Unit 2 - Writing as a stage, Process and Trait

Writing can be viewed within three different dimensions -  a Trait, Process and stage.

As a Stage -
Initially, I thought this referred to a part of the developmental process of learning, where children were ready to express themselves through writing.
However, we began to explore the writing process as it relates to the child's developmental stage of readiness.  It indicates that children write according to their abilities.
For instance, stage 1, Emergent - this is the stage where they create letter-like forms, scribbling and drawing. During this stage, we need to help them to develop fine motor skills, basic punctuation and develop ideas orally. They would also be exposed to high-frequency words.
During stage 2 - the Early stage they are introduced to different genres of writing, spacing between words, writing on the line and more improved spelling and word choice.
Stage 3 - The Transitional stage is where they would be better able to  spell more words correctly, developing and organising ideas and more control over elements such as capitalisation, grammar and word choice.
Stage 4 - Fluent stage is the most advance, where they are able to demonstrate more correct spelling, idea organisation and also create their own writers voice. 

Traits refers to a characteristic or identifying aspect of someone or something. But what can be some of the traits of writing be?
I learned that it goes further than good penmanship and word choice or whether a passage sounds interesting.
It involves traits such as the writer's voice which expresses his/her emotion and sincere thoughts, a compilation of supportive details and ideas to express the overall message, meaning and purpose. Then finally, the Conventions are essential in enabling that the writing is enjoyed and understood by the reader. This is due to use of correct spelling,capitalisation, relevant contractions, indenting and such 'mechanics' which make the writing generally well-structured.

As a Process, effective writing is achieved by a process which is a guide for ensuring that the completed piece is successful (its content and structure)This process refers to the following:

• Pre-writing
• drafting
• revision
• editing
• publishing 

Practicing writing, using the writing process is very simple and some of the stages can be done simultaneously, such as revising and editing.
Each step flows into the other, thus creating the completed product.
Withing the revision stage, ARMS is utilised, where we will add, remove, move or substitute words appropriately.

In my opinion, each teacher should be aware of the stages of writing so as to effectively teach so as to result in effective and meaningful learning.  For instance, planning a lesson activity for kindergarten (emergent) will require different activity types for a grade 2