An Analysis of the Developmental Writing Stages Represented in First Graders' Journal Writing

Abstract

Research literature on rubrics, journal writing and developmental stages of writing were applied to create an analytical rubric to identify the stages present in low and high socioeconomic students' journal writing. The rubric was designed to assess the Beginning, Developing and Secure Stages of writing development. The results from the application of the rubric indicated that first graders' writing is developmental. All stages of development were present across all writing samples. The students' scores indicated that stages of writing development in first grade do fluctuate making it unadvisable to permanently label students' achievement. It was also found that socioeconomic differences in writing achievement amongst students from the low and high socioeconomic classroom were evident as had been found by other investigators. Moreover, additional research needs to be done to determine what contributing factors related to socioeconomic status affect first graders' writing achievement. In conclusion, the developmental stages of writing can be ascertained in first graders' writing; first by using journal writing to facilitate the stages of development and secondly, through the use of a rubric to assess the students' writing achievement