The assessment of children's writing raises technical and practical challenges. In this paper we examine the potential use of a curriculum based measure for writing (CBM-W) to assess the written texts of pupils in Key Stage 2 (M age 107 months, range 88 to 125). Two hundred and thirty six Year three, five and six pupils completed a standardized…

The aim of this study is to compare the teaching process of early reading in the US to in Turkey. This study observes developing early reading of students, their reading miscues, and compares early reading process of students in the US and to early reading process of students in Turkey. This study includes the following research question: What are…

At first sight the speech mark would seem to be one of the easiest to use of all punctuation marks. After all, all one has to do is take the piece of speech or written language and surround it with the appropriately shaped marks. But, are speech marks as easy to understand and use as suggested above, especially for young children beginning their…

Reading is an active process where readers sometimes have difficulty understanding what they read. Ultimately, readers are required to combine the meaning of each sentence in a text in order to achieve text-level comprehension. Otherwise, the reader is going to have great difficulty with text-level comprehension. Factors such as sentence length…

Writing is a complex process, and this complexity poses particular challenges when researchers and teachers approach the task of analysing young students' writing samples. This paper outlines a program of research undertaken to develop a writing analysis tool. The tool is designed to map shifts over time in the range of skills and competencies…

Alternative models of the structure of individual and developmental differences of written composition and handwriting fluency were tested using confirmatory factor analysis of writing samples provided by first- and fourth-grade students. For both groups, a five-factor model provided the best fit to the data. Four of the factors represented…

The Foreign Language Learning (FLL) programme aimed to improve the English language attainment of Year 3 and 4 pupils through a detailed curriculum of weekly French classes with linked activity in English lessons. The programme, created by the Education Development Trust (formerly CfBT), lasted for three half-terms. French classes were 45 minutes…

Incorporating a journal writing routine into the classroom is critical to developing autonomous writers. During the course of a full year, a first-grade classroom embarked on a quest to discover the importance of creating successful writers. This study confirms the significance of implementing and establishing authentic and meaningful journal…

This study examined the effects of Interactive Writing, a dynamic approach to writing instruction designed specifically for young children, on the independent writing of first graders enrolled in urban schools in a large metropolitan area. Children in the Interactive Writing condition (N = 49) showed greater growth on measures of independent…

Recent research in the area of Curriculum-Based Measures (CBM) in writing has shown that traditionally used metrics, such as total words written and total words correct, may not be the best tools for measuring writing performance, for both secondary and elementary aged children (e.g., Gansle, Noell, VanDerHeyden, Naquin, & Slider, 2002; Tindal…

As teachers plan instruction--even instruction about punctuation--they have the opportunity to engage students' minds and create new labels: question-asking, problem-solving. How teachers teach embeds a vision of who they think kids are and what they think kids are capable of. Are they destined for a future of critical thinking, questioning,…

Twenty-three kindergarten and first grade children were asked to articulate the meaning and the need for punctuation marks in a list of numerals showing prices for a list of items. Despite not having been schooled yet formally on the use and roles of numerical punctuation, many children gave similar explanations regarding the purpose of…

This study aims to determine the effect/contribution of the use of the jigsaw technique in the teaching of punctuation marks in mother tongue education on/to the academic improvement of students. The functionality of reading, speaking and writing skills falling within the understanding and expression domains of learning is dependent upon the…

Extensive research indicates that there are more boys than girls who are struggling readers, although considerable variation in gender ratios has been reported as a result of a lack of consensus in defining and measuring poor reading. The purpose of this study was to establish stable and consistent gender ratios for poor reading using a single…

SMS language is English language slang, used as a means of mobile phone text messaging. This practice may impact on the written language skills of learners at school. The main aim of this study was to determine the perspectives of Grade 8 and 9 English (as Home Language) educators in Gauteng regarding the possible influence of SMS language on…