The use of high frequency word lists has re-emerged recently as a useful part of the knowledge base of primary teachers of literacy. The National Literacy Project framework for teaching makes explicit use of such lists. In this article Laura Huxford and her colleagues examine the contents of word lists and make some useful observations about the words it appears important to teach children to read at Key Stage 1.The National Curriculum at Key Stage 1 states that children should be taught to write in a range of forms with confidence, fluency and accuracy (DfE, 1995). Smith (1982) exposed the complexity of the writing process when he described the complementary roles of an author and secretary. Both, he points out, engage in`writing'. One takes responsibility for the content, choosing the appropriate words to convey meaning, and organising it into a coherent framework; the other is concerned with the spelling and presentation of the code used to communicate that meaning. However, what is a relatively straight forward operation as a collaboration between author and secretary becomes problematic when attempted by an individual; the two processes then compete for attention. This is particularly true for novices. The predicament for young children in learning to integrate all these aspects of writing can be appreciated by adults who are learning to use a new writing medium such as a word-processor. Even highly literate people, unfamiliar with the keyboard, complain that they cannot write straight onto a word processor as it hinders their compositional ability.
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