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Developing early literacy: Assessment and teaching
Written language In the early stages of writing, the language covers what the child knows about letters, words and sentences. Children may write lists of letters and words without spaces. At this stage any recognisable letters would score 1 point, a recognisable word 2 points and so on.
Ideas The ideas in writing score a point if the child comments that the writing says something. It may be a sign placed by a drawing or the beginning of a written name. The notion here is that the writing conveys an idea or ownership. Later the child may copy some letters or words to convey an idea and later still the child’s own ideas will be recorded.
Text conventions Text conventions have to do with placement and directionality. At first, children learn to write from left to right. There might not be spaces between words but the writing takes a direction. Soon children learn the return sweep and move from left to right down the page. Spaces are used between words and there is attention to punctuation such as full stops and capital letters (which may be random so don’t count these), and some children begin to use commas and question marks. At this stage, some children begin to proofread and edit their work.