Tanzania Standard 1 Curriculum - Writing

This course entry details the Writing curriculum for Standard 1 in Tanzania, based on the 2023 Primary Education Syllabus Standard I-II from the Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE). The curriculum emphasizes the development of pre-writing and basic writing skills, focusing on motor skills, letter formation, and sentence construction. It also incorporates digital resources for enhanced learning. The main goal is to equip students with the foundational skills necessary for effective communication and future learning.

Main Competences and Specific Competences:

The Writing curriculum falls under the broader competence of "Writing" and is further broken down into the following specific competences:

• 3.1 Develop pre-writing skills: This focuses on building fine motor skills necessary for writing, such as holding a pencil correctly, maintaining proper posture, and practicing letter shapes. Activities include tracing lines and patterns, tracing and drawing pictures of objects, and molding letter shapes.
• 3.2 Develop basic writing skills: This involves learning to write lowercase and uppercase letters step-by-step, joining letters to form simple words, and joining words to form simple sentences.
• 3.3 Apply basic writing skills: This emphasizes practical application of the learned skills. The syllabus suggests activities like writing simple texts and using basic punctuation marks (full stop, comma, and question mark).

Textbook:

The "Writing Pupils Book Standard One" published by TIE serves as the primary textbook for this curriculum. It includes lessons on pre-writing exercises, writing vowel and consonant letters in lowercase and uppercase, forming words and sentences, and utilizing digital resources.

Digital Resources:

The curriculum encourages the use of digital resources to enhance learning. The GCompris app is specifically mentioned for activities like drawing letters and words and arranging letters in alphabetical order.

Assessment:

Assessment methods include exercises, observation, and practical writing activities to evaluate the student's progress in achieving the specific competences. The syllabus also mentions terminal and annual examinations as part of the assessment process.