I agree. Writing is a really good way to organize your thoughts, and train your brain to think in a way that is logical, chronological, and easily conveyed.

This is awesome. Finding and targeting these kids that need additional help and support is a super noble goal in my mind.

I understand the importance of guide-lines such as this, however I like to think that, while in general, most first graders wont be able to do this, I do think it is also important to be able to identify students who are advanced and may be able to. Certain situations and life experiences can teach a student a fuller grasp on language more quickly and thoroughly than others, and i think its important to not suppress this if it is viable.

understanding how pragmatic knowledge and skill correlates with social interactions can help teachers to understand and attempt to help children who struggle socially, as this might be a possible reason why, possibly in students with autism or aspergers ? food for thought

I believe for a while the running theory was that children just repeated things adults had said previously, but the mistakes that children make when learning to speak are not things they would have heard adults say, but instead correlate to their level of understanding of the language and of the grammar itself. This is why we get things liked "I go-ed" instead of "I went" with children, because they understand the suffix -ed, and are over-applying it. Things like this show that children's speech, and the mistakes they make, are results of a growing knowledge of syntax

This knowledge comes sometimes subconsciously for first language learners, like the opinion-size-age-shape-color-orogin-material-purpouse-noun rule. Most first language speakers know that you can have a great green dragon, but green great dragon just sounds weird. It would have to be a green Great-Dragon (as in Great-Dragon as one word entity). Things like this that we pick up naturally without even realizing are very difficult for second language learners, and its something we as teachers need to be aware of if we're to teach language

I've found that reading stories, sometimes slightly more complex stories to children is an awesome way to expand their vocabulary, and often words you don't use regularly and wouldnt think to go out of your way to teach them. My little siblings would often stop me as I read them Harry Potter and ask me what certain words or phrases meant from a young age

this is really important for children to learn to connect things in their mind, and see how everything correlates. I feel like just simply being able to do this, quickly and effectively, is something that is stressed heavily in schools, especially language, today.

phonological knowledge Where it talks about language being a sound symbol interaction, well a. This is an important topic, but b. This is a good definition to remember

the aspects of learning language, and the difference between them, is also important to mark and remember. That's a long-term memory kinda thing you want

So this annotation thing, highlighting and stuff doesn't work well on my iPad, so I'll just type the text I'm referring to. The difference in receptive and expressive language is essential for us, as educators, to know and be able to differentiate.

This paragraph also highlights the fact that children learn, subconsciously, when to use their formal language, when to use their slang, in some countries they have entirely separate languages for being in the workplace and the marketplace and the home. Children's.capacity to learn is amazing