"I can write in cursive!"
The dramatic play area was set up as a bakery. There were pretend cakes and cookies, mixing tools, plates, napkins, cookbooks and aprons. Two children were getting the bakery ready, putting goodies on plates and setting the table for customers.
"I am the baker and I am going to write the recipe. It is a recipe for pink cookies. Do you want to see how I can write in cursive?"
I watched as the baker made swirling marks across the front of a pink index card.
"There. Now I will put it in the recipe box so you can make the cookies later."
Children love to imitate writing. It is a daunting experience to receive a paper with marks and letters and to be asked, "What does it say?" But this questions signals a child's understanding that writing has a purpose and that letters are a form of communication.
Did you know there are as many as twenty stages of scribbles that children create on the road to writing letters? Initially, "writing" consists of making marks and drawing shapes. As children gain control of those small finger muscles, their marks and scribbles become more letter-like.
There are many opportunities in our classrooms for children to experiment with the writing process and build an awareness of the many purposes and reasons for writing.
Here are some of the activities that I have seen in the classrooms this last week:
- children making lists or taking phone messages as they play in the kitchen center,
- children writing notes and letters on old stationary at the writing center,
- a wide variety of writing tools around the classroom,
- a variety of paper, notepads, and clipboards for children to use around the classroom,
- children making marks or writing words on large pieces of paper at the easel,
- teachers writing down a child's story or adding words to a picture the child has drawn,
- teachers asking questions and writing the children's ideas on a large piece of paper at circle time,
- name cards, word cards, and alphabet posters for copying,
- children pretending to type on a computer keyboard,
- children using letter stamps or stickers at the art center,
- children and teachers using white boards to write words with the same beginning letter sound.
Click here to see examples of the Twenty Stages of Scribbling.