You may have heard Rita and I discuss the practice of engaging young readers and writers in Intentional Copywork for strong and meaningful practice in consolidating language skills across all areas (phonics/spelling, grammar, vocabulary/word study, handwriting, deep comprehension).
The process of Intentional Copywork is designed to engage deeply with one literary passage each week, involving pre-teaching on all language areas (phonics/grammar/word study/comprehension) before engaging in copywork, dictation, and editing for consolidation of all skills. See our blog on POSSUM for a list of all skill areas.
The misconception about any copywork—Intentional or otherwise—is that it can only be done once children are able to read longer passages. Not true! Children should engage in Intentional Copywork from the earliest moments of their reading and writing education! The research tells us that reading should be taught in conjunction with writing. Therefore, emergent readers can and should engage in Intentional Copywork as their first introduction to the world of words and sentences!
In our early reader entitled Rats!, we provide simple instructions for parents before the start of the story to aid in pre-teaching phonics concepts. Additionally, the language of the story introduces text to new readers from a therapeutic perspective, with emphasis on vowel sounds, on a select number consonants, and other language concepts to be explored in Intentional Copywork (suffix -s, onomatopoeia, etc.). All of the concepts to be practiced are also summarized on the final page of Rats!
Pick up your copy of Rats! in our shop today! And while you're there, for more information about the practice of Intentional Copywork, grab your copy of our book Trees in the Forest: Growing Readers and Writers through Deep Comprehension.
~ Moira
