Emergent Writing Skills

This post was originally shared in an email newsletter on August 23, 2022. If you would like to receive the next TLA Newsletter, you can sign up here.

Today we’d like to turn our attention to our youngest learners. Let's take a look at one particular area—emergent?writing—and discuss the ways in which we can support students in making up for any learning loss or delays that resulted from the pandemic.

Millions of students across the country didn’t attend any preschool or kindergarten during the 2020-21 school year. Of those that did complete some version of remote or hybrid learning, most didn’t receive the close, one-on-one instruction needed for beginning?writing. Despite the hard work of teachers like you, there are some skills (like correct pencil grip and letter formation) that simply don’t translate over Zoom. And because students were completing and submitting work via apps on their laptops, they didn’t spend as much time on handwriting and developing the muscle memory that’s so crucial to?emergent?writing.

As a result, K-2 students have returned to the classroom lacking some of the procedural knowledge—the mechanics of letter and word?writing—needed in?emergent?writing.?In order to grow in procedural knowledge, children need many opportunities to use?writing?tools and explore?writing?at their developmental level.?Here are some ideas for providing those opportunities.

Working on fine motor skills

Even if your students are older, they may not have had sufficient practice in developing their fine motor skills. You can give students an opportunity to?write?throughout the day and in a variety of centers, but it doesn’t always have to be with a pencil and paper. Think about the different surfaces and?writing?utensils you can use (e.g., dry erase boards, poster paper, chalkboards + markers, crayons, and chalk!). This will also help to develop their fine motor skills, since they will be holding utensils of varying thickness.

Students can also work on their fine motor skills with everyday objects. For example, using hole punchers with your students is a great way to develop those hand muscles. You could have a small basket with different types of paper such as printer paper, cardstock, and construction paper to let them see how it feels with different thicknesses.

Teaching (or reviewing) letter formation

Initially, have students follow along with skywriting or "magic fingers" on the rug before practicing the letters with?writing?tools. If you see that fine motor movements are difficult for them, provide opportunities for gross and fine motor practice. When your students are ready to move on to letter formation using?writing?tools, here are some key areas to focus on:

• Ensure that students are using the correct grip to hold their pencil -- otherwise, they may end up with a sore arm!
• Show students the starting points for different letters (the top line for many uppercase letters). It can be helpful to teach them a verbal path to remember—for example, letter C would be "pull back and around."
• Teach students when to use a continuous line and when to pick up the pencil.?Writing?is more efficient when you use continuous lines as much as possible, and you may notice children picking up the pencil much more than they need to. (Side note: This is why many Orton-Gillingham based approaches begin with cursive rather than print!)
• Keep an eye out for inversions, as well as any confusion with the letters?p, b, d,?and?q?(which also have different starting points). (This is another case for teaching cursive first -- the cursive formation of these letters look very different from each other!)

Remember—so much of?writing?relies on practice and muscle memory, and it may take students time to get there!

Are you an early elementary teacher? Have you had to tailor your?writing?instruction as a result of the pandemic? We’d love to hear about your experiences!

The remainder of this newsletter discussed upcoming opportunities to participate in Literacy Community of Practice meetings. If you are interested in receiving the invites for this year's CoP meetings, you can complete this short survey. Meetings will be held from 4pm-6pm EST on September 15, October 13, November 10, January 26, February 23, March 23, and May 4.