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JSchaaf
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| Posted: March 24 2006 at 11:03am | IP Logged
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Anne-Catherine (6) loves to create stories-mostly she dictates to me and I type them out. Lately she's been writing more, and asking me (frequently) how to spell words. Yesterday she brought me this story-she didn't ask for any help:
"In Paris thear wear tow men. They wear brave and kind. Oen day they met tow girls. They wear priittye and kind. Soon they got merad and wear happy."
I'm pretty proud of her! But what about the spelling mistakes! I didn't mention them to her-I don't want to ruin her enthusiasm for writing. But how should I go about correcting the spelling??
Jennifer
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saintanneshs
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| Posted: March 24 2006 at 2:02pm | IP Logged
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Hi Jennifer,
I'm goona stick my neck out here to tell you what I do with my 6yods who is writing on his own, and whose writing looks A LOT like your daughter's  . That said, I'm also throwing out the disclaimer that I used to teach kindergarten and 1st grade in the ps system here, so old habits die hard and I am working toward being more CM-ish in thought and deed but I'm not there yet! 
So...I would say that if your daughter is already practicing spelling correctly in other places, whether through a spelling program or a computer phonics game or a board game or something, I'd just leave her writing alone and praise her for the effort, taking an extra minute or two to notice the spelling or grammar patterns she did correctly, just to reinforce her good habits. I think the idea there would be to not overdo it with spelling on the off-chance that she might come away from you thinking, "Mommy only notices my mistakes..." and the fact that she's taking it upon herself to write stories as a 6yo...in my experience that's a gift and I wouldn't want her to think that the spelling is more important than the overall picture. It's the language experience that counts IMHO. 
If she's not getting any word pattern (copywork)or "spelling" practice anywhere else, then I'd go ahead and give editing a shot, but keep it simple. When my 6yo writes on his own (he's our "verbal/linguistic" child), and it's only about 1x/week or so, we read over the composition together and we spend a few minutes talking about the story itself (very excitedly  ) and then the aspects of writing that he did remember (capitals at the beginning, spaces in the middle, ending punctuation). Lots of encouragement... Like I said, I'm trying to take a more gradual approach to all these things, but my 6yo is leading me, so I figure it's okay to point out a few things, very gently, right? Anyway, I write my words up above his words when there's a misspelled word and just casually make mention of all of the corrections but one (choosing one to focus on for writing reference in the future). For example, my ds6 wrote about being sorry for something: "I threw the wagin on the wall! I felt bad. I sed I am sre. I didntdoo it ugin." I just wrote the wrong words the right way up above his words on the paper, sometimes telling him that I could see how he was trying to apply some of the funny things I've told him about phonics sounds (the sound "oo" sometimes has two o-s like an owl's eyes when it hoots and also in boot, coot, root, shoot, etc.)...He remembered that from another time and was trying to apply it in the word "do" so it was spelled "doo") I usually pick one word spelled incorrectly and focus on a phonics rule and/or word family for that word. Teachers call this a "teachable moment" when they introduce something new to a child in the moment, rather than waiting until the "appropriate age or setting" for said phonics instructions. I would I only talk about it and then write a word family list below so he'll have a reference for next time. (We keep all of his writing in a notebook.) That one word we focused on, in the context of the word family, can become copywork for another time if desired.
I also try to take ds's emotions (at the time) into account. If he's drained from the effort of writing, I'll usually let it go. Many times he just wants a break from sitting to go play afterward, so I either make the "lesson" quick or I save it for after he's had a chance to get a breath and play.
I hope this helps a little anyway! Such fragile little egos we hold in our arms!
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Kristine
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saintanneshs
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| Posted: March 24 2006 at 2:04pm | IP Logged
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Oooh, I'm so one-track-minded! I forgot to tell you that you SHOULD be proud...your dd did a great job! 
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Kristine
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: March 27 2006 at 8:18am | IP Logged
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I wouldn't change a thing! I would celebrate! Have dd decorate it and put it up on the fridge, frame it, put it in a fancy cover, hang it in the school room, send it to grandma, whatever will please dd the most. I would save the spelling practice for another day and celebrate her very first creative writing!
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Theresa
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LaPaz Home Learning
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Erin
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| Posted: March 28 2006 at 2:37am | IP Logged
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Jennifer
How wonderful, I just love those precious moments. Yep I agree I wouldn't make any comment on the spelling at this stage.
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Erin
Faith Filled Days
Seven Little Australians
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: My dd's first indepent creative writing
