Writing through play 2

Since I have attended the webinar for writing through play, there has been a great change in children's attitudes towards writing. I feel that children see themselves more as capable learners in terms of writing and that writing is a part of our lives.

I have been doing shared writing as I see children's interests emerge in our classrooms, and incorporating their interests in shared writing. For example, writing signs for doctor's office that children were creating in family corner, writing letters to fairies, and writing a list.

I also feel that by involving in children's play, I actually see where children are at in terms of writing more than when I was just writing at the jellybean table.  I agree with Stacy as she talked about some children feeling really nervous about coming to write at the table and feeling fearful about writing.

I have been recording where children are at and what they are interested in writing every week in Term 2 and I can definitely see that children are progressing even though the steps can be very small. I like that I see them as individuals and that I am supporting their individual needs in writing.

Also recognising and talking about what writing looks like in the classroom really helped in the early on. Like little scribbles and inventive symbols are a part of writing and this really enhanced children's understanding about what writing can look like.

One of the main practice I did was involving children in writing for a fairy.  Many children were really interested in writing to the fairies and had questions for them. One of the children made a mailbox for the fairies and that was a way to communicate our ideas to the fairies. I would write the replies back to the children and they were so excited to hear from the fairy Rose. I loved it as there was a purpose for writing and it was really meaningful for the children. I think this was hugely important for the children to understand that there was a reason for writing and there was an audience.

For all of the children in my target group, writing through play was a fantastic practice as I took notice of their interests and wrote together alongside them. 2 boys were very interested in dinosaurs, and they were interested in drawing pictures of dinosaurs and writing stories about them. 1 girl was very interested in writing letters to the fairies and this was a great way for her to know the purpose for writing as she was a very reluctant writer before and often was afraid to make mistakes.