Family playing by the river at Daybreak Park in Battle Ground, WA.

Well, we've all had about a month of remote learning under our belts! How's it going for you? I'm pleased to say that my kids are doing a great job logging into their classes and accessing their assignments pretty independently. Now, getting my 6 year old to stay focused on reading and writing for longer periods of time without my intervention...that's still a task we're working on! So today, let's talk about growing independent writers. Here's some ideas that I've used with kids in the classroom that I think might help at home, too, if you want to give them a try!

Independent Spelling Strategies

You may not believe but I could get an entire class of 6 year olds to write without ever asking me how to spell a word. Impressed? It takes some time and some diligence. 

1) Keep a writing folder for writing resources. Depending on the age/needs of the child this might include: an alphabet chart with pictures, an alphabet table with space to write words the child is learning to write, sticky notes for on-the-spot word banks. 

2) Pick a few words at a time to actually teach them to spell correctly. Focus on high frequency words like: the, he, she, my. Google: 1st grade high frequency words. Or ask your child's teacher what words they should be learning.  Or better yet, watch their writing and choose words they are trying to write regularly. Write those words into their Alphabet Table. Have them use the table to spell them correctly. Have them circle those words in their writing and fix them when they are not correct. 

3) Create a word bank or use a book as a spelling resource. Before they write, ask the what topic they are writing about. Think about a few longer/more complicated words they might need to write. Write them on a sticky note and leave them with them. Sketch a picture next to the word for students who aren't reading yet. Or if they are writing about a book or nonfiction topic, have them use the book as a resource to help them spell. 

4) Teach them to stretch out longer words. I have my students say the word very slowly while touching their fingers to their thumb to count how many sounds they hear in the word. Then they write the sounds they hear. They can use pennies or buttons or beans to "push" the sounds they hear also, then count how many sounds they "pushed" forward. We call this encoding. When kids read, they decode. Saying the sounds in words they see. When they write, they listen to sounds they want to write and then write the word. Encoding makes them a better reader and it's REALLY important we let them do this work. Their alphabet chart will help. As they start this process, some students will have only the beginning sound to represent a word. This is okay. They might then have the beginning and ending sound. Eventually we want them to have the middle sounds represented as well. 

5) Clap the syllables. Every syllable has a vowel. When words are longer, I teach them this strategy. When they understand the difference between a consonant and vowel (a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y), they can learn that every syllable in a word has a vowel. This will help them get even closer to having every sound present in the word. 

Once they have a set of strategies, here's the key...REFUSE to help until they try at least 2-3 strategies. Eventually they stop asking. 

OH, one quick bonus tip for younger writers: I call it MAGIC LINES. This is for students at the beginning stages of writing. They say a sentence they want to write. You count the words with them while they say it. Then use a marker to make a line on their paper for every word they want to write. They touch each line and say their sentence again. Then leave them to write it. The leaving part is important. This says, "I have confidence in you to give this a try!" (Don't forget to check back in to see how it went.) The cool thing about this is, eventually they start doing this for themselves. And then eventually they won't need the lines at all anymore. They'll just be able to think of a sentence and write the whole thing without thinking about one word at a time! So cool!

If you missed my last post, you can find it here. I talked about timers and building up time for stamina which will also support your independent writer.

And if you're a working parent like me, barely seeing your kiddos during the day, mostly just hoping they're on track, trying to balance it all right now, hang in there!! I'm not able to do all the things I want to do to support my own learners because I'm busy in meetings and managing my own work, but I squeeze in a quick conversation here and there when I can and sometimes the best I can do is ask them how their day went at dinner and hug them when they need it. We're all doing the best we can and that has to be enough. 

Now enjoy some of my favorite photos from a recent session with a great family! And If you've got any helpful tips to share with me or others, drop them in the comments!

Family playing by the river at Daybreak Park in Battle Ground, WA. Family playing by the river at Daybreak Park in Battle Ground, WA. Family playing by the river at Daybreak Park in Battle Ground, WA. Family playing by the river at Daybreak Park in Battle Ground, WA. Family playing by the river at Daybreak Park in Battle Ground, WA.
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Family playing by the river at Daybreak Park in Battle Ground, WA. Family playing by the river at Daybreak Park in Battle Ground, WA.

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Family playing by the river at Daybreak Park in Battle Ground, WA.

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Family playing by the river at Daybreak Park in Battle Ground, WA. Family playing by the river at Daybreak Park in Battle Ground, WA.