Background Information on Early Writing
Using Context/Meaning
Emergent writers often learn words just by looking around at familiar, everyday things such as cereal boxes, soup cans, signs, and favorite books. Beyond these contexts, they begin to gather information about the words. For example, they find that the word soup begins with the letter s and ends with the letter p—letters they know by their sounds. They may begin to write words, using initial and final consonants—/sp/ for soup, /hp/ for hope, and so on.
Phonemic Awareness
To write independently, children need to know the sounds associated with the letters. This means that young writers must become conscious of the sounds (phonemes) that speakers and listeners naturally use. They must learn to write them as letters (graphemes). This knowledge then opens the door to writing words their own way. Phonemic awareness should be taught in contexts involving the children’s own language and experiences. (See see "Stages of Emergent Writing" for more information.)
Letter, Word, Sentence Distinction
Emerging writers (and readers) need to learn the differences between letters, words, and sentences. When teachers write with the children, they should talk about these distinctions, helping the children to identify letters, words, and sentences. You can also ask children to find specific letters or words (or an entire sentence) by framing them with two fingers or two straws.
Handwriting
Legible handwriting is an important goal for all writers. Children should be taught, within the context of daily writing activities, how to form letters properly, use consistent letter size and slant, write from left to right, and leave spaces between words. Gradually, they can learn about the use of uppercase and lowercase letters, especially in names.
Punctuation
As children grow in their writing abilities, they can be introduced to the use of punctuation, especially end punctuation marks.