THE EFFECTS OF TEACHER CONFERENCING

The Effects of Teacher Conferencing on the Writing Skills and Attitudes of First Grade Students

Table of contents

Introduction3

1. Introductory information material to present the topic3

2. The research problem6

3. The research question8

4. The hypothesis of hypotheses (if appropriate)8

5. The definition of terms9

6. The limitations and delimitations of the study9

7. The anticipated significance of the study9

8. The overview of the study14

References15

Introduction

1. Introductory information material to present the topic

Primary students' progress in writing follows distinct stages of development according to Funderburk (2006). Young writers need to first think, draw, write, and finally read. Manning (2007) stated that the inexperienced young writer usually drew pictures first and then wrote; but as they became more proficient with their writing, the young writer wrote first and drew last. Lehr (2006) and Routman (2005) agree that like writing, spelling is developmental in nature. Lehr (2006) identifies five distinct stages of development. The first stage is pre-communicative, where the student uses symbols from the alphabet to stand for a word, but there is no apparent letter-sound correspondence.

In the second stage, semi phonetic, the student uses letter combinations to represent words, during the third stage, phonetic, the student begins to represent all "surface features of a word." In the fourth stage, transitional, the student begins to rely heavily on visual and on the structure and form of the word rather than the sound. Finally, the last stage is simply called correct. The student is aware of English spelling rules. By first being allowed to naturally progress through these stages the teacher's job becomes one of support for each individual's developmental needs. Manning's (2007) study of first grader's journal entries found that while students were encouraged to write every day, not all did. According to Manning there are ten categories of journal entries: picture only, scribble and random letters, descriptions of pictures, lists, copies of text, retelling of texts, personal content, imaginative content, informational content, and written forms such as puzzles. Manning also found that the subject matter of journal entries fell into three main categories: personal, informational, and holidays.

According to Moss (2005) all "kids- can be taught to be creative in their writings. All they need is practice and most of the entire teacher's "permission." Creativity according to educational creativity trainer Carolyn Doutre as reported by Moss (2005) is composed of fluency, originality, flexibility, and elaboration. An effective writing program should encompass all these features. Writing is a natural way to move away from the "right answer" towards reflective and non judgmental expressions. In addition, Routman (2005) states that properly posed teacher questions like "What were you thinking when that happened?" will enhance critical thinking processes. One form of writing that encourages fluency, originality, flexibility, and elaboration is free writing.

Tompkins (2005) describes free writing as writing without pause. The student writes for 5 to 10 minutes moving from topic to topic as ideas come to mind. The student continues writing without pausing or rereading for any ...