This digest reviews children's writing development from socio-cultural, generative, and developmental perspectives. The digest's first section deals with oral language, art, and children's early writing, noting that children use their drawing and talk to support their early exploration and use of print. The second section examines how, in addition…

Declares that invented spelling ability reflects young children's developing awareness of the internal structure of words. Examines effects of an instructional approach that emphasized integration of language analysis teaching into the whole-language kindergarten curriculum. Finds that children who received instruction were representing all the…

Shares results from five interpretive studies that examined young children's writing in response to process drama. Focuses on composing in role and complexity of stance. Suggests that writing in response to drama can provide insights into the complexities of children's literacy processes by explicitly revealing the connections between children's…

Focuses on the benefits storytelling can have on the development of language and literacy in children. Highlights the positive rewards for children. Describes an example of how children wrote and told their own stories in a particular third-grade class. (RS)

This study used a pluralistic model to examine the procedures used by two preschoolers to achieve written productions using invented orthographies. The model allows children's procedural variations to be taken into consideration by understanding the hierarchy of different processing modes available to children in completing the task and…

Profiles and interviews Donald Graves--writer, teacher, thinker, researcher, and recipient of NCTE's Award for Outstanding Educator in the Language Arts--about his research on children's writing, his work in the field, his thoughts about directions for the future, and influences on him. (SR)

This longitudinal interpretive case study documents the role and significance of one preschooler's name in deepening her understanding of written language. Findings highlight the importance of an authentic, purposeful, literacy-rich, supportive environment for children, that provides them time to invent, predict, and guess how written language…

Argues that children's points of view shape knowledge in the classroom and are central to the development of children's writing and learning. Finds points of view by referring to examples of talk and writing; explains how cultural and personal factors come into play; and proposes that points of view become an explicit aspect of instruction,…

Describes an engaging activity for primary-grade students that encourages students to talk, read, write, and share events that are important in their lives by writing a daily news sheet. Describes the daily news process, which encourages students to share during whole-group community time and to work independently later. (SR)

Relates the story of a kindergartner's first experiences with literacy in the school context to demonstrate the importance of constructivism in educators' thoughts about teaching and learning literature. Discusses the reasons why a kindergarten boy suddenly began writing and illustrating "books" about war even though he showed no interest in…

Describes the conceptualization and development of a multiage bookwriting group entitled the Saturday Club for Adopted Kids. Describes the benefits of offering this project-oriented group in which adoptees can tell their stories and share their experiences in an environment that supports their recovery from early trauma. Notes adoptive parents'…

Describes the intermediate forms of children's informational and story composition across the elementary grades. Finds that even the youngest children differentiated between the genres with over half of all kindergartners and first graders producing texts classified at some level of organizational complexity above labels and statement, and by…

Describes how teachers can make writing an important part of everyday life within the school community by: conferring with students about purpose and audience; elevating genres particular to schools; designing community service assignments; expecting that artwork will be accompanied by text; weaving writing into student government; creating…

Describes the implementation of a weekly creative writing assignment for early elementary school students in a Montessori setting. Notes that students' writing reveals their social maturity and personality characteristics. Provides suggestions for starting a creative writing exercise, including brainstorming, a babbling activity, and a…

Discusses the popularity in Britain and America in the 1920s of texts written by little girls. Suggests the child writer offers a private experience that seems to speak only to the reader but in reality speaks to everyone. Claims the child writer is at once perfectly ordinary and utterly extraordinary. (NH)