Good Afternoon!
What is emergent writing? According the NAEYC, emergent writing is “young children’s first attempts at the writing process”. There are several stages of emergent writing. Most of our pre-k/k group children are in the ‘invented or phonetic spelling’ (or kid spelling as we call it) or the ‘beginning word and phrase writing’. We have journal time everyday after group time which is a time where I can evaluate their writing readiness while pushing them slightly outside of their comfort zone.
Today, Lucy finished her journal and gave it to me so I could dictate her words. Instead, I asked if she’d want to write it and I’d help her with the sounds of different letters. She kid spelled ‘litneg bolt’ for ‘lightning bolt’. Most children hear consonant sounds before vowels sounds so each child’s kid spelling is unique to them and their development at that time. Not every child writes at the same pace; every child is unique and once they’re ready, that’s the time to explore and strengthen their written language skills.
In the article I’ve posted below, it suggests different activities to do in the classroom where children are exposed to written language.
At Wee Friends, reading books is a crucial and main part of the day. Teachers read a variety of text including fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Children see letters and words in every book they read along with working on comprehension and understanding different parts of the book (characters, setting, etc.).
Every morning, children are asked (if they want) to sign in on the message board. Children often notice different letters that they recognize as well as working on their name by signing in!
“Both preschool writing instruction and home writing experiences are essential components of helping children develop writing skills. A major advantage of the home-school connection is that children see the value of what they learn in school when parents actively participate in the same type of activities at home.”
**The article is longer but has some good ‘emergent writing’ information 
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https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/nov2017/emergent-writing
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The rest of our day involved a science class where different children took on the role as ‘the teacher’ while their peers played ‘the students’.
Franklin became frustrated when his train track wasn’t hooking together so with the help of a teacher and a few peers, we were able to complete the track! Several peers ran over to his train track while attaching trains together as they went around the track.
Our morning ended with fresh kale from our garden: YUM!
Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with peanut butter and fresh apples.
Lunch– Whole grain noodles with butter and kidney beans, PPC pears, and PPC broccoli/cherry tomatoes.
PM snack– PPC banana with whole milk yogurt.
Wee Sprout– PPC broccoli/cherry tomatoes.
Have a great night!
-Mindy
Link to pictures: WF 7/23
