This research examined relationships between children's social awareness (ability to understand and negotiate intergroup relationships) and their narrative and persuasive writing. Forty 5th grade students wrote a short fictional narrative and a persuasive letter to their principal. Writing samples were coded for quality, form, and social…

Research Findings: All children from all backgrounds and histories learn through their stories while engaging in play and other daily activities. They experience development in multiple domains and engage in multidimensional learning when given the opportunity and encouragement. Practice or Policy: This article documents a segment of a larger…

Our aim was to analyze the impact of the characteristics of occlusive versus fricative phonemes used in writing programs on the evolution of preschool children's writing. The participants were 39 5-year-old graphoperceptive children. Their intelligence, number of letters known, and phonological skills were controlled. Their writing was evaluated…

In his latest book, Daniel Meier highlights the critical importance of integrating content and mechanics for successful and engaged writing at the K-4 level. Featuring the teaching philosophies and strategies of seven exemplary teachers, and a discussion of relevant research and theory, Meier provides a fresh, practical, and much-needed…

This parent-research article juxtaposes two theoretical frameworks in support of an analysis of a young child's uses of color in her sign-making; that is, in her efforts at writing and drawing. Perspectives from both social semiotics and the idea of literacy learning as social practice frame the examination and interpretation of the early…

This article includes some of the remarkable poems to be included in "Mandela, Manchester", an anthology of school students' work dedicated to the inspirational life of Nelson Mandela. (Contains 3 notes.)

This grounded-theory study involved how Finnish children describe their ideal school and learning environment and considers how their notions should be valued in the development of schools to better respond to the challenges of the future. The school children, aged 10-12 years, participated in the study by writing a story about a school in which…

Students' academic self-concepts have a reciprocal relationship with their academic performance, so high academic self-concepts are desirable. Yet, academic self-concepts typically decline during the late elementary and early middle school years. Little is known about how students' academic self-concepts are influenced to change. Fifth and sixth…

When children enter public kindergartens in the current atmosphere of high-stakes testing, they often encounter an emphasis on correctness that casts doubt on the integrity of their personally invented messages, prompting them to ask not "What did I write?" but "Is this right?" This ethnographic case study examines early writing by 23 kindergarten…

African American students are overrepresented in special education and underrepresented in gifted education. This is in large part due to students' poor performance in core academic areas such as reading, math, and writing. Differentiating instruction in early grades could assist in closing the writing performance gap between African American and…

Building crucial bridges between theory, research, and practice, this volume brings together leading authorities on the literacy development of young children. The "Handbook" examines the full range of factors that shape learning in and out of the classroom, from basic developmental processes to family and sociocultural contexts,…

The ways in which learning graphical representations can encourage the development of creativities in Chinese young children remain to be fully explored. Previous research on children's writing focused on children's symbolization with syllabic languages, providing little information regarding Chinese young children's symbolization and creative…

In this article, Boldt considers decisions teachers must make about the value of children's writing as a form of play in primary classrooms. She offers a brief history of the framing of this question at 1966 Dartmouth Conference on English, focusing particularly on the perspective of Jimmy Britton. She highlights the relationship between Britton's…

Young children benefit from having their stories written down and shared with others. The authors highlight two strategies for supporting young writers: taking dictation and translating "kid writing." They explain why both are important in introducing the purpose of writing and the functions of printed language. The article offers tips to teachers…

This paper explores a number of examples of what appeared to be recurring symbolic expressions of spirituality found in my recent research into the spiritual experiences of children in Victorian State primary schools. These expressions appeared in drawings and in conversation. In this paper I use hermeneutic phenomenology and a multidisciplinary…