WEBVTT 00:00:01.569 --> 00:00:08.568 Welcome to the overview on Teaching Foundational Skills to Help Students Become Effective Writers. 00:00:09.690 --> 00:00:13.599 Students need to learn foundational writing skills so that they can focus more on developing 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:16.570 and communicating ideas in their writing. 00:00:16.570 --> 00:00:23.109 Handwriting, spelling, sentence construction, typing, and word processing should become 00:00:23.109 --> 00:00:27.730 effortless as students move to middle and upper elementary school. 00:00:27.730 --> 00:00:32.580 Younger students need explicit instruction and frequent practice to acquire and polish 00:00:32.580 --> 00:00:34.660 these skills. 00:00:34.660 --> 00:00:38.969 Young writers in kindergarten and first grade need to learn how to hold a pencil and form 00:00:38.969 --> 00:00:41.329 letters correctly. 00:00:41.329 --> 00:00:45.899 Teachers should demonstrate how to hold a pencil comfortably between the thumb and forefinger 00:00:45.899 --> 00:00:48.480 while resting on the middle finger. 00:00:48.480 --> 00:00:53.239 Although children may change their grip over time, a comfortable pencil grip will prevent 00:00:53.239 --> 00:00:57.690 students from getting tired, which can discourage writing. 00:00:57.690 --> 00:01:02.250 Teachers need to show young children how to form print and cursive letters correctly from 00:01:02.250 --> 00:01:03.870 memory. 00:01:03.870 --> 00:01:09.270 Handwriting practice diagrams can be helpful in showing students how to form letters. 00:01:09.270 --> 00:01:15.700 Practicing specific letters in isolation is not sufficient to achieve handwriting proficiency; 00:01:15.700 --> 00:01:20.960 students need to apply their handwriting skills to authentic writing activities. 00:01:20.960 --> 00:01:26.549 Handwriting practice is most effective when done in multiple short sessions. 00:01:26.549 --> 00:01:30.790 Students need to be proficient in the foundational skill of spelling. 00:01:30.790 --> 00:01:35.210 Teachers need to both help students learn the spelling of commonly used words, and teach 00:01:35.210 --> 00:01:40.500 them how to generate and check plausible spellings of words they have not yet mastered. 00:01:40.500 --> 00:01:45.030 As students are drafting, they can learn how to apply spelling rules and check for correct 00:01:45.030 --> 00:01:46.969 spelling. 00:01:46.969 --> 00:01:51.360 Teachers can encourage very young children to write by allowing them to use invented 00:01:51.360 --> 00:01:56.869 spelling, or trying to spell a word using what they know about letter sounds and patterns. 00:01:56.869 --> 00:02:02.240 As students learn how to spell more words, they should rely less on invented spelling. 00:02:02.240 --> 00:02:07.799 While writing, students can learn how to spell words by analogy; they apply the spelling 00:02:07.799 --> 00:02:13.020 of a known word to generate a plausible spelling for an unknown but similar word. 00:02:13.020 --> 00:02:18.970 For example, if students know how to spell camp, they can use that knowledge when learning 00:02:18.970 --> 00:02:21.760 to spell lamp. 00:02:21.760 --> 00:02:25.910 When teaching the foundational writing skill of strong sentence construction, teachers 00:02:25.910 --> 00:02:30.410 should focus on how to construct sentences that convey their intended meaning and follow 00:02:30.410 --> 00:02:37.410 language conventions such as punctuation, capitalization, and other sentence mechanics. 00:02:37.420 --> 00:02:41.920 Beginning in kindergarten, teachers can introduce what a sentence is and that it begins with 00:02:41.920 --> 00:02:45.050 a capital letter and ends with punctuation. 00:02:45.050 --> 00:02:50.010 Gradually, instruction can focus on teaching students to construct sentences that are more 00:02:50.010 --> 00:02:52.820 complex and interesting. 00:02:52.820 --> 00:02:56.480 When working with students on their own compositions, teachers should 00:02:56.480 --> 00:03:00.510 take the opportunity to provide instruction in language conventions. 00:03:00.510 --> 00:03:05.560 Lessons can also be developed from books in the classroom, students’ daily activities, 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:09.570 school events, and magazine or newspaper articles. 00:03:09.570 --> 00:03:16.570 For example, teachers can use simple or more complex sentence frames such as “I like 00:03:16.700 --> 00:03:23.700 to ‘swim’” or “When I ‘play,’ I like to ‘go outside.’” 00:03:24.350 --> 00:03:28.900 The teacher can model completing the sentence frame and then ask students to write their 00:03:28.900 --> 00:03:31.600 own sentences using the frame. 00:03:31.600 --> 00:03:34.970 It is important to provide time for students to practice 00:03:34.970 --> 00:03:37.700 applying these principles on their own. 00:03:37.700 --> 00:03:41.670 Learning how to type without looking at the keyboard has become an essential foundational 00:03:41.670 --> 00:03:44.420 skill in today’s world. 00:03:44.420 --> 00:03:48.900 Students can begin typing in first grade, and by third grade they should be able to 00:03:48.900 --> 00:03:52.350 type as fast as they can write. 00:03:52.350 --> 00:03:57.680 Students should become proficient in using a word processor as part of the writing process. 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:04.680 They need to learn how to open, close, and save files and how to use editing functions. 00:04:04.790 --> 00:04:09.180 Teachers should emphasize that it is still important to proofread and edit their writing 00:04:09.180 --> 00:04:13.120 even when working with a computer’s spell checker. 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:17.970 Students need to understand that, while they are useful, spell checkers will not flag a 00:04:17.970 --> 00:04:24.970 misspelling if the misspelling is a real word (for example, if a student writes sad instead 00:04:25.590 --> 00:04:31.280 of said) and may mistake a proper noun for a misspelling. 00:04:31.280 --> 00:04:37.630 Mastering the foundational skills of handwriting, spelling, sentence construction, typing, and 00:04:37.630 --> 00:04:43.060 word processing is essential for elementary school students so that they can clearly communicate 00:04:43.060 --> 00:04:45.440 their ideas in writing. 00:04:45.440 --> 00:04:50.220 Writing is a process that begins with learning these foundational skills and leads to students 00:04:50.220 --> 00:04:55.410 being able to devote more attention to developing and conveying their thoughts. 00:04:55.410 --> 00:04:59.890 To learn more about teaching foundational writing skills, please explore the additional 00:04:59.890 --> 00:05:02.630 resources on the Doing What Works website.