In Shakespeare's "As You Like It," Jaques offers the image of the world--or society--as a stage on which "one man in his time plays many parts." The question is: how does he (or she) know how to play those parts? Jaques seems to be suggesting that individuals are the creation of society, and the parts they play are written in…

Describes a two-day residence in a fifth- and sixth-grade classroom of poet Arnold Adoff. Presents his interaction with five students as they struggle with their poetry writing. (HTH)

Describes the growing autonomy of three young siblings as they wrote in the poetic function over a five-year period. Includes samples of the children's poetry. (HTH)

Discusses what a spontaneously formed group of three children thought and did as they composed a story together. The observations focus on the whole writing process. (HTH)

Presents observations on the effects of a word processing program developed for first-grade students. Focuses on the composing and transcribing abilities of six students, representing the range of abilities in the class. (HTH)

Disproves two assumptions about the development of written language by examining the spontaneous writing of a young child. Expounded primarily by James Britton and associates, the assumptions are (1) children's early writing is relatively undifferentiated in function, and (2) the primary starting point for young writers is writing stories. (HTH)

Presents case studies of two first-grade children, examining their writing as a linguistic and social process that involves the child in an exploration of both oral and written language within the social context of the classroom. (HTH)