The Effect of Interactive Writing on the Development of Early Writing Skills of Preschool Students

1. The Effect of Interactive Writing on the Development of Early Writing Skills of Preschool Students Sharon Lindebak CI804 Wichita State University May 3, 2012

2. Outline of Presentation • Literature Review • Research Question • Methodology • Results • Conclusion • Discussion • References

3. Introduction • Majority of children do not write well enough to meet educational or workplace demands. • National Assessment of Educational Progress (2003) • Writing was the most neglected of the 3 R’s in the classroom. • National Commission on Writing (2003) • Researchers agree on the importance of writing instruction, but disagree about theory of writing development. (as cited in Roth & Guinee, 2011)

4. Theories of Writing Development Linearity Hypothesis • Sequential set of skills • Development of universal features (lines, spacing) • Followed by language-specific characteristics (directionality, symbol shapes) • Universal features as young as 3 and4 years old Unified Hypothesis • Universal and language-specific features develop simultaneously • No specific order • Based on experiences and meaning • Features as young 3 and4 years old (Puranik& Lonigan, 2009)

5. Puranik and Lonigan Study (2009) • Conceptually coherent examination of writing development • Quantified writing features • Broad range of emergent skills • Findings from over 300 preschoolers • Writing features develop sequentially • Writing proficiency was task dependent

6. Connections between phonological awareness and literacy acquisition • Two key ideas about writing • Sign—print carries meaning • Message—spoken language can be recorded as written language • Importance of “reading” pictorial representations as text (as cited in Kissel, Hansen, Tower & Lawrence, 2011)

7. Instructional Writing Strategies • Creating a writing block • Teaching in the zone of proximal development • Scaffold writing • Use of private speech • Materialization • Assessing developmental stages (Gentry, 2005)

8. Gentry’s Writing Scale (1977) • Started as a scale to measure developmental stages of spelling • Identifies levels of emergent writing • Focuses on specific writing elements and alphabetic principles • Five developmental stages (0-4) focusing on print awareness, understanding and application • Writing is considered “in a stage” when more than half of the invented spelling meets the stage criteria (Gentry, 2005)

9. Research Question What is the effect of Interactive Writing on the development of early writing skills of preschool students?

10. Methodology: Participants • 14 prekindergarten students • 8 girls and 6 boys • 8 students qualify at-risk • 6 students have IEPs • 1 nonverbal student • 1 ESOL student • 3 students receive occupational therapy services and use an alternative writing program within the classroom

11. Methodology: Interactive Writing • Collaborative writing experience • Instruction begins with a small or large group negotiating written text with teacher • Teacher supports participation in the process and product (shared-pen) • Teacher talks through literacy concepts based on the needs of the learners • Followed by independent writing (Roth & Guinee, 2011)

12. Methodology: Procedure • Week 1: Initial writing samples • Write or draw a story about themselves • Week 2: Interactive Writing Message • Theme-spring weather, storms, rain • Indirect themes-sentences, capital letters, writing on lines, how to make certain letters, beginning sounds • No follow-up writing sample

13. Methodology: Procedure • Week 3: Interactive Writing Message • Theme--weekend activities • Indirect themes--subject-verb agreement, counting words, directionality, punctuation, segmentation • Follow-up sample • Week 4: Interactive Writing Message • Theme--favorite things • Indirect themes--sentences, capital letters, beginning and end sounds, punctuation, segmentation • Follow-up sample

14. Methodology: Assessments • Writing Samples • Gentry’s Writing Scale (5 writing stages) • Adapted version of Gentry’s Writing Scale (8 writing stages) • Anecdotal notes taken during interactive and independent writing Story about her family and then started coloring over her drawings Story about a snake—used a book as a resource A L G T E (alligator)

15. Results Stage 2: Letter-like forms emerge, sometimes randomly placed, and are interspersed with numbers *Children can tell about their own drawings or writings *Spacing is rarely present • Initial Writing • Class Average—2.4 • Girls’ Average—2.6 • Boys’ Average—2.0 • After Final Interactive Writing • Class Average—3.3 • Girls’ Average—3.8 • Boys’ Average—2.7 Stage 3: Strings of letters and letter-like forms *Developing awareness of sound to symbol—not matching most sounds *Most letters capital with no spacing Gentry’s Writing Scale excerpt from (Gentry, 2005)

16. Gain Scores of Interactive Writing • Interactive Writing Gains • Class Average—.93 • Girls’ Average --1.1 • Boys’ Average --.67 Increase of 1.0 is the equivalent of one developmental writing stage

17. Conclusion • Gains for 11 out of 14 participants • Increased awareness • Title at top of page • Labels • More detailed drawings (background) • Increase use of letters and invented spelling • Using classroom resources • Participation

18. Discussion • Writing stages should not be used in isolation • Processes, products, interactions • Vast amounts of research on writing development and emergent writing skills—many gaps in understanding of writing development • Narrowing the focus

19. Recommendations • Longitudinal study • Variety of writing tasks (letter and words, name writing, composing) • Portfolio and continuum

20. References Gentry, J. R. (2005). Instructional techniques for emerging writers and specialneeds students at kindergarten and grade 1 levels. Reading & WritingQuarterly, 21, 113-134. Kissel, B., Hansen, J., Tower, H., & Lawrence, J. (2011). The influentialinteractions of pre-kindergarten writers. Journal of Early ChildhoodLiteracy, 11(4), 425-452. Puranik, C. S., & Lonigan, C. J. (2011, May). From scribbles to scrabbles:Preschool children's developing knowledge of written language. Reading andWriting: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 24(5), 567-589. Roth, K., & Guinee, K. (2011). Ten minutes a day; The impact of InteractiveWriting on first graders' independent writing. Journal of Early ChildhoodLiteracy, 11(3), 331-361.