This review of the historical literature in language development focuses on the characteristics and development of written language, noting that since writing was considered a school function associated with prescribed sequential instruction, few investigations were conducted during the stages of initial growth in writing competency. Also noted is…

This study investigated parents' knowledge of their child's emergent literacy development by administering parent questionnaires that examined parents' beliefs of literacy learning and the early writing and reading experiences of preschool children in their home. A total of 115 questionnaires were administered to parents with children enrolled in…

A study examined what a third grader might understand about composing a common genre like the narrative, given the degree of variance among approaches and experience. Data were collected from different school sites over a period of several years. These sites shared common geographical areas: three schools were located in the Sonoran desert shared…

Developed at Roosevelt Elementary School in Long Beach Unified School District (California), this CD-ROM presents Children Teaching Children (CTC), a literacy project intended to assist students to read, write, and publish their original work. It is part of the Program Improvement Initiative, an educational reform effort initiated by the…

The purpose of this "Written Language Developmental Continuum" brochure for second through fifth grades is to provide helpful information for parents, teachers, and other adults as they work with young children to advance and refine written language (writing) competence. The brochure is intended to be a useful tool for assessing…

Beginning a new school year can be a daunting task for any teacher. This book, the work of an experienced teacher, advances the Overnight Book Program as the core of the literacy curriculum. According to the book, everything developing readers and writers need to understand literacy can be learned easily and joyfully by taking books home to share…

This book is a collection of essays in which the author counters high-stakes testing, the pathologizing of children, and the unrelenting critique of public schools with a persuasive account of how children actively make sense of the world and their experience through the making of works, such as drawings, constructions, and writings. The book is…

The purpose of this paper is to portray children's writing as a medium for participation in social response to an audience, in a situation where children are active contributors to evolving written dialogues. Throughout this 2-year project, data were collected by compiling the e-mail correspondence between the adults (the researcher and five…

Presents a case study of a first-grader who began to articulate a literary voice through her appropriation of narrative form. Focuses on her active response as she made narrative discourses her own. Draws on the work of L. Vygotsky and M. Bakhtin to suggest a way of talking about how young writers construct themselves. (SR)

Discusses the role that school library media specialists can play in the development of children's writing skills. Recommends a number of reference books for student writers published by Scholastic, including a dictionary, thesaurus, dictionary of idioms, rhyming dictionary, dictionary of spelling, and a treasury of quotations. (LRW)

Compares writing products of first graders who were taught to write using a structured approach (including phonemic awareness and phonics training) to the products of students taught using a holistic approach. Finds that children in the structured program wrote more words, wrote better overall compositions, and spelled more words and different…

Explores how one first-grade teacher incorporates dance experiences to support lessons across the curriculum. Describes the exploration of basic dance elements; creation of simple dances to support lessons in math, science, and language arts; the study of movement in nature; creation of a dance story; and use of the dance story to produce a…

Describes and analyzes a young deaf girl's written products from the home setting from age three to seven. Examines her working hypothesis towards the forms of print and compares to those of young hearing children, revealing the diversity of paths all children take in becoming writers and readers. (SR)

Discusses components that guide a teacher in creating a meaningful writing workshop for first graders: developing a trust in and commitment to writing opportunities, encouraging a five-step process of writing, organizing writing materials, providing a predictable routine, and working individually with each child. Emphasizes the importance of…

Describes a program that links literacy instruction and evaluation in a kindergarten classroom. Describes various evaluation events that are integrated throughout curriculum and across instruction; discusses the importance of planning to write and reflect each day; describes the organization and management of the evaluation tools and data; and…