Focusing on Children's Strengths

When it comes to literacy it's important for teachers to focus on children's strengths rather than "what they can't do". If we focused on what a child can't do, how can we help them develop literacy skills? Instead of focusing on what a child can't do, we need to focus on what a child can do. What does the child already know when they read and write? Working individually with children is a great way to focus on what a child can do. It's amazing what children can do, really! In the article "Every Mark on the Page: Educating Family and Community Members about Young Children's Writing", the author states that "in the early stages of learning to write, children don’t feel constrained by conventions as adults do, and they experiment with size, shape, and direction of letters" (Cusumano, 2008, p. 12). Through this teachers can observe what children can do through their writing.

Here is a writing sample from a first grade student I found on the website Letter Writing For 1st Grade. It states, "I learned how to ride a bike without training wheels and it wasn't easy it was hard". Based on this writing sample, let's see what this child can do and what they know. This child knows that words have directionality, and that they go from left to right. They also know to return sweep after they stop at the end of a line. This student knows that "bike" has a beginning sound of /b/ and and ending sound of /k/. They also know that "without" has a "th" and the word "out" at the end. They spelled the word "traneng" which shows that they know there's an "ng" at the end of the word. They know that there are two e's in wheels and they spelled wasn't how it sounds, as "wasent". Finally, this student knows that there is a letter that goes between the e and sy of "eisy". 

Based on this writing sample, this student displays knowledge of writing skills and spelling skills. They can write from left to right. They can spell words the way they hear them and know them. They can use capitalization and punctuation in a sentence. Ultimately teachers must start focusing on the "cans" rather than the "cannots" of a child. In addition to writing, we need to focus on what children can do when reading. Pat Johnson and Katie Keier, authors of Catching Readers Before They Fall, state that when a teacher uses a prompt they are asking the child to perform an act they know the child is capable of doing (Johnson & Keier, 2010, p. 63). This implies the teacher knows what the child can do. When we start looking at what a child can do in reading and writing it gives them opportunities for growth and learning.