4 Practising writing

When young students start to write, you may see a mixture of letters, numbers, figures and shapes in their writing. Letters and numbers may not be formed correctly, but this is a developmental step and usually corrects itself over time. Note and observe students who do not seem to be making this progress. It may indicate a developmental difficulty.

Your students need plenty of writing practice in order to develop as writers. In Case Study 2, the teacher uses a number of writing routines in her classroom to achieve this.

Case Study 2: Ms Neera’s writing routines

Ms Neera teaches Class II in a government primary school.

I teach in a rural school where there is very little writing in students’ homes. I have students do some English writing practice every day. Sometimes this is a mechanical activity to develop finger control, like copying all the words in the textbook lesson that start with the letter ‘s’. Sometimes I have them combine writing and drawing, such as making a festival card or poster.

I have the students write their names and the date every day. Each week I have them write something that they would see in the real world, such as a list, a ticket or a sign. Of course, they still write stories and poems based on the textbook lessons. I let students see me writing lists, labels and reminder notes about jobs that I need to do in the classroom. It is important for them to see that writing is for communicating and for remembering.

I try not to correct them too much. I have seen from my own experience that students can become so worried about making mistakes that they become frightened to put pen to paper, and develop negative attitudes to writing.

Pause for thought

  • Can you identify the writing routines in Neera’s classroom?
  • Which of her routines are more ‘mechanical’, to practise handwriting skills, and which are more ‘free’, to encourage enthusiasm for writing?
  • Do you think it is important for students to do ‘real world’ writing?
  • What kinds of writing do your students see you do?

Video: Assessing progress and performance

Activity 5: Multi-sensory handwriting practice

A certain amount of handwriting practice is essential for developing writing. Read through the two ‘paperless’ activities here and choose one to try out in your classroom. (Try it out with a colleague first.)

Do you need to adapt the activity for different ages or ability levels in your class? How will you do this?

‘Air Writing’

This game needs an alphabet or word list written on the board or chart paper. Students can work in a group or in the whole class.

  • One student chooses a letter or a word but keeps it a secret.
  • The student turns their back to the others (this is important) and writes the letter or a word in the air using arms and big gestures so that everyone can see – just as the teacher might write on the board.
  • The other students guess the letter or the word – are they correct?
  • They all ‘air write’ the letter or the word together, using big gestures and saying the name of each letter as they write in the air.

‘Back Writing’

This game needs an alphabet or word list written on the board or chart paper. Students sit in pairs with a small board or paper and pencil between them.

  • A student chooses a letter or a word and keeps it secret.
  • With a finger, they write the letter or word on a second student’s back.
  • The second student writes the letter or word on paper or on the blackboard – is the second student correct?
  • This activity can also be done by one student ‘writing’ a letter or word on the palm of the partner’s hand.

In the classroom, demonstrate to the students how to do your chosen activity.

As you watch students, note how the activity involves the body as well as the mind. Multi-sensory activities can help young students remember what they learn.

What do you think are the difficulties of multi-sensory activities for you as a teacher?

3 Writing postcards

5 Summary