LIT 102- SEA WRITTERS

  (source:https://www.quotemaster.org/Poets)   Passion, grief, joy, hope, anger, romance all of these are emotions that can be conveyed through a rhythmic play on words. That's right, I'm talking about Poems.  In my Literature writing course the final type of writing discussed was Poetry. When I think of poetry I always think, like the quote says, about beauty and style. It is always fascinating for me, to see out writers play on words, to create these masterpieces called poems. Reading them always stirs up a specific emotion in me. Sometimes I want to laugh or cry, sometimes I feel encouraged or it even makes me think about something differently than I had before. When discussing Poetry writing in my class, something was brought to my attention, that I never paid attention to before, when reading poems. Although I knew that some poems rhyme and some do not, I learnt that  rhyming poems, usually has a Rhyme Scheme. This refers to the lines in the poems, tha...

(source: https://wordstheirwaybookclubreview.weebly.com/the-letter-name-and-alphabetic-stage.html) My Letter- Name Spellers     I remember these little people!  In my writing class this week, we discussed the stages of spelling development, that students transition through. When we got to stage 2- Letter Name spellers, it was very easy for me to visualize and connect with spellers at this stage. In my 8 years teaching kindergarten, I had the pleasure of working with a lot of letter-name spellers. It was always a fun task to sift through their writing, to decipher the messages they were trying to convey. At this stage what I noticed was that the students most times get the initial sound of the word correct and sometimes the ending. Also, that they spell the words, just as it sounds to them. However, as I learnt in my LIT class, as they develop on their knowledge of the alphabetic principle, and learn more short vowels, blends and digraphs, their spelling bec...

Assessing Writing     Has anyone else had to assess a piece of writing (whether a friends work or a student's writing assignment), but had difficulty explaining or pinpointing what was lacking or what could be done to improve? Well, in my writing class this past week, I definitely had some 'aha' moments. The connection between the 6 + 1 traits of writing and assessing writing was 'brought home' so clearly. I realized that the same traits that I use to improve my writing pieces, can be used to assess the writing of others.      (source: https://slideplayer.com/slide/2497262/)          Using these 6 traits above, I can give valuable feedback to my students about their writing, that goes beyond saying it was good or needs improvement. I can now explain to them what trait in their writing was clearly demonstrated or which was weak or lacking and offer tips on how that trait can be developed. This makes assessing writing so much easier. ...

Descriptive Writing Paints A Picture       In my Lit. 102 course we began discussing another type of writing. This time around the topic was one I find quite intriguing- Descriptive Writing. Although this writing technique is one that I have encountered and had to make use of many times, the reinforcement was quite necessary. As my lecturer began explaining what this type of writing entails, what came to my mind, was an artist painting a picture. This is because I believe that this is what descriptive writing should do. Descriptive writing should create a mental picture in the mind of the readers. So, for a reader who never visited the place, met the person or does not know about the thing you are writing about, what this type of writing should do, is use words to paint a vivid picture for the reader. But how do good writers do this?     Descriptive writers make use of showing, rather than telling sentences ( as discussed in one of my previous blogs)....

  6 + 1 = 7 Traits of Great Writing source:  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/154389093448578760/      Ever wondered what separates fair,good and great writing? Well, it is not just one thing, but rather, a combination of things. In this Lit course I learnt about the 7 traits of good writing, which include ideas, word choice, organisation, sentence fluency, voice, conventions and presentation. Each trait is an important element that must be observed, in order to produce a flawless piece of writing.        As each trait was discussed, I realised a lot of these elements I naturally include in my writing, like organisation, sentence fluency or ideas, however, not being completely cognizant of its significance. I particularly like the trait of voice, because it highlights how unique writing is to each of us. It refers to the writers personal style of writing that can be used to connect with the reader and draw them into the message being c...

  The Stages of Writing Development                                     This past summer, in a course called Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum, I had the pleasure of learning about the different stages of reading development (according to Jean Chall), that a child goes through. Now, in this LIT writing course, I have been exposed to the stages of development as it relates to writing, which students transition through. I have  learnt that just like with reading, each child goes through different stages of writing ability- Emergent- Fluent, at each stage acquiring new skills and abilities.     Having taught at the preschool and Kindergarten levels, and having a three year old daughter, I am most familiar with the emergent writers. I must say I had some 'aha' moments when reading about writers at this stage, because I was able to gain clarity on some of the charac...