Competency 010

Writing Conventions

The teacher understands the conventions of writing in English and provides instruction that helps students develop proficiency in applying writing conventions.

The Beginning Teacher:

• A. Understands that many students go through predictable stages in acquiring writing conventions (e.g., physical and cognitive processes involved in scribbling, recognition of environmental print, mock letters, letter formation, word writing, sentence construction, spelling, punctuation, grammatical expression), and individual students vary in their rates of development of those conventions
  • What does this mean?
    • There is a sequence of stages that budding writing students go through, however, there can and will be individuals that will grasp these skills slower or faster than others. We as teachers must be prepared for all variables. 
  • How do you apply this?
    • As you are teaching, take note of each student’s display of skill; should they not be grasping the concept, take the time to review and work with the student. On the other end, if the student excels, prepare them for the next step and continue to challenge them.
• B. Understands the relationship between spelling and phonological and alphabetic awareness and understands the role of conventional spelling in success in reading and writing.
  • What does this mean?
    • All three of these skills go hand in hand with each other; spelling development builds upwards to first reading, then writing development. Once the student grasps the concept of phonetically correct spelling, they will, in turn, be able to instantly recognize and read words as well as be able to accurately write them.
  • How do you apply this?
    • In the most simple practices, having the student practice writing words in alphabetic groups (B: ball, big, bend, band, etc.), while saying the letter as they write them simultaneously benefits spelling, reading, and writing skills.
• C. Understands the stages of spelling development (precommunicative writing in which the student understands the function of writing but cannot make the forms, prephonemic, phonemic, transitional and conventional) and knows how and when to support students’ development from one stage to the next.
  • What does this mean?
    • Again, this falls in sequence. As the student experiments and learns, they grow into the next stage almost seamlessly. When teaching, be aware of if a student is having trouble moving to the next stage; be prepared to practice with them to see what best benefits their transition.
  • How do you apply this?
    • At certain grade levels or stages, a student should have mastery of certain skills and be at certain stages of their spelling development. If a student seems behind, analyze work samples to see what stages they’ve mastered and work with them to help them get to where they need to be academically. 
• D. Provides spelling instruction and gives students opportunities to use and develop spelling skills in the context of meaningful written expression (e.g., single syllable homophones, commonly used homophones, commonly confused terms, simple and complex contractions).
  • What does this mean?
    • Some words and groups of words have their own sets of rules that variate them from standard rules of spelling. Our goal is to inform them of these words and teach them to properly spell and use these words in writing so as to not confuse the meaning of their writing. 
  • How do you apply this?
    • When teaching these specific groups of words, provide the contexts in which these rules and words are used; have examples ready and allow students to practice spelling and writing with these words in context. 
• E. Selects and uses instructional strategies, materials and hands-on activities for developing fine motor skills necessary for writing, according to grade level expectations in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
  • What does this mean?
    • Writing requires fine motor skills to be a successful skill. At younger grade levels, TEKS requires the mastery of this skill to properly hold writing utensils. 
  • How do you apply this?
    • Plan exercises that help focus fine motor skills in the wrist, hands, and fingers.
• F. Selects and uses instructional strategies, materials and activities to help students use English writing conventions (e.g., grammar, capitalization, punctuation) in connected discourse.
  • What does this mean?
    • Grammar is another important organ in the body of the English language; if taught correctly, written language thrives and succeeds with students. Proper use of punctuation ensures a clear message with minimal confusion of the writer’s message. Capitalization is used for specific words such as names and places. When utilized properly, the writer becomes an effective communicator.
  • How do you apply this?
    • As a teacher, the use of creative thinking can help teach students these concepts. For example a game focusing on capitalization can help students differentiate which words require proper capitalization.
• G. Recognizes the similarities and differences between spoken and written English (e.g., syntax, vocabulary choice, audience) and uses instructional strategies to help students apply English writing conventions and enhance their own writing.
  • What does this mean?
    • When one speaks, the tone, intonations, and expressiveness gives meaning to what is said; in writing, we must depend on our word choice and composition to get our message across properly. When writing for an audience, it is the audience we must keep in mind along with our message-not just what we want to say. If the audience does not understand what is said, then the message becomes moot. We are to teach students how to translate their message from speech to writing with these elements in mind.
  • How do you apply this?
    • Utilize examples of written language used for specific discourses, and allow students to inquire into comparing and contrasting their features and use writing exercises to let them practice and apply these elements when writing.
• H. Knows writing conventions and appropriate grammar and usage and provides students with direct instruction and guided practice in those areas.
  • What does this mean?
    • As stated before, each language has its sets of rules for being grammatically correct and we as teachers are to teach students these rules and allow them to practice to better instill those rules
  • How do you apply this?
    • As you teach the rules, provide examples both correct and incorrect and allow the student to experiment to see what works and doesn’t work. Work with them individually as they learn.
• I. Selects and uses instructional strategies, materials and activities to teach correct pencil grip.
  • What does this mean?
    • There is a heavy requirement of fine motor skills when pertaining to holding a pencil. The teacher should have resources for activities that help build this fine motor skill specifically.
  • How do you apply this?
    • Activities such as cutting control, lacing, manipulating clay/dough, use of tweezers, etc., help fine-tune the fine motor skills involving hands.

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Questions:

1. What are other activities help develop fine motor skills?
2. Is it necessary to aid in handwriting control?
3. Where would one begin when teaching grammar?
4. What are some activities for sentence construction?
5. How could one teach tone in writing?
6. What tips and tricks could one use for helping students remember homophones?
7. What are other ways of teaching capitalization?
8. What activities can be used to compare speaking and writing?
9. What are some ways to aid in spelling transition?
10. How would one teach pencil grip based fine motor skills to a student who is ambidextrous?