Writing With Families in Response to Picture Books to Support Their Children's Writing Development

• In Event: Roundtable Session 51
  In Roundtable Session: Supporting Family Language and Literacy Development

Abstract

Families attended up to six interactive writing sessions while their children received tutoring support in writing from pre-service and in-service teachers enrolled in a writing methodology course. Through quick-write responses families responded to high-quality children’s picture books with inherent messages adults often find humorous, meaningful, or poignant. Interconnected assertions were determined per descriptive and pattern coding of transcribed family sessions, field notes, and documents. Through interactive writing sessions, parents need to practice writing tips and strategies useful for supporting their children’s writing development. Parents respond to the content of children’s picture books through quick-writes to develop their own writing voices as parent-writers. Family bonds are strengthened as parent-writers connect their own and their children’s experiences with the picture books’ content.

Author

• Danielle Louise DeFauw, University of Michigan - Dearborn