Assignment #6 Chapter 1 Teaching children to write

In teaching children to write, teachers should understand that children cannot write and that they need to learn how to read before writing longer antiquated texts. There has been numerous research and evidence showing us that children can also learn how to write well-structured paragraphs with the appropriate words and phrases when considering the expected audience. As teachers, we are expected to do the leading and supporting role for children to express certain ideas and feelings they want to write and share with the audience. But teachers shouldn't do everything out of worry for the students rather we need to focus on how to have them lead themselves in a self-motivated and self-monitoring process.

It is believed that the writing process is generally divided into five stages of prewriting. These are drafting, revising, editing, and publishing, and in each step, teachers can provide the appropriate activities for children to complete their assignments. For example, in the prewriting step, teachers can help them by giving instructions to use a variety of writing activities like brainstorming, drawing, word-sequencing and clustering. Through the stages of drafting and revising, teachers can encourage children by having them sharing their writing in groups, participating in discussions, and giving and receiving comments from their classmates and teachers. At the next stage of editing, we need to help them in case they are having trouble correcting their writings in a mechanical perspective.

Reference:Tompkins, G. E. (2008). Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product. NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Here are some interesting articles about this chapter.
http://math-and-reading-help-for-kids.org/teaching_children_to_write.html

Response to SangHyo Park:
He think chapter 1 writing process is very useful, especially in Korea. And he was mention about the five levels of support are modeled writing, shared writing, interactive writing, guided writing, and independent writing. So, he think that is Making decisions about purpose, audience, and form should be taught as an important component of writing instruction, and in each case, students need to know the range of options available for them. I also agree with him.