Emergent Writing in Preschool: Nurturing Children’s Voices

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 9:00 am
  In Roundtable Session: Writing Practices That Change Writers Across Ages and Spaces (Table 19)

Abstract

With a view of children as “social negotiators” and through the lens of culturally relevant teaching, this study explored how preschool children’s voices were nurtured through the implementation of an early-writing/ applied phonics approach called Kid Writing (KW). The approach prompts children to compose writing from their lives as they are guided by an adult who scaffolds the writing process. Analysis of focus groups, classroom observations, and children’s work samples revealed the extent to which preschool children’s voices, motivation, and writing capabilities were supported. Findings disrupt the notion that preschool children are not ready to write. Rather, providing opportunities for preschoolers to write from their lives supports both their overall literacy learning and the development of their identity as writers.

Authors

• Katie Mathew, Drexel University

• Vera J. Lee, Drexel University

• Claudia A. Gentile, NORC at the University of Chicago

• Diane Waff, University of Pennsylvania