Getting Ready to Write

Description

Getting Ready to Write Part 1

This is the first of three Getting Ready to Write webinars where I will be looking at the essential foundations that must be in place to ensure success when it comes to mark making and then writing.

In this session we will be looking at the importance of talk and engagement.

High level engagement is the secret to high level attainment and if we want our children to become successful writers, then they have got to LOVE the process (yes, it is possible!). I will be sharing with you some tried and tested ideas for engaging all children on their writing journey.

Writing is just talk that comes out of the end of your pencil rather than your mouth, so if you can’t say it, you can’t write it! Talk is SO important when it comes to successful writing, but all types of talk are not the same. During the webinar we will have a look at different examples of talk and investigate how we can establish environments and routines to support and promote it.

Getting Ready to Write Part 2

In the second webinar I will be looking at the essential foundations that need to be in place to ensure success when it comes to mark making and then writing.

In this session we will be looking at the importance of physical development and an effective environment for mark making and writing.

The journey to holding a pencil and getting your letters to ‘sit on the line’ is a long and complex one. If we miss essential steps or push children on too quickly then the result is usually complete disengagement in the process! In this webinar we will be looking at how you can track children’s physical development and create an environment that supports and extends it.

You will also have the opportunity to look at lots of examples of environments from a variety of Early Years settings that have successfully supported children’s mark making and writing development.

Getting Ready to Write Part 3

For the final webinar in the Getting Ready to Write series, I will be looking at the essential foundations that must be in place to ensure success when it comes to mark making and then writing.

In this session we will be looking at pre-phonic skills, phonological awareness and handwriting development.

There is often a lot of pressure to get children ‘started’ with phonics but there are a number of essential skills that children need to have mastered before they start formal phonics teaching if they are going to be successful learners. We will take a close look at what they are and how you can ensure your children have them securely in place.

When it comes to recording what they are thinking and what they want to say children are more likely to put pencil to paper if they have the desire to write and the physical development that enables writing to happen. Often when these two things happen, and children pick up a pencil of their own accord, their letter formation and orientation is left to chance and fair wind!

I will give you some ideas of when and how you can support children with their early recording to ensure that they are successful  and fluent writers from the start and don’t have to ‘re-learn’ their initial letter formation at a later date!