Long-term planning
In order to promote writing in appropriate and meaningful ways, Foundation Stage practitioners need to provide choices of tools and materials that children can access easily and independently. They must also offer 'real'
contexts through which children can explore purposes for writing.
The writing area should have two functions: to act as an 'office' where children can engage in writing experiences through role play, and to be a resource centre for writing equipment that can be used across the setting.
Possible learning experiences In the writing area children will be working towards early learning goals in writing, reading, linking sounds to letters and handwriting. But the area also provides real scope for children's physical development (using tools and materials) and personal, social and emotional development (dispositions and attitudes, self care).
In this area, children will be able to:
* explore mark-making tools and materials
* select appropriate tools and materials for a task
* experiment with marks on paper
* refine marks over time to produce recognisable letter shapes
* ascribe meaning to marks
* attempt to read back own marks
* engage in role-play, imitating writing and reading in the adult world
* take turns in phone conversations
* hear and identify sounds in words
* say letter names, link letters to sounds
* explore purposes for ICT in an office
* use writing to support play in other areas (for example, writing menus for a cafe in the outdoor area).
Organisation
* Make sure the area is large enough for children to move freely around tables and offers plenty of table surface.
* Present equipment in labelled trays, baskets or plastic pots, preferably on open-shelved units for easy access.
* Make a staff member responsible for checking and replenishing stock in this high-maintenance area, and encourage staff and parents to contribute unwanted stationery.
* Think about how children use mark-making equipment in other areas of provision. Store equipment in the writing area in plastic boxes that can be transported to indoor and outdoor areas. Develop provision in all areas to include resources such as clipboards, whiteboards, pencils, pens and paper.
* Plan regular adult focus time in the area.
Resources
* Paper (plain, squared, lined), headed notepaper, wrapping and brown parcel paper, postcards, memo pads, forms, folded card, greetings cards, white board (wall mounted or individually held boards), envelopes, gift tags and parcel labels
* Address books, telephone books
* Diaries
* Stamps and inkpads
* Clipboards
* Pencils, pencil crayons, biros, felt pens, dry-wipe markers
* 'In' and 'out' paper trays
* Sellotape, masking tape, glue sticks
* Paper clips, paper fasteners
* Telephones, disused keyboard
* Postbox
* Alphabet frieze, poster or book
* Name cards and word cards such as 'to', 'from' and 'happy birthday'
* Hole punch, scissors, stapler (if you are concerned about the safety of children using these, plan for them to be available with adult support).
Adult role
* Have a knowledge of how writing, reading and handwriting concepts and skills develop.
* Value children's writing at all stages of development.
* Make assessments of a child against stepping stones and goals in communication, language and literacy; plan appropriately for their next steps.
* Share information with parents and carers about their child's development and about appropriate ways of supporting their reading and writing.
* Model purposes for and skills involved in writing and reading.
* Act as a scribe for children's ideas.
* Use key vocabulary such as 'letter' and 'word' and ask open questions to extend learning.
* Teach the appropriate use of tools.
Medium-term planning
Enhancements to the office, to link with a planned topic, curriculum focus or predictable interest, should be included in a setting's medium-term planning and focus on a period of between two and six weeks. As this area is also used as a writing resource base for other areas, it is important that basic, continuous provision is maintained and not compromised by the addition of other equipment.
Topic: holidays
Additional resources
Holiday brochures, travel guides, booking forms, passports, tickets, computer monitor, digital camera.
Activities
Choosing holidays, deciding on a type of accommodation/transport, completing booking forms, sticking in photographs and filling in details on passports, writing out tickets.
Curriculum focus: numbers
Additional resources
Calculators, wall clock, calendar, telephone number cards, birthday cards with age numbers, rulers, number and date stamps, money and till, number line and attachable photographs of children
Activities
Saying and using number names in 'office' role play, recognising and matching numbers, 'dialling' telephone numbers on telephone keypads, counting the number of children present in the office on the self-registration number line.
Topic: books
Additional resources
Ready-made stapled books, strips of paper, plain paper, hole punch, laces, treasury tags, plastic slide binders, plastic pockets, ringbinders, small photograph album with plastic pockets, fiction and non-fiction books in various formats and types of binding
Activities
Joining pages together; folding zig-zag books; writing and drawing in books; making fiction and non-fiction books; using vocabulary such as 'title', 'author', 'illustrator', 'page'; talking about key characters and events in familiar stories; making up stories; reading their books to friends; working collaboratively to create files or books that include contributions from several children; linking with other areas of provision through book-making activities (eg, a book of children's plans for the construction area; a recipe book for the home corner).
Short-term planning
Weekly and daily planning allows practitioners to plan for focus activities (be identified in medium- or long-term plans) in more detail and to respond spontaneously to children's needs and interests. Observations are the key to assessing learning and should be used to inform planning.
Case study: Laryssa
Observation
Laryssa has recently been showing an interest in environmental print, pointing to signs and labels around the nursery and asking 'What does that say?' Today she made an elaborate vehicle using Mobilo in the construction area. She left it on the shelf and went to play in another area. When she returned to work on her model, she was upset to find it had been dismantled and the components used by another child.
Staff response
Staff recognised that the incident in the construction area provided an ideal opportunity to support Laryssa's writing development. They decided to add materials to the writing resource base to enable children to make their own signs and labels which they could then display around the nursery.
Laryssa's purpose for making a sign saying 'Please do not touch my model'
had real meaning for her and staff hoped to highlight other contexts for individuals and groups of children.
Early learning goals
Attempt writing for different purposes, using features of different forms such as lists, stories and instructions
Write their own names, and other things such as labels and captions Resources
Strips of card, folded card, A4 pieces of card, sticky labels, hole punch, scissors, string, educational resources catalogues, glue stick
Activity content
* Talk to Laryssa and other children about her sign in the construction area. Suggest all the children make name labels to identify their models.
* Help children to make other signs, for example, 'This way to the story corner', 'Remember to put on your coat if it is cold or raining'. These can be illustrated with drawings or photographs.
* Involve children in labelling trays, baskets and boxes of resources. Use catalogue pictures as well as children's marks to identify the contents.
* Urge parents to talk with their children about environmental print.
About this series
This series outlines how settings can 'build' effective long-, medium- and short-term plans around the areas of provision. The approach is not definitive, and practitioners can adapt it to suit their needs.
To implement the approach effectively, settings should:
* make planning a team effort to ensure that staff understand possible learning opportunities and how to support them.
* review their planning regularly in the light of their observations and evaluations.
The series builds on information provided in:
* 'The writing area - a guide to resourcing and supporting children's learning', Nursery World, 4 September 2003
* 'All about... Observation and assessment', Nursery World, 6 February 2003
* 'All about...Planning' Nursery World, 6 March 2003