Kid Writing in the 21st Century A Systematic Approach to Phonics, Spelling, and Writing Workshop

The importance of young children's writing in developing literacy was long neglected. In this brand-new book, written in the same familiar and joyful "I can do this in my classroom" voice that teachers loved in Kid Writing (1999), the authors show how reading, spelling, knowledge of the alphabet, and knowledge about speech sounds develop together and support each other in meaning-making among beginning writers.

Kid Writing in the 21st Century will fill the gap between your students being able to write with "squiggles and diamonds" and with full, proficient alphabetic writing.  It’s not enough to say, "write as best you can"—you need to show them how, and this book has the strategies:

• Every child in your class can start writing as soon as you implement this book, even those students who cannot yet write their names.
• Scaffold early invented spelling with research-based techniques.
• Make the writing–reading connection explicit.
• The essential, science-based “stretch through a word with a moving target” technique involves emphasizing through volume and elongation only those sounds the teacher thinks students can successfully encode, heightening skills such as phonological awareness.
• Monitor each child’s progress through five easy-to-identify research-based developmental phases.
• Engage writers creatively in standards-based genres and content areas.

Kid Writing in the 21^st Century is your complete and comprehensive guide for developing meaningful and joyful proficient writers (and readers) in pre-K, kindergarten, and first grade!