This study was designed to examine the effects of tracing and fading prompts to improve the handwriting of two preschoolers both diagnosed as Developmentally Delayed (DD) and one of whom had fine motor goals. The study took place in a self-contained special education public preschool classroom located in the Pacific Northwest. The results showed…

PictoPal is the name of a technology-supported intervention designed to foster the development of emergent reading and writing skills in four and five year old children. Following the theoretical underpinnings and a brief description of PictoPal, this article describes how children worked with the technology; how the intervention elicited their…

For many children, the beginnings of literacy appear in activities such as pretend play, drawing, conversations about signs in their environment, and writing. In this article, the author describes children's experiences and how they express themselves through writing. With the efforts to communicate, children will write their own stories, try to…

This practical resource provides 40 research-based, classroom tested, and developmentally appropriate minilessons for kindergarten through grade 3--presented in the context of authentic writing experiences. Teachers can use these lessons to teach students how to: (1) Generate and organize ideas before writing, and then turn their prewriting ideas…

What are the most effective methods for teaching writing across grade levels and student populations? What kind of training do teachers need to put research-validated methods into practice? This unique volume combines the latest writing research with clear-cut recommendations for designing high-quality professional development efforts. Prominent…

Describes techniques for employing sentence combining to improve the beginning writing skills of elementary school students. (DD)

Describes how sharing students' writing in small groups is a good alternative to sharing writing with the whole class. Provides "Author's Circle" guidelines to clarify group procedures. (MM)

Much research has been done in the area of storytelling with young children. Storytelling, as the author speaks of it, means a specific time set aside for the oral composing of texts. For the tellers, it is a chance to think through, discover, plan, and develop the story that they may, eventually, decide to write, alongside a supportive teacher…

Discusses strategies and activities that a teacher can use to help a young writer become a fluent writer. Suggests that it is essential for teachers to provide an abundance of opportunities for children to write. (RS)

"Ready, Set, Leap!"[R] is a preschool curriculum that focuses on early reading skills, such as phonemic awareness, letter knowledge, and letter-sound correspondence, using multisensory technology that incorporates touch, sight, and sound. Teachers may adopt either a theme-based or a literature-based teaching approach, and for each…

This study investigated whether mothers are responsive to their children's literacy level, thus employing different writing mediation styles with each twin according to the child's level, or whether they possess a consistent style employed with both twins. The sample included 28 sets of twin kindergartners (56 children, M age = 68.89 months) and…

Rather than treating phonics as an end in itself, this brief text shows how phonics fits into the overall process of a child's learning to read. It helps students understand how phonics can be integrated successfully into an effective classroom reading program. While it includes a wealth of suggestions for practical classroom applications, the…

Offers four ideas for students to share their writing. Suggests that providing time and ways for children to share gives their writing purpose and direction. (MG)

Suggests the use of a taped dictation program to allow children to fully express ideas without initial concern for the mechanical tasks of spelling and handwriting. Offers steps to carry out a writing program with taped dictation. (MG)

Describes how one kindergarten teacher integrates beginning writing into dramatic play by including writing ideas and tools within varying themes in the housekeeping corner. Writing activities in the play corner, which has a new theme each month, are described, and examples of children's writing are provided. (SM)