Young Children Composing on Big Paper

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: Cultivating Young Children's Literacies

Abstract

This qualitative study was undertaken to provide an examination of Big Paper, an open-ended composing activity. We were interested to observe the weekly composing behaviors of preschoolers over a semester’s time period, asking:
How do children participate in Big Paper?
Is Big Paper a worthwhile activity for promoting literacy development?
Analysis of the data revealed three areas pertinent to literacy development: (1) the open-ended nature of Big Paper afforded student choice and revealed content that mattered to children in a sustained way; (2) students demonstrated active engagement in and stamina for the activity; and, (3) Big Paper provided an avenue for social construction and peer-shared experiences which led to engagements that reflected important literacy attributes.

Authors

• Amy H. Staples, University of Northern Iowa

• Deborah L. Tidwell, University of Northern Iowa