As with any big skill, children learn how to write in stages. Some parents are surprised when they hear that their kindergartner’s incomprehensible scribbles are age appropriate. Others may balk at a teacher’s suggestion that their high schooler’s writing, which seems eloquent, is underdeveloped. The evolution of a writer’s development is complex. But students generally follow the same progression of milestones. Here are the major ones to look for in each grade band.
Early Stages of Writing Development
In pre-school and kindergarten, students are learning how to hold a pencil correctly. While this may come naturally to some kids, many need to be given very clear instructions on proper grip. This is especially true if fine motor skills are weak.
It’s important to note that while encoding (spelling) words based on the sounds they make is a regular part of any phonics curriculum, writing skills are much more complex. Students begin researching as young as kindergarten, but their research will look very different than that of a high schooler! When kindergartners research, it usually entails choosing a topic and using illustrations to move their writing along. And many times, their ‘writing’ also consists largely of illustrations, usually accompanied by simple sentences, phrases, or individual words.
Around first grade, students begin to use more “inventive spelling,” where their spelling is based on the sounds in words. While there will still be many errors, their spelling becomes more logical. They can construct simple sentences and group sentences together based on topic.
Upper Elementary
As students become more fluent in spelling and sentence construction, the focus gradually shifts away from the structure of words and sentences, to that of paragraphs and whole pieces of writing. Once students arrive at fourth and fifth grade, they should start crafting sentences that fit together in the context of a larger paragraph or story. They begin to incorporate an overall structure to their writing, and they should be able to follow that structure through to the end of their written work.
Middle School
In middle school, writing demands become more formal, as students learn to use sources in their writing and how to cite those sources. They begin to learn how to connect the citations to their claim or argument, both accurately and eloquently. Using domain-specific vocabulary in their writing, students are expected to be able to produce writing pieces on more specific topics.
High School
At the secondary level, students begin reading and writing with a more critical eye. They improve their writing by reading the works of others, and can identify strengths in their own writing, as well as areas for improvement. They begin completing writing assignments that are more original, and are better able to synthesize information from a variety of sources in order to make an argument that is original, or that explores a topic in a new way or from a new perspective. These are the skills that students will continue to refine throughout the rest of their academic careers— and beyond, if they continue writing.
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