DR 2: Children are effective learners
⇣ Indicator: LIT—Children demonstrate emerging literacy skills
⇣ Measure 38: Emerging Writing—
Child shows increasing ability to write using scribbles, symbols, letters, and words to represent meaning

	Descriptors	Examples
9	Writes own name and simple words (mostly using correct letters)	Writes own name with letters formed almost correctly, although some or all may be a mirror image (may use letter stamps). Writes some simple words spelled correctly on own or by copying, for example, cat, stop, mom, I, and go (may use computer to write).
8	Begins to make a few recognizable letters and knows that what is written can be read by others	Makes a grocery list using mock and real letters, for example, an up-side-down T, M, O, and an attempted letter. Writes name with some letters formed correctly. Writes label on picture. Asks teacher to make a model of a word or letter so he can copy it.
7	Makes letter-like symbols as pretend writing to represent ideas, and attributes meaning to writing	“Writes” own name on a drawing using scribbles, random symbols, or letter-like marks. Makes a card and tells adult what to write on it. Attributes meaning to what one writes (points to a scribble and says, “This says ‘Mommy.’”). Makes list and says, “I’m going shopping for milk and bread and cookies.”
6	Uses scribble-writing or pictures to represent people, things, or events	Produces different marks to represent different objects or events (circles, scribbles). Scribble writes next to a picture. Plays with traditional or adaptive keyboard to scribble.
5	Copies marks	Attempts to recreate a mark, or make a line look a certain way. Imitates O, \|, or —.
0	Not yet

Measure 38 — LIT 5

Emerging Writing

Child shows increasing ability to write using scribbles, symbols, letters, and words to represent meaning

Early writing is about using graphic symbols (scribbles, shapes, letter-like forms) to represent meaning. Well before they are able to write conventionally, young children understand that the written word carries meaning, and they scribble and draw in an imitative effort to express and communicate ideas and feelings. They use their marks and scribbles to imitate the act of writing messages, telling stories, and making labels and signs. Engaging in emerging writing activities, such as marking on paper, drawing, and pretending to write, helps children make the connections between written and spoken language; it also helps them learn concepts about print: that writing is scripted from left to right, for example. An important milestone for children in this process is learning to write their own name.

Infants engage in sensorimotor exploration of materials, using their fingers to make marks on various surfaces, such as food, sand, and playdough. They also may experiment with crumpling or tearing up paper or grabbing a pencil and banging it on paper, thus leaving accidental marks. Toddlers use print and art utensils (such as crayons, pencils, paint brushes) and their fingers to make deliberate marks on paper. They may begin by making scribbles all over the page; they then make dots, lines, and lines with curves; and finally they make simple, closed shapes, such as circles. As they become more skilled, toddlers are able to copy some simple marks or shapes (such as lines and circles).

Young preschoolers understand that writing has meaning. They are interested in scribbling and making marks to represent objects, people, or events. Many are able to draw lines, curves, and other shapes to represent objects, such as people, houses, animals, flowers, and trees to which they give a name. Preschoolers like to write their own names using letter-like forms. For example, they use letter-like forms to pretend to write words and make lists, and they like to identify what their marks mean. They may also ask adults to write simple words and messages for them.

Older preschoolers make strings of letter-like forms and real letters to label pictures, or they may pretend to write lists and messages. They understand that writing is meant to be read by others. They may ask adults to write simple words for them to copy such, as “MOM” or “DAD” and other familiar words, such as the names of favorite objects. Eventually many children can write their own name with most letters formed correctly, usually first in upper case and then using lower case. They also begin to write other words and are able to write some simple, very familiar words correctly (such as “MOM”) and use invented spelling for others (“KR” for car).

References

Campbell, R. (1999). Phonics, naturally: Reading and writing for real purposes. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Dyson, A. (2001). Writing and children’s symbolic repertoires: Development unhinged. In S. Neuman, & D. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research Vol. 1 (pp. 126-141). New York: Guildford Press.

Godt, P., Hutinger, P., Robinson, L., & Schneider, C. (1999). Using a sign-up sheet strategy to encourage emergent literacy skills in young children with disabilities. Teaching Exceptional Children, 32(2), 38-44.

Levin, I., & Bus, A. (2003). How is emergent writing based on drawing? Analyses of children’s products and their sorting by children and mothers. Developmental Psychology, 39(5), 891-905.

Oken-Wright, P. (1998). Transition to writing: Drawing as a scaffold for emergent writers. Young Children, 53(2), 76-81.

Schickedanz, J. & Casbergue, R, (2004). Writing in preschool. Learning to orchestrate meaning and marks. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Additional Resources

There are no additional resources for this Measure at this time. Please see the corresponding Indicator for general resources.