we want to swiftly move all our students on explicit writing instruction should start in the Foundation year.