How do you as an educator teach writing?

It is important to incorporate writing activities in the daily programme by means of the following ways:

1. Scribbling/Wavy scribbling stages

1.1. Provide your learners with a piece of unlined paper and fun colourful markers or crayons. Do this activity for about 5-10 minutes as a side activity and NEVER AS A MAIN ACTIVITY.

1.2. As the learner’s scribbles, have conversations about things that they are putting on the paper. Point at the scribbles and ask questions like “What does that say?” or “What is this?” then write down what they explain to you as a caption. This will allow the children to use their imagination.

2. Letter-like scribbling/Letter strings stages

2.1. Continue with the scribbling side activity every other lesson. It is important to include all sorts of fun art materials like coloured pencils, glitter, foam paper, glue, scissors, coloured paper/card etc.

2.2. Take your Learners’ scribbling seriously (G, 2014). When/If your learner says they’ve written a letter to mom or dad, write “To; mom/dad’ and “from” the child’s name and make sure the child gives the work to his/her parents. If the learner writes a letter to a family member who lives far from them, encourage the parents to mail the letter to the family member.

2.3. Provide writing materials to use in the fantasy corner. Play grocery store and encourage the learners to write a shopping list. (G, 2014)

3. Transitional writing/Phonetic spelling stages

3.1. Provide a simple alphabet chart with pictures, so your child has a reference for spelling sounds(G, 2014).

3.2. Allow children to articulate words when saying them so that they write each sound according to what they hear.

3.3. Using a crayon, learners can trace letters they recognise in a magazine or newspaper.

4. Phrase writing/Conventional spelling & sentence writing stages

4.1. Always encourage children to write their names on their work.

4.2. On a chalkboard, whiteboard or large sheet of chart paper, start sentences the same way and have your learners finish them (G, 2014), “I live with…” or “I like to eat…”. Draw an image next to each option or sentence as clues.

4.3. Practice together with your learners how to use junior dictionaries, educational spelling games (digital and physical) to help improve spelling.

4.4. Teach conventions of writing, such as punctuation, capital letters, etc as the learners are ready to construct meaningful sentences.

The classroom and educator play an important role in fostering a desire to write. The learners must feel comfortable and confident in the work he/she presents; therefore, their work must be appreciated through praise and being displayed in the classroom. Initially it’ll be drawings and scribbles, but as time goes the learners will present real written work.