## North Carolina Early Learning and Development Progressions: Birth to Five

#### Domain: NC Foundations for Early Learning: Language Development and Communication (LDC)

#### Subdomain: Foundations for Writing

#### Goal: Children use writing skills and writing conventions.

#### Skill Progression: Use writing skills and writing conventions

#### Age: 21-24 Months

Click here to go to all skills for ages 21-24 Months.

### Imitates drawing a vertical line

Situations for Observation of Skill

Provide paper and a crayon for both the child and an adult.

Elicitation Strategy

Let the child draw independently, then model drawing a vertical line. Ask if the child can do one too. Sound effects (“Zip!”) may help motivate imitation.

Behavior Observed

The child has more control over the crayon now, and is aware of the boundaries of the paper. Marks move in many directions.

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

Adults can encourage children to write by pointing out the print in the environment and in books as they read to them. They can also show the children when they are writing a note or list. This shows the children the purpose for writing versus drawing a picture. Provide wet sand, shaving cream, or other safe materials for the children to practice using their fingers and making lines.

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2015

©2015 by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.