Chapter 3 Best Practices in Writing Instruction

It is true that children need motivational techniques in order to produce thoughts onto paper. After reading Chapter 3, I found that the stages children develop over the years can be bridged together through the elementary grades. I agree the children need to know their artisitic and language abilities in order to produce a well written paper. I need more detail as to reaching lower level writers. Being a kindergarten teacher, I feel I am the foundation that the later years are scaffolded upon. I agree that pictures are a necessity for all writings. I have found that my students who draw pictures first then label objects second then begin writing do a very nice job completing assisgnments. I would like more in depth lesson plans for delivering these objectives.

In reference to wordless picture books by Cassady and Reese,it’s nice to know that all objectives can be reached through wordless books. Wordless books gives the mind room to breathe and interpret ideas without being read the words in the book.This gives the students the opportunity to focus on language and not the content. I use “The Snowman” wordless book every year in my classroom. The students love this picture book and  when I show the movie they are interpreting the video in their own minds sharing ideas with each other. Callaboration is the key to motivating  students to produce what they are thinking. We all know without a strong reading environment children will not do as well. They are more reluctant to accomplish an objective due to frustration. These students need major support from peers and 1-1 tutors so they can accomplish writing techniques and feel comfortable in their environments. I agree that a wordless book can tell a story twenty different ways in a child’s mind. The art is for the teacher to get the objective accomplished no matter how difficult the diversity or language experience may be.