'A surpassing moment'

Grab me a pen and I start to fiddle,

Pass me some paper so I can start to scribble.

Thinking hard, pondering deep- wondering,

'What should I write or should I go to sleep?'

Dark outside, yes! It should be,

Yet a bright light through my curtains, I see.

Heave on some clothes and grabbed my blanket,

For a moment like this there's no way I'll miss it.

Ran out the door, oh a moment to capture.

A lovely phenomena, I'm definitely gonna write a chapter.

So many stars, with skies so clear, 

Clouds all white bouncing every where.

Where do I start for my thought was mere.
As I stared in amazement and enjoyed the glare.
The minutes rolled by and I did not know why
Because I was fast asleep right beneath the sky.

Written by: Sabina Edwards

Digital Podcast: the Bougainvillea

Poem:                                  The Bougainvillea

Bright red, light pink, even orange I see.

Showcasing its beauty, for the birds and the bees.

Decorating the garden, full of radiance and life

Oh, what a great surprise! I would be, to a wife.

Thinned skin, papery touch, feeling like a gem.

Growing in clusters, loaded with leaves and stems.

Oh be careful! For my thorns may prick your finger,

But even with that spike, the afflicted pain won't linger.

Wind blows, rain falls, yet firm I stand

Through the toughest of times, I still join the band.

Mixed with others, bundled to stay

To share sentimental value, in an ornamental way.

Broad smiles, happy faces, accepted with cheer

Then you placed me in a corner, as if you didn’t care.

Now I feel hard done for my welcome was short lived.

A few more minutes of your time, was all you had to give.

I wished I was an aloe, or an ugly cactus tree

So your husband wouldn’t picked me, he would live me let me be.

You should have put me in some water, or placed me back in soil

But instead you placed me on a dresser, to suffer and toil.

Slowly fading, crimping away, lost in despair

As I count my days wondering, “Why should I even care?”

With edification and beautification, I served my purpose,

But with neglect, hate and rejection, you treated me unjust.

This poem was written and narrated by Sabina Edwards
Video done by Mr. Nevion Cox
Pictures in the video: Google and YouTube

Poem: On the Jolly School Bus

 Happy feet, smiling faces,

Jolly campers going places.

Up and down they prance around,

Carrying on without abound.

Singing songs, reciting jingles,

Playing with friends, enjoying mingles.

Riding along the bumpy road,

Round and round the big wheels goes.

All excited, having fun,

Looking outside I see the glaring sun.

Just around the corner and I must drop,

Ding! Ding! The bus bell goes, as I reach my stop. 

Honking horn, they waved goodbye,

My face drew for I could not smile.

So long bye bye I’ll see you again,

To ride and have fun along this plane.

Written by: Sabina Edwards

Four Corners - Digital Poem (Podcast)

The poem, Four Corners, was written with the purpose of using it as a fun activity for children ages 10 - 12, Grades Five and Six. The poem engages students in a riddle like atmosphere, having them guess what object is being described in it. It is especially suited for a Geometry lesson on the polygon Quadrilateral. 

The writer and narrator is Jason Parke; a teacher trainee at the T.A. Marryshow Community College, Grenada.

Stages of Spelling Development

       As students undergo and develop through the stages of reading and writing, they simultaneously develop their skills in spelling. Consequently, spelling skills are also developed in stages, and learners have specific characteristics at each stage, similar to the reading and writing stages. There are five stages of spelling development, and success at each stage in dependent on the previous.
       The table above shows the different stages and learner characteristics/abilities as students develop. It also shows that stages can overlap; meaning gifted students can achieve success at an early age and enter the next stage, while students with needs and challenges may take much longer than average to gain success.
       To ensure that students are successful at each stage, it is important that they are given an abundant amount of practice in writing and reading to develop their spelling skills, and are also exposed to a print rich environment with site words and words that they commonly use and can relate to. This exposure builds their vocabulary and memory, and also makes the abstract word more concrete to them.

Developmental Stages of Writing

       The act of writing in itself is a developmental process; one which takes most over a decade to become  fluent in. As a teacher, it is my duty to understand the developmental stages of writing in order to facilitate the learners in my care. Each stage is important, and to be aware of their implications should be of the utmost priority. The implications are guidelines and provide frameworks to assist students in success in each stage. By exposing students to a variety of materials for them to see how language is used, and providing practice using language on their own, is a great way for them to develop their writing and become successful in each stage. 

       Along with the provided exposure and practice, abundant reading activities should also be done simultaneously. Reading and writing should be done hand in hand, so students can see the relation between them, and understand that one cannot exist without the other. Through careful planning, teachers ensure that students will benefit greatly as they learn through developmentally appropriate writing and reading activities; aiding in their success through the developmental stages.

Workshop: Developmental stages of writing linked with students spelling

What are the development writing and spelling stages that an early writer goes through?

These include:

ü  Pre- Literate Stage of Writing (3-5 years)

ü  Emergent Stage of Writing (5 – 7years)

ü  Transitional/Developing Stage of Writing (6- 8 years)

ü  Fluent Stage of Writing (8-10years)

The stage of spelling linked to each writing stage includes:

ü  Pre-communicative Spelling Stage 

                                                          

ü  Semi phonetic Spelling Stage

                      

ü  Phonetic Spelling Stage

                          

ü  Transitional Spelling Stage

                          

  

As teachers, deriving from the walls of our classroom should be the product of progressive writers. Writers, who we take from where they are at to where we want them to be. Our classroom should produce writers who understand that writing is important and the art of writing should be valued. In addition, our classroom should be one where the writing experience for our students is fun filled and exciting. Hence, our classrooms should be one forging towards 'building a community of writers'. 

In summary, to assist students in writing, the classroom environment should be one where writing is encouraged. Therefore, the teacher must encourage and do daily writing as well as modeling the expected writing to be obtained from the students. The environment must be print rich with word wall and labels of classroom materials that can be used to aid students in their writing. In addition, if and when a student provides a piece of writing that contains spelling error, that student should not be turned away with the markings of a red pen. However, their attention should be drawn to a text where the correct spelling is written for clarification allowing the student to make the necessary adjustment. Also, the teacher can ask the student if the word can be spelt another way. Both of these cases of occurrences can happen due to the language interference that generally occurs within our classrooms affecting our students writing. Hence, it is imperative as teachers that we don’t create an avenue where students are pushed away from writing because of simple errors but we should encourage and foster writing based on the developmental stage in which the child is at.