WEEK 9 FIELD TRIP DISCUSSION: We discussed our experience during the observation we did on the field trip on Week 8. Each one of us shared the important information from it and we also talked about what we liked, what we didn’t like and what we would’ve done to change the class.
TEACHING WRITING: We studied the last of the four learning skills: writing. It was a brief explanation, because we as Preschool teachers are not going to need it in a deep way because our students are not there, yet. We studied different aspects about it:
WHAT IS WRITING? Writing is a method of representing language in visual or tactile form. Writing is the process of using symbols (letters of the alphabet, punctuation and spaces) to communicate thoughts and ideas in a readable form.
BACKGROUND TO THE TEACHING OF WRITING: Just as the nature and expectation for literacy have changed, so has the nature of writing. Much of that change has been due to technological developments. These developments not only expanded the types of texts that writers produce, they also expanded immediate access to a wider variety of readers. Writing is an increasingly multifaceted activity. Everyone has the capacity to write, writing can be taught, and teachers can help students become better writers. Developing writers require support. This support can best come through carefully designed writing instruction oriented toward acquiring new strategies and skills. Certainly, writers can benefit from teachers who simply support and give them time to write. However, instruction matters.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF WRITING SKILLS: Writing is a productive skill that requires concentration and effort, even for those who write professionally throughout their lives. Writing, like playing a sport or a musical instrument, requires regular practice to do it well.
Writing is a process. Revision is always part of good writing, and revision takes patience and effort. Good writing has a very important companion: good reading. Young students sometimes find it difficult to making the transition from speaking to writing. When writing becomes part of a child’s world, there are conventions that suddenly come into play – punctuation, spelling, grammar. It can be a struggle to explain things without hand gesture or intonation. They must find a way for their voice to come across on a piece of paper or a computer screen. The easiest part of teaching writing to young children is by continually reading to them. We also learned some important tips: 1. Introduce students to good writing 2. Motivate students to write about the world around them 3. Emphasize that good writing is a series of steps Brainstorm your ideas first! Organize your ideas into groups Write a paragraph around each group of ideas Revise your work
CLASSROOM TECHNIQUES AND ACTIVITIES: Creative writing Peer writing Journal diaries and storytelling Cooperative writing Cartoons Book projects Tracings
LESSON PLAN: The teacher gave us back the first lesson plan (listening & speaking skills) and gave us feedback about it. After that, we started another lesson plan. This one was about reading & writing skills. The idea was to choose a topic or a unit and make a lesson plan for it with three activities using reading skills and three activities using writing skills. We weren’t able to finish it at class, so we had to take it home.