Hi Ross and Phil. I recently went to some training and it was recommended that we should only be modelling and asking children to write sentences that are at their current phonics level.
I understand the place for this in phonics and spelling lessons but it would surely limit their development in writing lessons? What does the research say?
The myth
Children should only write words they can spell conventionally. If they cannot spell a word correctly, they should not attempt it. Writing should be restricted to their current phonics level. This is the best way to develop children’s early word writing.
Unfortunately, research would suggest that the opposite is true. The idea that children must only write what they can spell is an outdated pedagogy that prioritises neatness of books over children’s learning.
Where this myth comes from
Some early literacy programmes erroneously adopt a reading-first orientation. In this view, writing should only be used in the service of learning phonics. This orientation is not supported by research evidence [LINK].
Restricting children’s oral language development is a bad idea
Before discussing anything else, this narrow focus restricts children’s oral language development. Children use fewer words and aren’t obliged to talk at the ‘discourse level’. This is a problem. Studies have shown that discourse-level talk is possibly the single strongest predictor of later writing success [LINK].
Writing is more than transcription
When we limit children to words they can spell, we aren’t teaching them to write, we are teaching them to copy. As the DfE’s Writing Framework makes clear, transcription is not writing. Research on early writing development shows that transcription and composition should be developed together [LINK, LINK].
The youngest of children can already write
Children begin writing before they can spell words. First, we have their emergent writing which includes marks, scribbles and letter strings [LINK]. Then we have ‘kid writing’. This is a mixture of marks and conventional ‘adult writing’ [LINK]. Children use marks when they don’t know and ‘adult writing’ when they do know.
Take this example.
This child’s writing shows their developing understanding of spelling. They are showing us that they do know:
- How to write initial and some final consonant sounds
- They can write phonetically plausible spellings like D-nosaw
- They are conscientious in identifying and copying the spellings of high-frequency words from the word wall.
- The child has the confidence to use the vocabulary they really want to use (dinosaur) rather than ‘playing it safe’ by using a simpler word (cat).
What they are showing us they don’t know yet:
- They struggle with vowels in more complex words, using their ‘kid writing’ for the missing sounds.
Here’s another example:
They are showing us that they do know:
- How to represent initial consonant blends (e.g. sn- sp-).
- How to hear and record some dominant consonant sounds within words (e.g. -gg).
- How to correctly spell some high-frequency words such as Tom, up, on, and his.
- That they will happily attempt any vocabulary that they really want to use. For example, snuggle and special. They do this rather than simplifying their ideas.
This child is demonstrating strong phonemic awareness. They are segmenting words and making deliberate decisions about what ‘adult writing’ they can confidently represent. The use of ‘kid writing’ for unknown sounds shows strategic problem-solving. They are not abandoning the word; they are marking the gap in their knowledge and moving on. This helps them maintain their compositional flow while letting their teacher know what they still need to work on.
Here’s what they are showing us they don’t know yet:
- How to represent vowels within more complex syllables.
- How to map less salient internal sounds in polysyllabic words.
- Conventional spellings for digraphs and suffixes within longer words.
Overall, these pieces reflect children who see themselves as writers. They hold composition and word choice in high regard and use temporary spelling strategies to ensure that their ideas are fully expressed.
If we’d simply asked these children to write down words we already knew they could spell, we would have learnt very little. This ‘kid writing’ is not a collection of random errors. It reflects a child’s ever growing phonological awareness and letter knowledge. This is how early word writing is developed [LINK].
Importantly for us as teachers, children’s ‘kid writing’ (also known as using ‘sound spellings’ or ‘informed spellings’) shows us what our pupils do know about phoneme-grapheme correspondence and what they don’t know yet. This can then inform our teaching.
Encouraging children to use ‘informed spellings’ is actually best practice
Research shows that encouraging children to write ‘informed spellings’ strengthens their phonemic awareness and orthographic mapping and actually helps them learn conventional spelling faster than if they simply copied out a word they already know how to spell. Children who are encouraged to engage in writing ‘informed spellings’ make greater gains in reading and spelling than those who are denied the opportunity [LINK, LINK, LINK].
Spelling ‘errors’ don’t turn into bad habits
The misconception that ‘mistakes’ form bad habits also underpins this edu-myth. This fear is unsupported [LINK]. Spelling is developmental. Just as a child crawls before they walk, they use ‘informed spellings’ before learning conventional ones. As children continue to receive explicit phonics and spelling instruction, and participate in lots of meaningful reading and writing experiences, their spelling develops [LINK]. For example:
From ‘Supporting children’s early word writing’ [LINK]
Children’s use of sound spellings is an opportunity for responsive teaching
Sound spellings show children’s current understanding. When teachers validate a child’s attempt and then provide the conventional spelling through underwriting, this dual attention supports children’s transcription and compositional development in a healthy way.
Vocabulary use matters
Vocabulary use is an important part of children’s writing development [LINK]. When children are told they should only write words they can spell, their expressive language and ‘writing world’ shrinks. To cap a child’s intellectual expression is to restrict them to the level of a toddler. They will use fewer words. They tell fewer detailed stories. They are denied the opportunity to share exactly what they mean.
How should I model my own writing as a writer-teacher?
When you model writing, aim to write at your pupils’ current level or slightly beyond it. Your role is to model delight in composition while strengthening children’s spelling knowledge and encoding strategies.
If a word contains phoneme-grapheme correspondence the class has not been taught, you have three options. Choose based on your purpose at that moment.
- Model how to use the ‘kid writing’ strategy Say something like: “When I was your age, I wouldn’t have known that bit of ‘adult writing’ yet so I would have used my ‘kid writing’. When this happens to you, you can use this strategy too.” This shows children that: writers attempt ambitious words, it is acceptable to use ‘kid writing’ for unknown sounds, and spelling knowledge grows over time.
- Teach it Stop and teach it but keep it tight: (1) say the phoneme or morpheme, (2) show the grapheme and (3) link it to any prior learning. Then continue writing.
- Use the spelling and move on Sometimes you simply write the conventional spelling and carry on without comment or fuss.
Each option protects compositional flow. Each option strengthens children’s understanding of encoding. Most importantly, none of them restrict or otherwise undermine children’s ability to write for themselves.
What effective practice looks like
Research supports:
- Phonics instruction to help develop children’s encoding skills
- Encouragement of emergent writing and then ‘kid writing’ from the earliest stages
- The explicit teaching and modelling of encoding strategies
- Using children’s informed sound spellings as evidence of their developing phonological awareness, orthographic mapping and overall spelling development
- Providing children with verbal feedback and undertaking underwriting alongside pupils
- Using a writing approach which supports developing children’s transcription, composition and oral language together
- Providing lots of meaningful writing experiences
Put simply, children become better spellers by trying to spell the words they want to write most.
References and further reading
- The different perspectives you can take on teaching early writing [LINK]
- Visualising the science of writing: The writing map explained [LINK]
- The research on developing children’s transcription and compositional skills [LINK]
- Supporting children’s early word writing [LINK]
- Ouellette, G., and Sénéchal, M. (2008). Exploring the cognitive and linguistic underpinnings of invented spelling. Scientific Studies of Reading, 12, 195 to 219. [LINK]
- Kim, Y. S. G., & Graham, S. (2022). Expanding the Direct and Indirect Effects Model of Writing (DIEW): Reading–writing relations, and dynamic relations as a function of measurement/dimensions of written composition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 114(2), 215. [LINK]
- Feldgus, E. G., Cardonick, I., & Gentry, J. R. (2017). Kid writing in the 21st century: A systematic approach to phonics, spelling, and writing workshop. Hameray Publishing Group [LINK]
- Teaching encoding [LINK]
- Debunking edu myths: writing errors form bad habits [LINK]
- The rise of elaborate dictation in English schools: unethical writing teaching [LINK]
- Transcription and oral language are key to children’s early writing development [LINK]
- Debunking edu-myths: “In Reception and Year One, composition is less relevant” [LINK]
- Debunking edu-myths: ‘Emergent writing’ isn’t necessary before teaching children to write [LINK]