Developing Writing for Different Purposes : Teaching about Genre in the Early Years

by Jeni Riley

• ISBN13: 9780761964643
• ISBN10: 0761964649
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-01-12
• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd

Summary

'Jeni Riley and David Reedy share excellent examples of how primary school children worked on a non-fiction text format.... A well-informed book with a welcome dose of humour' - Nursery World 'The theoretical underpinning to this volume is rigorous and the case studies are both endearing and informative' - Early Years 'One of the insights of social theories of language which is now taken for granted is that language varies as the social context varies' (Kress, 1997) This is a book that operationalizes this insight: it charts young children's early attempts to write as they struggle to communicate meaning for a variety of purposes. Each section deals with the appropriate research evidence on the development of children's competence in literacy, and their growing awareness of genre, and uniquely, with a clear approach to teaching children from three to seven years. The text combines the necessary theoretical underpinning plus the day-to-day practical experience of working with young children in order to develop their understanding of the different forms and language of texts.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Acknowledgements	x
Introduction	xi
The mysterious process of writing	1	(15)
Developing an awareness of genre	16	(15)
Teaching the early stages of learning to write	31	(16)
From the first marks to writing for a purpose	47	(16)
Writing narrative fiction	63	(22)
Writing poetry	85	(28)
Using a range of non-fiction genres in the classroom	113	(23)
Developing control of the argument/persuasive genre	136	(25)
Assessing children's growing control of genre	161	(20)
References	181	(6)
Index	187