Using Technology to Teach Foundational Writing Skills in Early Elementary Grades

Introduction

In the United States, 34% of fourth-graders, and in Alabama only 15% fourth-graders, write at or above the proficient level (National Center for Education Statistics, 2018). These numbers are alarming and indicate that children may not be receiving the writing instruction they need for college and career readiness. In fact, although children as young as two can begin learning about writing in social settings (Rowe, 2008b), and it is not too early to scaffold writing throughout the day in preschool classrooms (Gerde et al., 2012; Purinik & Lonigan, 2014), one study documented an average of only 2 minutes per day of writing of any kind across eighty 4- and 5-year-old classrooms (Pelatti et al., 2014). If we can consider such small amounts of writing typical in children’s earliest schooling, then opportunities for developing foundational understandings of writing are missed. Foundational writing instruction throughout the primary grades should include writing daily for both long and short periods of time, using the writing process to create a variety of writing products across genres, formats, and topics, improving handwriting, conventions, typing, and other skills, and building motivation and enthusiasm for writing (Graham et al., 2012). These are also the skills children are expected to begin building in the primary grades, starting as early as prekindergarten (PK) and moving through the elementary grades. Yet, more and more children leave elementary school without either skills or enthusiasm for writing, which may have negative impacts on their future academic achievement and lifelong learning (Jones, 2015; Zimmerman & Bruning, 2012).

Given the sudden impacts of COVID-19, the prevalent use of virtual instruction, and inequities in resources, new challenges for writing instruction have emerged, which require educators to develop novel, technologically-enhanced strategies to develop young writers’ skills. Teachers, especially those working with young children, report feeling apprehensive about using technology to support learning outcomes. They also report feeling unprepared to teach writing effectively (Bai & Ertmer, 2008; Cutler & Graham, 2008; Kim et al., 2013; Zimmer & Hodges, 2021). These dual beliefs about the difficulty of technology and writing may hinder teachers’ use of digital tools for effective writing instruction. Again, these feelings of low confidence for specific forms of pedagogy increase as the discussion turns to younger students.

Taking the considerations of teacher identity related to writing instruction and technology, along with the needs of emergent writers, this chapter focuses on strategies for using technology to teach foundational writing skills in PK and the primary grades. Specifically, the chapter provides:

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  an in-depth review of the developmental trajectories of writing from birth through third-grade;

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  discuss how models of technology pedagogy may be integrated with emergent writing skills; and

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  provide strategies and resources related to technology to empower early childhood and primary grade teachers with effective writing instructional practices and digital tools.

Developmental Trajectories Of Writing (Birth – Primary Grades)

Young children begin writing in a way that feels spontaneous (Elbow, 2004). They are eager and excited to “write”, using crayons on the wall, sticks in dirt, or their fingers in shaving cream to draw, scribble, and form letters or letter-like forms (Dennis & Voetler, 2013; Rowe, 2008b). While these practices often develop out of seeing models of others writing and with scaffolding (e.g., Gerde et al., 2012; Rowe 2008c), they indicate the development of writing skills begins quite early (often developing before reading or other literacy skills), and what teachers say and do has important implications for how students move beyond drawings and scribbles to more formalized forms of writing (Bay, 2014; Emerson & Hall, 2018). The following figure outlines the developmental trajectories of young writers through grade two including the following stages: preliterate (drawing and scribbling), early emergent, emergent, transitional, and fluent (Cabell et al., 2013; Tompkins, 2019).