Developing reading and writing capabilities in the second class of primary school - a case study of good practice

With this thesis we set out to establish if it is possible to successfully utilize cognitive theory of writing in the period where pupils are still at the initial stages of learning how to read and write, namely at the end of the second year of elementary school. We have decided to approach this, by initially summarising theoretical discoveries related to teaching how to read, studied adapted key method Step by step, used strictly by primary school professor Marinka Doblekar to teach her second class students how to read and write, summarized the »Reading and writing for critical thinking«, and identified key findings related to the cognitive theory of writing. In the empiric part of the thesis, based on observation of five teaching units (classes), which were dedicated to teaching communication skills (listening, verbal expression, reading and independent writing) with the aid of Slovene and foreign youth literature, we have analysed, how the theoretical models outlined in the theoretical part of the thesis correspond to a practical teaching and learning process. Based on the analysis of what the pupils produced, we have determined that they were mostly capable of successfully applying cognitive theory of writing to their assignment, given that they have reached an interpretative level of reading, started utilising specific techniques for accessing their long term memory, developed a methodology for generating ideas based on the rhetorical problem and when they were closely familiar with their target audience. We conducted a half-structured interview with Marinka Doblekar, to determine which teaching strategies she uses for teaching reading and writing, and what she thinks about the effect of her unique didactic and pedagogic approach. We can conclude that Marinka Doblekar’s didactic approach is indeed an example of good practice, and that it is possible, with adaptation of assignments based on her pupil’s level of existing knowledge, reading and writing skills, to channel their creative potential into independently producing a work of their own, utilising most relevant elements of cognitive process model of writing