LAE 6315 Clay 1-19

"What Did I Write?" Introductory chapter
This book was published in 1975 and yet it strikes me how modern Clay's views on writing development seem. She stresses that teachers in early grades should be emphasizing message communication, not correcting grammar and spelling. She makes the point several times that this book is not concerned with spelling or even sequencing of instruction. That being said, later in the book, she does identify several principles that seem to occur in a sequence. I'll have to pay attention to whether or not she implies sequencing when I read those sections later on. A lot of the basics that she outlines in the first chapter are related to a constructivist and a developmental approach.
I also wonder what the main criticisms are for Clay. This book was written over 30 years ago and the discussion must have progressed since. Is there an index of some kind that traces the major writers and their criticisms? It would be helpful to be able to look at a period or at an area of literacy and have all of the major schools of thought and their criticisms laid out, maybe in a graphical format. I wonder if the History of Reading matrix could be modified to include that type of information.
Anyway, back to Clay, I like the way she includes lots of samples of student work. The samples and her observations ground her writing solidly. She sets out a narrow focus, "a collection of children's work samples with some statements of what they seem to imply". The narrow focus makes the work more universal and more useful and probably explains why it's still being used 30 years later.

Clay observed products, mostly, not process. Dyson observes process and makes connection to oral learning.

Key points:
• No specific sequence for teaching writing
• Question age norms
• Early drawing and scribbling become writing
• Creative writing vs. copying
• Keep teaching points to a minimum (1 or 2)
• Coying works when it's child initiated
• Oral language affects writing