Can I teach Target Skills™ before a child learns to read?
Yes. You can teach emergent writers many target skills while they are learning and applying their knowledge of print text and phonics. At any developmental level, the first steps in teaching a Target Skill are showing how an author has used the skill, discussing why it helps a reader, and then asking young writers to try the skill out orally. You then show them how to apply the skill using emergent-style writing such as: any letter, starting consonant, or first and last consonant to represent a word; then employing temporary and phonetic spelling. Your young students will learn Target Skills best if you understand, recognize, and honor their current developmental stage, i.e., if you apply the work of Jean Piaget, Brian Cambourne, et al. How do I teach Target Skills™? You teach Target Skills through modeling and direct instruction. First you present your young writers with good examples (models) of how authors have used the skill in narrative and expository literature. You then build a
