Book Making With Our Youngest Writers

In recent weeks I have been working with a group of young writers and their teachers at Crib Point Primary School. Writers in their first year of primary school in fact. They are taking important first steps on a long and hopefully, fulfilling journey as writers. 



These young writers choose their own ideas, decide what will go on each page, make changes, reread the text and ultimately decides when the writing is finished and is ready for sharing. They are making books that look and sound like the books teachers are reading to them every day. Books written by trusted authors. The multiple pages created during writing workshop help these inexperienced writer build stamina for the act of writing. How good is that?

It has been most instructive to watch them embrace this learning opportunity. Their boundless enthusiasm for the task of creating their own books has been a revelation not just for me, but more importantly, their teachers.

Each visit they greet me with news of their creative output: 
'I've made four books.'
'I've written three books and today I'm going to finish another book.' 
'Alan, guess what? -I'm also writing a book at home.'


Such responses deliver such a buzz!
The comments show the development of a sense of agency. For this reason these young writers deserve mindful nurturing.

We began by investigating a stack of books (fiction/non-fiction) through the lens of what we notice about their constituent elements- layout, design, craft, similiarities and differences. The children assumed the role of text detectives looking closely at all aspects of the assembled titles. They were then invited to share their observations about the books. In such actions lie the very beginnings of learning to read like writers. It's like discovering the origins of a stream.

I followed this by demonstrating how I made some simple books based on my personal reading, my life and my observations of the world around me, I showed them how my writing could be spread across several pages. My simple publication was a book about 'Ants.' An idea that had developed from watching a David Attenborough documentary about ant colonies and a book from my home library concerning the life of ants. I had created a title page prior to the workshop and placed some illustrations on each of the three pages that were to contain the written text. I composed this in front of the children, thinking aloud as I wrote. So I began- 'Ants live in very large groups called colonies. Those are the words I want to write for Page 1...'

 I shared my thinking about text and illustration placement based on what I had noticed in the book I had read. I showed them how I designed the cover page. I will continue to model these book making processes across several future workshops. I will show them examples of books created by other young writers too.

The children were invited to write and create their own books. They talked with partners as well as the wider group about their writing intentions. They were alerted to the important consideration of audience and what potential readers might expect. Then they were turned loose to create their publications.

An assortment of paper (different colours, sizes, colours) writing tools, glue sticks, magazines, scissors, staples were made available to these young writers. This immediately encouraged them to make some writing decisions, for as we know- writers make decisions

These are the actions we adopt to develop within kids a genuine sense of agency as readers and writers. The intention is to approximate as closely as possible authentic practice around composing writing.

Some Things We Noticed:
  • Children know a lot about the concepts of print and how books work.
  • Children know about the importance of sequence and order.
  • Children frequently use drawing as their first response when asked to create a meaningful text. Some use drawings exclusivley. 
  • Children don't always employ their knowledge about print unless they are nudged to include it. This is something we must remain mindful of addressing.


If beginning writers are consistently encouraged to use 'writing' alongside their natural inclination towards illustrating, their development will have a fertile context in which to grow across time. 

When these brave young writers begin to embrace print in their creations, it is cause for celebration and share time plays a strong role in highlighting the emergence of such actions. The actions of these trailblazers will in time encourage more of their peers to venture into the sphere of words and letters with increasing confidence.

 Some things to consider:

Their is no expectation for the writing to be viewed as 'correct.' The writer is being encouraged to share what they know and think about how writing is used in books. There is an understanding writing develops over time. We want the learner to feel sufficiently confident to have a go at writing. It is our role as teachers to encourage risk taking, to support their brave efforts.

We must make continual connections to the books you share during 'read alouds' drawing a link to the fact that they contain both words and pictures. It is important to use this as encouragement for the young book maker to include words and pictures in their creations, - reminding them that the books being read in class contain both words and pictures.

You might begin by encouraging the young writer to initially add writing to specific pages of their books such as the title page rather than every page,particularly in those early somewhat tentative days of becoming a writer. They might choose to label aspects of their drawings. 

Once the writer develops the confidence and knowledge to use writing consistently in their books, the teacher is able to encourage in other ways e.g. letter, word spacing, using their developing knowledge of phonetics to inform their writing.

To further kickstart this writing development their teacher has been encouraged to introduce interactive writing and shared reading to create opportunities for the developing writer to further practice and gain knowledge of print concepts. The aim throughout all this is to teach the writer, rather than the writing.

 It remains a joy to see the emergence of writers who are displaying a genuine sense of purpose and agency.




















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