literacy

Tessa, a kindergartner, draws a picture that tells a story. She says, “I’m writing a story about going on a trip.” Kristen, her teacher, kneels down next to Tessa and asks to hear the story. As Tessa speaks, Kristen writes down Tessa’s words on the paper. When she’s done, she reads the story back to Tessa. Tessa says, “That’s right!,” and continues drawing her story.

Every day after lunch, the children in Kirsten’s class had a choice of free activities, one of which was drawing or writing with pens or crayons.

Like Tessa, many students chose to draw or write. When circle time came, they were eager to share their creations. Initially, Kristen had intended to spend most of the literacy time teaching comprehension strategies; she disliked that the sharing stories took so much time and conflicted with her set agenda. However, after seeing how invested the children were, she added sharing stories to the classroom routine.

Kristen realized that allowing the children to express their thoughts through writing helped them organize their ideas—an essential skill for building literacy (Christ & Wang 2010). Each day the illustrators came up front one by one to share their stories. Kristen asked, “What can you tell us about this picture?” The intricacies of the stories were unexpected, but she was even more surprised by the engaged reactions of the children listening.

Previously, Kristen had spent a large part of her literacy instruction using comprehension strategies with the

children. She taught them about activating background knowledge and making connections. They learned to classify their connections in three ways: text-to-text (connections a reader makes between two different texts), text-to-self (personal connections a reader makes between the reading materials and herself), and text-to-world (the reader’s connections between the text and something that has occurred in the world) (Keene & Zimmerman 2007). Kristen led the children through visualization activities and encouraged them

Kindergarten

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64 Young Children May 2016

“Please Let Us Write!” Sharing Writing in the Early Childhood Classroom

Mary Ann Cahill and Anne E. Gregory

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to ask questions. They learned to respond to read- alouds by holding up hand signals indicating whether they had a connection, a visualization, or a question. The children became quite proficient at interacting with read-aloud books in this way.

To Kristen’s surprise, these comprehension skills transferred to the writing workshop. Many children held up their hands indicating that they had a connection to, a visualization of, or a question about the story. The kindergartners could now monitor their thoughts when listening to a story, having discovered that listening to a classmate’s story wasn’t so different from listening to a read-aloud.

Writing workshop

Kristen saw a trend emerging as more and more children chose to share their work. Realizing that a writer’s workshop could enhance the comprehension work they had been doing, Kristen formalized instruction to create workshop stories. She based it on the writing workshop model developed by Lucy Calkins (1994). Kristen taught the children how to respond to others’ writing using compliments and wishes. She modeled how to appropriately compliment classmates when they moved to the author’s chair to share their stories, and how to provide feedback in the form of wishes when they wanted something more from a story. The author’s chair provided a forum for discussing the children’s reading and writing (Calkins 1994).

During the author’s chair portion of the workshop, the children in Kristen’s class experienced decontextualized language—that is, language in isolation, with little shared background context or knowledge (Cummins 1994). They were asked to make sense of other children’s ideas. This type of language use is often considered to be the most valuable aspect of a read-aloud activity, as it allows children to practice building meaning from words alone, an essential skill for comprehension and learning from text (Beck & McKeown 2001). Sharing with the class allowed children to engage with each other’s stories. By asking questions, expressing their needs as “readers,” and discussing what occurred in the stories, the children became immersed in “talk surrounding the text”—a key to literacy growth (Graves 2006).

The students reveled in sharing their stories, as indicated in the following conversation.

Kristen: Brenda, do you want me to read your story for you? [Brenda nods.] I see a princess. She was at a castle, and she was wearing rings . . . and that’s Brenda’s story. Compliments, connections, or wishes?

Min-ji: I like it because I like princesses.

Kristen: You like princesses too. Good. So that’s kind of a connection, yes?

Min-ji: Yes.

Kristen: Okay.

DJ: My little sister also likes to dress up.

Kristen: So you have a connection too. Kassie?

Kassie: I like to dress up.

Kristen: Yes, so you can relate to that, can’t you? That’s a connection. Okay, Jake, a wish?

Jake: I wish I could see the rings.

Kristen: You wish that you could see the rings better. Maybe when I make Brenda’s story into a book, Brenda can draw the rings bigger so we can see them. That’s a good suggestion.

John: I’ve got a connection and a wish.

Kristen: Okay, John.

John: I wish there was a prince and a king.

Kristen: So you wish there were some boy princes or kings?

When Kristen introduced the idea of compliments and wishes, she intended the terms to be specific to critiquing work during writing workshops.

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Listeners Respond With Hand Signals The children in Kristen’s class used hand signals to indicate their interaction with a text.

C to indicate connection. This signal indicated that the child had made a personal connection to the story.

V for visualization. V indicated that the child could picture the text in his head.

Q for question. This signal, represented by a hooked pointer finger, denoted a child’s critical question regarding the text (Gregory & Cahill 2010).

Interestingly, the students began to use the concepts to critique stories in picture books as well. The children again demonstrated their facility with and application of the strategies by applying the learning strategies to other contexts where they might be beneficial (Charlesworth & Lind 2010).

Promoting writing in the classroom

The best way to promote writing in the classroom is to honor the attempts children make. Allotting writing time each day, providing the necessary materials, and creating a sharing time shows children that their writing is valued. All children have stories to tell, whether they are written down or not. Allowing them to share these stories and receive feedback from teachers and other students is key to establishing a positive classroom writing environment. Teachers can use

the following strategies to further support children’s writing development:

›› Give encouragement. Initially, children may require encouragement to get started. Most kindergartners are comfortable drawing pictures, so the first step is just encouraging them to draw. Inviting them to tell the story related to their picture validates the idea that a picture has meaning and can tell a story. As the children become more confident in their storytelling skills, they will begin to draw pictures with stories in mind.

›› Offer a variety of materials. Provide different kinds of writing and drawing utensils and paper so that children can make creative choices. Markers are often the tool of choice at this age, but many children also enjoy using colored pencils or crayons. If suitable technology is available, allowing children to “paint” a picture on a computer or iPad and then print it can be highly motivating.

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›› Support invented spelling. As children learn to read, they begin to use letters to represent sounds in an increasingly sophisticated manner. This is not the time to stress traditional spelling; rather, it is an important time for exploration of language. Encouraging children to graphically represent the sounds they hear when they say a word helps children begin to make connections between reading and writing.

›› Help tell the story. Often a child will elaborate on a story once the struggle to write it on his own is lifted. Using the language experience approach, the child dictates his story while the teacher writes it down. This scaffolding measure is helpful for young writers because it mediates the demands of writing while still allowing the child to tell his story (Van Allen 1976).

›› Designate a consistent sharing time. It is important to allot a time when children are encouraged to share their pictures and stories. Creating a special chair or space for this can further motivate children to want to share. As with many components in kindergarten, establishing a special routine for this sharing is important, as it initially increases the desire to write.

›› Teach children to give appropriate feedback. Kristen uses compliments and wishes as child-friendly ways to initiate feedback for the author. Modeling this in the beginning demonstrates the best way to critique a story without hurting feelings. For example, after a child shares a story, the teacher says, “I would like to compliment Sarah because I enjoyed all the details she put in her story” or “I have a wish for Sarah. I would like to hear more about the beautiful dress in the story.” This is a simple way to begin the process of revision with young learners.

›› Stand back and allow reciprocity to occur. Students will start actively transferring skills between reading and writing when space and time are afforded. This amazing process is beautiful to watch and simple to encourage. To facilitate this process, allow children the freedom to express whatever comes into their minds during sharing time.

Children demonstrate their knowledge

By spring, the children in Kristen’s class were adept at using comprehension strategies to deepen their

understanding of both author-written stories and stories written by classmates. At circle time, Kristen is reading Zack’s Alligator (1995), by Shirley Mozelle.

Kristen: [reading from book] Zack lifted the lid. [To the class] Okay, hands up if you know what it might be.

Arman: Um, an alligator.

Kristen: You think it’s an alligator in this little box?

All: A small alligator . . . It’s a small one . . . Nope . . . Yes.

Kristen: So, by looking at the pictures, why would you say it’s a small alligator? Why would it be a small alligator, based on the picture? Annie?

Annie: Because there’s a little box.

Kristen: Because there’s a little box. So you did some inferring, right? You looked at the pictures and tried to decide something you didn’t explicitly know from the text.

Jason: Um, I know something about fiction on this. Alligators don’t really swing.

Kristen: Alligators don’t really swing. That’s good. So that’s another reason we know this is going to be fiction. Very good. Okay, for this next couple of pages I want hands down, eyes closed, and we’re visualizing. This means we’re going to try to imagine what we’re reading.

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Workshop Format Based on the work of Lucy Calkins (1994), the writer’s workshop in Kristen’s class provided a framework for writing instruction and practice and consisted of four components:

1. Minilesson—This is a short, explicit lesson on a particular writing technique (procedures and organization, strategies and processes, skills, and craft and technique).

2. Independent writing—Students write daily on topics of their choosing. The teacher acts as a facilitator, monitoring, encouraging, conferencing, and helping.

3. Conferencing (occurs during independent writing)— The teacher conferences with individual writers, giving feedback on their work.

4. Author’s chair—Students have the opportunity to share their writing and practice speaking. The audience is encouraged to respond to the writing.

Kristen reads from the book.

Kristen: Hands up and share your visualizations please. Arman, what did you see?

Arman: I saw the alligator growing, because the alligators grow bigger.

Kristen: Because baby alligators grow bigger. That was a great description of what you saw, Arman. Thank you. Anybody have any questions, comments, connections? Please show your sign so I know which one it is. Ellie, you have a connection?

Ellie: I saw a show, my sister was watching it, and there was an alligator.

Kristen: Oh, so you saw a show—what kind of connection is that, do you know?

Ellie: Text-to-a-show.

Kristen: Text-to-a-show. Well, alright, that works for me.

Brenda: I saw a real live alligator in a zoo.

Kristen: Wow. Was that here in Idaho? So she had a text-to-what connection?

Children: Text-to-zoo.

Kristen: I think text-to-self because it was her own memory, or text-to-world because it was out in the world.

Kristen reads an additional portion of the story and then pauses.

Kristen: Okay, raise your hand if you have a visualization. What did you see? Kassie?

Kassie: I saw him on the couch.

Kristen: And this is just like you saw, Kassie, with the alligator laying on the couch.

Justin: I have a wish.

Kristen: You have a wish for the author?

Justin: Yes. I would like to see real alligator pictures in this book instead of drawn ones.

Kristen: Well, that’s a good wish.

Tessa: And I have a compliment for this author. When I write my alligator story, I am going to make it just like this one because I think it’s very good.

Kristen: Excellent!

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Conclusion

Over the course of the year, Kristen’s literacy instruction evolved. Instead of trying to control the discussions and compartmentalize the children’s learning, she learned to gently guide the children’s conversations while encouraging the transfer of strategies across literacy experiences. For this kindergarten class, the year has been one of growth for both the teacher and the students.

References

Beck, I.L., & M.G. McKeown. 2001. “Text Talk: Capturing the Benefits of Read-Aloud Experiences for Young Children.” The Reading Teacher 55 (1): 10–20.

Calkins, L.M. 1994. The Art of Teaching Writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Charlesworth, R., & K.K. Lind. 2010. Math and Science for Young Children. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage.

Christ, T., & X.C. Wang. 2010. “Bridging the Vocabulary Gap: What the Research Tells Us About Vocabulary Instruction in Early Childhood.” Young Children 65 (3): 84–91.

Cummins, J. 1994. “The Acquisition of English as a Second Language.” Chap. 3 in Kids Come in All Languages: Reading Instruction for ESL Students, eds. K. Spangenberg-Urbschat & R. Pritchard, 36–62. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Graves, M.F. 2006. The Vocabulary Book: Learning & Instruction. New York: Teachers College Press.

Gregory, A.E., & M.A Cahill. 2010. “Kindergartners Can Do It, Too! Comprehension Strategies for Early Readers.” Reading Teacher 63 (6): 515–20.

Keene, E.O., & S. Zimmerman. 2007. Mosaic of Thought: The Power of Comprehension Strategy Instruction. 2nd ed. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

Mozelle, S. 1995. Zack’s Alligator. New York: HarperCollins.

Van Allen, R. 1976. Language Experiences in Communication. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.

About the Authors Mary Ann Cahill, EdD, is an associate professor of literacy at Bellarmine University, in Louisville, Kentucky. Mary Ann teaches reading comprehension and early childhood literacy. [email protected]

Anne E. Gregory, PhD, is a professor of literacy and chair of the Department of Literacy and Elementary Education at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Anne specializes in early and emergent literacy.

Copyright © 2016 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. See Permissions and Reprints online at www.naeyc.org/yc/permissions.

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