Competency 013: Writing Conventions

The teacher understands that the conventions of writing in English and provides instruction that helps children develop proficiency in using writing conventions.

Rosado, L.A. (2008). The Best Teachers' Test Preparation for the TExES 103 Bilingual Generalist EC-4. USA: Research and Education Association.

1. Print carries meaning & conveys a message

2. Spoken words can be written & preserved

3. English reading/writing follows a direction: left to right & top to bottom

4. Using dictionaries to find translations

(Rosado, 2008)

5. English has a sound-symbol correspondence that is inconsistent

6. Spoken language can be used as a foundation for spelling (phonics)

(Rosado, 2008)

Drawing Beginning of children’s attempt to

convey a message in written form Guide students to add words to

their drawings Scribbling

Children pretend they are writing Develop letter-like symbols

(Rosado, 2008)

Pseudo Letters

Attempts to create forms that resemble

letters

No identifiable letters Child is aware that alphabet contains

characters of diff. shapes Random Letters

Creates individual letters from alphabet in an attempt to create words

No phonetic spelling yet (Rosado, 2008)

Invented Spelling Child tries to connect sounds

(phonemes) with letters (graphemes) Phonetic spelling is represented by a

single letter or a series of letters Transitional Spelling

Begin noticing visual clues & develop knowledge of word structure

Sight word training=essential

(Rosado, 2008)

Conventional Spelling

Spell most words using conventional

spelling

Have problems w/ consonant digraphs,

homonyms, contractions, compound

words, prefixes , suffixes, & others.

(Rosado, 2008)

Dictate idea or complete a story

Use initial sounds in writing

Use picture, scribbles, symbols, letters, or

known words to communicate a message

Understand that writing symbolizes speech

(Rosado, 2008)

Understand that written message

remains the same after each time it’s

read

Incorporate feedback in revising &

editing their own writing

Begin to use conventional grammar,

spelling, capitalization, and punctuation(Rosado, 2008)

Use prewriting strategies to achieve

their purposes

Address topic or write prompt

creatively & independently

Organize writing to include a

beginning, middle & end

Produce many genres of writing(Rosado, 2008)

Model effective writing

Introduce writing samples

Teach importance of punctuation

Assess students’ writing to identify

common problems across the group.

(Rosado, 2008)