Teaching early writers: teachers' responses to a young child's writing sample.

Mackenzie, Noella M.

Introduction and study context

Children usually start formal schooling in Australia between 4 V and 5 V years of age, although they may be a little older. They may, or may not, have attended pre-school or childcare, prior to school. The study discussed here focuses on children in their first year of formal school. The data analysis discussed in this paper was informed by the research question: What do teachers consider and value when analysing a sample of writing produced by a child in the first few weeks of the first year of formal schooling?

How young children perform in literacy is of interest and concern to politicians, the media educators, families and learners themselves. The introduction of high stakes testing (National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority (ACARA), 2010) into Australian primary schools in 2008, placed a new layer of accountability on teachers and a new emphasis on measurable outcomes in school reporting. While the first round of NAPLAN tests does not begin until Year 3, anecdotal evidence gathered by the author when working with hundreds of teachers between 2004 and 2014 suggests that the pressure on teachers begins as soon as children start school. In addition, the introduction of 'My School' Websites in 2010 (ACARA, 2010) made what happens in schools visible to the community in a completely new way. This is consistent with the increased emphasis on testing and accountability in schools in the United Kingdom (Coates & Coates, 2006), and the United States of America (Genishi & Dyson, 2009; Hassett, 2008). The decisions teachers make, about teaching and assessment priorities, are influenced by their own beliefs about teaching and learning (Arbeau & Coplan, 2007; McCarthey & Mkhize, 2013), but they may also be influenced by the increased emphasis on accountability and high stakes testing (McCarthey, 2008).) It has been noted that children who enter school in an atmosphere of high-stakes testing 'often encounter an emphasis on correctness of form that casts doubt on the integrity of their personally invented messages' (Wohlwend, 2008, p. 43).

Successful engagement with literacy learning is essential to a good start to school, and a good start to school is important for continued school success and later life opportunities (Educational Transitions and Change Research Group, 2011). Research clearly demonstrates the power of the teacher to influence children's outcomes (Hattie, 2009). Learning to write is a critical component of literacy learning. The purpose of this paper is to examine early years' teachers' approaches to the analysis of a writing sample, collected in the early weeks of the first year of formal schooling. Through an analysis of the patterns of response, it is possible to infer the participants' beliefs and understandings about early writing development, and their response to the accountability agenda. A discussion of two bodies of literature will provide the theoretical framework for the study and the paper. I begin with the literature that discusses emergent writing, and the relationship between writing and drawing, and follow with literature, which discusses teachers' beliefs about early literacy.

Literature informing the study

Learning to write

Learning to write in a conventional form is a complex process which normally requires explicit teaching (Olson, 2009). It entails the interaction of cognitive and physical factors involving the hand, eye, and both sides of the brain (Bromley, 2007), and develops at many levels simultaneously (Tolchinsky, 2006). Learning to write in English involves mastering a diverse range of conventional forms and codes (including the alphabetic principle), and is challenging for young writers. Even though children's experience with print prior to school will be varied, (Barratt-Pugh, 2007) most come to school with the ability to talk, play, tell stories and draw (Genishi and Dyson, 2009) and in some cases have extensive experience of multimodal text interpretation (Anning, 2002). While adults and older children tend to view writing as separate from other forms of communication, young emergent writers are less constrained by boundaries between sign systems (Kress, 1997), and often provide communications which include a mix of drawings and print. Therefore, research focused on early writing needs to recognise drawings as integral to the emergent writing process.

A large body of research over an extended period reports a particularly strong relationship between emergent writing and drawing (See for example, Baghban, 2007; Calkins, 1986; Clay, 1991; Dyson, 2010; Genishi & Dyson, 2009; Hopperstad, 2010; Jalongo, 2007; Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006; Mayer, 2007; Rowe, 2009; Shagoury, 2009; Watanabe & Hall-Kenyon, 2011). At the heart of both drawing and writing is the intention to communicate an idea (Bennett-Armstead, Duke & Moses, 2005), and children use purposeful written marks to convey meaning long before their writing could be considered conventional (Kissel, Hansen, Tower & Lawrence, 2011). They easily and naturally move between sign systems (e.g. drawing, dramatic play) outside the school context (Kendrick & McKay, 2004) and given that texts in the current era are often multi-modal and include images and graphics it seems reasonable to expect that school literacy would include and value a range of sign systems and visual texts (Hopperstad, 2010). For a short while, a child may therefore benefit from using 'both forms (drawing and written text) together in order to create messages that are more complex than those that they could create with either drawing or text alone' (Mackenzie & Veresov, 2013, p. 27)

Teachers' beliefs

At the point of practice, what happens in the classroom is in the hands of classroom teachers (Lee & Grinsberg, 2007), and it seems sensible to assume that what happens in the classroom is largely determined by a teacher's beliefs about children, teaching, learning and themselves as a teacher and person. Beliefs form through experience, or information provided by outside sources such as university courses, work colleagues, professional reading, or in-service training courses. Teachers' beliefs interact with their skills, knowledge and self-efficacy to shape their teaching practice, which in turn impacts upon children's opportunities to learn (Arbeau & Coplan, 2007; Graham, Harris, Fink & MacArthur, 2001; Hindman & Wasik, 2008; Keys, 2005). Interestingly, McCarthey and Mkhize (2103) have noted differences in teachers' orientations in 'high and low-income schools' (p. 15) suggesting the influence of context. Differently McCarthey and Ro (2013) have demonstrated the impact of professional learning on instruction, suggesting beliefs may be open to change. Indeed, while some literature suggests a strong correlation between practices implemented by teachers and their implicit beliefs (Arbeau & Coplan, 2007; Fisher, 2010; Hall, 2005; McNaughton, 2002), Cochran-Smith and Fries (2005) counsel that 'much remains unclear in regard to the relationship between teachers' beliefs and how they teach' (p. 100), and Foote, Smith and Ellis (2004) note some inconsistencies between beliefs and practices in their early childhood teacher study. There appears however, to be a broad agreement among most researchers that teachers' beliefs are inextricable from teaching practice (Rivalland, 2007). In the case of the findings discussed here, the teachers' beliefs relate specifically to the teaching and learning of writing in the first year of formal school.

Every school day, teachers make moment-by-moment decisions, as they interpret policies and curricula, and respond to the demands of individual learning needs and styles. What teachers choose to teach and praise sends clear messages to children (and their families), about what is important and what is not. What teachers prioritise also determines children's learning opportunities. However, to suggest that teachers' beliefs about teaching writing are the only reason teachers make the decisions they make, may be too simplistic. System priorities, high stakes testing, and an accountability agenda may also influence the decisions teachers make and the priorities they demonstrate.

Method

The purpose of the study, was to investigate teachers' understandings of, and attitudes towards, children's early literacy development. A teacher survey provided three different forms of data: demographic information, responses to questions using a 5 point Likert scale and open ended responses to a sample of early writing provided by a child in her fifth week of school. The writing sample was included as an alternate method of gathering data about teachers' attitudes and beliefs about the teaching of early literacy. In this paper, the responses to the attitude statements provide background to a discussion of the writing sample analysis task.

Participants

Study participants were Early Years' teachers (N=228) from both rural and metropolitan schools across New South Wales and Victoria, recruited via a letter sent to 300 school principals. The participants were all volunteers, not known to the researcher. Teaching experience ranged from 1-40 years, with an average teaching experience of 15 years. Experience in teaching the first year of formal school ranged from 1-30 years, with an average of six years. Although I did not require participants to provide their qualifications, Early Years' teachers working in schools in Australia generally have a bachelor's degree, awarded by a university that require four years of full-time study.

Data collection instrument

The 'writing analysis task' was one part of a three-part teacher survey. Part one of the teacher survey contained questions relating to background, e.g., gender and teaching experience; whereas, part two was made up of 40 attitude statements which sought responses on a five-point Likert scale, with anchor points strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). The latter set of items endeavoured to measure attitudes to a number of early education issues: teacher confidence, educational theory, traditional approaches, socio-cultural approaches, bridging from the known to the unknown, and provision of feedback. Survey items, which related specifically to teachers' beliefs about, and attitudes towards, early writing provided the background to the discussion (see Table 1). Part three of the survey, the analysis of a child's writing sample, is the focus of this paper and was completed by 215 (94%) of the participants.

Work sample

The writing sample was created by Susie (pseudonym), a five-year old child, who spoke English as her only language and was in her fifth week of formal schooling. The sample, was presented in the survey without the normal contextual information that influence many of teachers' daily decisions. The intentional removal of contextual information in the study is not meant to de-value the importance of context in day-to-day classroom instruction. However, by providing an almost de-contextualised sample of a child's work, I was attempting to exclude attitudes related to prior knowledge of the child and her circumstances (age, oral language skills, intelligence, socio-economic background, family situation, behaviour, previous successes or otherwise with literacy learning). The removal of the usual contextual influences, also allowed the participants to respond in what may be likened to an experiment, where certain factors are controlled. However, I acknowledge that the participants may have been influenced to some extent by knowing that Susie was a girl, and in her 5th week of school. The participants were aware that Susie had created the text after a modelled

writing lesson, where children were encouraged to 'write a story and draw a picture' using 'sight words' (to, a, the, can, like, school, my) from the class 'word wall'.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Instructions to participants concerning the writing sample analysis:

Participants (Early Years' teachers) were invited to analyse Susie's work sample, as part of the written survey. They were invited to identify Susie's strengths and needs, as an early writer, based on the evidence provided in the sample. The purpose of the task, was to identify those elements of the writing process that teachers would value (described as child's strengths), and what they would identify as teaching priorities (described as child's needs). Accompanying the sample were the following information and instructions:

Please take a few moments to comment on the sample of writing, which was collected from a classroom in week 5 of the school year. Susie was in her first year of formal schooling. She had access to teacher support as well as sight words. Please identify the child's strengths and needs as you see them. Under the sample was written the following: 'I can see a school. I can see a Mum'. Ticks added by Susie.

Findings

Responses to survey questions

The items (see Table 1) have been re-ordered and re-numbered in order of consensus, for reader convenience. Participants agree on a number of items, but others indicate a lack of consensus. The first five items indicate strong consensus (90.8%-99.6%). Items six to twelve demonstrate consensus from at least 70% of participants, while the remaining items (13-16) show consensus ranging from 48.7%-60.1%. It is worth noting, that 90.8% of the respondents claim to be confident in their ability to cater for the full range of children's literacy needs in their classroom.

Responses to work sample

All participants who completed the writing analysis task considered Susie's use of conventions of print (letters, words, punctuation, directional principles, accurate spelling,) as a strength of the sample, with 55% of participants restricting their comments to conventions of print. Learning more about how to use conventions of print, was also identified as a need by all participants, with 60% focusing entirely on conventions of print. See Table 2 for some of the comments focused on conventions of print.

Thirty-nine per cent (39%) of participants mentioned the drawing, when commenting on the strengths of the writing sample. Of these comments (see Table 3), those that suggest a match between the text and the picture could be questioned. While it was noted in, the information supplied to the participants, that Susie had added the ticks, only three participants commented on this action. When commenting on Susie's needs, drawing featured in 34% of participants' responses in addition to comments about print conventions.

Less than 18% of participants commented on the quality of the two short, unconnected sentences, in terms of the message (meaning) when discussing Susie's strengths or needs. See examples of the comments relating to text meaning in Table 4.

Discussion

Most participants agree (in survey), that helping children make meaning (item 8), and express their own ideas (item 10), should be the highest priority of an early years' writing program. When it comes to the role of drawing in the early years' writing program, participants are at odds with one another on some things, and in agreement on others. Most strongly agree that children use drawing to communicate and as a scaffold, rehearsal, or elaboration technique in their writing (item 3). They also strongly agree that drawing may act as a bridge between a child's home, community experiences and school and provide opportunities for meaningful conversations (item 2). The majority also agree that drawing pictures is as important as discussing ideas with the teacher prior to writing (item 12). However, not all participants see drawing as a necessary part of early writing, with many proffering the suggestion that drawings are simply illustrations for writing (item 14).

Teaching the conventions of print (item 7), and sight words (item 6) were priorities for most participants although teaching correct spelling in the first year of school (item 15) split the group and contradicted the emphasis on sight words. While the majority strongly support invented spelling as a way of promoting phonemic awareness they were divided over whether or not children learn more about letter-sound relationships through writing, than they do through reading (item 11). Despite the fact that the majority agree that poor handwriting may influence perceptions about a child's competence as a writer (item 9) the group was again divided, when it came to the relationship between habits of neatness in the first year of school and writing development (item 16).

Responses to the writing analysis task varied considerably, with some participants writing up to a page of notes and others choosing to respond with a few brief points. Participant responses to the writing task were analysed in terms of patterns. I initially analysed all responses and then a random sample of one-third (71), were analysed by a trained research assistant. The two categories were 'strengths' and 'needs' (as identified in the instructions to participants). Within these categories, analysis was based upon the frequency of terms used by the participants. Patterns of response fell into three groups: those participants who only commented on conventions of print (spelling, punctuation, spacing, letter formation, use of space); those who commented on both conventions of print and the drawing; and those who commented on conventions of print, the drawing and the quality of the message itself. Responses to the writing analysis task are summarised in Table 5.

The de-contextualised analysis of a child's writing sample, offered a rare opportunity to explore what teachers may think is important in children's writing, when most of the supplementary contextual knowledge is removed. While all participants recognised the need to value and teach the conventions of print, for a large percentage (55%), this was all that was valued, and for an even larger percentage (60%), the only priority. A smaller percentage (22%) valued conventions of print and made comment on Susie's drawing and an even smaller percentage (18%) identified both conventions of print and drawing (related to writing) as teaching priorities. These responses contrast with the responses to the drawing questions in part two of the survey (see items 2, 3, 12, 13 and 14 in Table 1). A surprisingly small percentage of the participants (17%), identified conventions of print, the drawing/writing relationship and the quality of the text in terms of the message as strengths of the sample. Perhaps even more surprising, only 16% of participants discussed teaching priorities, which included message quality, despite 78% of participants agreeing that helping children make meaning should be the highest priority of a first year of school writing program (Item 8).

How should we account for these findings? The fact that all participants, identified the need to teach conventions of print, is not surprising given that these are commonly acknowledged as the building blocks of the written code. However, for such a large percentage to restrict their observations and teaching priorities to print conventions, suggests that some teachers may be uncomfortable with or unsure of how contemporary definitions of literacy connect with curriculum expectations. Texts today are rarely print alone, often including sound, images, and graphics. As such, a literate person in the current era, is someone who can create and interpret multimodal texts, which encompass many codes and symbolic systems. Visual meaning making is as important as print meaning making in the 21st century. The skills of reading and writing print, remain essential, but are no longer sufficient. Teachers of early reading know that the images, graphics and print in texts, work together with a young reader's knowledge and experience, to create meaning. However, many of the participants in the study discussed here did not seem to recognise Susie's drawing as a form of visual literacy and part of her work sample, or see meaning making as the reason we teach children to write.

Teachers' beliefs and knowledge reflect their prior experiences within their social and cultural contexts, and these beliefs may be more influential in determining their decisions and behaviour than knowledge they have accumulated through teacher education or in-service professional learning opportunities. Therefore, it is possible that many of the participants in the study hold strong beliefs that conventions of print are the most important elements of early writing development. Alternatively, they may be identifying the aspects of writing with which they feel most comfortable. They may find teaching writing difficult (Turbill & Bean, 2006) and, therefore have played it safe with items of knowledge easily observed and measured. It is also possible, that the participants in the study were influenced by the accountability agenda, and therefore responded to what they saw as the measurable outcomes in the sample. An emphasis on accuracy, in an era of high-stakes testing has been previously identified (Wohlwend, 2008). Alternatively, the accountability agenda may have given credibility to strongly held beliefs that conventions of print are the most important elements of early writing development.

Of particular concern, is the small percentage of participants who commented on issues related to the drawing/writing relationship, and the quality of the two short, unconnected sentences in terms of message (meaning). A relatively small number of participants responded to a broad range of strengths, and identified a range of teaching priorities which suggested that their approach to writing instruction included print conventions, writing purpose, and the important link between current knowledge or systems of meaning making (drawing) and the new system (conventional writing).

The study discussed in this paper, shone a spotlight on a sample of early years' teachers' responses to a sample of early writing. The examination of participants' responses to a de-contextualised writing/drawing sample, revealed participants' priorities in regard to early writing instruction. Based on the findings of this study, a significant percentage of early years' teachers may be prioritising conventions of print, may not be recognising children's drawings as a legitimate system of meaning making, and may not be encouraging children to create meaningful messages.

Limitations of the study

The bias towards conventions of print, demonstrated by many participants may be a response to the instruction to identify the child's strengths and needs in a 'sample of writing'. Or perhaps they disagree with or, are unaware of the considerable research that explains the strong connection between the two. It would be interesting to test this in a future study by providing instructions, which specifically invite participants to consider both the text and the drawing when responding to the questions. Having only one sample is also a limitation. It would be interesting to repeat the process with a number of work samples.

Implications of the study

A number of implications come from this study. Firstly, what teachers prioritise in their day-to-day work tells children and their families what they value and some teachers may be unintentionally implying that they only value children's developing knowledge of conventions of print. In homes where parents attempt to support their child by confirming their teachers' priorities, parents may also emphasise these elements of the written code and not encourage their children to continue to draw and write meaningful texts. Parents (and children) may interpret this emphasis on print conventions to mean that drawing is no longer important once a child is at school and meaningful and purposeful writing is something which comes after conventions of print are mastered. What is needed is for teachers to demonstrate to children and parents how drawing, talking and the conventions of written text are complementary processes allowing for the creation of meaningful texts.

Secondly, there are implications for policy makers and administrators at all levels of education. It is unlikely that the accountability agenda will ever be turned back. However, perhaps there needs to be clearer understandings of how high stakes testing fits within a broad, rich curriculum. Thirdly, there is a need for professional learning opportunities for teachers that: explore 21st century literacies, discuss the need for expanded repertoires of practice supportive of young writers, and contextualise and question the knowledge that is measured in high stake testing. This would contrast with the plethora of professional learning programs designed to 'improve high stakes test results'. A fourth implication of these findings is that of teacher education at the undergraduate level. Recent research which recognises repertoires of practice and multiple modes of meaning making needs to be integrated into teacher education programs to build pre-service teachers' understandings of how to support young writers. They can then implement and evaluate these approaches while they are on professional experience placements in schools and early childhood settings. The final and most important implication relates to children. When they begin school, children have many transitions to contend with, including transitions which relate to learning to write (see, Mackenzie, 2014). Successful transitions occur when 'curriculum expectations ... build on ... children's previous learning experiences and understandings' (Moyle, 2007, p. xvii). Therefore children will benefit from writing instruction which encourages them to build on their existing meaning making systems (drawing and talking), and focuses on the true purpose for learning to write (making meaning) while teaching them the conventions of print (Mackenzie, 2011).

Conclusion

Early writing is a critical element of literacy development, with literacy linked to outcomes at school and in life generally. There is considerable research which confirms that early writing develops at many levels simultaneously as children build a symbolic repertoire of which print is only one element. Many of the decisions teachers make, are based on their on the run analysis of, and responses to, children's early attempts at writing, and at the start of the first year of school, these are very often a mix of drawings and rudimentary attempts at print. How teachers respond and what they value helps to form children's attitudes towards writing and determine the paths their learning journeys will follow. If teachers recognise and build on what children already 'know and can do' and introduce conventional text writing as an additional mode of communication to add to their existing repertoire, children will remain successful meaning makers and become successful writers. Conventional use of print would therefore be introduced as a parallel process of meaning making, rather than a replacement for the drawings many children use so successfully when they arrive at school (Mackenzie, 2011).

Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge and thank the 228 early years' teachers who graciously took the time to respond to the survey and provide the rich data informing the paper. I would also like to acknowledge Charles Sturt University for the small grant which funded the Research Institute for Professional Practice, Learning and Education (RIPPLE) for providing the fellowship which provided the time for research and writing. I would like to thank the colleagues and journal reviewers who critically reviewed earlier drafts of the paper.

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Noella M. Mackenzie

Charles Sturt University

Noella Mackenzie is a Senior Lecturer in literacy studies and member of the Research Institute for Professional Practice, Learning and Education at Charles Sturt University, Australia. Noella's current research focuses on early writing and she is recently published in The Australasian Journal of Early Childhood and Issues in Educational Research. Table 1. Responses to survey Items show mixed responses but with at least 50% agreement (order according to agreement, frequency, percentage) Item SD/A SD/D NS % % % 1 Learning to write is enhanced if children 227 0 1 are encouraged to build on their home and 99.6 0.4 community experiences. 2 Drawings may act a bridge between a 222 0 4 child's home/community experiences and 98.2 1.8 school by providing opportunities for meaningful conversations. 3 Children use drawing to communicate and as 212 1 13 a scaffold, rehearsal, or elaboration 93.8 0.4 5.8 technique in their writing. 4 Using invented spelling to attempt unknown 206 7 12 words is a great way of promoting 91.6 3.1 5.3 phonemic awareness. 5 I feel confident catering for the full 207 11 10 range of children literacy needs in my 90.8 4.8 4.4 classroom. 6 Teaching sight words should be a priority 186 33 7 in a kindergarten writing program. 82.3 14.6 3.1 7 Early writing instruction should 178 42 6 prioritise the teaching of print 78.7 18.6 2.7 conventions (directionality, spaces, spelling and punctuation). 8 Helping children make meaning should be 177 17 31 the highest priority of a kindergarten 78.6 7.6 13.8 writing program. 9 Poor handwriting may influence perceptions 171 49 8 about a child's competence as a writer. 75 21.5 3.5 10 Expressing their ideas is the major 167 42 14 purpose for writing in Kindergarten. 74.9 18.8 6.3 11 Children learn more about letter-sound 168 33 24 relationships through writing than 74.6 14.7 10.7 through worksheets. 12 Drawing pictures is as important as 163 51 13 discussing ideas with the teacher prior 71.8 22.4 5.7 to writing. 13 Young children do not clearly distinguish 136 71 19 writing from drawing, suggesting that 60.1 31.4 8.4 drawing may be a necessary part of early writing. 14 Kindergarten children should be encouraged 77 125 21 to write first and then illustrate their 34.5 56.1 9.4 writing if they wish to. 15 Teaching correct spelling should be a 88 122 18 priority in a kindergarten writing 38.6 53.5 7.9 program. 16 Establishing habits of neatness in 111 79 38 Kindergarten will promote writing 48.7 34.6 16.7 development. Item Total Mean % 1 Learning to write is enhanced if children 228 4.49 are encouraged to build on their home and 100 community experiences. 2 Drawings may act a bridge between a 226 4.25 child's home/community experiences and 99.1 school by providing opportunities for meaningful conversations. 3 Children use drawing to communicate and as 226 4.32 a scaffold, rehearsal, or elaboration 99.1 technique in their writing. 4 Using invented spelling to attempt unknown 225 4.36 words is a great way of promoting 98.7 phonemic awareness. 5 I feel confident catering for the full 228 4.19 range of children literacy needs in my 100 classroom. 6 Teaching sight words should be a priority 226 2.07 in a kindergarten writing program. 99.1 7 Early writing instruction should 226 3.94 prioritise the teaching of print 99.1 conventions (directionality, spaces, spelling and punctuation). 8 Helping children make meaning should be 225 3.96 the highest priority of a kindergarten 98.7 writing program. 9 Poor handwriting may influence perceptions 228 3.63 about a child's competence as a writer. 100 10 Expressing their ideas is the major 223 3.80 purpose for writing in Kindergarten. 97.8 11 Children learn more about letter-sound 225 3.92 relationships through writing than 98.7 through worksheets. 12 Drawing pictures is as important as 227 2.41 discussing ideas with the teacher prior 99.6 to writing. 13 Young children do not clearly distinguish 226 3.39 writing from drawing, suggesting that 99.1 drawing may be a necessary part of early writing. 14 Kindergarten children should be encouraged 223 2.67 to write first and then illustrate their 97.8 writing if they wish to. 15 Teaching correct spelling should be a 228 2.83 priority in a kindergarten writing 100 program. 16 Establishing habits of neatness in 228 3.16 Kindergarten will promote writing 100 development. Key: SA=strongly agree, A=agree, SD=strongly disagree, D=disagree, NS=not sure Kindergarten = the first year of formal schooling Table 2. Examples of comments relating to conventions of print Convention Strengths Needs/teaching priorities Letters * Uses capital letters and * Needs more practice at full stops correctly forming letters * Can form some letters correctly (shape, size, correctly starting points) * She knows most letters of the alphabet Phonemic * Can hear and record * Needs phonemic Awareness many sounds in words awareness instruction * Wonderful phonemic awareness Words * Some words are written * Needs to build a more correctly extensive vocabulary of known words * Knows some sight * Needs to sound out words unknown words and not rely on sight words Concepts * Has left to right * Needs to work on about print directionality and writes spaces between words from top to bottom (finger spaces) Handwriting * Tidy, legible, readable * Needs handwriting /legibility writing instruction and practice * Writing is in a straight * Needs to attend to line reversals Table 3. Examples of comments relating to the drawing Drawing as a strength Drawing as a need * Text/picture correlation * Needs to match picture with * Matched the text to picture writing. (A sentence about * Nice detail in drawing--skates roller blading and taking a dog * 3D illustration--not stick for a walk would be better than figures what is written). * Gorgeous picture * It looks like the writing was * Detailed illustration done first. If the other way * The child is happy with her around the child may have told picture--see the ticks more about what mum was doing. * Gorgeous picture, child There's no school in the happy--ticks picture. Did she really only * Ticks indicate the child is want to write about Mum and happy with her picture--thinks what she is doing but had to she has done a good job write school or only felt comfortable writing 'school' because they knew it from the sight word list? She needs to be encouraged to draw her picture before she starts to write Table 4. Examples of comments relating to meaning or text construction Meaning/construction Meaning/construction as a strength as a need * Understands that writing * Needs to write more complex has meaning sentences * Story is uninteresting * Need to build on creativity, * Too stilted--prescribed? demonstrate how to add descriptions * Needs to respond to--Who, what, where, how etc Table 5. Summary of responses to writing sample Strengths of the writing Total (228) % Conventions of Print Only 125 55% Conventions of Print and the drawing/ picture 50 22% Conventions of Print, drawing/picture and the 40 17% quality of the message No response 13 6% Needs of the children based on the sample Total (228) Conventions of Print Only 137 60% Conventions of Print and the drawing/ picture 41 18% Conventions of Print, drawing/picture and the 37 16% quality of the message No response 13 6%