Describes a project in a kindergarten classroom in which a professor, graduate assistant, the classroom teacher, and parents served as writing role models during the daily journal writing time. After 7 to 10 days of the project, children labeled their drawings, wrote about a variety of topics, copied adults' writing, experimented with print, and…

Considers the use of sociodramatic play to help preschool children with their literacy development. Describes and assesses the Scrapbook Project at a university laboratory preschool. In this project, children dictate stories to their teacher, choose props to illustrate their stories, and act out their stories. (BB)

Describes objectives, resources, procedures, and teaching strategies for leading children to use magazines to produce a slide-tape show about animals. Highly structured formats for notetaking, synthesizing, and creating a final presentation are used to enable young children to do research and produce written reports without word-for-word copying.…

A study examines teacher's and children's interactions with the use of the writing journal in a pre-k classroom (ages 3 to 4). Eight pre-school children and three teachers in a university lab school were observed twice a week for 1-hour sessions over a 6-month period. The use of the writing journal was a part of the total learning environment…

Based on a two-day presentation workshop on early reading and writing approaches, the 12 essays in this book discuss the development of literacy, natural approaches in developing literacy, and supporting literacy development. Essays in the book are: (1) "Theories of Natural Language" (Carolyn N. Hedley); (2) "Oral Language…

A study was designed to identify and codify behavioral trends in the composing process of early writers' narrative attempts in literate environment instructional settings. The study also examined regressive patterns within behavioral responses to determine how development in one area of the writing task influenced the development in other areas.…

This paper analyses elementary school Chinese language textbooks for teaching reading and writing in primary grades in the People's Republic of China. The paper begins by examining the characteristics of the Chinese written language, particularly how the reforms of written Chinese in China since the 1950s have affected instructional materials.…

This book combines a holistic approach to language learning with a developmental point of view, including teaching strategies appropriate for each age and stage of development. The book looks at children's literature and how it is used as the thrust for the development of oral language, reading, and early writing. The book includes: discussion of…

Serving as a guide for teachers interested in implementing a whole language philosophy within their classrooms and as a resource for teachers who have whole language classrooms, this annotated bibliography presents thorough annotations of 12 selected texts published between 1979 and 1992 encouragement and support for the whole language philosophy.…

Emergent and beginning readers demonstrate many predictable behaviors in the kindergarten classroom, yet every child is making sense out of print in his or her own way. The job of the kindergarten teacher is to help each child to continue developing as a reader and writer. Reading and writing materials are accessible and usable throughout a…

As an extension of a two-year longitudinal study involving various aspects of children's writing, a study examined the function of children's oral language during creative writing sessions in typical classroom settings. Using ethnographic style techniques, researchers conducted 46 writing episode observations of seven fifth graders in the spring…

Although teachers are often told to use literature as models for students' writing, they are rarely provided with specific suggestions on how, when, and why to use literature, or trade books, in their curriculum. Yet there are many situations in which the use of literature can be helpful to the novice writer. With pre-kindergarten or kindergarten…

A study evaluated the effectiveness of the Success in Beginning Reading and Writing (SBRW) program which is based on the philosophy that children should be taught to read and write using materials they will rely on later in life. Subjects, four teachers and 48 students in the SBRW program and five teachers and 50 students in a Holt Basic Reading…

This book presents current, research-based best practices for supporting young children's development as readers and writers. From leading figures in early literacy, the book's essays demonstrate that scientifically grounded instruction need not be dull, drill-oriented, or "one-size-fits-all"--rather, it describes language-rich approaches to…

Most educators will agree that a kindergarten program must provide not only a print-rich environment, but also carefully organized learning experiences. This book maps out how to develop and maintain an exemplary literacy program in a kindergarten classroom. The first section of the book explores the necessary elements of an outstanding…