ABSTRACT
Before putting pen to paper, children need to formulate their ideas about what they want to write (see Figure 3.5). They also need to be able to express their thoughts in sentences. When children see adults writing, they only see the final result of the thinking process. Understanding how to get from thinking to writing needs to be taught. Talking through ideas for writing, whether mentally or aloud is a crucial part of the writing process for children. It helps them to shape their thoughts into language and to structure their writing, so that it is coherent. In story-writing, for example, there need to be characters, a beginning, a sequence of events and an ending. Younger children and older ones with special needs often find it difficult to manage this ‘talking through’ process mentally and need to verbalise their thoughts aloud, preferably to an adult who can support them in the process (see Figure 3.6).
