This article reports on an action research project undertaken by a team of four Grade 2 teachers who work in a school for gifted learners. Focused on implementing a structured printing and spelling curriculum in addition to providing instructed support for planning, organizing, and vocabulary use for different genres of writing, both qualitative and quantitative data provide insights into the contribution and importance of these five curricular elements on the quality and quantity of written production during 1 school year. Of particular importance is the need for automaticity as this relates to capacity theory and the constraints of working memory. The unique needs as well as strengths of the gifted learner profile are highlighted. The article concludes with a series of unanswered questions for the research community to consider.

For children, hands are the critical conduit for learning the world and constructing mental models of its size and shape.  Such embodied cognition (EC) is mediated through language in the social environment. In this paper we review the literature and develop the conceptual underpinnings for a framework for play-based pedagogy that integrates sensorimotor, cognitive, and linguistic systems that lay the foundations for early literacy experiences expected in the kindergarten and Grade 1 year. We provide suggestions for incorporating games and tasks in a play-based program that will promote EC.

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