As children interact with the world around them, their writing abilities develop along a continuum from emergent to more conventional writing. This pathway is not exactly the same for each child because children develop differently due to a variety of factors that will be discussed below. This was apparent in Mr. Jenbere’s and Ms. Daryl’s classroom with Arzu who was scribbling and Hasan who was using his knowledge of letters and sounds to write. Both were 4-year-olds writing a thank you note. However, procedurally, they were at different places along the continuum in terms of the writing they produced.
Although children’s developmental pathways vary by individual child, understanding children’s writing progressions can help educators as they assess children’s writing abilities, plan instruction, and provide a variety of learning experiences. In this section, we use the framework from Virginia’s Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS): Birth-Five Learning Guidelines to frame our discussion (see Table 9.2.1). In this framework, emergent writing skills are organized into three categories: writing to communicate, developing writing habits and skills, and handling writing tools. In each of these categories, the development of specific skills is broadly organized by age ranges. These age ranges are intended to provide a general understanding of typical progressions and are not to suggest that there is a simple linear progression of writing abilities. In actuality, children’s writing progresses as they increase their use of more advanced writing strategies and decrease their use of less advanced writing skills (Rowe & Wilson, 2015). For example, as children begin to use conventional letters, they may continue to scribble and use letter-like forms. Over time, they will decrease their use of scribbles and letter-like forms and will increase their use of conventional letters. For this reason, it is important to keep in mind that, although writing is a sequenced progression, there will be variability among children, as well as within children, as they are progressing along the continuum (Rowe & Wilson, 2015).
Writing to Communicate
As was evident in Mr. Jenbere’s and Ms. Daryl’s classroom, young children begin to understand that writing is a means to communicate thoughts, stories, information, and opinions. At an early age, children realize they can create drawings and make scribbles that they can then read to others (Bruyere, 2020). They come to understand that writing is intentional and is used to convey meaning (Rowe & Wilson, 2015). As their writing becomes more intentional, they begin to write for a variety of purposes and audiences and become more aware of the need to write so others can read their writing (Bruyere, 2020; Rowe & Wilson, 2015). They also become more cognizant of how the content of their writing varies depending on social expectations (Rowe & Wilson, 2015). For example, they learn what to include when they write a birthday card for a classmate or a story about a walk their family took in the park. Young children also develop a sense of ownership over their writing and begin to develop their identity as a writer (Bruyere, 2020; Kissel & Miller, 2015; Rowe, 2018).
Continuum of Emergent Writing Development: Writing to Communicate
Table 8.2.1 “Continuum of Emergent Writing Development: Writing to Communicate”. Content is from Virginia’s Early Learning & Development Standards (ELDS): Birth-Five Learning Guidelines. It is used with permission of the creators and is not an open education resource covered by a Creative Commons License.
CLLD3.1 Drawing, scribbling, and writing to communicate
Early Infancy
0-8 months
Later Infancy
6-14 months
Makes scribbles or marks on writing materials (CLLD3.1a)
Understands that marks on a page can communicate meaning (CLLD3.1b)
Uses writing instruments to make distinct marks (CLLD3.1c)
Early Toddler
12-24 Months
Begins to use controlled marks like swoops, circles, and waves to represent their ideas (CLLD3.1d)
Writes in a linear fashion and connects marks with repetitive up/down or looping motions (CLLD3.1e)
Begins to use scribbles or intentional marks to represent objects (CLLD3.1f)
Attempts to “read” their writing or drawing to others, including their name (CLLD3.1g)
Later Toddler
22-36 Months
Begins to use distinct letter-like symbols and letter formations with curves, lines, circles, and dots to represent words, ideas, phrases, sentences, and stories or events with or without drawing (CLLD3.1h)
Begins to draw/write for a variety of audiences (e.g., family members and teachers) (CLLD3.1i)
Begins to draw/write for a variety of purposes (e.g., grocery lists, invitations, birthday cards) (CLLD3.1j)
Early Preschool
34-48 Months
Begins to use letter strings or a group of letters to represent words, ideas, phrases, sentences, and stories or events (CLLD3.1k)
Begins to use print in the environment as part of their writing (e.g., attempts to copy a sign or poster in room) (CLLD3.1l)
Begins to copy or write letters or numbers (CLLD3.1m)
Begins to represent all letters in their name (CLLD3.1n)
Begins to recognize name as separate from other pictures or writing produced (CLLD3.1o)
Begins to distinguish print from images or illustrations (CLLD3.1p)
Later Preschool
44-60 Months
Begins to use initial letter sounds to represent a whole word (e.g., /f/ for fish) (CLLD3.1q)
Begins to represent the initial and final sounds to represent a word (e.g., ‘dg’ for dog) (CLLD3.1r)
Retells or reads their writing to others (CLLD3.1s)
Represents all letters in their own name, with sequencing, positioning, and reversals still evidenced (CLLD3.1t)
Begins to produce a correct representation of their name using capital letters, lowercase letters, or a combination of both moving from left to right (CLLD3.1u)
Begins to copy names of familiar people and objects (CLLD3.1v)
Initial markings. Young children’s journey as writers begins at an early age when they move from making accidental markings with little to no motor control to moving their forearm to make large intentional scribbles (Rowe & Wilson, 2015). As children’s fine motor skills develop, they use their hand and wrist movements to make more refined scribbles (see Figure 8.2.1). These scribbles initially represent objects and then begin to represent ideas, words, and phrases. As children’s writing progresses, they scribble in a more linear manner using spaces between their scribbles, up-and-down looping motions, circles, waves, swoops, and zig zags. Over time, they add letters, which may be written backwards or upside down, to their scribbles and letter-like forms. Scribbles are eventually replaced with conventional capital and lower-case letters; however, there is no correspondence between letters and sounds (Rowe & Wilson, 2015).
Pause and Consider: Scribbles, Letter-Like Symbols, and Letter Formations
In Figure 8.2.1, there are three preschool writing samples. Use the writing continuum above to analyze the children’s writing. Consider the following questions:
What do you notice about these writing samples?
What aspects of the descriptions about scribbling and letters do you see in these samples?
What do you notice about the drawings?
What does their writing show about what they know?
ButterflyThe big red monster said, “I will chase you.” I said, “You can’t get me because I run fast.”My mom is at the store.
Figure 8.2.1 Scribbles, Letter-Like Symbols, and Letter Formations
Moving toward using letters. Children also start to write their name and other words or phrases they have memorized (Rowe & Wilson, 2015). They learn to write their full name in English, for example, using capital and lowercase letters written from left to right. They also recognize their name as separate from their writing and that their name indicates ownership of what they produced. In addition, they begin to use conventional letters to write words and phrases they have memorized, like family members’ names, and phrases, such as, “I like cake.” They also begin to copy numbers, letters, and words from the environment into their writing.
Eventually, children start to write letters and groups of specific letters to represent their ideas as they use their growing knowledge of letters and sounds to write words, phrases, and sentences (Rowe & Wilson, 2015). This practice is often referred to as invented spelling. Initially, children tend to represent words using the initial letter sound (see Figure 9.2.3). For example, they might use “k” to represent “car” or “b” to represent “ball.” As children progress, they may write the initial and the final sounds (e.g., bk for bike) and eventually add middle consonant sounds (e.g, ktn for kitten). They add vowels (e.g., babe for baby) and begin to use correct spelling of some words (e.g., sat) as they move toward more conventional spelling.
Children are also developing understandings about directionality as their writing progresses (Rowe & Wilson, 2015). During the early years, children are learning how print is positioned on a page and the direction that print is written and read. For example, in English, children learn to write from left to right, move to the next line, and begin on the left again. Initially, children may place marks and scribbles anywhere on the paper. As they start to develop an understanding that writing is presented in a linear format, they may write from right to left horizontally or from top to bottom vertically. As children gain writing experience, they will begin to show more conventional directional patterns as they write.
Pause and Consider: Letter-Sound Correspondence
In Figure 8.2.2, there are three prekindergarten writing samples. Use the writing continuum above to analyze the children’s writing. Consider the following questions:
What do you notice about these writing samples?
What aspects of the descriptions about letters and words do you see in these samples?
What do you notice about the drawings?
What does their writing show about what they know?
Figure 8.2.2 Letter-Sound Correspondence
My brother and me
A butterfly
I saw Sammy at the park.
References
Bruyere, J., & Pendergrass, E. (2020). Are your students writing or authoring? Young author’s milieux. Early Childhood Education Journal, 48, 561–571. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-020-01027-7
Kissel, B. T., & Miller, E. T. (2015). Reclaiming power in the writers’ workshop: Defending curricula, countering narratives, and changing identities in prekindergarten classrooms. The Reading Teacher, 69(1), 77–86. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1379
Rowe, D. W., & Wilson, S. (2015). The development of a descriptive measure of early childhood writing: Results from the Write Start! Writing Assessment. Journal of Literacy Research, 47(2), 245–292. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296X15619723
Image Credits
Figure 8.2.1: Julie Kidd. “Scribbles, Letter-Like Symbols, and Letter Formations.” CC BY 2.0.
Figure 8.2.2: Julie Kidd. “Letter-Sound Correspondence.” CC BY 2.0.
How Emergent Writers Progress
