Discusses how early childhood teachers can provide a classroom environment that puts into practice theories related to emerging literacy. Describes holistic strategies used in one kindergarten that enhance literacy learning, including shared book experiences, huddle groups, language samples, self-directed learning time, student-developed…

Identified preferred writing topics for 600 students in grades, 4, 6, and 8 and gender markers used to identify authors of 9 stories written by other students. Found that students situated girls' writing within primary territory; viewed girls as more competent, conscientious writers than boys; and associated the presence of violence with male…

Used writing samples, informal observations, and formal interviews and observations over 6 weeks to document a 4-year-old's emergent writing process. Found that the subject made the transition from the pre-phonetic to the semi-phonetic writing stages at an early age. Also found that young children's low tolerance level for frustration has…

Discusses exercises enabling teachers to help 6-year-olds complete the path to total reading and spontaneous writing. The foundation of the exercises is to help children analyze words into sounds; relate the symbols of the alphabet with the sounds using sandpaper letters; and acquire the physical ability to reproduce the letters in writing. (TJQ)

Describes one teacher's approach to process writing, a mainstay for Montessori adolescent classrooms. The premise of the method is that everyone has the natural potential to write and that the emergence of the inner voice must be nurtured by extended conferencing and revision combined with taking risks, experimenting, and continually revising.…

In this study, the explanations of two classes of 10-year old children about what happens to the food that they eat were explored, particularly in the context of theories about the development of children's concepts of the human body. These ideas were investigated in a number of ways: obtaining children's own writing and drawings; semi-structured…

We investigated how SES, grade level, and book reading experiences are related to children's writing self-efficacy as well as to their knowledge of "good writing" and "writing difficulties." The sample included 199 middle-high (HSES) and low (LSES) SES children (63 second graders, 67 fourth graders, and 69 sixth graders).…

This article offers ways to understand how a fifth-grade resistant writer positioned himself socially and academically within classroom writing practices and how these positions influenced literacy learning. Classroom writing practices enabled the student to explore the possibilities of who he was as he determined what types of learning were…

Response journals seem to be promising vehicles for inviting children's written comments because they allow children to reflect on their experiences with books and provide them with opportunities to raise questions and formulate ideas. While both teachers and researchers have indicated the benefits of written responses to books, less is known…

Children's writings seem to elicit a somewhat narrow range of adult responses. More often than not, the adult tendency is to read children's fictional writings as autobiographical. The adult critic can, that is, think of the child author as a collection of biographical facts, a series of life experiences with an end point marked by the production…

This paper explores the potential of telecommunications in education. It is proposed that classrooms begin telecomputing by communicating with "electronic pen pals," where students write for a distant audience and learn about different cultures through interaction on the computer. The following three sequential stages of the process are…

The approach of parody writing dates back to ancient Greece. Unlike traditional parody that usually develops satire of an author's work, a form of primary parody writing can be used in the classroom to help children develop connections with text as they express their own ideas. Parody writing is useful with children in grade 3 and has potential…

This paper presents a case study of a young writer, a girl aged between 9 and 10 over the 6-month period analyzed. The writer accessed KidPub, a World Wide Web site that accepts stories submitted by or on behalf of children and young people under the age of 16 and publishes them, giving each story its own Web page. With the help of a mentor, the…

Literacy consultant Joan Groeber provides educators with a teacher-friendly, step-by-step guide for creating and using rubrics to assess a wide range of literacy skills. Groeber's approach helps ensure that students gain a clear understanding of teacher expectations and assume a greater responsibility for their own learning. Offering an overview…

In society, information/ideas are communicated through various media (words, symbols, illustrations, etc.). When analyzing comic strips, it is noticeable that each has a different style, point of view, setting, plot, and summary, communicated not only through words, but through illustrations and style--creating comic strips can summarize various…