Write…but at what age?
In the state of Virginia, the state writing assessment is upon us. In the next four weeks, Fourth and Fifth graders will be given a prompt and will need to write. The will need to choose their words wisely, spell carefully while writing grammatically correct all as they are supporting the main idea. Their teachers will need to sit back and watch as their students showcase skills they have mastered. On those stated days, the students will celebrate their creativity and writing skills. Below are links to help you:
Common Core Graphic Organizers
Virgina Department of Ed. Standards of Learning Language Arts Resources
The most important thing that is stressed is the students need to compose online. A notepad feature is available for them to jot down notes. They can cut and paste those notes using keyboard shortcuts, but the state’s expectations are for the student to do this completely on the computer…and not by writing a rough draft as many of the adults reading this were taught.
What age can a student start composing online? As soon as they can compose a thought. If you can have a child type a few words about a picture then they are composing online. Using any drawing program, have the child draw a picture about a given topic (which will eventually turn into a writing prompt) and write words to describe the picture, feelings, memories, any way to have the pupil formulate words to turn the image into literary work.
