By Amanda Jacob, LS Literacy Coordinator
This article first appeared in the spring edition of the Window Magazine.
It fell out of a professional book that I hadn't picked up in over four years — this white sheet of construction paper covered in large pink letters. It was a note to the tooth fairy from my son just after losing his first tooth. With the help of my husband, I was able to decipher the note. Two days later, my son brought me his latest grade four persuasive essay. This piece of writing took no deciphering. His arguments were clearly laid out. Transition words like "hence" guided me through his evidence. And I thought about the amazing journey he has taken these last five years as a writer.
As Lower School Literacy Coordinator, I am privileged to work in classrooms with writers and teachers of writers from ages four to eleven. Not many get the bird's eye view that I enjoy, so I thought I would share it with you.
Our youngest writers begin their journey in KA by making books: lists of their favorite dinosaurs and princesses, books that teach all about robots, and stories of family trips to the beach. The books made by four-year-olds are as diverse as the little people who make them. Some children fill their pages with quick, single color drawings. Other children meticulously draw each person and object using just the right marker or crayon. Some children add letters to their pages. Others draw scribbles that look like adult writing. But for four-year-olds, it isn't the finished product that is so important; it is the process of generating ideas, composing those ideas on the page, and reading their books to others that launches these young children into the world of writing.
In Kindergarten, lines get added to the pages of books, and the genres expand to include personal narratives and informational writing. Children write about things they know well, sounding out words, but still capturing most of the details in their drawings. In just one year, they go from stringing letters together, mostly just the first sounds they hear, to writing words with spaces and initial, middle, and ending sounds represented. Their writing goes from single sentences on single sheets of paper to a couple of sentences on each page of a three-page book.
In Grade one, as their reading skills increase, so too do the details they can weave into their writing and their knowledge of the phonetic patterns in English spelling. Their stories grow in length and a voice of their very own emerges. They plan by sketching across the pages of a book and tell the stories of their lives through action, dialogue, and feelings.
Grade two sees an explosion in volume and detail. Students fill five or more pages with one small moment story. They write to teach and to persuade. They know how to spell many high-frequency words, which supports their growing volume. Less energy is spent putting words on the page, and more is available for crafting language that captures their ideas.
After three years of pushing children to narrow their focus and write with a lot of detail about single small moments, Grade three students begin to string several small moments together, and their stories take on the structure of rising action, climax, and denouement. Their stories and nonfiction pieces come alive with details that pull readers in, making them feel like they are right there in the moment.
Grade four marks the official launch into essay. Our young writers are ready to explore how structure can support their arguments and organize their teaching. They can write with amazing volume and sometimes lose control with their fictional writing, careening from moment to moment with specific but unnecessary detail. Their teachers have to help them slow down and use craft with more intention. The characters in their stories learn lessons that the rest of us can learn from, and their expository writing provides a window into their current passions and interests.
When I sit next to a Grade five writer, I am truly amazed. Much of the writing is structured, evidence-based arguments, similar to the writing I did in high school. They are already writing literary essays that follow growth and change in characters and explore the lessons authors teach. They know how to spell most words without pausing to sound them out, leaving them time to craft their words more thoughtfully. They weave metaphors into their writing. They use complex sentence structures to show the connections between ideas. They also elaborate on their ideas with an eye toward their audience.
My son heads to Grade five next year, and his journey as a writer continues. Already his teachers have taught him to live the life of a writer, to see stories hiding in everyday moments, to read with an eye for detail and structure, and to believe he can make the world a better place with his words. The journey my son is taking as he passes through the Lower School writing program is a common one. However, the fact that his journey is not unusual makes it no less amazing to me as a parent, a teacher, and a literacy coordinator.