Explores the patterns in children's talk about their writing, by means of transcribed conversations during daily writing/sharing sessions in a first grade classroom. Discusses the importance of this kind of talk. (HTH)

To determine the designs, procedures, and findings of studies related to an investigation of the developmental aspects of the writing processes of children, a literature search was made of documents indexed in "Current Index to Journals in Education" (CIJE) and "Resources in Education" (RIE). A search was also made of the literature in…

Presents a model that predicts writing growth in children as a logical outcome of language acquisition. Provides a list of the kinds of language learning underway in the elementary school years and suggests that teachers may use this list to anticipate where and how such learning will influence the writing processes of children. (FL)

Examines kindergarten children's use of talk during writing to draw inferences regarding how children use speech to make sense of written language. (HOD)

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)

Discusses the characteristics of a nurturing and of a constraining classroom environment and the effects of each on children's learning to write. (HTH)

A study examined how children's understanding and use of written language and graphic/constructive art are embedded in the social world of their classrooms and how they explore the potential of communication systems (specifically, what socio-psychological strategies they use). Subjects were 21 3- and 4-year-old children of faculty and staff at a…

With practical applications for parents and teachers, this book uses diary entries, tape recordings, and videotapes made by the child's mother from a researcher's perspective to chronicle a child's reading and writing development from birth to age three. The introduction provides an overview of how children learn to talk, read, and write;…

A study was conducted to examine writing development in first grade children. The writings from an entire classroom were collected. From these, six children's writings were chosen for cross-sectional analysis. Two children from this group were then selected for further in-depth case studies. Interviews, parent surveys, and observations were used…

Intended for parents and teachers who are interested in the approximate level at which their primary school-age children should be writing, this document describes the type of writing children at each age can produce and how they go about producing it. An introduction makes this point and offers a set of writing process terms to describe…

Focusing on the relationship between learning oral language and learning about written language, this book discusses the emergent literacy (EL) of children growing up in a Western, print-oriented society, as well as findings of research conducted during the past 15 years on how children make sense of the way in which literacy works in their…

To determine how children develop schema for text that include increasing sensitivity to text types, text categories, orthographic conventions in words, conventional story beginnings and endings, and text cohesive ties, a study examined the writing of four kindergarten children. The kindergarten had adopted a process-conference approach to writing…

Focusing on the not-yet-conventional ways in which young children write and read--their nature, contexts, and significance for continuing literacy development, this book presents the perspective that children's early reading and writing behaviors are not pre- anything, but are integral parts of an incipient language process. Following an…