Teacher Supports for Early Writers: Current and Promising Practices in Preschool Classrooms

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Though the importance of preschool writing is well-established, empirical research on teachers’ supports for young writers is extremely limited. This symposium brings together two research teams approaching this problem from different perspectives. Papers 1 and 2 use observational data and quantitative methods to describe the range of instruction in typical classrooms, and use that data to identify promising practices and their impact on children’s learning. Papers 3 and 4 use qualitative methods to describe the ways expert teachers interact with children around writing, providing detailed descriptions of ways teachers working from an emergent literacy perspective support young writers. This symposium, examines intersections and disjunctions across studies with the goal of improving preschool writing instruction.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Early Education and Child Development

Chair

• Deborah Rowe, Vanderbilt University

Papers

• Relations Between Learning Contexts and Teaching Approaches for Supporting Early Writing in Head Start Classrooms - Gary E. Bingham, Georgia State University; Hope K. Gerde, Texas A&M University - College Station; Rebecca Rohloff, Georgia State University

• Exploring the Associations Between Preschool Teachers' Writing Practice and Children's Early Writing Development - Xiao Zhang, Georgia State University; Gary E. Bingham, Georgia State University; Hope K. Gerde, Texas A&M University - College Station

• Expert Classroom Teachers' Supports for Pre-Kindergarten Writers - Deborah Rowe, Vanderbilt University; Zarabeth G. Davis, Vanderbilt University; Amanda Shimizu, Vanderbilt University

• Pre-Kindergaten Teachers' Supports for Idea Development in Emergent Writing Events - Zarabeth G. Davis, Vanderbilt University

Discussant

• Sonia Cabell, Florida State University