AT 1 Group Fajitas and Hotsauce Literacy Resource for Writing by Suguna Kumerasan https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu by Suguna D/O Kumerasan & Anandhi Mageshkanna en-us 2019-08-10 05:36:10 UTC 2024-05-21 14:44:53 UTC hello@padlet.com https://imgglb.padletcdn.com/v13/image?t=g_auto&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpadlet.net%2Ficons%2Fpng%2F1f61b.png Video Introduction sugunakumerasan https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/373952089 2019-08-10 06:18:21 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/373952089 Providing Opportunities to Write within the Physical Environment (Pre-writing & Handwriting) sugunakumerasan https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/373952140 One example of an opportunity in the physical environment that we have been carrying our in our individual classrooms is the sign-in policy, whereby children have to mark their attendance upon their arrival in school. This routine allows our students to attempt writing, improve their finger dexterity and phonological awareness based on the letters in their names. Most definitely, this routine not only expose them to writing, but they also make writing a lot more exciting as it is the first thing they look forward to do when they walk into the classrooms. This relates to the concept of writing, and according to Byington and Kim (2017), children gain knowledge and interest for writing when they are continuously exposed to prints and writing in their environment. Providing a range of opportunities in the children's physical environment provides teachers and parents awareness on their children's fine motor strength and their progress in writing. Attached in this pin are some other examples of providing writing opportunities for children in their physical surroundings. ]]> 2019-08-10 06:19:28 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/373952140 'MotionCrayon' Application for Children on iPads/tablets (Pre-writing Skills) sugunakumerasan https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/373952160 This resource uses technology as a platform to develop children's pre-writing skills. The application offers children to create free drawings based on their current thoughts or the environment they are in at the moment. According to Nurturing Early Learners (2013) Framework, "writing begins with children using prints to construct messages that convey meaning to others". Therefore, this tool is highly able to provide children with the opportunity to share the meaning of their creations with their teachers and parents, developing an understanding that writing has a purpose and that print is meaningful (Wu, 2009), through the conversations held between them with their teachers and parents. The YouTube link attached in this pin depicts how children can manipulate the application.

]]> 2019-08-10 06:20:00 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/373952160 Enhancing Fine Motor Skills sugunakumerasan https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/373952232 According to Seo (2018), before beginning the act of handwriting, children would first need to develop readiness in forming letters through the growth of large and small muscles, fine motor skills and in-hand manipulation skills. Without the support of these skills, children are at risk of developing bad handwriting habits which may result in poor handwriting legibility -  **shape of the letters, the size of the letters, the arrangement of the letters, and the amount of space between the letters**

This pin consists of 10 examples of activities that aim to enhance children's large and small muscles, fine motor skills and hand manipulation ability. Through the link attached, resources related to written communication checklist and fine motor checklists are readily available for teachers and parents to adopt in understanding the aspects children should develop, and to also assess them accordingly based on the checklists available.]]> 2019-08-10 06:22:37 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/373952232 Parental Involvement (Pre-writing Skills) sugunakumerasan https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/373952483 This pin uncovers possible engaging activities parents may carry out with their children to develop pre-writing skills at home, which may also contribute to their development of writing skills and interest in schools. According to Darling (2007), the Mesosystem of Bronfenbrenner's Ecological System Theory indicates that the partnerships schools have with parents greatly contribute to the holistic growth of children. Furthermore, according to Bindman, Skibbe, Hindman, Aram and Morrison (2014), research has stated that parents of preschoolers who practice writing with their children on a regular basis appear to benefit children in gaining strong letter knowledge, phonological awareness, concepts of prints and printed words. This pin provides teachers and parents the opportunity to discuss some activities that could be carried out at home so that children come into schools, ready to participate in writing activities. On the other hand, these activities may also be carried in schools first, and act as reinforcement activities guided by parents at home. ]]> 2019-08-10 06:32:23 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/373952483 Developing Fine Motor as Pre-writing Skills through Nursery Rhymes sugunakumerasan https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/373952521 This resource emphasizes finger play through rhymes, in developing fine motor skills. The Finger Gym book (Developmental games- To improve language, Fine Motor Skills, and Handwriting) by Galina Dolya and Judy, (2016) offers a wide range of rhymes and songs. The meticulously designed songs requires children to perform a variety of large and small motor skills movement. The 'Dynamic systems theory of motor development emphasizes the existence of a close relationship between fine motor development is essential for children's emergent and later writing skills (Kamm, et al., 1990). According to Bezemer, J., & Kress, G. (2008) , "young children begin their writing journey creating meaning by combining multi-modal symbolic system or modes such as talking, drawing, singing, and role-playing, long before they engage in the mature written linguistic form their culture." Thus, this resource helps enhance children's fine motor skills as part of developing their writing skills. Attached in this pin is an example of a rhyme song with the fine motor activity sheet and instruction. 

]]> 2019-08-10 06:34:20 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/373952521 Educational Policy (1) sugunakumerasan https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/374005646 According to English Language Syllable (2010) in Singapore, Learning Objective 1 (LO1) for writing in early years include penmanship which may also be regarded as the mechanism of handwriting. LO1 also includes the ability to have good writing posture and hand grip of writing tools which are emphasized through pre-writing activities that focuses on their finger dexterity and fine motor skills. LO1 may be viewed as foundation skills which lead to complex objectives such as using accurate and consistent spelling, and generating writing for a variety purposes and audience. To support that writing is an important tool, a study conducted by Graham, Gillespie and McKweon (2012), states that learning to write is a definite versatile tool that can be used to accomplish a variety of goals within the aspect of language and literacy development. This supports the English Language Syllable in Singapore as it is evident that learning to write in LO1 leads to greater achievements in LO2, 3 and 4. ]]> 2019-08-11 11:57:44 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/374005646 'ABC Tracing and Phonics' Application on iPads/tablets (Handwriting) sugunakumerasan https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/374005891 This resource uses technology to support handwriting for children. The application encourages children to use their index finger or a stylus to trace on the letters, practicing their letter formation writing. This supports the concept of handwriting as it involves the understanding and practice  accurate letter formations. This is supported by James (2017), that providing handwriting experiences can have significant effects on children's ability to recognize letters which in turn, contributes to the ability to write words. Practicing letter formation also contributes to phonological awareness, whereby children form words based on their understanding each letter's phonetic sound (Defior & Tudela, 1994). Thus, this resource is helpful in enhancing children's handwriting skills. Attached in this pin is a video on how the application helps children in practicing letter formation writing.]]> 2019-08-11 12:05:24 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/374005891 Educational Policy (2) sugunakumerasan https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/374008449 According to Ministry of Education Singapore (2018), writing in preschool years includes:
  • the use of drawing
  • mark making 
  • symbols 
  • writing with invented and conventional spelling to communicate ideas and information
This is regarded as a set of writing guidelines which preschoolers are encouraged to achieve and this relates to the concept of writing. A study conducted by James (2017) supports this guideline with an emphasis that children with better writing skills show greater neural activation in areas related with working memory and an increased overall activation in reading and writing activities. This emphasis evokes the importance of achieving writing goals during the early years of children, which makes writing overall as an important literacy objective. The learning areas and goals attached in this pin serve as a clear guideline for teachers and parents on the specific objectives to be achieved, and how they can use activities (as seen in other pins too) to do so.
]]> 2019-08-11 13:31:51 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/374008449 Penpals for Handwriting sugunakumerasan https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/374930605 Designed by Cambridge University Press, Penpals for handwriting is a resource tool that provides children with physical preparation for handwriting, correct letter formation ability to join along, practice speed, fluency and developing a personal style in writing. Penpals can be delivered through the use of digital media and activity books that complement varying writing abilities. This tool highly relates to the concept of writing and it is supported by the Cambridge University Press (2016), whereby children are expected to achieve objectives such as comfortable grip of handwriting tools, correct formation of letters, consistency in sizes of letters and spaces in-between. Given that Singapore's curriculum is linked with the British standard of learning (Gupta, 2010), Penpals can be viewed as a reliable tool that offers writing development in preschoolers.]]> 2019-08-16 03:16:13 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/374930605 Phonological Awareness sugunakumerasan https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/374936469 This pin comprises of a list of activities to build phonological awareness in children. Phonological awareness relates to the concept of writing, as according to Vernon and Ferreiro (1999), phonological awareness supports the alphabetical writing system through the use of phonetic sounds, blending, segmenting and counting phonemes. When educators assess children's proficiency in writing, the use of letters to show correspondence between each of the letter and the unit sound, has shown to be beneficial in children's writing development. Thus, implying that phonological awareness is an important notion for children to gain as they begin their writing journey.]]> 2019-08-16 04:13:07 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/374936469 Supporting Writing through Play (Handwriting) sugunakumerasan https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/374937652 This pin indicates a list of example of how teachers and parents can support emergent writers through guided play and role play. This relates to the concept of writing and according to Friedrich, Wishart, and Peterson (2018), literacy researchers have stated that play in early childhood relates to literacy as providing a context within which the emergence of literacy through manifestation and exploration. Fairy door is an example of a play-based activity that we have adopted in our preschools whereby children were encouraged to communicate with the imaginary person the door through creating content in letters and placing in the mail box outside the door. Through this activity, the children generated content of texts using conventional letters that relate to phonetic sounds. This activity links with developing writing through guided play and this link suggests several ways to do so.

]]> 2019-08-16 04:27:54 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/374937652 References sugunakumerasan https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/374977221 Berk, L., & Winsler, A. (1995). Scaffolding children's learning: Vygotsky and early childhood learning. Washington, DC: National Association for Education of Young Children.

Bezemer, J., & Kress, G. (2008). Writing in Multimodal Texts. Written Communication,25(2), 166-195. doi:10.1177/0741088307313177

Bindman, S. W., Skibbe, L. E., Hindman, A. H., Aram, D., & Morrison, F. J. (2014). Parental writing support and preschoolers’ early literacy, language, and fine motor skills. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 29(4), 614–624.doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.07.002

Byington, T. A., & Kim, Y. (2017). Promoting Preschoolers’ Emergent Writing. Retrieved August 18, 2019, from https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/nov2017/emergent-writing

Cambridge University Press (2016). Penpals for Handwriting and the Cambridge Primary English Curriculum Framework. Retrieved August 18, 2019, from https://www.cambridge.org/files/5414/7645/5931/pfh_cie_primary_curriculum_framework_v2.pdf

Cameron, C. E., Brock, L. L., Murrah, W. M., Bell, L. H., Worzalla, S. L., Grissmer, D., & Morrison, F. J. (2012). Fine motor skills and executive function both contribute to kindergarten achievement. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3399936/

Darling, N. (2007). Ecological systems theory: The person in the center of the circles. Research in human development, 4(3-4), 203-217.

Defior, S., & Tudela, P. (1994). Effect of phonological training on reading and writing acquisition. Reading and Writing, 6(3), 299–320.doi:10.1007/bf01027087

Dolya, G. (2016). Finger gym: Developmental games to improve language, fine motor skills and handwriting. GDH Publishing.

English Language Syllable (2010). English Language Syllabus 2010 Primary & Secondary (Express/ Normal [Academic]). Retrieved August 18, 2019, from https://www.moe.gov.sg/docs/default-source/document/education/syllabuses/english-language-and-literature/files/english-primary-secondary-express-normal-academic.pdf

Fine Motor Skills. (n.d.). Retrieved August 19, 2019, from https://childdevelopment.com.au/areas-of-concern/fine-motor-skills/fine-motor-skills/

Friedrich, N., Wishart, K., & Peterson, S. S. (2018). Supporting Emergent Writers Through Guided Play in a Kindergarten Classroom. Journal of Childhood Studies, 43(2), 58-64.

Graham, S., Gillespie, A., & McKeown, D. (2012). Writing: importance, development, and instruction. Reading and Writing, 26(1), 1–15. doi:10.1007/s11145-012-9395-2

Greutman, H. (2017, March 16). Which Fine Motor Skills are Important for Handwriting? Retrieved from https://www.growinghandsonkids.com/which-fine-motor-skills-important-for-handwriting.html

Gupta, A. F. (2010). Singapore standard English revisited. English in Singapore: Modernity and management, 57-90.

James, K. H. (2017). The importance of handwriting experience on the development of the literate brain. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(6), 502-508.

Kallick, B., & Costa, A. L. (2019). Nurturing habits of mind in early childhood: Success stories from classrooms around the world. Alexandria: ASCD.

Kamm, Kathi, Thelen, Esther, Jensen, & L, J. (1990, December 01). Dynamical Systems Approach to Motor Development. Retrieved August 19, 2019, from https://academic.oup.com/ptj/article/70/12/763/2728604

Light and Shadow Play. (2017, December 12). Retrieved August 19, 2019, from https://www.thecompassschool.com/blog/light-shadow-play/

Levin, V. (2019, June 28). Hand Dominance Understanding Motor Development. Retrieved from https://www.pre-kpages.com/understanding-motor-development-children-hand-dominance/

Ministry of Education Singapore. (2018). LEARNING AREAS AND LEARNING GOALS. Retrieved August 18, 2019, from https://www.moe.gov.sg/education/preschool/learning-areas-and-learning-goals

Nurturing Early Learners (2013). Language and Literacy. Retrieved August 18, 2019, from https://www.moe.gov.sg/docs/default-source/document/education/preschool/files/nel-edu-guide-language-literacy.pdf

Otchic,. (2018, November 28). Kinesthetic Learning and Pre-Handwriting Skills. Retrieved from http://blog.handwritingwithkatherine.com/kinesthetic-learning-pre-handwriting-skills/

Santrock, J. W. (2015). Child development. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Seo, S.-M. (2018). The effect of fine motor skills on handwriting legibility in preschool age children. Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 30(2), 324–327. doi:10.1589/jpts.30.324 

Skills for Action. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://skillsforaction.com/handwriting/importance-drawing 

Suggate, S., Stoeger, H., & Pufke, E. (2016). Relations between playing activities and fine motor development. Early Child Development and Care,187(8), 1297-1310. doi:10.1080/03004430.2016.1167047

Otchic,. (2018, November 28). Kinesthetic Learning and Pre-Handwriting Skills. Retrieved from http://blog.handwritingwithkatherine.com/kinesthetic-learning-pre-handwriting-skills/

Wu, L. (2009). Children’s graphical representations and emergent writing: evidence from children’s drawings. Early Child Development and Care, 179(1), 69–79.doi:10.1080/03004430600923469 
]]> 2019-08-16 09:50:55 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/374977221 Supporting Children's Growth of Fine Motor Skills for Handwriting kavisrad1520 https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375219835 This resource recommends parents and teachers several simple play-based activities to develop children's fine motor skills. The video highlights ways of engaging children with cost-efficient and straightforward materials. Through this kind of structured and guided play, children would be able to acquire fine motor skills that support handwriting. Wood et al. (1976), states that scaffolding consists of the activities provided by the educator or more competent peer to support the student and lead them through the zone of proximal development. Thereby, this pin will be able to encourage and advance children learning according to their capability with guidance from teachers and parents. The YouTube link attached in this pin depicts how parents and teacher can promote fine-motor activities and other hand-related skills with a wide range of materials to manipulate.]]> 2019-08-18 07:05:30 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375219835 Self-Assessment tool to evaluate children handwriting kavisrad1520 https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375224760 This pin provides an ecologically valid, occupation-based self-assessment tool on handwriting. Through this tool, Children are expected to take an active role in self-evaluating their current writing, set goals for improvement, and monitoring progress. The assessment tool consists of a fun and engaging child-centered card game. Stanford university states that self-assessment is a valuable learning tool as it enables students in evaluating their work and learning progress. According to Mark Van Doren (2019), “The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery” (as cited in Kallick & Costa, 2019). This assessment tool dives deep into evaluating the three significant sub-tests fine motor, visual motor, and traditional handwriting performance assessment. Thus, the evaluation pin “Here’s How I write consist of 25 cards (a sample and 24 test items). Two cards asses the affective aspects of writing (e.g., I feel that I write well; I like to write.), three cards measure physical factors (e.g., I sit up straight in my chair), and the remaining 19 cards assess performance components (e.g., I stay on the line when I write).  Overall this pin sets the tone for reflection and self-improvement]]> 2019-08-18 09:28:10 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375224760 Writing Accessories (Handwriting) kavisrad1520 https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375228997 This pin shows a list of materials that teacher and parents can use to support emergent writers to develop their handwriting. This relates to the concept of writing, as according to Maria Montessori ("Theories of Early Childhood: Maria Montessori, Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget, and Lev Vygotsky - TouroSGOTTESMAN"), the fundamental principles of learning development are independence, observation, following the child, correcting the child, prepared environment, and absorbent mind. The writing accessory acts as a mediator or visible reminder in guiding children to identifying their dominant hand or use tripod grip while holding a pencil.]]> 2019-08-18 11:34:19 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375228997 Assessment Tool-Evaluating Children's Eye-Hand Coordination and Fine Motor Skills kavisrad1520 https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375235124 This assessment tool encourages children to replicate geometric patterns to evaluate children hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Physiotherapist, Pam Versfeld see drawing as an essential skill through which children develop the strength and coordination in the shoulder, wrist, and finger that required for engaging in a handwriting task (Skills for Action, n.d.). Thus, this assessment tool helps observe the child during work and score their drawing. From the obtained scores, the current child level of hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills is determined. From which, teachers and parents may provide support to develop a child's motor skills as a form of pre-writing skill, based on the current achievement stated in the assessment too. Attached in this pin is a template of drawing and evaluating questions to evaluate children learning. ]]> 2019-08-18 13:49:04 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375235124 Supporting Pre-writing Skills through Activities kavisrad1520 https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375250267 This pin indicates how teachers and parents can encourage children to practice writing skills through simple structured, guided play. This relates to the concept of pre-writing skills, and according to Friedrich educational principles and practices, young children learn by playing (Santrock, J. W. 2015), This concept is also supported by Piaget theory, during the concrete operational stage one requires a hands-on environment. He believes that by holding and manipulating materials, the actions of the body will improve the mind” and enhance the learning skills (Santrock, J. W. 2015). Thus play is crucial in a child’s life during their formative years (Otchic, 2018). Through this activity, the children will get to acquire the basis of writing skills in a fun and engaging way. This activity is an example of how play can be twitted to introduce, reinforce, and master essential skills such as writing. Engaging the child in this unique learning experiences sets the foundation for learning and literacy.]]> 2019-08-18 17:46:20 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375250267 LEGO Handwriting Mats – Read, Build, and Write kavisrad1520 https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375258701 This resource uses Lego toys to develop children writing skills. This pin offers a creative idea to guide and practice writing conventions. According to Nurturing Early Learners (2013) Framework, “Children should be able to demonstrate that writing begins with the use of prints to construct messages that convey meaning to others.”
Along with fine motor skills, visual-motor also plays a vital role in achieving good handwriting whereby one has to know to start from top to bottom and left to right when forming letters or sentences (Which Fine Motor Skills are Important for Handwriting?, 2017). By arranging the lego brick according to the sight words, children not only work on their fine motor skills but also their letter structure and placement. The Web link attached in this pin depicts how a child can improve their handwriting using Lego bricks.]]> 2019-08-18 19:48:45 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375258701 Developing Fine Motor Skills through Origami, Supporting Writing Skills kavisrad1520 https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375267833 This resource uses origami art to develop children handwriting skills. The pin offers children a wide range of origami ideas. This supports the concept of handwriting as it involves eye hands coordination, sequencing skills, also patience and attention skills overall origami allows you to develop fine motor skills and mental concentration. A study carried out by the (Bae, J. H. 2013), indicates that engaging children in origami making is an effective way to improve their finger dexterity. The link attached in this pin offers different ideas teachers and parents may adopt in teaching origami to children.]]> 2019-08-18 22:04:01 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375267833 Developing Fine Motor Skills through 'Light and Shadow' Play to Support Handwriting kavisrad1520 https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375274671 This resource uses ‘Light and Shadow’ play to support fine motor skills as pre-writing skills for children. The pin encourages children to work on their finger isolation, thumb opposition, and other hand positions. Reggio-inspired approach strongly values using light as a material to help support active exploration and discovery. Light and shadow play involves using a projector light or other light sources to create shadows of children's hands and fingers ("Light and Shadow Play", 2017). Through this activity, the children use their hands to imitate the world around them, in turn developing their fine motor skills. ]]> 2019-08-18 23:28:18 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375274671 Assessment Tool kavisrad1520 https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375278658 This resource uses school Readiness Assessment tool to identify the dominant hand of a child during the emergent stage. The tool offers parents and teachers an elaborate checklist with different activities that are to be conducted twice or thrice to determine a child predominate hand. 
A study conducted on how fine motor skills and executive functional contribute to kindergarten achievement. The study reveals that with guided activities and individualized training, children achieved a high level of Executive function and fine motor skills (Cameron et al., 2012). By identifying the child’s dominant, the teachers and parents will be able to support children fine motor skills development through appropriate activities (Levin, 2019). This pin provides tools to determine the dominant hand of the child]]> 2019-08-19 00:03:02 UTC https://padlet.com/sugunakumerasan/suguna_anu/wish/375278658