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ED 380 809 CS 214 771
AUTHOR Essex, Christopher, Comp.; Smith, Carl B., Ed.TITLE Creative Writing in the Elementary School. Hot Topic
Guide 57.INSTITUTION ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and
Communication, Bloomington, IN.SPONS AGENCY Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED)',
Washington, DC.PUB DATE Mar 95CONTRACT RR93002011NOTE 68p.; All of the articles and book chapters included
in this, and any other, Hot Topic Guide are reprintedwith the express permission of their copyrightholders.Distance Education/ERIC-REC, Indiana University,Smith Research Center, Suite 150, 2805 E. 10th St.,Bloomington, IN 47408-2698 ($15, prepaid, usingMastercard, Visa, or check made payable toERIC/REC).Information Analyses ERIC Clearinghouse Products(071) Guides Non-Classroom Use (055)
AVAILABLE FROM
PUB TYPE
EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Annotated Bibliographies; Computer Uses in Education;
*Creative Writing; *Elementary Education; Gifted;Poetry; Writing Improvement
IDENTIFIERS Childrens Writing; *Writing Development
ABSTRACTOne of a series of educational packages designed for
implementation either in a workshop atmosphere or through individualstudy, this Hot Topic guide presents a variety of materials to assisteducators in designing and implementing classroom projects andactivities centering on the topic of creative writing in theelementary school. The Hot Topic guide contains guidelines forworkshop use; an overview/lecture on creative writing in theelementary school; eight articles (from scholarly and professionaljournals); and ERIC documents on the topic. A 43-item annotatedbibliography (including special sections on poetry, the gifted, andusing computers) of items in the ERIC database on creative writing isattached. (RS)
************************************************************************ Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made* from the original document.***********************************************AY********************
HOT TOPICGUIDE 57
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
HELPFUL GUIDELINES FOR WORKSHOP USESuggestions for using this Hot Topic Guide as a professionaldevelopment tool.
OVERVIEW/LECTURECreative Writing in the Elementary Schoolby Christopher Essex
ARTICLES AND ERIC DOCUMENTSFrom Fake to Fiction: Young Children Learn about Writing FictionWriting as PlayUsing Character Development to Improve Story WritingUsing Cues and Prompts to Improve Story WritingTalking about Writing: Developing Independent WritersAssessment: Collaborating with Children to Assess Writing ObjectivelyVariations on the Culminating EventPublishing Children's Writing
BIBLIOGRAPHYA collection of selected references and abstracts obtained directlyfrom the ERIC database.
Compiler: Christopher EssexSeries Editors: Dr. Carl B. Smith, Eleanor Macfarlane and Christopher Essex
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in-Service Workshops and Seminars:Suggestions for Using this Not Topir Guide as aProfessional Development Tool
Before the Workshop:Carefully review the materials presented in this Hot Topic Guide. Think about how theseconcepts and projects might be applied to your particular school or district.As particular concepts begin to stand out in your mind as being important, use theBibliography section (found at the end of the packet) to seek out additional resourcesdealing specifically with those concepts.Look over the names of the teachers and researchers who wrote the packet articlesand/or are listed in the Bibliography. Are any of the names familiar to you? Do any ofthem work in your geographical area? Do you have colleagues or acquaintances whoare engaged in similar research and/or teaching? Perhaps you could enlist their help andexpertise as you plan your workshop or seminar.As you begin to plan your activities, develop a mental "movie" of what you'd like to seehappening in the classroom as a result of this in-service workshop or seminar. Keep thisvision in mind as a guide to your planning.
During the Workshop:Provide your participants with a solid grasp of the important concepts that you haveacquired from your reading, but don't load them down with excessive detail, such aslots of hard-to-remember names, dates or statistics. You may wish to use theOverview/Lecture section of this packet as a guide for your introductory remarks aboutthe topic.Try modeling the concepts and teaching strategies related to the topic by "teaching" aminilesson for your group.Remember, if your teachers and colleagues ask you challenging or difficult questionsabout the topic, that they are not trying to discredit you or your ideas. Rather, they aretrying to prepare themselves for situations that might arise as they implement theseideas in their own classrooms.If any of the participants are already using some of these ideas in their own teaching,encourage them to share their experiences.Even though your workshop participants are adults, many of the classroom managementprinciples that you use every day with your students still apply. Workshop participants,admittedly, have a longer attention span and can sit still longer than your second-graders; but not that much longer. Don't have a workshop that is just a "sit down, shutup, and listen" session. Vary the kinds of presentations and activities you provide inyour workshops. For instance, try to include at least one hands-on activity so that theparticipants will begin to get a feel for how they might apply the concepts that you arediscussing in your workshop.Try to include time in the workshop for she participants to work in small groups. Thistime may be a good opportunity for them to formulate plans for how they might use theconcepts just discussed in their own classrooms.Encourage teachers to go "a step further" with what they have learned in the workshop.Provide additional resources for them to continue their research into the topicsdiscussed, such as books, journal articles, Hot Topic Guides, teaching materials, andlocal experts. Alert them to future workshops/conferences on related topics.
11/94
After the Workshop:Follow up on the work you have done. Have your workshop attendees fill out an End-of-Session Evaluation (a sample is included on the next page). Emphasize that theirresponses are anonymous. The participants' answers to these questi ins can be veryhelpful in planning your next workshop. After a reasonable amount of time (say a fewmonths or a semester), contact your workshop attendees and inquire about how theyhave used, or haven't used, the workshop concepts in their teaching. Have anysurprising results come up? Are there any unforeseen problems?When teachers are trying the new techniques, suggest that they invite you to observetheir classes. As you discover success stories among teachers from your workshop,share them with the other attendees, particularly those who seem reluctant to give theideas a try.Find out what other topics your participants would like to see covered in futureworkshops and seminars. There are nearly sixty Hot Topic Guides, and more are alwaysbeing developed. Whatever your focus, there is probably a Hot Topic Guide that canhelp. An order form follows the table of contents in this packet.
Are You Looking for University Course Credit?Indiana University's Distance Education programis offering new one-credit-hour Language Arts Educationminicourses on these topics:
Elementary:Language Learning and DevelopmentVaried Writing StrategiesParents and the Reading ProcessExploring creative Writing with
Elementary Students
Secondary:Varied Writing StrategiesThematic Units and LiteratureExploring Creative Writing with
Secondary Students
K-12:Reading across the CurriculumWriting across the CurriculumOrganization of the Classroom
Course Requirements:These minicburses are taught bycorrespondence. Minicourse readingmaterials consist of Hot Topic Guides andERIC/EDINFO Press books. You will beasked to write Goal Statements andReaction Papers for each of the assignedreading materiais, and a final Synthesispaper.
I really enjoyed working at my own pace....It was wonderful to have everything soorganized...and taken care of in a mannerwhere I really felt like / was a student,however 'distant' I was....--Distance Education student
Three-Credit-Hour Coursesare also offered (now with (3ptionalvideos!):Advanced Study in the Teaching of:
Reading in the Elementary SchoolLanguage Arts in the Elementary SchoolSecondary School English/Language ArtsReading in the Secondary School
Writing as a Response to ReadingDeveloping Parent Involvement ProgramsCritical Thinking across the CurriculumOrganization and Administration of a
School Reading Program
For More Information:For course outlines and registrationinstructions, please contact:
Distance Education OfficeSmith Research Center, Suite 1502805 East 10th StreetBloomington, IN 47408-26981-800-759-4723 or 1812) 855-5847
6
. r
Planning a Workshop PresentationWorksheet
Major concepts ycu want to stress in this presentation:
1)
2)
3) .
Are there additional resources mentioned in the Bibliography that would be worthlocating? Which ones? How could you get them most easily?
Are there resource people available in your area whom you might consult about thistopic and/or invite to participate? Who are they?
What would you like to see happen in participants' classrooms as a result of thisworkshop? Be as specific as possible.
Plans for followup to this workshop: [peer observations, sharing experiences, etc.]
7
Agenda for WorkshopPlanning Sheet
Introduction/Overview:[What would be the most effective way to present the major conceptsthat you wish to convey?]
Activities that involve participants and incorporate the main concepts of this workshop:
1)
2)
Applications:Encourage participants to plan a mini-lesson for their educational setting thatdraws on these concepts. [One possibility is to work in small groups, duringthe workshop, to make a plan and then share it with other participants.]
Your plan to make this happen:
Evaluation:[Use the form on the next page, or one you design, to get feedback fromparticipants about your presentation.]
END-OF-SESSION EVALUATION
Now that today's meeting is over, we would like to know how you feel andwhat you think about the things we did so that we can make them better. Youropinion is important to us. Please answer all questions honestly. Your answers areconfidential.
1. Check ( ) to show if today's meeting was
Not worthwhile L.1 Somewhat worthwhile Very worthwhile
2. Check ( ) to show if today's meeting was
Not interesting Somewhat interesting Very interesting
3. Check ( V ) to show if today's leader was
1:3 Not very good Just O.K. [2i Very good
4. Check ( I ) to show if the meeting helped you get any useful ideas about how youcan make positive changes in the classroom.
Very little [21 Some Very much
5. Check ( ) to show if today's meeting was
Tao long Too short t=1 Just about right
6. Check ( ) whether you would recommend today's meeting to a colleague.
Ci Yes No7. Check ( ) to show how useful you found each of the things we did or discussed
today.
Getting information/new ideas.
Not useful Somewhat useful Very useful
Seeing and hearing demonstrations of teaching techniques.
Not useful 1:21 Somewhat useful Very useful
Getting materials to read.Not useful Somewhat useful Very useful
Listening to other teachers tell about their own experiences.Not useful Somewhat useful Very useful
Working with colleagues in a small group to develop strategies of our own.
Not useful Somewhat useful Very useful
Getting support from others in the group.Not useful Somewhat useful Very useful
8. Please write one thing that you thought was best about today:
9. Please write one thing that could have been improved today:
10. What additional information would you have liked?
11. Do you have any questions you would like to ask?
12. What additional comments would you like to make?
Thank you for completing this form.10
Creative Writing in the Elementary SchoolOverview by Christopher Essex
M.F.A.-Creative Writing, Indiana University
"Children want to write. They want to write the first day they attend school. Thisis no accident. Before they went to school they marked up walls, pavements, newspaperswith crayons, chalk, pens or pencils...anything that makes a mark. The child's marks say,'I am.'" (Graves, 3)
As the quotation above suggests, most children enter school with a natural interestin writing, an inherent need to express themselves in words. Couple this with the child'slove of stories and nursery rhymes (Who has not seen a goggle-eyed group of kindergartnerslost in the world of imagination as their teacher reads them a favorite story or nurseryrhyme?) and you have the basis for building an emotionally involving and intellectuallystimulating creative writing program for your students. In this Hot Topic guide, you will bereading carefully selected articles from various magazines and journals about this importantsubject.
The Necessity of Creative WritingGail E. Tompkins suggests, in her article of the same name, seven reasons why
children should write stories (these reasons, of course, also apply to writing poetry):
1) To entertain2) To foster artistic expression3) To explore the functions and values of writing4) To stimulate imagination5) To clarify thinking6) To search for identity7) To learn to read and write (Tompkins, 718-21)
With these compelling reasons in mind--along with children's natural interests inwriting and storytelling--it is hard to justify not making creative writing an important part ofthe elementary school classroom day. It is important that the reasons for writing be madeclear to administrators and parents, who may automatically categorize creative writing asmerely frivolous play, something akin to recess. Whiie writing certainly should be enjoyable,and children should have opportunities to choose their own subjects and methods of writing, the importance of creative writing in developing children's cognitive and communicationskills cannot be underestimated.
"Though we can identify several psychological, social and cognitive reasons whychildren should compose stories regularly, one reason is to me clearly the most significant.In the process of attempting to get their ideas out on paper so they can b6 shared withothers, children clarify their thinking. The process of encoding ephemeral thoughts intomore permanent form in writing results in a clarification of those ideas." (John WarrenStewig, quoted in Tompkins, 720). The fact that t'iese ideas originate from the child, andnot some exterior source, such as a reference book a child might use to write a nonfictionessay or a novel chosen for a book report, may allow some children to feel less intimidatedand more competent in expressing themselves. "If we want children to learn to write,"according to Kenneth Hoskisson, "we must use a mode that will be interesting to them andthat will allow them to develop their imaginative and creative powers." (Tompkins, 721)
It is important to realize, and to communicate this realization to parents andadministrators, that having children write fiction has many of the same intellectual benefits
11.Hot Topic Guide 67: Overview 1
as having them write nonfiction. In a creative writing classroom, "children learn to write, toread, to understand literary and grammatical structures by reading stories, by discussingtheir structures, by writing stories based on their structures, by discussing their ownwriting, and by repeating the cycle over and over again." (Tompkins, 721) By beingactively involved with, and actively interrogating their involvement with, the elements thatmake up our written and oral communication, these young writers of fiction will gain anintuitive and intellectual understanding of its operations. This kind of understanding willelude those who merely observe it in its final, polished, professionally-producedpresentation. Simply put, one can best understand how something is constructed byattempting to put it together yourself.
Both the writer of fiction and the writer of nonfiction must put forth a similar kind ofquestioning of his/her world. Teachers should emphasize that good fiction requires logicalconsistency and factual accuracy. Creative writers are asking us to believe in their dreams,and this requires that they 'get the details right.' If a student wants to write a story abouta pitcher for the Seattle Mariners, then they should know things like: what the stadiumlooks like, what kind of glove the pitcher wears, how high the mound is, etc. Even storiesthat are based on fantasy or science fiction, with monsters and space aliens, need to obeyvarious rules of logic; they need to 'make sense.' For instance, what might the monstereat? What kind of planet would the alien come from? This kind of questioning can open upmany new areas of intellectual and emotional interest for the student writer of fantasy orscience fiction. These are areas that they might not have as easily accessed through othertypes of writing. Thus, their understanding of their world is deepened.
Specific Techniques for Teaching Story-Writing
One of the most difficult questions for many Creative Writing instructors to answeris, "What is a story?" Most children, by the time they. reach elementary school, have beenexposed, through first being read to, and then by reading on their own, to hundreds ofstories, and they may at this point have an intuitive feel for what 'seems like a story' andwhat doesn't. But this 'story-sense' will vary in degree for each student , and it is notsomething that can be relied upon to occur automatically. A sense of what a story is canbe reinforced during our classroom reading of stories, and also, importantly, in post-storydiscussion. If students are led in a helpful way in these discussions, they may begin to seesimilarities and differences between books of different writing styles and content and willbegin to form an idea of the forms and structures that stories generally follow.
In "From Fake to Fiction: Young Children Learn about Writing Fiction," the firstarticle in this Hot Topic Guide, Sharon Taberski relates her experiences as a second-gradeteacher struggling with the difference between her expectations of her students' writing andthe reality of it. She set out, as she says, to "research the qualities of good fiction andthen develop strategies that young children could use to integrate these qualities into theirown writing." Her strategies are similar to those used in graduate-school-level writingworkshops, but are tailored to the unique requirements of the elementary-school classroom.
The author of the article, "Using Cues and Prompts to Improve Story Writing" hasstudents take their growing knowledge of story structure and utilize it in their own creativewriting, using an easy-to-understand checklist method. Hopefully, once students are usedto the checklist method, they will internalize some of the general concepts of story structureand rely less on the checklist.
Carla Rensenbrink's article, "Writing as Play," offers a slightly different approach, asthe title suggests. Her approach emphasizes children's personal involvement andinvestment in their writing, and she suggests several activities that will help children keeptheir natural enthusiasm for writing.
For many children, one of the most enjoyable aspects of writing fiction is that itallows them to create "invisible friends" for themselves in the characters that they invite
12Hot Topic Guick 57: Creative Writing in the Elementary School 2
into their stories. However, to the "outsider" in this relationship- the reader--thesecharacters may come across as flat and one-dimensional, in a word, unrealistic.The article, "Using Character Development to Improve Story Writing," provides specificsuggestions about how to help your students create interesting, complex characters. Also,importantly, it describes a method of having children evaluate their own work in regards to
the complexity of the characterization.
Specific Teaching Techniques for Teaching Poetry-Writing
To a teacher who has not had much experience reading or writing poetry, it can be avery intimidating thing to consider working with elementary school students on creatingtheir own poetry. This is especially so if the teacher has had experience only with readingthe classics of Western literature; formal, sometimes difficult and abstract, written in archaic
language. One very useful thing teachers can do is to look into modern poetry, Lay a goodanthology or two, such as the Norton or Vintage anthologies, and perhaps even try writing apoem or two in emulation of the poems they find. This exposure to how poetry is writtennow will form a useful background of knowledge when discussing poetry with yourstudents, and when commenting on their work. The anthologies can also provide examples
of poems for your students.In the article, "Poetry Writing in the Upper Elementary Grades," not part of this guide
but listed in the bibliography section, Ruth H. Freeman suggests useful techniques andactivities to introduce upper elementary students to poetry. She emphasizes reading poetryaloud to students and having them discuss both the meaning and the formal structure of the
poem. Directing the students' attention to such techniques as alliteration, she has themwrite their own short alliterative poems. She also has the children write short, three-linepoems called 'terquains'; the first line names the subject in one word, the second linedescribes the subject in two or three words, and the last line gives an emotion relating tothe subject. An example is:
StormsHorrifying, terrifying
Destruction.(Freeman, 240)
Later, she provides examples of haiku (3 lines of 5-7-5 syllables) and has thechildren write their own. The attention to syllables and the need to carefully choose andarrange words in order to meet the form's requirements can be very useful in developingchildren's language abilities. Freeman cautions educators about the overemphasis onrhyming poems, which are of-ten the only kind of poetry most children are exposed to.While entertaining and often musically appealing to hear eying students write rhymingpoetry is often difficult and unsatisfying. The need to find a rhyming word often restrictsunduly the children's already-limited vocabulary, and meaning tends to take a back seat inthe resulting poem. As Freeman says, "Rhyme turns fun and challenge into a chore" (241).While some students are successful at and enjoy writing rhymed poetry, teachers should be
aware of its limitations.It is important that students have experience writing in all of the forms of creative
writing: fiction, poetry, and drama. While it is outside the scope of this guide to presentarticles related to poetry and drama, you will find several articles on both subjects listed inthe ERIC bibliography at the back of the packet.
Feedback
Many teachers, particularly those who did not get take extensive college courseworkin English or creative writing, feel unsure of themselves when confronted with givingfeedback on students' creative writing. They do not wish to stifle students' creativity or
13 Her Topic. Guide 57: Creative Writing in the Elementary School 3
expression of themselves, and may even feel that appreciation of writing is .so subjectivethat comments that are at all critical may be unfair.
"Talking about Writing--Developing Independent Writers," by Iris W. Estabrook,looks in detail at how a first-grade teacher helped one of her students develop criticalthinking abilities regarding his own writing. The reader is given insight into a six-monthperiod wherein the student, his teacher, and the class worked together in discussingstudent-written stories, questioning elements within them, and revising the work. Estabrookdeals with the student's initial resistance to any suggestion of revision to his stories, whichis a very common reaction, even with adult writers. The article shows how, by sharing hiswork with an audience (in this case, the other students as well as the teacher) the studentbecame motivated to continue improving his short stories, and to become a "thoughtful,choice-making writer." (705)
The writing workshop, long a star.:iby of college creative writing programs, can alsobe adapted to teaching elementary students. Having students read each others' work andcomment upon it can help both reader and writer. Writers are provided an audience for theirwork, which is almost universally appealing, and, for many children, comments by theirpeers will be attended to in ways that teacher comments would not. The reader may pickup on techniques of fiction that might not be apparent from reading a professionallypublished book, and will have an emotional investment in reading and understanding thework that other kinds of reading do not offer. The writing workshop can further the kind ofcritical thinking skills that students are already being encouraged to use in other aspects oftheir learning.
Many teachers report on being surprised at the insightfulness and quality of the peerfeedback that is a product of the writing workshop. Of course, as with much studentinteraction, this feedback needs to be modeled and monitored. Timothy J. Lensmire, in hisbook, 'When Children Write: Critical Revisions of the Writing Workshop," comments on hisinitial experiences teaching eight and nine-year-olds in the workshop format: "As I shiftedcontrol over aspects of the work of literacy to children in this third-grade classroom,children's relations with each other became extremely important for their experiences andwriting in the workshop. These relations included the rejection, by children, of members ofthe other sex as partners in collaborative work, and peer hierarchies granting those girls andboys at the top status and influence, and those at the bottom the brunt of teasing andexclusion." (1-2) None of this shceld come as any surprise to one who has regularlyworked with children, and this should not be seen as a disincentive to the open sharing ofwriting in the classroom, but it is important to consider the classroom managementimplications of creative writing work.
Assessment
As mentioned above, many teachers view creative writing as 'impossible to grade',and think that any form of evaluation is necessarily subjective and therefore often unfair.Related to this belief, they think that if a students' work cannot be judged fairly, then thereis no way of accurately monitoring their growth and progress. "Assessment: Coliaboratingwith Students to Assess Writing Objectively," by Susan Mandel Glazer, acknowledges theseworries, but argues that assessment can be practical, useful, and fair, providing that theteacher clearly communicates consistent criteria for the work that will be evaluated, criteriafocusing on writing skills such as description, organization, and punctuation, rather thanrelying on the teacher's general 'impression' of the quality of the work, or comparison withother students' work. These criteria can be tailored to specific student strengths andweaknesses, and can be modified as the child's abilities develop. Glaser provides anexample of a "framework," a collection of several of these criteria that she used to assess astudent's writing.
14
Hot Topic Guido 57: Creative Writing in the Elementary School 4
Publication
Many teachers look at publication, in some form, as being a useful and satisfyingconclusion to a unit of writing fiction. Having a nicely-presented finished version of thestudents' work can often be a source of pride to the student, and a way to share thespecialness of creative writing with his or her family. Publication also provides motivationfor a student to do the extra work of revision and proofreading, for which they mightotherwise be lacking. The article, "Variations on the Culminating Event," by Harry Greenbergand Nancy Larson Shapiro, discusses specific techniques that will help teachers presenttheir students' work in the best, most attractive fashion. "Publishing Children's Writing," anERIC Digest by Marjorie Simic, presents other alternatives to publishing as a way ofpresenting student work to an audience, such as writing competitions and "the author'schair."
Conclusion
It is hoped that this overview, and the following articles, will help you introduce orexpand creative writing in your Elementary classroom. The materials chosen have beenselected to provide both a theoretical and a practical basis for a quality program. Thearticles and books mentioned in this overview are included in the bibliography below, andmay serve as useful materials in designing your creative writing classroom, as will theadditional ERIC bibliography at the back of this packet.
Works Cited:
Books:Graves, Donald H. (1983) Writing: Teachers and Children at Work. Exeter, NH:Heinemann.
Gregory, Cynde. (1990) Childmade: Awakening Children to Creative Writing. Barrytown,NY: Station Hill Press.
Lensmire, Timothy J. (1994) When Children Write: Critical Re-Visions of the WritingWorkshop. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Journal Articles (other than those included in this Hot Topic Guide):
Freeman, Ruth H., "Poetry Writing in the Upper Elementary Grades," The Reading Teacher,v.37 n.3, December 1983, pp. 238-242
Tompkins, Gail E., "Seven Reasons Why Children Should Write Stories," Language Arts, v.59n.7, October 1982, pp. 718-21
15
Hot Topic Guido 57: Creative Writing in the Elementary School 5
From
Fak
e to
Fic
tion:
You
ng C
hild
ren
Lea
rn A
bout
Wri
ting
Fict
ion
Shar
on T
aber
ski
"Mrs
. Tab
ersk
i, I n
eed
your
hel
p,"
was
the
requ
est t
hat
rose
abo
ve th
e ot
her
voic
es in
my
clas
sroo
m A
s I t
urne
d ar
ound
tose
e w
ho w
as tu
ggin
g at
my
swea
ter,
ther
e st
ood
Mic
hael
, an
eage
r, s
even
-ye
ar -
old
writ
er c
lutc
hing
his
five
-pa
ge s
tory
. "I n
eed
help
with
how
to e
nd it
," c
ontin
ued
Mic
hael
. As
I rea
d M
i-ch
ael's
sto
ry, "
The
Hau
nted
Hou
se,"
my
perc
eptio
n of
mys
elf a
s a
"mor
e th
anad
equa
te"
writ
ing
teac
her
`veg
an to
unr
avel
. The
onl
y pr
oble
m M
icha
el fe
lthe
had
with
his
sto
ry w
as h
ow to
get
out
of a
hau
nted
hou
se fi
lled
with
gho
sts
and
mon
ster
s, w
ho h
ad a
lread
y ki
lled
off h
is fr
iend
s in
ver
y go
ry w
ays.
Mic
hael
need
ed h
elp
with
his
sto
ry a
nd I
was
una
ble
to h
elp
him
.M
icha
el's
sto
ry c
onta
ined
qua
litie
s co
mm
on in
mos
t of t
he s
econ
d-gr
ade
fic-
tion
stor
ies
I hav
e re
ad. I
t lac
ked
feel
ing,
dire
ctio
n, a
nd p
laus
ibili
ty. T
he c
har-
acte
rs w
ere
lifel
ess
and
unen
gagi
ng. J
ohn
D. M
acD
onal
d sa
id: "
Sto
ry is
som
ethi
ng h
appe
ning
to s
omeo
ne y
ou h
ave
been
led
toca
re a
bout
" (S
hule
vitz
1985
, p. 7
). M
icha
el's
sto
ry, h
owev
er, d
id tu
g at
the
hear
t of t
he r
eade
r.1
had
rece
ntly
bee
n aw
arde
d a
gran
t fro
m th
e G
ould
Fou
ndat
ion
to r
esea
rch
child
ren'
s w
ritin
g;T
he r
esea
rch
was
don
e un
der
the
dire
ctio
n of
the
Tea
cher
sC
olle
ge W
ritin
g P
roje
ct, w
hich
is h
eade
d by
Luc
y M
cCor
mic
k C
alki
ns. M
yre
-se
arch
beg
an in
Jan
uary
and
my
first
sig
nific
ant l
earn
ing
abou
t how
chi
ldre
npe
rcei
ve a
nd w
rite
fictio
n oc
curr
ed a
s I o
bser
ved
my
clas
sas
they
atte
mpt
ed to
writ
e fic
tion.
Jess
ica
look
ed d
ispl
ease
d as
she
sta
red
at h
er b
lank
pap
er. I
wal
ked
over
tohe
r to
see
how
I co
uld
help
. "It'
s ha
rder
to w
rite
fictio
n th
an it
isto
writ
e re
alst
orie
s (p
erso
nal n
arra
tives
),"
com
plai
ned
Jess
ica.
I be
nt d
own
to le
arn
mor
efr
om h
er.
It's
diffe
rent
bec
ause
you
alw
ays
look
bac
k w
hen
you
do p
erso
nal n
arra
tives
.. Y
outh
ink
of y
our
vaca
tion,
and
you
thin
k of
the
rides
you
wen
t on.
And
it's
rea
lly h
ard
whe
n yo
u w
rite
fictio
n be
caus
e yo
u ju
st h
ave
to th
ink
up s
omet
hing
in y
our
head
.A
nd if
you
look
bac
k yo
u w
on't
see
anyt
hing
that
's fa
ke. Y
ou'll
just
rem
embe
r eve
-ry
thin
g yo
u di
d th
at w
asn'
t fak
e."
Jess
ica,
in h
er a
ttem
pt to
writ
e fic
tion,
had
bee
n tr
ying
to w
rite
fake
stor
ies.
Jess
ica'
s ex
plan
atio
n w
as m
y fir
st c
lue
as to
why
fict
ion
writ
ing
had
been
soun
succ
essf
ul in
my
writ
ing
clas
ses,
Jes
sica
did
n't u
nder
stan
d w
hat f
ictio
nw
asan
d I b
egan
to s
uspe
ct th
at th
e re
st o
f the
cla
n: d
idn'
t eith
er. I
obs
erve
d th
e ch
il-dr
en a
nd li
sted
the
topi
cs th
ey w
ere
writ
ing
abou
t. I f
ound
sto
ries
title
d: "
The
586
Lang
uage
Art
s, V
olum
e 64
, Num
ber
6, O
ctob
er 1
987
i
prom
hak
e to
hic
tion:
You
ng C
hild
ren
Lear
n /to
mic
uon
Tal
king
Sno
wm
an,"
"T
he T
ree
Tha
t Wal
ked,
" an
d "T
he M
agic
Dai
sies
." J
ason
and
Lori
expl
aine
d th
at w
hen
they
sta
rted
to w
rite
fictio
n, th
ey th
ink
of s
ome-
thin
g th
at c
ould
n't e
ver
happ
en in
rea
l life
, or
som
ethi
ng th
at is
not
true
, and
then
they
thin
k of
a w
ay to
writ
e ab
out i
t.I b
egan
to r
ealiz
e th
e sc
ope
of m
y ch
alle
nge
and
was
det
erm
ined
to a
void
a.
frag
men
ted
appr
oach
to te
achi
ng fi
ctio
n. I
did
not w
ant t
o di
vide
fict
ion
into
the
cate
gorie
s of
plo
t, ch
arac
ter,
and
set
ting.
I w
ante
d m
y ch
ildre
n to
exp
erie
nce
the
gest
alt o
f fic
tion
writ
ing.
Str
ateg
ies
Tha
t Hel
p th
e F
ictio
n W
riter
My
first
ste
p w
as to
res
earc
h th
e qu
aliti
es o
f goo
d fic
tion
and
then
dev
elop
str
at-
egie
s th
at y
oung
chi
ldre
n co
uld
use
to in
tegr
ate
thes
e qu
aliti
es in
to th
eir
own
writ
ing.
I de
cide
d to
em
phas
ize
that
goo
dfi
ctio
n:
Dea
ls w
ith u
nive
rsal
them
es o
r se
min
al is
sues
in li
fe. W
hen
issu
es s
uch
as fr
iend
ship
, fea
r, a
nd c
opin
g w
ith d
iffic
ulty
are
writ
ten
abou
t ski
llful
lyan
d ho
nest
ly th
ey e
voke
feel
ings
in th
e re
ader
.Le
ads
the
read
er to
car
e ab
out w
hat h
appe
ns to
the
char
acte
rs. I
t is
not
cruc
ial t
hat t
he r
eade
r lik
e th
e m
ain
char
acte
r, b
ut h
e or
she
sho
uld
atle
ast c
are
abou
t wha
t hap
pens
to th
e m
ain
char
acte
r.A
llow
s th
e m
ain
char
acte
r to
cha
nge
in s
ome
way
or
to s
olve
a p
robl
em.
Sat
isfie
s th
e re
ader
by
its c
ompl
eted
act
ion.
The
sto
ries
have
the
qual
ityof
who
lene
ss.
I arr
ived
at a
set
of s
trat
egie
s to
pre
sent
in m
y te
achi
ng w
hich
wou
ld e
nabl
eth
e ch
ildre
n to
bet
ter
unde
rsta
nd th
e qu
aliti
es o
f goo
d fic
tion
and
inco
rpor
ate
them
in th
eir
own
writ
ing.
The
str
ateg
ies
wer
e: (
1) s
tres
sing
the
impo
rtan
ce o
fto
pic
sele
ctio
n w
hen
writ
ing
fictio
n, (
2) u
sing
lite
ratu
re to
teac
h fic
tion
writ
ing,
(3)
stre
ssin
g th
e im
port
ance
of h
avin
g th
e m
ain
char
acte
r ch
ange
or
solv
e a
prob
lem
, (4)
em
phas
izin
g th
at s
torie
s sh
ould
be
real
ity-b
ased
, or
grou
nded
inth
e w
riter
's o
wn
expe
rienc
es, a
nd (
5) e
ncou
ragi
ng th
e ch
ildre
n to
res
earc
h th
eir
fictio
n pi
eces
.
aoos
e T
opic
s Y
ou C
are
Abo
ut
Top
ic s
elec
tion
is a
cru
cial
ele
men
t in
good
writ
ing.
Writ
ing
is o
ften
faci
litat
edw
hen
the
writ
er c
ares
dee
ply
abou
t wha
t he
or s
he is
writ
ing.
Whe
n th
is q
ualit
yis
pre
sent
it c
an e
leva
te th
e w
riter
's e
nerg
y le
vel a
nd m
ake
the
piec
e m
ore
pow
-er
ful.
It ca
n al
so e
voke
feel
ings
in th
e re
ader
. Suz
anne
car
ed a
bout
her
sto
ryab
out a
gra
ndfa
ther
. Whe
n I a
sked
her
whe
re s
he g
ot th
e id
ea fo
r th
e st
ory,
she
repl
ied,
"I k
eep
thin
king
of m
y G
rand
pa a
nd if
he
ever
die
s. E
very
nig
ht I
hope
he w
on't
die.
The
n I g
ot a
sto
ry a
bout
a G
rand
pa th
at a
lmos
t die
s."
Suz
anne
'sst
ory
was
impo
rtan
t to
her.
It in
volv
ed r
eal c
once
rns
and
fear
s. S
uzan
ne e
nded
her
stor
y lik
e th
is:
Rep
rinte
d by
per
mis
sion
from
Lang
uage
Art
s M
agaz
ine,
v64
n6,
Oct
198
7
1'7
8L
angu
age
Art
s
We
e ks
pos
ted
bc4+
orm
nolp
ictn
'i co
me.
00
or1-
sosp
iic;1
,The
,n c
if4.
era.
c.v
./m
ore.
day
of h
ard
war
ki
rnilk
inm
Fow
sio
t
eve,
ryvi
lino,
al'
lad
+r)
door
bell
rang
," tr
ickf
be..
rcki
ncip
K4i
/Vic
yyel
lecI
.Sh
e ra
n -t
o+
he o
lOO
r o
woi
,(4
0w
asG
rorlo
yCk!
'tie
rrar
mA
ii.O
Ie
he-
carn
e in
toC
her
il'ot
ASt
trac
y h
tAm
cdhi
rne
,so
hard
, rho
,T
rocy
.A
rn
J1-1
1 c
and
-Po-
fh e
rca
me;
And
}!al
l'lo
ot 0
,1b'
cj-F
amily
hits
aria
scd
- . d
own
to h
ave
sot,
teat
.
The
Eri
ck
e
Aft
er S
uzan
ne r
ead
her
stor
y I
com
men
ted
the
the
endi
ng, "
And
they
all
had
a bi
g fa
mily
hug
," s
ound
ed v
ery
poet
ic. I
t con
veye
d a
lot o
f fe
elin
g in
just
a f
eww
ords
.
Use
Lite
ratu
re a
s a
Res
ourc
e
I as
ked
Suza
nne
whe
re s
he g
ot th
e id
ea f
or h
er e
ndin
g. S
he s
mile
d as
she
poi
nted
to m
y "l
ibra
ry"
of p
oetr
y an
d pi
ctur
e bo
oks.
She
sai
d, "
I go
t the
idea
whe
n yo
ure
ad u
s T
he R
elat
ives
Cam
e by
Cyn
thia
Ryl
ant."
I th
en to
ok th
e bo
ok f
rom
the
shel
f an
d re
ad a
loud
the
sect
ion
Suza
nne
was
ref
erri
ng to
.
The
n it
was
hug
ging
tim
e. T
alk
abou
t hug
ging
! T
hose
rel
ativ
es ju
st p
asse
d us
arou
nd th
eir
car,
pul
ling
us a
gain
st th
eir
wri
nkle
d V
irgi
nia
clot
hes,
cry
ing
som
e-tim
es. T
hey
hugg
ed u
s fo
r ho
urs.
The
n it
was
into
the
hous
e an
d so
muc
h la
ughi
ngan
d sh
inin
g fa
ces
and
hugg
ing
in th
e do
orw
ays.
You
'd h
ave
to g
o th
roug
h at
leas
tfo
ur d
iffe
rent
hug
s to
get
fro
m th
e ki
tche
n to
the
fron
t roo
m. T
hose
rel
ativ
es!
(Ry-
lant
198
5)
Suza
nne
said
, "W
hen
I re
ad, i
t giv
es m
e id
eas
of w
hat t
o w
rite
. And
it g
ives
me
the
feel
ing
of f
ictio
n. I
t hel
ps m
e w
rite
bet
ter
fict
ion.
And
all
the
auth
ors
say,
'If
you
wan
t to
wri
te f
ictio
nRea
d!' "
Lite
ratu
re is
an
inva
luab
le to
ol to
hel
p ch
ildre
n w
rite
bet
ter
fict
ion.
Dur
ing
the
mon
ths
that
I c
ondu
cted
my
rese
arch
, I e
nvel
oped
the
child
ren
with
qua
lity
liter
atur
e by
rea
ding
to th
em d
aily
. Am
ong
the
book
s I
read
wer
e pi
ctur
e bo
oks
sinc
e th
ese
stor
ies
wer
e cl
oses
t to
the
ones
the
child
ren
coul
d ap
prox
imat
e in
thei
r w
ritin
g. A
s I
did
this
, it w
as v
ery
natu
ral t
o di
scus
s th
e qu
aliti
es th
at m
ade
-fi
b18
From
Fak
e to
Fic
tion:
You
ng C
hild
ren
Lea
rn A
bout
Wri
ting
Fict
ion
589
thes
e bo
oks
so s
peci
al a
nd e
ndea
ring
. I a
lso
invo
lved
the
child
ren
in a
dai
lyre
adin
g w
orks
hop.
Dur
ing
this
wor
ksho
p th
e ch
ildre
n re
ad f
or f
orty
-fiv
e m
in-
utes
eac
h da
y. T
here
wer
e m
ultip
le c
opie
s of
boo
ks a
nd th
e ch
ildre
n re
ad th
emin
gro
ups
of th
ree,
dis
cuss
ing
the
stor
y, a
utho
r, a
nd c
hara
cter
s. T
hese
rea
ders
read
and
dis
cuss
ed b
ooks
as
adul
t rea
ders
do.
Thi
s re
adin
g w
orks
hop
prov
ided
oppo
rtun
ities
for
me
to h
ighl
ight
the
qual
ities
of
good
fic
tion.
Lite
ratu
re b
e-ca
me
a m
odel
for
thei
r w
ritin
g.C
hild
ren
need
to k
now
wha
t goo
d lit
erat
ure
look
s an
d so
unds
like
. A p
oint
at w
hich
the
child
ren
bega
n to
trul
y un
ders
tand
wha
t goo
d fi
ctio
n is
, was
whe
nI
read
them
Wat
ch O
ut f
or th
e C
hick
en F
eet i
n Y
our
Soup
by
Tom
ie d
e Pa
ola.
Joey
, the
you
ng g
rand
son,
was
em
barr
asse
d to
bri
ng h
is f
rien
d E
ugen
e to
vis
ithi
s It
alia
n gr
andm
othe
r be
caus
e of
her
acc
ent a
nd p
ecul
iar
cust
oms.
Thi
s si
m-
ple
stor
y ab
out t
he u
nive
rsal
them
es o
f fr
iend
ship
and
fam
ily e
voke
d st
rong
fee
l-in
gs f
rom
the
child
ren.
The
y sa
w J
oey'
s at
titud
e to
war
d hi
s gr
andm
othe
r ch
ange
from
em
barr
assm
ent t
o pi
de. T
he c
hild
ren
care
d ab
out w
hat h
appe
ned
to J
oey.
As
I fi
nish
ed r
eadi
ng th
e st
ory,
they
cla
pped
ent
husi
astic
ally
and
ask
ed m
e to
read
the
stor
y ag
ain.
The
min
iless
ons,
con
fere
nces
, and
- sh
are
sess
ions
dur
ing
the
wri
ting
and
read
ing
wor
ksho
p al
low
ed m
e to
ref
er b
ack
to th
is s
tory
and
othe
rs li
ke it
.D
urin
g re
adin
g w
orks
hop
Jaso
n fi
nish
ed r
eadi
ng G
ypsy
Sum
mer
by
Wilm
aY
eo. H
e th
en w
rote
an
inde
x ca
rd a
bout
the
stor
y to
put
into
his
file
box
of
"Boo
ks R
ead
Thi
s Y
ear.
" H
is c
omm
ents
ref
lect
ed h
is g
row
ing
unde
rsta
ndin
g of
wha
t goo
d fi
ctio
n is
:
Ye
0N p_
s_y.
_as
kAi2
lrJ
1_11
_ry
a_
EL
.....
,'.
aA
MPS
,._r
al0
il...
,.....
.mem
om..m
._I
tC.O
.US.
et__
__
,11
421
IIbo
ll.e.
.__
Litt
boll
aso
sc,
..is
.
,
i.sl
it.
.IP
1117
111P
rell.
, 111
111F
IL,
.
,,.
IIIM
II-
.'
.R
II
.li
.I
3 Infa
use.
..a
1_C
A&
111-
ir_j
mnr
i kos
_she
s V
ati2
.re
&=
to__
. arr
aM
Oio
a,,_
iPI
i4-
wn.
i.I.
Vg
irou
_ ia
Eve
ry S
tory
Is
Abo
ut C
hang
e
As
the
child
ren
and
I re
ad a
nd "
talk
ed b
ooks
," w
e di
scus
sed
how
the
mai
n ch
ar-
*act
er o
f th
e st
ory
had
chan
ged
or s
olve
d hi
s or
her
pro
blem
. The
chi
dso
on
590
Lan
guag
e A
rts
lear
ned
that
this
cha
nge
is a
cru
cial
ele
men
t in
fict
ion
and
look
ed f
or it
in th
est
orie
s th
ey r
ead.
I r
emin
ded
them
to tr
y to
inte
grat
e th
is q
ualit
y of
cha
nge
into
thei
r ow
n fi
ctio
n st
orie
s. S
oon
part
of
thei
r re
hear
sal f
or w
ritin
g w
as to
dec
ide
on th
e pr
oble
m th
eir
char
acte
r w
ould
hav
e an
d ho
w h
e or
she
mig
ht s
olve
it, o
rto
dec
ide
on h
ow th
eir
cent
ral c
hara
cter
wou
ld c
hang
e. S
uzan
ne r
ehea
rsed
her
new
fic
tion
stor
y in
her
jour
nal.
She
wro
te:
Why
Xte
l.lo
afa
/141
-1 e
."t
il
6:2
4 kg
! r_
a_.c
t 1-1
.04k
_eIT
r Ipa
rncd
b
Spra
, 8 c
eL.in
s24.
_.1.
tr_h
a.ie
s4:
ea c
her
125_
_.6
Uri
Shu
levi
tz (
1985
) sa
ys in
Wri
ting
With
Pic
ture
s "
..
. wha
teve
r its
sub
ject
mat
ter,
eve
ry s
tory
is a
bout
cha
nge.
Thi
s ch
ange
mus
t be
impo
rtan
t to
the
hero
,fo
r if
it d
oesn
't m
atte
r to
him
or
her,
the
read
er w
ill n
ot c
are"
(p.
17)
. The
chi
l-dr
en s
oon
real
ized
thro
ugh
thei
r re
adin
g an
d di
s.:u
ssio
ns th
at c
hang
e w
as o
neof
the
moa
t im
port
ant e
lem
ents
in f
ictio
n w
ritin
g.
Fict
ion
Wri
ters
Dra
w o
n Pe
rson
al E
xper
ienc
es
As
my
min
iless
ons
bega
n to
intr
oduc
e au
thor
s as
peo
ple
who
oft
en b
ase
thei
rst
orie
s on
per
sona
l exp
erie
nces
, the
ch;
. lre
n w
ere
surp
rise
d to
lear
n th
at th
e ex
-pe
rien
ces
and
char
acte
rs in
Wat
ch O
ut f
or th
e C
hick
en F
eet i
n Y
our
Soup
wer
epa
rt o
f th
e au
thor
's c
hild
hood
. I r
ead
them
an
exce
rpt b
y T
omie
de
Paol
a fr
omSo
met
hing
Abo
ut th
e A
utho
r (1
977)
.
My
Ital
ian
gran
dmot
her
was
the
mod
el f
or th
e he
roin
e of
Wat
ch O
ut f
or th
eC
hick
en F
eet i
n So
ts!)
. Lik
e Jo
ey's
gra
ndm
othe
r in
the
stor
y sh
e pi
nche
d m
ych
eeks
, tal
ked
'funn
y,' a
nd m
ade
Eas
ter
brea
d do
lls th
at w
ere
the
high
light
of
my
youn
g lif
e. T
here
's a
lot o
f m
e in
the
char
acte
r of
Joe
y, a
nd J
oey'
s fr
iend
Eug
ene
is a
com
bina
tion
of a
ll m
y fr
iend
s th
roug
h th
e ye
ars
who
wer
e en
tran
ced
by m
ygr
andm
othe
r he
r ho
use,
acc
ent,
and
cook
ing,
not
to m
entio
n th
e ch
icke
n fe
et.
(p. 7
1)
Whe
neve
r i r
ead
to th
e ch
ildre
n, I
poi
nted
out
how
the
auth
or m
ight
hav
eus
ed s
ome
pers
onal
exp
erie
nces
whe
n w
ritin
g th
e bo
ok. W
hen
I re
ad T
he R
eal
0L..
From
Fak
e to
Fic
tion:
You
ng C
hild
ren
Lea
rn A
bout
Wri
ting
Fict
ion
591
Hol
e an
d T
wo
Dog
Bis
cuits
, bot
h ab
out f
rate
rnal
twin
s an
d bo
th w
ritte
n by
Bev
-er
ly C
lear
y, th
e ch
ildre
n w
ere
fasc
inat
ed to
lear
n fr
om th
e bo
ok ja
cket
that
Bev
-er
ly C
lear
y is
the
mot
her
of tw
ins,
now
gro
wn
up. T
he c
hild
ren
bega
n to
spec
ulat
e on
how
Bev
erly
Cle
ary
mig
ht h
ave
draw
n fr
om h
er o
wn
expe
rien
ces
whe
n w
ritin
g th
ese
book
s. W
hen
I re
ad H
ere
1 A
m a
n O
nly
Chi
ld, t
hey
wer
eju
st a
s ex
cite
d to
lear
n th
at th
e au
thor
, Mar
lene
Fan
ta S
hyer
, is
an o
nly
child
.O
ne a
fter
noon
dur
ing
read
ing
wor
ksho
p se
vera
l chi
ldre
n w
ere
disc
ussi
ng N
oSu
ch T
hing
as
a W
itch
by R
uth
Che
w. P
ia ju
mpe
d up
and
sai
d, "
Loo
k M
rs. T
a-be
rski
, the
ded
icat
ion
says
'To
Mag
gie
Bar
an w
ho m
akes
the
best
fud
ge in
the
wor
ld.'
The
witc
h in
the
stor
y is
cal
led
Mag
gie
Bro
wn.
" Pi
a ra
n ov
er to
the
bul-
letin
boa
rd to
rea
d th
e le
tter
she
;-ad
' rec
eive
d fr
om R
uth
Che
w. E
ach
child
had
wri
tten
to th
eir
favo
rite
aut
hor
and
Pia'
s w
as R
uth
Che
w. M
s. C
hew
wro
te:
I w
rite
abo
ut p
lace
s I
know
. I th
ink
it he
lps
the
stor
ies
to s
eem
rea
l..
.. S
ome
ofth
e th
ings
in th
e st
orie
s ar
e tr
ue. M
y ne
ighb
or is
ver
y m
uch
like
the
witc
h in
No
Such
Thi
ng a
s a
Witc
h. S
he to
ok m
y ch
ildre
n to
the
zoo
and
intr
oduc
ed th
em to
abe
ar. S
he h
as to
o m
any
anim
als
in h
er h
ouse
. And
she
mak
es f
udge
but I
mak
eth
e fu
dge
mag
ic in
the
stor
y. T
he w
itch
in T
he W
itch'
s B
utto
ns is
like
a f
rien
d of
min
e w
ho c
olle
cts
butto
ns a
nd M
ary
Jane
in T
he W
edne
sday
Witc
h is
like
my
youn
gest
dau
ghte
ra m
isch
ief
mak
er!
As
you
can
see,
the
idea
s co
me
from
ever
ywhe
re.
The
chi
ldre
n w
ere
grad
ually
mak
ing
the
conn
ectio
n. F
ictio
n is
not
fak
e; it
itro
oted
in r
ealit
y.
Res
earc
h Is
Ess
entia
l in
Fict
ion
Wri
ting
Aut
hors
are
stu
dent
s of
thei
r to
pics
. Sin
ce r
ealis
tic f
ictio
n, a
nd e
spec
ially
fan
-ta
sy, m
ust b
e be
lieva
ble,
fic
tion
wri
ters
mus
t oft
en r
esea
rch
thei
r to
pics
to c
reat
ea
wor
ld th
at is
cre
dibl
e to
the
read
er.
I em
phas
ized
the
impo
rtan
ce o
f re
sear
chin
g to
pics
dur
ing
my
teac
hing
.W
hen
I re
ad O
scar
Mou
se F
inds
a H
ome
by M
oira
Mill
er a
nd M
aria
Maj
ewsk
i,I
calle
d th
e ch
ildre
n's
atte
ntio
n to
the
shre
dded
pap
er O
scar
Mou
se a
lway
s us
edto
mak
e hi
s ho
use.
Sin
ce m
ost o
f th
e ch
ildre
n ha
d ex
peri
ence
s w
ith g
erbi
ls,
mic
e, o
r ha
mst
ers
at h
ome
or in
sch
ool,
they
kne
w th
at m
ice
actu
ally
do
shre
dpa
per
to b
uild
thei
r ne
sts.
Thi
s de
tail
help
ed to
mak
e th
is f
anta
sy s
tory
mor
ebe
lieva
ble.
The
chi
ldre
n re
aliz
ed th
at th
e au
thor
, too
, mus
t hav
e ha
d so
me
ex-
peri
ence
with
mic
e or
had
don
e re
sear
ch o
n th
eir
livin
g ha
bits
. The
y al
sole
arne
d th
at E
. B. W
hite
kep
t a s
pide
r in
his
roo
m to
obs
erve
its
habi
ts b
efor
ew
ritin
g C
harl
otte
's W
eb, a
nd th
at R
ober
t McC
losk
ey k
ept d
ucks
in h
is b
atht
ubw
hile
he
wro
te M
ake
Way
for
Duc
klin
gs s
o he
cou
ld d
raw
them
mor
e ac
cura
tely
.W
hen
Suza
nne
bega
n w
ritin
g he
r "g
rand
fath
er s
tory
," s
he w
ante
d th
e st
ory
to b
e ab
out a
gra
ndfa
ther
that
got
ser
ious
ly in
jure
d bu
t the
n re
cove
red.
She
shar
ed th
is id
ea w
ith th
e cl
ass
and
told
them
that
the
gran
dfat
her
lived
on
a fa
rman
d w
ould
he
bitte
n by
a ti
ger.
Hea
ther
rai
sed
her
hand
and
sai
d, "
But
tige
rsdo
n't l
ive
near
far
ms.
" D
anny
sug
gest
ed th
at s
he h
ave
the
gran
dfat
her
bitte
n by
(-)I
592
Lan
guag
e A
rts
a sn
ake.
Suz
anne
thre
w u
p he
r ha
nds
and
said
, "B
ut I
don
't kn
ow a
nyth
ing
abou
t sna
kes.
" "I
do,
" sa
id J
essi
ca. S
o th
e ne
xt d
ay S
uzan
ne a
rran
ged
to in
ter-
view
Jes
sica
. The
y ca
me
up w
ith th
e fo
llow
ing
list a
nd d
escr
iptio
n of
sna
kes.
r a`
IC s
reL
g,ro
tti te
.c-
a n
))e,
..rt
yob,
/'It
Icco
,eco
(Ase
.,it.
11s
Fri,
Kly
s ,
tgr
ia.A
.eco
p Q
./so
havt
g,
PoSt
n,es
C.-
0-b
ras
Co
bra
sc-
p ye
anos
-fh a
tc
os;n
s,;
b rr
esy
otA
cop
so
sorr
uicr
pos
inIs
in-*
LA
/Nos
Cor
n Sn
ot ic
-Far
t'? S
naks
it'k
c,fc
*.in
t,I
cts,
The
irb
1 +
e4'I
atpo
sior
c.,,
i;Pr-
1-oo
Id.1
7j es
,s C
OI
wfi
tlirl
zoo
Suza
nne
fina
lly d
ecid
ed o
n a
rattl
esna
ke b
ecau
se it
s vi
ctim
cou
ld b
e in
jure
d bu
tst
ill r
ecov
er.
Kel
ly w
as w
ritin
g ab
out a
gra
ndm
othe
r w
ho h
ad e
ight
hea
rt a
ttack
s. A
fter
she
read
the
begi
nnin
g of
her
sto
ry, I
com
men
ted
that
it m
ight
be
unlik
ely
for
som
eone
to h
ave
eigh
t hea
rt a
ttack
s an
d st
ill r
ecov
er. K
elly
then
mad
e a
list o
fte
ache
rs a
nd c
lass
mat
es, p
ut th
e lis
t on
her
clip
boar
d, a
nd in
terv
iew
ed e
ach
per-
son
on th
e lis
t to
ask
if h
e or
she
kne
w s
omeo
ne w
ho h
ad h
ad a
hea
rt a
ttack
,ho
w m
any
the
pers
on h
ad, a
nd if
tte
pers
on w
as s
till a
live.
Aft
er h
er s
urve
yK
elly
dec
ided
that
two
hear
t atta
cks
was
a m
ore
real
istic
num
ber.
She
and
the
othe
r ch
ildre
n w
ere
alre
ady
fam
iliar
with
the
rese
arch
tech
niqu
e of
inte
rvie
w-
ing.
The
y ha
d le
arne
d th
is s
kill
whi
le d
oing
rep
ort w
ritin
g.O
ne o
f th
e m
ost h
elpf
ul s
trat
egie
s th
e ch
ildre
n le
arne
d w
hile
wri
ting
fict
ion
was
to th
ink
of a
n en
ding
or
seve
ral e
ndin
gs to
a s
tory
ear
ly in
the
draf
t. T
his
requ
ires
the
abili
ty to
org
aniz
e an
d se
quen
ce in
form
atio
nbot
h re
sear
ch s
kills
.T
his
stra
tegy
hel
ped
the
child
ren
give
dir
ectio
n to
the
piec
es a
nd s
et b
ound
arie
sfo
r th
eir
stor
ies.
Dah
la w
rote
thre
e en
ding
s fo
r he
r st
ory
befo
re d
ecid
ing
to u
seth
e th
ird
one.
From
Fak
e to
Fic
tion:
You
ng C
hild
ren
Lea
rn A
bout
Wri
ting
Fict
ion
5'
pa-r
at-i
tJi
le
assa
a....
-124
,44-
1-al
. eac
cN:-
----
--i.
__...
.....ii.
n..4
te.:.
r..i
1.3
41 0
+ .,
e +
), a
)1A
o /A
/ 4,
1'r%
44.
Lay
erin
g: H
ow R
eadi
ng a
nd W
ritin
g in
Dif
fere
ntG
enre
s Su
ppor
t the
Fic
tion
Wri
ter
One
mor
ning
in M
ay J
essi
ca s
at in
the
"Aut
hor's
Cha
ir"
tore
ad h
er f
ictio
nst
ory.
As
she
sat d
own
and
wai
ted
for
sile
nce
from
her
audi
ence
, I th
ough
t abo
uthe
r gr
owth
as
a fi
ctio
n w
rite
r. T
hen
Jess
ica
read
her
sto
ry.
My
Poll
86,1
Too
511
y135
how
..tIs
es,..
n W
hen
Mol
ly,
y4a-
s /a
am
al Q
.A
4./{
-nV
itarl
her
. fri
end
1.00
.4,c
, who
vv*
a. 4
only
ID.
-to
*sle
ep.
over
,VV
hor.
dw
aslin
k 70
ao
To
{Doi
l'Ion
y90
7e
fix.v
onitc
do
I, w
hey*
nam
e w
asP;
pkv
ra g
oT
oba
d el
), h
o'r,
NA
lben
sA
seo
T r
ill/V
s Lo
uise
.stio
.s.
c..1
u7a
.r1.
4 T
o5
etry
1 e
a.5
leep
doil?
lla.4
12-
was
/0;0
b.pa
rera
sw
ent T
oba
d a.
711
:00.
Lou
.,de
cado
l -to
call
her
,oar
s,11
, lo
acm
ean
J pi
ck h
er a
p.E
on 5
1,4
4an'
t w s
a.ri
t 70
slee
pa.
ba.
by. L
wis
e PG
A,f
,,ci
ex,p
a.r
il le
t?. M
olly
olis
lITpl
ay w
ItA P
,'esK
y at
30,,y
+ t
+ s
o
3 w
s.hs
la.7
er M
on, w
as40
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op ..
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r C
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le d
idn'
t bri
ngN
oisy
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she
71,0
ctg
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lra
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vaa
acen
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04,
7 13
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y, ft
1ad
tlens
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n sc
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O .V
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roye
4.
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V C
tos,
atol
lC
igre
dr)
Illos
vA
r g
hat
A04
. we
410/
01 "
MO
W f
ie; n
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e !h
a40
4.4.
44.
11(0
,76
oad
voc.
..:A
now
whe
al .r
110
41-
oz4
.st
Wha
ir.)
",...
thlo
llyN
.dec
.4' 7
1 co
7 A
c gi
phO
ct./4
4.1'
10 ic
s.t4
04.
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I. I
y! o
'bO
cre
41//
-re
y aA
gses
/ "tO
nlO
rnow
?"go
ad .C
rwo
."6-
e...r
o.' t
ea.,
/v/o
lly"A
, ion
s as
Avo
ll sh
o,4
lo 1
.,oui
ss,"
0.1
e, s
o,4
,fraf
t,
The
giu
l
594
Lan
guag
e A
rts
Whe
n Je
ssic
a fi
nish
ed r
eadi
ng, t
he c
hild
ren
clap
ped
and
shar
ed th
eir
com
-m
ents
with
her
. Hea
ther
sai
d, "
You
r st
ory
has
a lo
t of
feel
ing.
Whe
n L
ouis
em
ade
fun
of M
olly
bec
ause
she
sle
pt w
ith a
dol
l, it
mad
e m
e fe
el s
ad."
Dar
asa
id, "
1 lik
e yo
ur s
tory
bec
ause
it's
rea
listic
. Som
e pe
ople
who
rea
d it
mig
ht c
on-
nect
with
the
idea
bec
ause
it m
ight
hav
e ha
ppen
ed to
them
." J
ason
sai
d, "
I lik
eit
beca
use
Mol
ly c
hang
ed in
the
stor
y. A
t fir
st s
he w
as to
o af
raid
to s
how
her
doll
to F
ran
and
then
she
was
n't a
sham
ed o
f sl
eepi
ng w
ith h
er d
oll a
nym
ore.
"T
he d
ecis
ion
was
una
nim
ous.
Jes
sica
had
wri
tten
a go
od f
ictio
n st
ory.
As
I th
ough
t abo
ut th
e ch
ildre
n's
resp
onse
s to
Jes
sica
's s
tory
and
my
reac
tion
to it
, I k
new
her
sto
ry w
as d
iffe
rent
in q
ualit
y fr
om th
e "h
aunt
ed h
ouse
," "
mon
-st
er,"
and
"m
agic
dai
sy"
stor
ies
I ha
d re
ceiv
ed in
the
past
. But
how
did
this
chan
ge ta
ke p
lace
? W
hat h
ad h
elpe
d Je
ssic
a an
d th
e ot
her
child
ren
mov
e aw
ayfr
om u
nim
port
ant,
bori
ng, "
so w
hat?
" st
orie
s an
d cl
oser
to o
nes
that
elic
it fe
el-
ing,
dea
l with
rea
l iss
ues,
sat
isfy
the
read
er b
y th
eir
sens
e of
com
plet
ion
and
unity
, and
are
pop
ulat
ed w
ith e
ngag
ing
char
acte
rs?
Whi
le th
e st
rate
gies
dis
-cu
ssed
ear
lier
wer
e un
doub
tedl
y he
lpfu
l to
the
child
ren,
thes
e le
sson
s by
them
-se
lves
did
not
acc
ount
for
the
dept
h of
the
child
ren'
s un
ders
tand
ing
of f
ictio
nan
d th
eir
impr
oved
abi
lity
to w
rite
it. T
hey
wer
e pa
rt, b
ut n
ot a
ll, o
f th
e st
ory
behi
nd th
e ch
ildre
n's
grow
th in
fic
tion
wri
ting.
I sp
oke
with
col
leag
ues
and
fello
w r
esea
rche
rs a
bout
this
inte
rnal
sen
se o
f fi
c-tio
n m
y ch
ildre
n w
ere
acqu
irin
g. I
als
o w
ante
d to
kno
w if
the
child
ren
them
-se
lves
wer
e aw
are
of th
e in
terr
elat
edne
ss o
f w
ritin
g an
d re
adin
g in
dif
fe-n
ntge
nres
.O
ne M
ay m
orni
ng a
s th
e ch
ildre
n fi
led
past
me
with
thei
r bo
okba
gs s
trun
gov
er th
eir
shou
lder
s, I
fel
t mor
e th
an m
y us
ual M
onda
y m
orni
ng a
nxie
ty. I
had
ques
tions
for
the
child
ren,
and
they
had
the
answ
ers.
I s
mile
d at
how
"un
orth
o-do
x" m
y ap
proa
ch to
teac
hing
and
chi
ldre
n ha
d be
com
e. I
won
dere
d, n
ever
the-
less
, if
the
child
ren
wer
e aw
are
of h
ow w
ritin
g in
dif
fere
nt g
enre
s an
d re
adin
glit
erat
ure
had
affe
cted
thei
r fi
ctio
n w
ritin
g.A
s so
on a
s th
e ch
ildre
n un
pack
ed th
eir
book
bags
, I c
alle
d th
em to
the
back
of th
e ro
om f
or a
cla
ss m
eetin
g. T
hey
wer
e su
rpri
sed
by th
e un
timel
ines
s of
this
activ
ity. "
Shou
ldn'
t we
do o
ur b
oard
wor
k fi
rst?
" th
ey a
sked
. I d
ism
isse
d th
eir
ques
tions
and
pro
ceed
ed w
ith m
y ag
enda
. The
tone
of
my
voic
e an
d th
e un
ex-
pect
edne
ss o
f th
is c
lass
mee
ting
aler
ted
them
to f
act t
hat I
had
som
ethi
ng im
-po
rtan
t to
disc
uss.
As
the
child
ren
sat o
n th
e fl
oor
arou
nd m
e, I
qui
eted
thei
rch
atte
r an
d le
aned
for
war
d to
spe
ak. I
rec
alle
d th
e di
ffer
ent t
ypes
of
wri
ting
and
read
ing
they
had
don
e th
at y
ear.
I th
en a
sked
, "H
ow d
id w
ritin
g pe
rson
al n
ar-
rativ
es, r
epor
ts, p
oetr
y, a
s w
ell a
s re
adin
g he
lp y
ou b
ecom
e be
tter
fict
ion
wri
t-er
s?"
The
y ra
ised
thei
r ha
nds
to r
espo
nd, b
ut I
told
them
they
cou
ld r
espo
nd in
thei
r jo
urna
ls. I
sen
t the
chi
ldre
n ba
ck to
thei
r se
ats,
but
Sar
i rem
aine
d be
hind
.Sh
e ju
mpe
d up
and
whi
sper
ed e
xcite
dly
in m
y ea
r. "
Oh,
that
's e
asy.
One
par
tof
eve
ryth
ing
mak
es a
goo
d fi
ctio
n st
ory.
Bec
ause
in p
oetr
y it'
s th
e fe
elin
g. P
er-
From
Fak
e to
Fic
tion:
You
ng C
hild
ren
Lea
rn A
bout
Wri
ting
Fict
ion
595
sona
l nar
rativ
es is
how
to w
rite
. It's
the
sim
ples
t wri
ting
beca
use
you
don'
t hav
eto
o m
any
step
s, e
xcep
t rem
embe
ring
and
edi
ting
and
that
stu
ff. A
nd r
epor
tw
ritin
g te
ache
s yo
u to
go
step
-by-
step
or
else
it's
goi
ng to
com
e ou
t mes
sed
up.
Rea
ding
hel
ps m
e be
caus
e it'
s ju
st li
ke T
V I
get
new
idea
s."
Sari
sm
iled
as s
hesk
ippe
d ba
ck to
her
sea
t. Sh
e w
as p
roud
of
her
answ
er. I
was
sur
pris
ed b
y its
insi
ghtf
ulne
ss. A
s I
wal
ked
arou
nd th
e ro
om, I
lear
ned
that
the
othe
r ch
ildre
nw
ere
also
aw
are
of th
eir
lear
ning
pro
cess
es. T
hey
wro
te:
Pers
onal
Nar
rativ
es .
.. g
rYt m
e us
ed to
wri
ting
and
it ga
ve m
eid
eas
of h
ow to
wri
te .
..
it he
lps
me
put s
ome
real
thin
gs in
my
fict
ion
..
.it
help
s m
e ge
t jus
ten
ough
rea
lism
into
a f
ictio
n st
ory
for
som
eone
to b
elie
ve it
..
. I lo
ok b
ack
at m
ype
rson
al n
arra
tive
stor
ies
and
get s
ome
idea
s fo
r m
y fi
ctio
n st
orie
s.
Poet
ry .
.. h
as f
eelin
g an
d fi
ctio
n ha
s fe
elin
g to
o .
.. i
t hel
ped
me
put f
eelin
g in
tom
y st
orie
s. B
ecau
se n
ow a
ll I
have
to d
o is
take
the
feel
ing
of a
poe
m a
nd p
ut it
into
a s
tory
and
then
1 h
ave
a st
ory
with
fee
ling
..
. poe
try
is a
lmos
t the
sam
e as
fict
ion
beca
use
in f
ictio
n yo
u ca
n w
rite
on
any
topi
c yo
u w
ant a
nd th
e sa
me
in p
o-et
ry. S
o po
etry
get
s m
e st
arte
d w
ritin
g fi
ctio
n .
.. s
omet
imes
you
wri
te p
oem
s an
dyo
u th
ink
may
be y
ou c
ould
wri
te a
fic
tion
stor
y ab
out y
our
poem
. Poe
try
just
mov
es y
ou in
to f
ictio
n.
Rep
ort W
ritin
g .
.. h
elps
me
orga
nize
my
stor
y .
.. i
t hel
ps to
wri
te '.
`map
s" o
ut.
If y
ou d
on't
you'
ll be
con
fuse
d .
.. Y
ou a
lso
have
to d
o re
sear
ch o
n fi
ctio
n. F
ictio
nw
ould
n't b
e fi
ctio
n if
you
did
n't.
Wha
t I m
ean
is, i
t wou
ld b
e al
l unt
rue
and
peop
lew
on't
unde
rsta
nd it
. And
fic
tion
isn'
t all
untr
ue .
..
it he
lped
me
to f
ind
info
r-m
atio
n on
thin
gs th
at n
eede
d to
be
real
istic
in m
y st
orie
s .
.. i
t hel
ped
me
beca
use
som
etim
es y
ou h
ave
to d
o re
sear
ch o
n th
ings
in f
ictio
n. A
nd if
you
alr
eady
kno
who
w to
do
it, y
ou're
rea
dy a
lrea
dy.
Rea
ding
..
. giv
es y
ou id
eas
to w
rite
in y
ourf
ictio
n st
orie
s an
d so
met
imes
whe
n I
read
I b
egin
to th
ink
abou
t wri
ting
som
ethi
ng li
ke it
..
. I s
ee s
tyle
s of
wri
ting
byre
adin
g. A
nd I
get
to p
ick
out w
hich
one
s I
like
best
..I g
et id
eas
from
boo
ks I
read
..
.it
help
s m
e se
e ho
w o
ther
peo
ple
wri
te f
ictio
n .
.. y
ou c
an g
et a
mod
elfr
om it
and
then
wri
te y
our
own
idea
s.
My
seco
nd g
rade
rs b
egaa
thei
r w
ritin
g w
orks
hop
this
yea
r fi
rst b
y w
ritin
gpe
rson
al n
arra
tives
, the
n re
port
s, th
en p
oetr
y, a
nd f
inal
ly f
ictio
n. T
his
seem
edto
be
a lo
gica
l seq
uenc
e, s
ince
it p
rogr
esse
d fr
om th
e ea
sies
t to
mos
t dif
ficu
ltge
nre.
Alo
ng w
ith th
e w
ritin
g w
orks
hop,
the
child
ren
wer
e en
gage
d in
a d
aily
read
ing
wor
ksho
p an
d w
ere
read
to d
aily
. The
y w
ere
read
ing
liter
atur
e, le
arni
ngab
out a
utho
rs a
nd h
ow th
ey w
rite
, dis
cuss
ing
thei
r ow
n re
adin
g pr
oces
ses,
and
"tal
king
boo
ks"
in s
mal
l gro
ups
and
as a
who
le c
lass
.A
pro
cess
of
laye
ring
had
take
n pl
ace
in m
y cl
ass.
Thi
s ta
rrin
g of
per
sona
lna
rrat
ives
, poe
try,
rep
orts
, and
rea
ding
laid
a s
olid
fou
ndat
ion
for
succ
essf
ul f
ic-
tion
wri
ting.
Whe
reas
I th
ough
t I h
ad b
egun
teac
hing
fic
tion
wri
ting
in J
anua
ry,
I no
w r
ealiz
ed I
act
ually
beg
an in
Sep
tem
ber
with
my
firs
t wri
ting
and
read
ing
wor
ksho
p an
d m
y fi
rst p
ictu
re b
ook.
596
Lang
uage
Art
s
Ref
eren
ces
Cal
kins
, L.M
.T
he A
rt o
f Tea
chin
g W
ritin
g.Po
rtsm
outh
, N.H
.: H
eine
man
n, 1
986.
Com
mir
e,A
. "lb
mie
de
Paol
a."
Som
ethi
ng A
bout
the
Aut
hor,
Vol
. 11.
Det
roit,
Mic
h.:
Gal
e R
esea
rch,
197
7, p
. 71.
Ryl
ant,
C.
The
Rel
ativ
es C
ame.
Illu
stra
ted
by S
. Gam
mel
l. N
ew Y
ork:
Bra
dbur
y Pr
ess,
1985
.
Shul
evitz
, U. W
ritin
gW
ith P
ictu
res.
New
Yor
k: W
atso
n-G
uptil
l Pub
licat
ions
, 198
5.
Shar
on T
aber
ski i
s no
w a
teac
her-
cons
ulta
nt in
Com
mun
itySc
hool
Dis
tric
t 18
in B
rook
lyn,
New
Yor
k.
The
y ex
chan
ged
new
s ab
out t
heir
fam
ilies
and
mut
ual
frie
nds.
Adr
ian
and
Dor
othy
join
ed th
em.
"I th
ough
t Ang
ela
and
Den
nis
mig
ht h
ave
com
e,"
said
Adr
ian,
with
asl
ight
tone
of
grie
vanc
e. "
The
y di
d jo
in."
"Ang
ela
rang
me,
she
sen
t her
apo
logi
es, b
ut s
he's
tied
up
orga
nizi
ng s
ome
baza
ar to
day.
And
Den
nis
isn'
t muc
h in
tere
sted
in th
e C
hurc
hth
ese
days
.
Eve
r si
nce
Ann
e. .
.."
Mir
iam
's e
xpla
natio
n tr
aile
d aw
ay.
"Yes
," s
aid
Edw
ard,
sha
king
his
hea
d, a
nd lo
okin
g at
his
toec
aps,
"Tha
tw
as to
o ba
d."
Adr
ian
and
Dor
othy
had
not
fol
low
ed th
is a
nd h
ad to
hav
eit
expl
aine
d to
them
, as
will
you
, gen
tle r
eade
r. 1
Wo
year
s af
ter
Nic
ole
was
born
, Den
nis
and
Ang
ela'
s ne
xt y
oung
est c
hild
, Ann
e, w
as k
nock
ed d
own
by a
van
outs
ide
thei
rho
use
and
died
in h
ospi
tal a
few
hou
rs la
ter.
I h
ave
avoi
ded
adi
rect
pre
sent
atio
nof
this
inci
dent
bec
ause
fra
nkly
I f
ind
it to
o pa
infu
l to
cont
empl
ate.
Of
cour
se,
Den
nis
and
Ang
ela
and
Ann
e ar
e fi
ctio
nal c
hara
cter
s,th
ey c
anno
t ble
ed o
rw
eep,
bat
they
sta
nd h
ere
for
all t
he r
eal p
eopl
e to
who
m s
uch
disa
ster
s ha
ppen
with
no
appa
rent
rea
son
or ju
stic
e. O
ne d
oes
not k
ill o
ffch
arac
ters
ligh
tly, I
assu
re y
ou, e
ven
ones
like
Ann
e, e
voke
dso
lely
for
that
pur
pose
.D
avid
Lod
geH
ow F
ar C
an Y
ou G
o?
Wri
ting
as P
lay
Car
la R
ense
nbri
nk
"Whe
n I
fini
sh m
y w
ork,
can
I w
rite
?" I
love
itw
hen
child
ren
in m
y m
ultil
evel
lang
uage
art
s cl
ass
ask
me
this
. Sur
e, I
say
, and
off
they
go.
I tr
y no
t to
poin
tou
t to
them
wha
t a s
uper
ior
choi
ce th
ey a
rem
akin
g. I
don
't te
ll th
em th
at m
ost
peop
le c
onsi
der
wri
ting
to b
e ve
ry m
uch
'wor
k,' o
rth
at s
ome
cons
ider
it q
uite
cent
ral t
o th
e cu
rric
ulum
, a m
eans
of
refi
ning
ski
lls a
ndof
dev
elop
ing
high
er-
leve
l thi
nkin
g ab
ilitie
s. I
don
't ev
en b
elab
or th
e"c
an/m
ay"
dist
inct
ion.
I ju
st
sile
ntly
rej
oice
.If
wri
ting
isn'
t wor
k, w
hat i
s it?
In
som
eci
rcum
stan
ces
it se
ems
mor
e lik
e
play
. Chi
ldre
n us
e th
eir
imag
inat
ions
to in
vent
char
acte
rs a
nd s
ettin
gs a
nd e
ven
to c
reat
e w
orld
s in
muc
h th
e sa
me
way
that
they
do
whe
n th
ey a
re p
layi
ng.
Som
etim
es to
ys a
re a
sou
rce
of in
spir
atio
n.
Toy
s as
a S
ourc
e of
Ins
pira
tion
Mag
gie
brou
ght i
n a
toy
skun
k na
med
New
spap
er a
nd w
rote
ast
ory
abou
t it.
The
nex
t mor
ning
Rob
in c
ame
in w
eari
ng a
new
back
pack
, the
fir
st I
'd s
een
of
a st
yle
that
was
abo
ut to
bec
ome
popu
lar.
The
pac
k w
as f
urry
like
an
anim
al's
body
. The
str
aps
trie
d to
look
like
legs
and
paw
s. T
here
was
a r
acco
onhe
ad o
n
top,
but
no
tail.
Rob
in w
ent o
ver
her
new
acqu
isiti
on w
ith M
aggi
e an
d th
eyta
lked
abo
ut it
for
a w
hile
. The
n R
obin
sta
rted
to w
rite
:
A R
acco
on C
alle
d A
shes
Cha
pter
IT
he H
ouse
Onc
e th
ere
was
a r
acco
on n
amed
Ash
es. H
e w
as a
bout
one
foot
tall
and
he h
adno
tail.
He
was
eig
htee
n in
per
son
age
buti
n ra
ccoo
n ag
e he
was
4no
, 6no
,8n
o, 1
2no,
14.
Oh,
I d
on't
know
. Let
's g
et o
n w
ith th
e st
ory.
One
day
he
was
wal
king
alo
ng th
e ri
ver
bank
whe
n he
saw
aho
use.
He
star
ted
to w
alk
tow
ard
it. H
e th
ough
t he
saw
a s
ign
on th
edo
or, b
ut h
e w
as n
otqu
ite s
ure.
He
cam
e to
get
a li
ttle
bit o
f a
clos
e lo
ok, a
ndit
did
have
a s
ign.
It s
aid:
TA
IL M
AK
ER
If y
ou c
ome
here
with
out
a ta
il, a
nd y
ou a
re s
uppo
sed
to h
ave
one,
you
will
for
ever
afte
r ha
ve o
ne.
Ash
es w
ent u
p to
the
door
and
he
knoc
ked
on th
edo
or. A
littl
e m
an c
ame
toth
e do
or. H
e sa
id, "
I se
e yo
u ar
c a
racc
oon
with
out a
tail.
Com
e on
in."
7La
ngua
ge A
rts,
Vol
ume
64, N
umbe
r6,4
10be
r198
759
ei9
8L
angu
age
Art
s
Cha
pter
II
I H
ave
a T
ail
"Now
wha
t is
your
nam
e?"
"Ash
es,"
rep
lied
Ash
es.
"Ash
es, s
it in
this
cha
ir, p
leas
e. I
am
goi
ng to
blin
dfol
d yo
u, O
K?"
said
the
little
man
."O
K,"
sai
d A
shes
, who
was
a li
ttle
shak
y be
caus
e he
was
not
sur
e he
was
rig
htto
go
in th
e ho
use.
He
hear
d a
POO
F an
d th
en a
voi
ce th
at s
aid,
"Y
ou c
an ta
keth
e bl
indf
old
off.
"H
e to
ok it
off
.H
e sh
oute
d, "
I H
AV
E A
TA
IL!"
and
he
ran
hom
e to
sho
w h
is m
om a
nd h
isfr
iend
s.
The
fir
stan
d fi
nald
raft
of
this
sto
ry w
as q
uite
cor
rect
for
a s
econ
d gr
ader
.R
obin
giv
es th
e im
pres
sion
of
know
ing
prec
isel
y w
hat s
he d
oes
or d
oes
not
wan
t, an
d on
e of
the
thin
gs s
he w
ants
is a
ccur
acy.
Oth
er c
hild
ren
in th
e cl
ass
are
less
con
cern
ed a
bout
cor
rect
ness
in th
eir
firs
t dra
fts
and
rath
er in
vent
ive
in th
eir
spel
ling.
Rob
in p
lace
d he
rsel
f be
twee
n tw
o fo
urth
gra
ders
(th
ere
are
twen
ty-
four
fir
st th
roug
h fi
fth
grad
ers
in m
y cl
ass)
dur
ing
the
wri
ting
of "
Ash
es."
Bot
hof
thes
e ol
der
stud
ents
are
goo
d sp
elle
rs, a
nd s
he p
roba
bly
pest
ered
them
for
ever
y th
ird
wor
d. I
t too
k se
vera
lwee
ks f
or h
er to
com
plet
e th
e pi
ece.
Ext
endi
ng th
is s
tory
ove
r tim
e se
emed
to b
e an
impo
rtan
t par
tof
Rob
in's
ab-
sorp
tion
in it
. Rig
ht th
ere
in h
er w
ritin
g fo
lder
was
the
wor
ld o
f A
shes
, wai
ting
for
her
from
day
to d
ay. S
he c
ould
ret
urn
to it
at s
ome
poin
t dur
ing
the
hour
and
a ha
lf o
f he
r la
ngua
ge a
rts
clas
s an
d w
ork
on h
er s
tory
for
a lo
ng o
rsh
ort p
erio
dof
tim
e. I
dou
bt if
it w
ould
hav
e ca
ptur
ed h
er im
agin
atio
n in
the
sam
e w
ay if
itha
d be
en d
ue o
n Fr
iday
, or
if s
he h
ad h
ad to
put
it a
side
for
oth
er w
ritin
g as
-si
gnm
ents
, or
if s
he h
ad b
een
limite
d by
twen
ty m
inut
ebl
ocks
of
wri
ting
time.
Whe
n sh
e fi
nish
ed w
ritin
g, R
obin
rea
d "A
shes
" to
a v
ery
atte
ntiv
e au
dien
ce.
At t
he e
nd s
he a
sked
, "A
ny q
uest
ions
or
com
men
ts?"
Mol
lie, a
fir
st g
rade
r, w
asde
eply
abs
orbe
d in
the
stor
y. W
hen
she
rais
ed h
er h
and,
her
eyes
wer
e gl
azed
as if
she
had
not
yet
ret
urne
d to
Roo
m T
hree
fro
m th
ela
nd o
f th
e T
ail M
aker
.Sh
e sa
id d
ream
ily, "
I w
ould
n't m
ind
havi
ng a
mag
ic ta
ilif
it w
asn'
t pri
ckly
."So
Mol
lie p
uts
hers
elf
in th
e st
ory
and
exte
nds
it in
her
ow
n im
agin
atio
n.In
thei
r pl
ay c
hild
ren
spen
d a
lot o
f tim
e m
akin
g up
sto
ries
insp
ired
by
toys
.A
s th
ey m
anip
ulat
e do
lls, s
tuff
ed a
nim
als,
eve
n th
ose
drea
dful
littl
e or
ange
plas
tic th
ings
cal
led
"Mus
cles
," th
ey c
reat
e ch
arac
ters
and
give
them
voi
ces
and
wor
k al
ong
som
e so
rt o
f st
ory
line.
Inst
ead
of m
akin
g he
r to
y ra
ccoo
n w
alk
and
spea
king
for
him
, Rob
inw
rite
s
his
stor
y do
wn.
The
pro
cess
of
wri
ting
it, a
s V
ygot
sky
(196
2) p
oint
ed o
ut, i
s ve
rydi
ffer
ent f
rom
spo
ntan
eous
pla
y. R
obin
mus
t mak
e de
liber
ate
choi
ces
as s
hetr
ansl
ates
fro
m c
onde
nsed
inne
r sp
eech
to d
etai
led
wri
tten
spee
ch.
She
give
she
r st
ory
a di
stin
ctly
lite
rary
for
m. I
t beg
ins
with
"O
nce
ther
e w
as .
..
" It
re-
volv
es a
roun
d a
prob
lem
. It h
as a
ver
y sa
tisfy
ing
conc
lusi
on.
Wri
ting
as P
lay
599
Imag
inar
y A
dven
ture
s T
oget
her
Ano
ther
pop
ular
sub
ject
of
child
ren'
s w
ritin
g is
an
imag
inar
y tr
ip, a
n ov
erni
ght,
or a
dven
ture
that
incl
udes
the
auth
or's
fri
ends
. Thi
s is
als
o ga
me
mat
eria
l.So
me
frie
nds
get t
oget
her
and
plan
, "L
et's
pre
tend
we'
re s
tran
ded
on a
des
ert
isla
nd .
.. e
xplo
ring
a h
aunt
ed h
ouse
..
. bei
ngch
ased
by
bear
s."
Kel
ly w
rote
abo
ut a
n im
agin
ary
trip
to F
lori
da in
whi
ch s
he s
hare
d so
me
ad-
vent
ures
with
her
fri
ends
. The
sto
ry o
pene
d w
ith a
ser
ies
of te
leph
one
conv
ersa
tions
.
Rin
g. R
ing.
"Hel
lo."
"Hel
lo, S
arah
, thi
s is
Kel
ly. D
o yo
u w
ant t
o go
on
a tr
ip to
Flo
rida
?""S
ure,
I'll
ask
my
Mom
..
. I c
an g
o."
"OK
, be
at th
e ai
rpor
t at 4
:30.
"
Rin
g. R
ing.
"Hel
lo."
"Hel
lo, K
atie
, thi
s is
Kel
ly .
..
Thi
s br
ief,
dec
isiv
e ex
chan
ge w
as r
epea
ted
num
erou
s tim
es, e
ach
time
slot
-tin
g in
the
nam
e of
a d
iffe
rent
fri
end
(and
she
had
man
y). K
elly
rea
d th
e un
fin-
ishe
d st
ory
to th
e cl
ass,
end
ing
with
two
ritu
alis
tic p
hras
es o
f ou
r cl
assr
oom
, "to
be c
ontin
ued"
and
then
"an
y qu
estio
ns o
r co
mm
ents
?" T
he f
irst
com
men
t was
a su
gges
tion
that
she
con
dens
e or
var
y th
e re
petit
ive
conv
ersa
tions
.T
he s
econ
d co
mm
ent w
as f
rom
Wen
dy, a
you
nger
sis
ter
of S
arah
. "B
ut u
su-
ally
I a
nsw
er th
e ph
one,
" sh
e ob
serv
ed. "
Oh,
" sa
id K
elly
. "Y
ou s
houl
d pu
t me
in,"
Wen
dy in
sist
ed. S
he h
ad b
een
payi
ng c
aref
ul a
ttent
ion
to th
e re
adin
g an
dei
ther
spo
tted
an in
accu
racy
or,
mor
e lik
ely,
saw
her
way
in to
the
stor
y. "
OK
,"sa
id K
elly
.A
thir
d ha
nd w
ent u
p an
d C
arol
, an
only
chi
ld, a
sked
if K
elly
wou
ld p
rete
ndth
at s
he w
as th
e si
ster
of
Kat
ie a
nd a
lso
let h
er a
nsw
er th
e ph
one.
Kel
ly g
ener
-ou
sly
put b
oth
youn
ger
child
ren
in th
e st
ory,
and
eve
n al
low
ed th
em to
go
alon
gto
Flo
rida
. The
epi
sode
rem
inde
d m
e of
a g
ame
whe
re a
you
nger
sib
ling
is te
as-
ing
to b
e in
clud
ed. T
he s
tory
, lik
e a
gam
e, is
per
ceiv
ed a
s m
alea
ble
and
expa
ndab
le.
Ano
ther
typi
cal a
dven
ture
sto
ry a
lso
star
ts w
ith a
list
of
frie
nds.
The
y ar
mth
emse
lves
thor
ough
lyei
ther
by
shop
ping
in th
e hu
ntin
g de
part
men
t at L
.L.
Bea
n's
or b
y fa
lling
into
a c
ave
and
find
ing
it pi
led
with
cro
ssbo
ws,
hal
berd
s,an
d pi
kes.
The
n of
f th
ey g
o se
ekin
g A
DV
AN
SHR
.So
me
of th
e st
orie
s in
this
vei
n te
nd to
get
rat
her
viol
ent.
The
par
ents
of
Vic
,Jo
hn, a
nd M
arsh
all,
coau
thor
s of
"D
ET
H A
T F
RIS
T S
ITE
". w
ere
not p
leas
edw
ith th
e su
bjec
t mat
ter
(or
the
spel
ling)
of
thei
r ch
ildre
n's
join
t eff
ort.
I w
asth
eref
ore
very
gra
tefu
l to
Mar
shal
l whe
n he
red
irec
ted
the
ener
gies
of
this
thir
d-gr
ade
gang
for
a w
hile
. I h
ad b
een
read
ing
The
Win
d in
the
Will
ows
to th
e cl
ass,
0
600
Lan
guag
e A
rts
whe
n on
e m
orni
ng M
arsh
all b
roug
ht in
a n
ew a
nd g
orge
ousl
y ill
ustr
ated
edi
tion
of th
e bo
ok w
hich
his
gra
ndm
othe
r ha
d gi
ven
him
. We
had
been
talk
ing
abou
tw
ritin
g le
tters
in c
lass
that
day
, and
he
aske
d if
he
coul
d pr
eten
d th
at h
e w
asB
adge
r an
d in
vite
Mol
e, w
ho w
ould
be
Col
in, t
.) te
a. M
arsh
all h
ad f
ound
an-
otb.
m. w
ay to
par
ticip
ate
in s
omeo
ne e
lse'
s st
ory,
thou
gh th
is ti
me
it w
as a
pub
-lis
hed
auth
or, n
ot a
cla
ssm
ate.
B'o
rou
nds
of le
tters
wer
e pr
oduc
ed in
that
peri
od.
The
nex
t day
Mar
shal
l mov
ed h
is g
ear
in a
t rec
ess
so h
e co
uld
get t
he p
rize
dro
und
tabl
e fo
r hi
s pr
ojec
t. H
e br
ough
t his
boo
k an
d se
vera
l pap
er m
ail b
oxes
that
he
had
mad
e. V
ic w
as a
dded
as
Rat
ty. A
noth
er f
rien
d ca
me
over
and
look
ed th
roug
h th
e pi
ctur
es in
the
book
to f
ind
his
role
. The
ir le
tters
, with
the
Wild
Woo
ds s
tam
ps th
ey c
reat
ed, t
ake
liber
ties
with
Gra
ham
e's
stor
y. T
hree
char
acte
rs s
hare
the
jail
expe
rien
ce.
Mol
e.on
Feb
ruar
y 17
mr.
bad
ger
will
bai
l Toa
d, M
e, a
nd y
ou o
ut o
f-ja
le-j
ail s
o st
ay-V
IM c
alm
and
mab
y ba
dger
will
biy
us
a "f
luky
Rat
ty
Thi
s w
ritin
g ga
me
wen
t on
for
a co
uple
of
wee
ks, b
oth
in c
lass
and
out
side
at
rece
ss, w
here
the
child
ren
cont
inue
d to
pla
y th
ose
role
s.
Bei
ng "
In"
Stor
ies
and
Play
with
Fri
ends
Bei
ng in
a s
tory
with
a f
rien
d is
a p
ower
ful s
ymbo
l of
bein
g in
. It w
as c
ruci
ally
impo
rtan
t to
Paul
, a s
tron
gly
imag
inat
ive
firs
t gra
der.
The
mon
ster
s he
dre
ww
ith c
rayo
ns s
eem
ed to
sca
re e
ven
him
. In
a w
ay, h
e pl
ayed
a m
onst
er r
ole
expl
osiv
e an
d fr
ight
enin
g. H
e th
reat
ened
and
teas
ed a
nd s
care
d ot
her
child
ren
away
.W
hen
Paul
fir
st a
rriv
ed in
Sep
tem
ber,
it w
as im
med
iate
ly c
lear
to th
e te
ach-
ers
that
he
was
goi
ng to
nee
d a
lot o
f co
ncen
trat
ed a
ttent
ion.
(In
our
sm
all
scho
ol th
e ch
ildre
n ha
ve d
iffe
rent
teac
hers
for
lang
uage
art
s an
d m
ath
in th
em
orni
ng a
nd a
ny o
ne o
f th
e fo
ur o
f us
for
a s
ucce
ssio
n of
aft
erno
on u
nits
. The
re-
fore
we
shar
e re
spon
sibi
lity
for
ever
y ch
ild.)
We
wer
e st
ill f
umbl
ing
arou
nd, t
ry-
ing
our
vari
ous
stra
tegi
es to
hel
p hi
m r
ecog
nize
lim
its a
nd s
ee th
e ef
fect
s of
his
own
beha
vior
on
othe
rs, w
hen
a m
irac
le o
ccur
red,
or
at le
ast a
bet
ter
solu
tion
than
any
of
us c
ould
hav
e de
vise
d: a
sec
ond
grad
er b
efri
ende
d hi
m.
The
fri
ends
hip
deve
lope
d in
wri
ting
clas
s. P
aul a
nd M
ike
wou
ld s
ecur
e a
stac
k of
pap
er, b
lank
at t
he to
p an
d lin
ed a
t the
bot
tom
, and
take
it to
a ta
ble
they
had
cla
imed
. Mik
e w
ould
dra
w a
ser
ies
of c
leve
r an
d in
tric
ate
war
pic
ture
s.L
ike
man
y ch
ildre
n he
talk
ed a
bout
asp
ects
of
his
pict
ures
as
he c
reat
ed th
em.
He
was
not
talk
ing
to P
aul;
it w
as w
hat V
ygot
sky
calls
"sp
eech
for
one
self
,"he
lpin
g hi
m to
pla
n an
d or
gani
ze h
is d
raw
ing.
Aft
er w
atch
ing
for
a w
hile
, Pau
lw
ould
pra
ctic
ally
clim
b on
the
tabl
e an
d st
rew
pap
ers
arou
nd, a
s he
inte
rrup
ted
with
his
que
stio
ns.
Wri
ting
as P
lay
60
"Wha
t's th
is g
uy d
oing
?""H
e's
falli
ng o
ff th
e cl
iff,
see
, 'ca
use
he g
ot h
it."
"Who
sho
t him
?""T
his
guy.
He'
s go
t a b
azoo
ka."
"Mak
e a
man
with
a s
wor
d. M
ake
him
cho
p so
meo
ne's
hea
d of
f,"
Paul
wou
ldsu
gges
t.W
hen
a fe
w p
ictu
res
had
been
com
plet
ed, t
hey
wou
ld d
ivid
e th
em u
p so
that
both
cou
ld w
ork
on th
e w
ritin
g ha
lt of
the
page
. The
y ha
d a
pecu
liar
notio
n of
equi
vale
nts:
"O
K, y
ou d
o th
e ba
ttle
with
the
Fren
ch. I
'll d
o th
e ba
ttle
with
the
Ext
rate
rres
tria
ls."
The
y co
ntin
ued
to d
iscu
ss th
e st
orie
s an
d of
fer
each
oth
ersu
gges
tions
. Mik
e w
as a
n in
vete
rate
inve
nted
spe
ller.
Pau
l, th
ough
you
nger
, was
mor
e aw
are
of c
onve
ntio
nal s
pelli
ng. H
e'd
ask
his
men
tor
for
help
(H
ow d
o yo
usp
ell d
iffe
rent
? D
IFR
NT
) an
d be
puz
zled
by
the
resu
lts.
The
oth
er a
rena
in w
hich
this
fri
ends
hip
was
pla
yed
out,
and
one
with
som
ein
tere
stin
g pa
ralle
ls, w
as th
e re
cess
gam
e of
For
ts. O
ur p
layg
roun
d ha
s so
me
tree
s al
ong
the
side
and
a b
it of
woo
ds d
own
a sl
ope
at th
e ba
ck. A
t tim
es m
ost
of th
e ar
ea n
ot ta
ken
up b
y ki
ckba
ll or
pla
ygro
und
equi
pmen
t has
bee
n di
vvie
dup
into
for
ts. B
ound
arie
s ar
e m
arke
d by
pile
s of
rak
ed p
ine
need
les,
roc
ks, o
rst
icks
. It i
s ra
re th
at a
for
t has
wal
ls m
ore
than
a f
ew in
ches
hig
h, a
nd o
nly
one
in m
y m
emor
y ev
er h
ad a
roo
f. S
omet
imes
the
spac
e in
side
the
fort
is e
labo
rate
dw
ith d
iffe
rent
roo
ms,
a f
irep
lace
, and
a p
lace
for
trea
sure
. The
act
iviti
es o
f fo
rtdw
elle
rs c
onsi
st m
ostly
of
hous
ekee
ping
and
rai
ds o
n ot
her
fort
s. T
hese
occ
upy
ever
y re
cess
mom
ent f
or w
eeks
at a
tim
e.Fo
rts
seem
to m
e al
mos
t a u
nive
rsal
in th
e ex
peri
ence
of
child
ren
in th
is c
ul-
ture
. A f
ort m
arks
off
a s
afe
inne
r sp
ace
whe
re y
ou c
an b
e w
ith c
hose
n fr
iend
s,en
gagi
ng in
hom
ey ta
sks
or r
etur
ning
fro
m s
ortie
s in
to th
e ou
ter
wor
ld o
f da
n-ge
r. T
hat f
ragi
le li
ne o
f pi
ne n
eedl
es p
rote
cts
you
from
the
men
ace
of E
than
and
his
gang
, or
Jenn
y an
d he
rs, o
r, I
sup
pose
, mon
ster
s.Pa
ul w
as in
itiat
ed in
to a
for
t as
Mik
e's
prot
egd.
The
sha
red
plan
ning
of
battl
est
rate
gy, b
egun
on
pape
r, c
ontin
ued
in th
is o
ther
set
ting.
"C
ome
on, l
et's
sne
akar
ound
the
swin
gs. B
ring
you
r st
ick.
" T
here
was
a lo
t of
disc
ussi
on o
f w
ho w
asin
wha
t for
t. "C
olin
's n
ot in
it a
nym
ore.
He'
s in
Joe
l's f
ort."
One
day
in c
lass
Pau
l was
sitt
ing
alon
e. I
wen
t ove
r an
d su
gges
ted
that
he
look
thro
ugh
his
wri
ting
fold
er a
nd d
ecid
e w
hat h
e'd
like
to w
ork
on. W
e si
fted
thro
ugh
vari
ous
frag
men
ts. F
inal
ly, P
aul p
icke
d up
a c
lum
p of
pap
ers
with
Mik
e's
draw
ings
and
his
ow
n w
ritin
g. "
Thi
s is
'The
Des
troy
er.'
I do
n't k
now
ifM
ike
is in
it a
nym
ore.
"Sa
dly,
he
was
rig
ht. H
is jo
int s
tori
es w
ith M
ike
dwin
dled
. In
fact
, as
Paul
'sch
oice
of
wor
ds, h
is r
efer
ence
to "
in it
," s
ugge
sts,
bot
h st
orie
s an
d fo
rts
wen
tou
t tog
ethe
r. B
ut I
fel
t tha
t the
exp
erie
nce
had
been
a h
ealin
g on
e fo
r Pa
ul. H
isin
volv
emen
t in
both
thes
e im
agin
ary
wor
lds
had
mad
e hi
m f
eel s
afer
and
stro
nger
rath
er in
the
way
Bet
telh
eim
(19
77)
clai
ms
that
abs
orpt
ion
in a
fai
ryta
le c
an h
ave
a he
alin
g ef
fect
on
child
ren.
31
Lan
guag
e A
rts
Som
e of
thes
e st
orie
s, li
ke th
e ga
mes
they
wer
e ba
sed
on, w
ere
disc
arde
d or
outg
row
n. O
ther
s ha
d su
ffic
ient
impe
tus
to c
arry
them
thro
ugh
to c
ompl
etio
n."T
he A
DV
AN
SHR
" w
as n
ever
cor
rect
ed, b
ut it
was
mad
e in
to a
boo
k w
hich
will
be
a lin
guis
tic p
uzzl
e fo
r its
aut
hor
in a
yea
r or
two.
"A
Rac
coon
Nam
edA
shes
" w
as a
lmos
t rea
dy f
or th
e sc
hool
mag
azin
e w
hen
the
firs
t dra
ft w
as c
om-
plet
ed.
A T
rip to
Flo
rida
was
red
raft
ed a
nd c
aref
ully
cop
ied
by K
elly
, gra
tefu
lfo
r th
e su
gges
tion
that
she
do
som
e co
nden
sing
, int
o an
illu
stra
ted
hom
emad
ebo
ok.
The
con
nect
ion
betw
een
play
and
wri
ting
is a
ric
h on
e fo
r ch
ildre
n. I
t ena
bles
them
to b
ring
into
the
clas
sroo
m th
eir
own
com
pelli
ng in
tere
stst
heir
imag
i-na
ry g
ames
, the
ir to
ys a
nd b
ooks
, the
ir f
rien
dshi
vs, t
heir
fea
rs, t
heir
dre
ams.
It
conn
ects
the
insi
de c
lass
room
wor
ld w
ith th
e la
rger
wor
ld o
f re
cess
, aft
ersc
hool
, and
hom
e. T
his
abun
dant
pla
y m
ater
ial i
s tr
ansf
orm
ed in
var
ious
way
sas
chi
ldre
n w
ork
with
it in
wri
ting
thei
r ow
n st
orie
s. W
hen
thei
r pl
ay b
ecom
esth
eir
wor
k, c
hild
ren
find
it p
artic
ular
ly m
eani
ngfu
l and
sat
isfy
ing.
Ref
eren
ces
Bet
telh
eim
, Bru
no. T
he U
ses
of E
ncha
ntm
ent:
The
Mea
ning
and
Im
port
ance
of
Fair
y T
a-le
s. N
ew Y
ork:
Ran
dom
Hou
se, 1
977.
Gra
ham
e, K
enne
th. T
he W
ind
in th
e W
illow
s. N
ew Y
ork:
Hol
t, R
ineh
art a
nd W
inst
on(A
riel
Boo
ks),
198
0.V
ygot
sky,
L.S
. Tho
ught
and
Lan
guag
e. C
ambr
idge
, MIT
Pre
ss, 1
962.
Car
la R
ense
nbrin
k is
lang
uage
art
s te
ache
r at
Sou
le S
choo
l in
Fre
epor
t, M
aine
.
3.3
ft Y.:.
SPECIAL FOCUS
Story Writingterror and began
C:1_rd floor windows.Ar
Reprinted by permission fromTeaching Exceptional Children v25 n4, Summer 1993
Using Character Development toImprove Story Writing
Alexandra Leavell Anne loannides
Students with writingproblems generally in-clude basic story ele-
ments such as setting, plot,and resolution in their writtenstories. However, they fre-quently omit a critical elementof good stories, the characters'internal responses or plans(MacArthur & Graham, 1987;Montague, Maddux, & Dere-shiwsky, 1990). Internal re-sponses and plans are storyelements that give life to char-acters through expression ofemotions, intentions, andthoughts. If students do notunderstand the roles charac-ters play in a story, they maynot be able to comprehend orwrite well-developed stories Ti.
(Emery & Mihalevich, 1987).Explicit instruction in char-
acter development helpsstudents understand theimportance of characters instories. Students can learn tocreate characters who are likereal people who have emo-tions and ideas and can solvethe problems they encounter.This article presents guidelinesfor teaching students how todevelop such characters intheir written stories.
The students are taught the threecharacter attributes that will maketheir characters seem like real people.
SUMMER 1993
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
t
Expose Students toBooks and Stories
Because most special educa-tion programs emphasizebasic skills instruction in read-ing and writing, students inthese programs usually arenot exposed to literature. Aspart of our instructional pro-gram, stories and excerptsfrom books containing fic-tional characters are readaloud to students. Fictionalcharacters who are involved insituations familiar or appeal-ing to students seem to moti-vate them to create similarlyinteresting characters in theirown stories. Discussions aboutthe characters in the storiesread to them often helpstudents understand theelements of character devel-opment. For example, in arecent study (Montague &Leavell, in press), an excerptfrom The Pigman by PaulZindel was read to the stu-dents. The unconventionalbehavior of the two youngpeople who tell this story fromalternating points of viewsparked the students' interestThe class discussion centeredon developing a character'spoint of view and makingcharacters the catalysts foraction in stories.
TEACHING EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN 41
cfb ttnok6:111 4bOY.041:*t.AEtalfficebilittitrAk b.tone.OptlierltEterr:OVabliSeali
butb.
Focus onStudent Knowledge
and ExperienceStudents' prior knowledge and experi-ence come into play during the writingprocess. Students draw on their ownexperiences and create fictional repre-sentations of actual events in their lives.Explicit instruction in character devel-opment should be provided at thebeginning of the instructional program.However, as students become betterable to create and develop characters,the teacher can become a facilitator orguide. In this role, the teacher circulatesamong students and helps individualsdraw on their own knowledge andexperiences as they compose stories
Provide ExplicitInstruction in
Character DevelopmentDeveloping students' understanding ofcharacter attributes and how authorsuse these attributes to make charactersseem like real people is the primary
42 TEACHING EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN
instructional goal. To introduce thecharacter attributes, the teacher candraw an analogy between meeting andbecoming friends with someone andcreating characters in stories. The fol-lowing are techniques for teaching stu-dents to use three character attributes asthey write stories.
1. Physical appearance. Introduce thef t character attribute by saying,
The author helps readers get toknow the characters in a story inmuch the same way as a persongets to know another person. Forexample, the first thing I noticeabout people is how they look; forexample, how tall they are, thecolor of their hair, the clothes theyare wearing, and so on. This iscalled the character's physicalappearance.
Then, write "Physical Appearance"on a large piece of newsprint. Usingexamples from stories read aloud inclass, tell the students to use theauthors' description of the characters toimagine or make pictures of the charac-ters in their heads. Next, have the stu-dents give examples of physical
attributes that could be used to describea character for the reader. Write the stu-dents' ideas on the newsprint.
2. Speech and actions. Introduce thesecond cnaracter attribute by saying,
After seeing how a person looks, Imight want to talk to that personand get to know him or her better. Ican find out more about what char-acters are like by listening to whatthey say and observing how theyact toward other characters.Authors help us know more aboutcharacters by letting us listen in ontheir conversations and followthem around to see what they do.What characters say and do iscalled their speech and actions.
Have the dialogue from previouslyread stories available. Let the studentstake turns reading aloud different char-acters' parts. Then discuss getting toknow characters by listening to whatthey say and observing what they do.Write "Speech and Actions" on a sheetof newsprint. Elicit a list of action wordsas examples of responses charactersmight have to story events. Also havethe students suggest verbs that can be
BEST COPY AVAILABLESUMMER 1993
smoke in the sky above their apartment building. They looked at one another in terror and began to mil:
,st as they could. When they got there, they saw flames coming out of the third floor windoWS....-Art-p.anioki
::..7-::i,...;:::',:-.
Figure 1. Thoughts and Emotions Chart:. .
, ',r,,, ,,i.fi.,,::A:-, . -..
..-: ...:, e.-.4:*,;gti;',.. .
. . .
Thought Words. : .- _
-.-.:;-',---.'7' ''',:..--..
.
wanted realized 7 thought.
.
wished ,..r,,:)":.,-..'1,
noticed reasoned hoped feltbelieve
,
.
-::,-...
.'knew needed wuu ere
understood remembered ondered. .
.Emotions .
-- ..
happiness hate , sadness ----.
.--.',,, -anxiety. :..
nervousness : -:: boredom -...,:-amazement. tonsicii-:.... ',,
. ,...:- .: : worry: ,. , ..
amazement. . jealausy...: .:
sunrIED::- \ , Pa4P-.=-----.."..- --:,.,-,:-?-,--,_.- . - ..st','''''-i'.i:loneliness
.
. .
..-::'&impassion
'" s_emitementdepression envy - , love .-
joy agony frustration sympathy -..,...
. ..
_ .
...
used instead of "said" as they write dia-logue for the story characters.
3. Thoughts and emotions. Introducethe third character attribute by saying,
Think about the person you knowand like the best. Think about why Encourage the students to express
that person is different from other their own feelings and reactions to situ-
friends you have. I know my best ations as examples of how charactersfriend so well that I can usually tell might feel or act. Discuss the impor-how she would react to a certain sit- tance of understanding how the charac-uation or how she would feel about ters feel and how their actions often giveit. Authors help us get to know the reader clues about their emotions.characters by letting us "get inside When authors reveal their characters'the characters' heads" and hear thoughts and feelings, readers get totheir inner thoughts and feelings. know the characters better. For example,In this way we are able to figure outhow characters will Jody, the young boy in 77se Red Pony byact in certainsituations. John Steinbeck, reveals his feelings
when his pony becomes ill. Discuss howWrite "Thoughts and Emotions.' on a readers might identify with story char-
sheet of newsprint. Have the students acters and have similar emotions in sim-generate a list of "thought words" that ilar situations.can be used to indicate that a character is Remind the students to use the char-thinking about an event in the story. acter attributes as they create characters
0 Then elicit various feelings that charac- in their stories. Display the lists of phys-ters might have. Figure 1 presents an ical attributes, speech and actions, andexample of a chart developed for this thoughts and emotions for use duringpart of the lesson on character attributes. group story writing.
SUMMER 1993
Provide S,:ory WritingPractice
Before students begin their stories,remind them that they are authors and,as authors, they are responsible for mak-ing their characters come alive for thereader. They should also be reminded touse the posted lists to get ideas fordescribing physical attributes, speech,actions, thoughts, and feelings as theycreate "real-life" characters. Have themfirst write a story as a whole-class activ-ity. The following guidelines will help instructuring this writing activity. Allowapproximately 3 days to complete theclass story.
1. Give the students a list of storyprompts or have them generate theirown list. For example, the prompt "and
TEACHING EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN 43
36
the burning building crashed to theground" might be selected by the stu-dents. Write the prompt for the classstory on the chalkboard.
2. Tell the students to imagine char-acters who might be in a story about aburning building. Ask them to describethe various parts these characters willplay in the story. Then have the stu-dents describe each character's physicalappearance, speech and actions, andthoughts and emotions. Write eachcharacter sketch on the newsprint.These sl .t!tches then become the cast ofcharacters for the class story.
3. Discuss the possible problems thecharacters may encounter as the storyunfolds and moves toward its ending.Write the students' ideas on newsprint.Discuss the purpose of conflicts or prob-lems in stories (to set the action of thestory in motion); the importance of hav-
44 TEACHING EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN
ing characters develop plans to solvesome of the problems rather than sim-ply reacting to the problems; and thatproblems can be internal (inside the per-son) or external (outside the person).Figure 2 presents a chart developed forthis part of the lesson.
4. Ask the students to develop a planfor solving each of the problems theyhave posed for the characters. Havethem tell how the characters might feelabout these problems and the peoplewho are involved in creating or solvingthe problems (see Figure 2). Also, havethem tell how the characters feel aboutthemselves. Guide the students as theytell how their characters will react to thevarious internal or external problems. Asthe students dictate their responses,write them on newsprint and display itin the classroom. Encourage ongoingrevision to help the students understandthe evolving nature of story writing.
5. As subsequent events are added,ask the students to describe how their
characters feel and what they are think-ing as events occur. Ask them how theircharacters will react to each event. Pointout that this reaction may be the nextstory event. Provide frequent examplessuch as the following:
On their way home, Art and hisbuddy saw the huge cloud ofsmoke in the sky above their apart-ment building. They looked at oneanother in terror and began to runhome a fast as they could. Whenthey got there, they saw flamescoming out of the third floor win-dows. Art panicked.
Ask the students to examine theirown feelings about this event and thenimagine what they would say or do if itwere happening to them. Ask themwhether the characters would have sim-ilar thoughts and feelings and why theymight have these feelings. Help the stu-dents understand the relationshipamong characters' thoughts, actions,and reactions.
As the students share their ideas, thestory may change considerably.
SUMMER 1993
smoke in the sky above their apartment building. They looked at one another in terror and began to run
st as they could. When they_got there, they saw flames coming out of the third floor windows. Art panic
Figure 2. Character Problems Chart
Problems set the action of the storye (inside the character) or external (outside the character)
how-the character(s)-will-solve-the- problem(s)
money friends sicknessfamily love deathbusiness school abusepersonal crime weather nature
work .heartbreak- .
. . .
insanitywarbeing trapped or strandedaddiction
Encourage frequent stops during thestory writing activity to reread what hasbeen written so far. This is an opportu-nity to model techniques for story writ-ing. For example, if there areinconsistencies in a story, a teachermight read the story aloud, stop, andsay, "Just a moment. I'm confused. Ithought this character was supposed tobe 12 or 13-years-old, but in this part ofthe story, he is driving a car. Did I meanto do that?" The students can thenbrainstorm about changes sc the storymakes sense.
Teach Students toEvaluate Their Stories
To help students determine whether ornot their characters are well developed,give each student a copy of the finaldraft of the story. Make a list of the char-acters in the story and assign one char-acter to each student. Have the studentsread the story and underline the wordsand sentences that answer the follow-ing questions:
1. What does the character look like?2. What does the character say in the
story?3. What does the character do in the
story?4. What is the character thinking about
in the story?5. What emotions does the character
display in the story?6. How does the character feel about
what happens in the story?Then have the class discuss each char-acter and decide whether or not thecharacters are developed well enoughfor their parts in the story. At this point,students can add or delete informatioaabout characters and make any otherchanges in the story that they agreeupon. This activity is reinforcingbecause the students begin to realizethat they are able to create stories withinteresting characters who think and actlike real people.
Conclusion
Students with writing problems oftenhave difficulty writing stories because
they may not understand the interac-tions among the motivations, actions,and reactions of story characters.Explicit instruction in character devel-opment improves not only story writingskills but also their attitude toward writ-ing.
ReferencesEmery, D., & Mihalevich, C. (1987, December).
Motivations and reactions to story characters' inter-nal states on primary students' story comprehension.Paper presented at the National ReadingConference, St. Petersburg, FL.
MacArthur, C., & Graham, S. (1987). Learning dis-abled students' composing with three methods:Handwriting, dictation and word processing.Journal of Special Education, 21, 22-42.
Montague, M., & Leavell, A. (in press). Improvingnarrative writing of students with learning dis-abilities. Remedial and Special Education.
Montague, M., Maddux, C., do Dereshiwsky, M.(1990). Story grammar and comprehensim Andproduction of narrative prose by students withlearning disabilities. Journal of LearningDisabilities, 23,190 -197.
Alexandra Leavell (CEC Chapter #121), AssistantProfessor, University of North Texas, Denton. Anneloannides, Learning Disabilities Specialist, DadeCounty Public Schools, Florida.
Copyright 1993 CEC.
SUMMER 1993 3TEACHING EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN 45
SPECIAL FOCUS .: =:
Story Writing
Using Cues and Prompts toImprove Story Writing
Anne Graves Rochelle Hauge
Although narrativewriting is empha-sized in most
elementary school lan-guage arts programs,many students still havedifficulty with this acade-mic task. Narrative writ-ing involves formulatingideas, creating plots,developing characters,and solving problemsencountered by charac-ters in the story. Studentsmust be taught to developa plan for writing a story,organizing their ideas,and writing coherentlyfor an audience. They alsomust be taught how torevise their stories.
Teaching students towrite stories may improvetheir ability to evaluateand appreciate literature,plays, movies, televisionshows, and stories told byothers. Story writing can
"Zy
The teacher models the use of the self-monitoring checklist.
be therapeutic for stu-dents because they can imagine them-selves in the story, create characters, anddevelop plots that relate directly to theirown experiences (Brooks, 1987).Emphasizing content and ideas ratherthan mechanics during instruction givesstudents an opportunity not only to suc-ceed in but also to have fun with writ-ing. When students enjoy the writingexperience, their motivation to expressthemselves in writing increases.
38 TEACHINLi EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN
This article provides specific recorn-mendations for teaching students howto use a story grammar cuing system toimprove both the fluency and quality oftheir stories. The cuing system is simplya series of steps in the form of a check-list that serves as a self - regulatory mech-anism for prompting attention,memory, and accuracy (Graves,Montague, & Wong, 1990; Hauge, 1991;Montague, Graves, & Leave'', 1991). The
SUMMER 1993
cuing system is most use-ful for students who canidentify story elementsand write simple_ storiesbut have difficulty creat-ing. complete and well-organized stories. Ifstudents do not have theprerequisite skills, thenexplicit instruction instory grammar elementsor sentence productionshould be given prior tointroducing the cuing sys-tem. The six proceduresdescribed in this articleare recommended forteaching students how touse the system.
Assess Students'Knowledge of
Story GrammarTo determine whether ornot students can identifystory parts, first read ashort story to them. Then,
ask them about the main character, set-ting, problem, plan, and ending of thestory. If the students can recall and iden-tify the story elements, have them writea story. To help them get started, havethem select a story starter from a list.
To assess students' inclusion of storygrammar elements and story writingprogress, teachers can use quality mea-sures such as the Story Element Scale(Graham & Harris, 1989) and the Story
Quality Scale (Graves & Montague,1991). The Story Element Scale isdesigned to provide a numerical ratingof story parts by addressing the pres-ence and quality of seven story ele-ments: main character, locale, starterevent, goal, action, ending, and reac-tion. The Story Quality Scale is designedto assess story coherence, organization,sequencing, goals, and outcomes andthe student's ability to develop episodeswithin the story. Sections from theseinstruments and other, similar qualitymeasures can be used as guides fordeveloping story writing goals andobjectives. Goals can be set and adjustedbased on the results of these curricu-lum-based measurement tools.
Students who omit story elementsfrom their stories can be taught to usethe story grammar cuing system.Students whose stories are completemay not need the check-off system.Instead, their instruction might focus onmaking sure the events in the story arelogically sequenced, creating an inter-esting and cohesive plot, and expand-ing episodes for more sophisticated andbetter developed stories.
Review the StoryGrammar Elements
Before presenting the story grammarcuing system to students, review thestory elements, including (a) the setting(where and wt en the story takes place),(b) the main and supporting characters,(c) the problem presented in the storyand a plan to solve it, and (d) the endingor resolution. Use the story grammarterms that are most familiar to students.For example, if students already knowthe terms problem and resolution, con-tinue to use this terminology. As part ofthe review, make a list of the story ele-ments and discuss the terms and theiridentifying features (Graves &Montague, 1991). The following illus-trates how a teacher might present thisreview:
Stories usually have the parts thatare listed on this card [see Figure 1].The setting is where and when thestory takes place. The character or
SUMMER 1993
characters are the people or animalsin the story. The problem is some-thing that happens that concerns,worries, or confuses the characters.The plan is the way the charactersattempt to solve the problem. Theending is the last part of the story. Inthe last part of the story, the char-acters' reactions to the problem solu-tion are described; for example:"Jenny smiled and waved good-bye to her new friend," or "Thepurple pandas lived happily everafter."
Model Use of the Self-Monitoring Checklist
To model use of the cuing system, firstprovide the students with a card listingthe story parts (see Figure 1). They willuse this card as they plan and write sto-ries. Then, model the use of the cuingsystem in the following manner:
Today, we are going to learn a storywriting strategy called "StoryCheck." Stories usually have all ofthe parts listed on this card. As youplan and write your stories, I wantyou to check off each story part.Listen. I will check each part as Iplan my story. My story will beginin this way: "One day a surfer sawa strange creature in the ocean."Watch me. I want the surfer to bethe main character, so I will check"Character(s)" under "Check as IPlan." I want the story to take placeat the beach, so I will check"Setting" in the same column. Iwant a great white shark to sneakup and scare the surfer, so I willcheck Vroblem." I want the surferto figure out a plan for escapingfrom the shark, so I will check"Plan." I want the surfer to end upon the shore watching the sharkswim out to sea, so I will check"Ending."I have made a plan. Now I amready to write. During my storywriting, I will check each part againafter I include it in my story. Sowhen I write about the surfer, I willcheck "Character(s)" in the "Checkas I Write" column. As I write aboutthe beach and the ocean, I willcheck "Setting" in the "Writing" col-
40
umn, and Jo on. Now, help mewrite this story and make sure Icheck off the story parts as I write
Prompt and CheckStudents' Story Writing
After modeling the strategy for stu-dents, provide a new story starter andrepeat the strategy with the students.Call on individual students to tell whatto do as the checklist is completed. Atthe end of this practice session, ask, "Didwe use the story-check strategy? Howdo we know?" Students might respondby indicating that the cue card's plan-ning and writing columns are checked.Finally, students will use the strategyindependently. Monitor studentprogress and provide assistance asneeded. At the end of the independentpractice session, ask, "Did you use thestory-check strategy? How do youknow?" Students will show their cuecards and explain what they did as theyplanned and wrote their stories.Students may then read their stories tothe group.
Provide Practice Usingthe Checklist
When students have mastered the storygrammar cuing system, make time fordaily story writing practice. As studentspractice writing stories, both teacherand peer feedback can be provided toassist them in formulating and refining
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TEACHING EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN 39
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ideas. At this level, the cue card onlyhelps students monitor themselves. Asthey write regularly and become com-fortable with the self-monitoring proce-dure, the quality of their writing shouldimprove.
Make Sure StudentsUse the Checklist to
Maintain SkillsAs students write more, some adapt thecuing system to fit their individualneeds. For example, if students nolonger overtly use the check-off systemduring planning or writing and thequality of their stories remains at theimproved level, they may be using thestrategy covertly or at an automaticlevel. This covert use of the cuing sys-tem is desirable if writing qualityremains high. However, to maintainimproved performance levels, periodicreviews of the story grammar elementsand the cuing system may be necessary.
Helping StudentsGeneralize Skills
Generalization of the strategy to othersituations can be encouraged by havingstudents use the story grammar cuing
40 TEACHING EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN
-
.-,--;:,.. - -- -
system in other 'classes and with otherteachers. The special education teachermay work cooperatively with the regu-lar language arts teacher to monitor stu-dent use of the cuing system in theregular classroom. Generalization of thestrategy can also be increased by havingstudents use the cue cards to write sto-ries at home. Students must be moni-tored closely to ensure that theirperformance levels are maintained.They can construct individual story-books and read their stories to oneanother. They can then be taught vari-ous revision strategies to improve theirwriting further.
Conclusion
Elementary and secondary school stu-dents with learning problems usuallyneed explicit instruction in composition.They may also need instruction in usingself-monitoring procedures such as thestory grammar cuing system as theyengage in story writing. Students' con-fidence and self-esteem can beimproved by providing them with astrategy that actually improves theirwriting. 41
ReferencesBrooks, R. (1987). Story telling and the therapeutic
process for children with learning disabilities.Journal of Learning Disabilities, 20, 546-550.
Graham, S., & Harris, K. (1989). A componentsanalysis of cognitive strategy instruction:Effects on learning disabled students' composi-tions and self-efficacy. Journal of EducationalPsychology, 81, 353.361.
Graves, A., & Montague, M. (1991). Using storygrammar cuing to improve the writing of students with learning disabilities. LearningDisabilities Research and Practice, 6, 246-250.
Graves, A., Montague, M., & Wong, Y. (1990). Theeffects of procedural facilitation on the storycomposition of learning disabled students.Learning Disabilities Research, 5, 88-93.
Hauge, R. (1991). Improving narrative composition oflearning disabled students: The use of story grammar
cues. Unpublished master's thesis, Departmentof Special Education, University of California,Santa Barbara.
Montague, M., Graves, A., & Leavell, A. (1991).Planning, procedural facilitation, and narrativecomposition of junior high school students withlearning disabilities. Learning DisabilitiesResearch and Practice, 6, 219-224.
Anne Graves (CEC Chapter #555). AssociateProfessor, Department of Special Education, San DiegoState University, California. Rochelle Hauge (CECChapter #518), Special Education Teacher, Orcutt School
District, Santa Barbara, California.
Copyright 1993 CEC.
SUMMER 1993
Iris
W. E
stab
rook
Rep
rinte
d by
per
mis
sion
from
Lang
uage
Art
s M
agaz
ine,
Oct
198
2
Tal
king
Abo
ut W
ritin
gD
evel
opin
g In
depe
nden
tW
rite
rs
1,14
"Wou
ld y
ou li
ke to
hav
e a
conf
eren
ce a
bout
you
r pop
corn
sto
ry to
day?
" th
e te
ache
ras
ks. M
atth
ew n
ods.
The
y m
eet a
t a ta
ble
in th
e m
iddl
e of
thei
r fi
rst-
seco
nd g
rade
clas
sroo
m. T
he .'
..,,
teac
her,
Bre
nda
Bri
stol
, bri
ngs
alon
g M
atth
ew's
sto
ry f
rom
his
wri
ting
fold
er. S
ix -
''ye
ar-o
ld M
atth
ew c
omes
, pen
cil i
n ha
nd.
"Wou
ld y
ou li
ke to
rea
d yo
ur s
tory
to m
e?"
Ms.
Bri
stol
beg
ins.
Whe
n M
atth
ew f
inis
hes
read
ing
his
piec
e al
oud
Ms.
Bri
stol
ask
s hi
mto
talk
abou
t a n
ew d
evel
opm
ent i
n hi
s w
ritin
g, th
eus
e of
cha
pter
s an
d ch
apte
r tit
les.
"I ju
st w
ent a
long
and
put
the
nam
es o
f th
e ch
apte
rs a
nd w
hat
chap
ter
it..,
was
," M
atth
ew e
xpla
ins,
"I
thin
k it
mak
esm
ore
sens
e if
you
just
put
the
nam
es o
n0'c
ause
oth
erw
ise
the
peop
le d
on't
know
wha
t the
cha
pter
's a
bout
."43
Ms.
Bri
stol
beg
ins
to tr
ansc
ribe
Mat
thew
's s
tory
into
con
vent
iona
l spe
lling
on:
/,a
new
pie
ce o
f pa
per.
Mat
thew
's p
hone
tic s
pelli
ng is
larg
ely
deci
pher
able
at t
his
'i.'..
poin
t but
a f
resh
cop
y w
ill a
id in
typi
ng th
e pi
ece
and
prov
ide
a re
ason
for
a c
aref
uli
read
ing
of th
e st
ory.
1A
s M
s. B
rist
ol w
rite
s, s
he a
nd M
atth
ew r
ead
the
stor
y al
oud.
Ms.
Bri
stol
sto
psto
ask
, "D
oes
that
say
they
'll b
ag s
ome
up?"
.1t,7
t :It"I
'll ju
st c
hang
e th
is 't
' to
an 's
'," M
atth
ewan
swer
s. H
e do
es, c
hang
ing
4.
The
teac
her
cont
inue
s co
pyin
g an
d re
adin
g al
oud.
"H
ere'
sa
sent
ence
that
's'
i,
pret
ty lo
ng,"
Ms.
Bri
stol
poi
nts
out.
"Do
you
wan
t to
mak
e th
is a
noth
erse
nten
ce o
r4ke
ep it
as
part
of
one?
".. 7.
Mat
thew
take
s th
e pa
per,
era
ses
"and
," th
en c
ontin
ues
read
ing
alou
dto
his
teac
her.
"I
don'
t thi
nk th
is m
akes
muc
h se
nse,
" M
atth
ewco
mm
ents
as
he r
eads
,"'
soon
it w
as ti
me
for
all o
f th
em to
go
to b
ed. I
tw
as 1
1:00
.' D
o yo
u?"
"tom
e" to
"so
me.
"
4 9
"Why
?" M
s. B
rist
ol a
sks.
"It d
oesn
't so
und
good
," M
atth
ew e
xpla
ins.
"How
wou
ld y
ou c
hang
e it?
"M
atth
ew e
rase
s, c
ross
es o
ut, a
dds
to h
is s
tory
.M
s. B
rist
ol a
sks,
"N
ow w
hat d
oes
it sa
y?"
Mat
thew
rea
ds, "
soon
it w
as ti
me
for
all t
he c
hild
ren
toto
bed
. It w
as 8
:00,
so th
ey w
ent t
o be
d an
d th
e pa
rent
s w
ent t
o be
d at
11:
00 a
t n.,n
t." "
Doe
s th
at m
ake
mor
e se
nse?
" M
atth
ew a
sks.
"Yes
, bec
ause
now
you
hav
e th
e ch
ildre
n go
ing
to b
ed b
efor
e th
e pa
rent
s."
"Yea
h, 'c
ause
11:
00 is
late
. Som
etim
es I
go
to b
ed a
t 8:0
0."
The
teac
her
cont
inue
s co
pyin
g w
hile
Mat
thew
exp
lain
s, "
I w
as g
oing
to m
ake
it 12
:00
but I
can
't m
ake
it th
e s'
me
time
as th
e ro
bber
y 'c
ause
they
wou
ld p
roba
bly
catc
h th
e ro
bber
."T
hey
cont
inue
rea
ding
alo
ud a
nd tr
ansc
ribi
ng, s
topp
ing
alon
g th
e w
ay f
or a
wor
d ch
oice
rev
isio
n in
itiat
ed b
y M
atth
ew.
As
he r
eads
Cha
pter
Thr
ee, "
he s
aid
do y
ou k
now
wha
t the
thie
f lo
oked
like
said
the
polic
eman
," M
atth
ew s
tops
to c
omm
ent,
"Cou
ld w
e ch
ange
this
to 't
hey'
?W
ould
that
be
bette
r?"
No,
the
polic
eman
sai
d th
at,"
Ms.
Bri
stol
res
pond
s, "
How
man
y po
licem
enw
ere
ther
e?"
"One
car
has
at l
east
two.
""O
k, s
o it
coul
d be
'the
y'. I
thin
k yo
u sh
ould
wri
te 'p
olic
emen
' the
n."
Mat
thew
doe
s, a
band
onin
g "t
hey"
in f
avor
of
"the
pol
icem
en s
aid,
" th
en r
e-re
ads
his
revi
sion
and
dis
cove
rs, "
I do
n't t
hink
I n
eed
this
."M
s. B
rist
ol lo
oks
at th
e pa
per.
"So
now
you
've
got t
hat t
here
twic
e. Y
ou'v
e go
t"t
he p
olic
emen
sai
d" a
t the
beg
inni
ng a
nd th
e en
d. W
here
do
you
like
it be
tter?
"M
atth
ew c
ross
es o
ut "
the
polic
emen
sai
d" a
t the
end
of
his
sent
ence
. "If
the
polic
emen
are
say
ing
this
to th
em th
en I
've
got t
o pu
t som
ethi
ng in
fro
nt o
f th
e'n
o'th
e pe
ople
sai
d th
at,"
Mat
thew
tells
his
teac
her
as h
e ad
ds "
the
peop
le s
aid"
befo
re th
e di
alog
ue.
Lat
er in
the
stor
y, a
s th
e po
lice
catc
h up
with
the
popc
orn
thie
f, M
atth
ewre
ads,
"it
look
s lik
e th
ere
is g
ood
piec
es o
f po
pcor
n."
He
had
orig
inal
ly w
ritte
n"9
,000
," b
ut in
his
dif
ficu
lty d
ecod
ing
he n
ow r
eads
"go
od"
inst
ead
of "
9,00
0."
The
chan
ge in
rea
ding
has
left
Mat
thew
unc
omfo
rtab
le w
ith th
e ch
ange
in s
ente
nce
sens
e. H
e cr
osse
s ou
t "it
look
s lik
e th
ere
is,"
cha
ngin
g to
"th
ey lo
ok li
ke g
ood
piec
es o
f po
pcor
n."
Mat
thew
's b
ehav
ior
duri
ng th
is c
onfe
renc
e w
ith h
is te
ache
r sh
ows
that
he
has
inte
rnal
ized
sev
eral
impo
rtan
t con
cept
s ab
out w
ritin
g.Si
mpl
y br
ingi
ng a
long
his
pen
cil i
ndic
ates
an
unde
rsta
ndin
g of
the
purp
ose
ofth
e m
eetin
g, r
evis
ion.
Mat
thew
rev
ised
thro
ugho
ut th
e co
nfer
ence
and
ver
baliz
edhi
s w
illin
gnes
s to
do
so b
y re
spon
ding
, "I'l
l jus
t cha
nge
that
," to
his
teac
her's
fir
stqu
estio
n. H
e of
ten
took
the
initi
ativ
e, s
ugge
stin
g re
visi
ons
he m
ight
mak
e.M
atth
ew w
as c
omfo
rtab
le w
ith w
hat L
ucy
McC
orm
ick
Cau
lkin
s de
scri
bed
as "
mak
-in
g it
mes
sy to
mak
e it
clea
r" (
unpu
blis
hed
pape
r, U
nive
rsity
of
New
Ham
pshi
reW
ritin
g Pr
oces
s L
abor
ator
y, 1
979)
.M
atth
ew's
con
cern
with
cla
rity
ste
mm
ed f
rom
his
aw
aren
ess
of th
e re
ader
's
43
need
s. H
e tit
led
the
chap
ters
and
iden
tifie
d th
e sp
eake
rs in
his
sto
ry, w
itha
read
erot
her
than
him
self
in m
ind.
Mat
thew
was
als
o co
ncer
ned
that
his
sto
ry m
ake
sens
e. I
t was
impo
rtan
t to
him
that
the
plot
be
cons
iste
nt, l
ogic
al a
nd r
ealis
tic. H
e lo
oked
for
thes
e qu
aliti
esin
his
stor
y as
he
read
it.
Mat
thew
's p
erfo
rman
ce in
this
Feb
ruar
y w
ritin
g co
nfer
ence
may
com
eas
apl
easa
nt s
urpr
ise
to m
any
who
wor
k w
ith p
rim
ary
grad
e ch
ildre
n. Y
et th
e sk
ill h
eex
hibi
ted
in d
iscu
ssin
g hi
s w
ritin
g is
not
sur
pris
ing
if w
e co
nsid
er th
is e
piso
de in
the
cont
ext o
f hi
s ea
rlie
r ex
peri
ence
s.W
hen
Mat
thew
met
with
his
teac
her
he b
roug
ht h
is p
enci
l and
muc
hm
ore.
He
brou
ght w
ith h
im th
e ef
fect
s of
six
mon
ths
of in
tera
ctio
n in
a c
lass
room
whe
rehe
was
enc
oura
ged
to ta
lk a
bout
his
wri
ting.
By
trac
ing
som
e la
ndm
ark
even
ts a
nd e
very
day
situ
atio
ns M
atth
ew e
xper
i-en
ced
duri
ng th
ose
six
mon
ths
we
will
see
how
he
deve
lope
d hi
s cr
itica
l wri
ting
skill
s. T
hus
we
may
als
o di
scov
er h
ow w
e ca
n he
lp o
ther
beg
inni
ng w
rite
rs d
evel
opth
ese
skill
s.
Sept
embe
r 9
- N
ovem
ber
19
Beg
inni
ng o
n th
e fi
rst d
ay o
f sc
hool
Mat
thew
's c
lass
wro
te d
aily
. Man
y of
the
chil-
dren
dre
w p
ictu
res
or ta
lked
with
nei
ghbo
rs to
arr
ive
at a
cho
ice
of to
pic.
The
child
ren
wer
e al
so f
ree
to ta
lk w
hile
dra
win
g or
wri
ting,
pro
vidi
ng th
eir
conv
ersa
-tio
ns p
erta
ined
in s
ome
way
to th
eir
wri
ting.
The
ir te
ache
r ci
rcul
ated
am
ong
them
,ho
ldin
g in
form
al w
ritin
g co
nfer
ence
s to
enc
oura
ge th
e ch
ildre
n to
thin
k ab
out t
heco
nten
t of
thei
r w
ritin
g.D
urin
g th
e fi
rst t
wo
wee
ks o
f sc
hool
Ms.
Bri
stol
ask
ed f
ew q
uest
ions
. Ins
tead
she
acce
pted
thei
r w
ork
with
pos
itive
com
men
ts s
uch
as "
Thi
s is
kin
d of
spo
oky"
or "
I th
ink
if I
had
bee
n th
ere
I w
ould
hav
e be
en s
care
d to
o."
As
trus
t dev
elop
ed,
she
bega
n to
ask
mor
e qu
estio
ns, "
Wha
t will
you
wri
te a
bout
?", "
Wha
t will
hap
pen
next
?" In th
is w
ritin
g w
orks
hop
atm
osph
ere
whi
ch f
ocus
ed f
irst
on
the
deve
lopm
ent
of c
onte
nt, a
nd la
ter
on s
kills
, Mat
thew
's w
ritin
g fl
owed
. As
he w
rote
in S
epte
mbe
rit
was
not
unu
sual
for
him
to r
each
a s
peed
of
eigh
teen
wor
ds p
er m
inut
e an
dco
ntin
ue h
is w
ritin
g fo
r m
on, t
han
an h
our.
Mat
thew
rar
ely
shar
ed h
is w
ritin
g w
ithei
ther
teac
her
or p
eers
. Que
stio
ns f
rom
Ms.
Bri
stol
abo
ut h
is to
pic
met
with
re-
spon
ses
such
as
"It's
a s
ecre
t." o
r "I
can
't ta
lk, I
'm in
the
mid
dle
of w
ritin
g."
In-
tera
ctio
ns w
ith h
is p
eers
dur
ing
wri
ting
wer
e st
rict
ly li
mite
d to
com
men
ts a
ndqu
estio
ns o
n th
e le
ngth
of
thei
r w
ritin
gs. H
is r
evis
ions
con
sist
ed o
f I
ter
or w
ord
eras
ures
don
e du
ring
wri
ting
to im
prov
e a
lette
r's f
orm
atio
n or
cor
rect
a s
pelli
ng h
efe
lt he
'd g
otte
n w
rong
. Mat
thew
wro
te p
rofu
sely
, fee
ling
no n
eed
for,
or
awar
enes
sof
, an
audi
ence
oth
er th
an h
imse
lf.
To
lead
Mat
thew
aw
ay f
rom
his
vie
w o
f'wri
ting
as a
sol
itary
act
ivity
tow
ard
ade
velo
ping
sen
se o
f au
dien
ce a
s a
forc
e fo
r re
visi
on, M
s. B
rist
ol g
radu
ally
beg
an to
expo
se M
atth
ew to
que
stio
ns a
bout
the
cont
ent o
f hi
s w
ritin
g. A
t fir
st, M
atth
eww
as s
impl
y en
cour
aged
to r
ead
his
"fin
ishe
d" p
iece
alo
ud. T
his
gave
him
the
orpo
rtun
ity to
re-
read
his
wri
ting,
som
ethi
ng h
e di
d no
t do
on h
is o
wn.
On
Oct
ober
1 M
atth
ew r
ead
his
piec
e to
his
teac
her,
sto
ppin
g at
the
wor
d
698
Lan
guag
e A
rts
4.1
'the"
(w
ritte
n; "
th")
and
not
icin
g th
e m
issi
ng "
e."
Ms.
Bri
stol
com
men
ted,
"So
me-
times
that
's w
iry
it's
good
to r
ead
your
sto
ry o
ver,
bec
ause
you
fin
d th
ings
you
wan
t to
chan
ge."
Mat
thew
rea
l on,
not
icin
g a
lette
r m
issi
ng f
rom
ano
ther
wor
d.en
Mat
thew
fin
ishe
d re
adin
g, h
e an
d M
s. B
rist
ol d
iscu
ssed
the
cont
ent o
f hi
sSt
ory.
Mat
thew
talie
d fr
eely
but
mad
e no
sig
n of
bei
ng r
eady
to a
dd m
ore
info
rma-
tion
to h
is p
iece
. "O
k: w
hen
you
wer
e re
adin
g yo
ur s
tory
was
ther
e an
ythi
ng y
oufo
und
that
you
thin
k yo
u're
goi
ng to
cha
nge?
""I
fou
nd th
ere
was
n't a
ny 'n
'. I
prob
ably
for
got a
na I
bet
ter
fix
that
'the
', th
e
Mat
thew
mad
e th
ese
chan
ges
befo
re r
etur
ning
his
sto
ry to
his
wri
ting
fold
er.
It w
as s
uch
a sm
all r
evis
ion,
yet
of
such
gre
at s
igni
fica
nce
in M
atth
ew's
de-
velo
ping
vie
w o
f w
ritin
g. T
he m
essa
geth
at w
ritin
g m
ay b
e re
-rea
d, d
iscu
ssed
and
chan
gedc
arri
ed o
ver
to h
is w
ritin
g co
nfer
ence
a w
eek
late
r, O
ctob
er 8
:M
atth
ew: I
don'
t thi
nk th
at "
A"
shou
ld b
e th
ere.
Ms.
Bris
tol:
Wan
t to
cros
s it
out?
(Mat
thew
doe
s, r
eads
on,
sto
ps a
gain
.)M
atth
ew:
One
thin
g, th
ere
shou
ld b
e "s
aid"
ther
e.M
s. B
risto
l:W
ant t
o us
e m
y pe
n an
d w
rite
it in
?(H
e do
es.)
Mat
thew
's f
lexi
bilit
y in
rev
isin
g hi
s w
ritin
g w
as g
row
ingf
rom
lette
r to
Wor
d, e
rasu
re to
cro
ssin
g ou
t and
add
ing,
rev
isio
ns d
one
duri
ng w
ritin
g to
cha
nges
mad
e af
ter
wri
ting.
Yet
Mat
thew
cou
ld n
ot v
iew
the
cont
ent o
f hi
s w
ritin
g as
ope
n to
cha
nge
asw
e ca
n se
e tw
o w
eeks
late
r w
hen
Mat
thew
sha
red
a "f
inis
hed"
pie
ce in
a s
mal
lgr
oup
conf
eren
ce w
hich
incl
uded
his
teac
her
and
thre
e pe
ers.
Mat
thew
's s
tory
invo
lved
a r
epet
itive
, con
fusi
ng p
lot i
n w
hich
a b
ook
visi
ted
book
stor
e an
d ex
clai
med
ove
r an
d ov
er h
ow m
uch
he lo
ved
anot
her
book
. The
grou
p ac
know
ledg
ed M
atth
ew's
eff
orts
with
com
men
ts o
f "g
ood,
" th
en tr
ied
topo
int o
ut s
ome
of th
e re
petit
ions
and
con
fusi
ons
thro
ugh
ques
tioni
ng. M
atth
ewst
eadf
astly
def
ende
d hi
s st
ory,
exp
lain
ing
away
eac
h in
cons
iste
ncy
with
out m
akin
gan
y ch
ange
s in
his
wri
ting.
Mat
thew
end
ed th
e di
scus
sion
by
com
men
ting,
"I
wan
tIt
how
it is
." A
nd s
o it
stay
ed.
Seve
ral d
ays
late
r M
atth
ew a
gain
exh
ibite
d hi
s un
will
ingn
ess
to r
evis
e th
eco
nten
t of
his
stor
ies.
Aft
er s
hari
ng a
n ad
vent
ure
he'd
wri
tten
in w
hich
a r
obot
chas
ed B
ugs
Bun
ny, M
s. B
rist
ol a
sked
, "I
have
one
que
stio
n ab
out
your
sto
ry. W
hat
got s
mas
hed
at th
e en
d?"
"The
rob
ot,"
Mat
thew
res
pond
ed.
"The
rob
ot?
Whe
re d
id it
tell
us th
at?"
"It d
idn'
t tel
l us
that
but
oth
erw
ise
why
wou
ld B
ugs
Bun
ny b
e sa
fe?"
Mat
thew
wal
ked
away
fro
m th
is m
eetin
g, s
till u
nabl
e to
see
the
need
for
cla
rify
ing
info
rma-
tion
in th
e co
nten
t of
his
stor
y.A
lthou
gh M
atth
ew c
ould
not
per
ceiv
e th
ese
prob
lem
s w
ith h
is o
wn
wri
ting,
he c
ould
be
led
to d
iscu
ss o
ther
s' w
ritin
g. W
hile
wai
ting
to s
ee M
s. B
rist
ol,
Mat
thew
list
ened
to a
noth
er c
hild
's w
ritin
g co
nfer
ence
. The
teac
her
invo
lved
Mat
thew
in th
e co
nfer
ence
, "Is
ther
e an
ythi
ng e
lse
you'
d lik
e to
kno
w if
you
wer
ere
adin
g th
is s
tory
?" Tal
king
Abo
ut W
ritin
gDev
elop
ing
Inde
pend
ent W
rite
rs69
9
45IM
INIM
EZ
INI1
2
Mat
thew
res
pond
ed, "
I w
ould
like
to k
now
som
e ot
her
thin
gs."
"Wha
t kin
ds o
f th
ings
wou
ldyo
u lik
e to
kno
w?"
"Whe
re h
e fo
und
it an
d if
it w
as a
hap
py e
ndin
g. L
ike
that
."O
n se
vera
l oth
er o
ccas
ions
in O
ctob
er a
nd e
arly
Nov
embe
r M
atth
ewlis
tene
'dto
oth
er c
hild
ren
disc
ussi
ng th
eir
stor
ies
with
teac
her
orpe
ers
and
part
icip
ated
link
'gr
oup
conf
eren
ce to
dis
cuss
ano
ther
chi
ld's
sto
ry. M
atth
ew's
con
trib
utio
n to
thes
iin
tera
ctio
ns w
as li
mite
d to
the
com
men
ts "
good
" or
"I
thin
k it'
s ni
ce,"
yet h
e w
as'
expo
sed
to th
e di
scus
sing
, que
stio
ning
and
rev
isio
n of
oth
ers.
On
Oct
ober
30
Mat
thew
met
with
his
teac
her
topr
epar
e hi
s B
ugs
Bun
ny s
tory
for
publ
icat
ion
(typ
ing
and
bind
ing
into
a b
ook
for
the
clas
sroo
mlib
rary
):M
s. B
risto
l:W
hat g
ot s
mas
hed?
Mat
thew
:T
he r
obot
.M
s. B
risto
l:W
ould
that
mak
e it
clea
r to
say
the
robo
t got
sm
ashe
d in
stea
d of
itgo
i.sm
ashe
d?M
atth
ew:
Eve
rybo
dy k
now
s it'
s th
e ro
bot.
Ms.
Bris
tol:
I di
dn't
know
that
. I th
ough
t it w
as th
e ch
air.
Mat
thew
:O
f co
urse
not
, the
cha
ir w
ould
n't
go a
fter
Bug
s B
unny
. The
cha
ir,lo
ves
Bug
s B
unny
.M
s. B
risto
l:(r
eadi
ng f
rom
the
stor
y) H
e sa
t dow
n in
the
gree
n ch
air
and
one
day
itgo
t'.sm
ashe
d. W
ould
it b
e be
tter
to w
rite
the
robo
tgo
t sm
ashe
d in
stea
d of
it?,
Mat
thew
:Y
eah,
I th
ink
that
wou
ld b
e be
tter.
'Cau
se f
thin
kyo
u ar
e ri
ght.
Mat
thew
's f
irst
con
tent
rev
isio
n w
as m
inor
in te
rms
of it
sch
ange
in th
e I:
,st
ory'
s in
form
atio
n bu
t a b
reak
thro
ugh
in th
e w
ay h
e de
alt w
ith h
is w
ritin
g.in
ord
er to
mak
e th
is s
tep
Mat
thew
had
to ta
lk a
bout
his
wri
ting,
not
just
this
once
but
man
y tim
es. A
udie
nce
had
to b
e m
ade
real
to M
atth
ew, i
n al
l the
inte
rac-
Alio
ns, b
oth
succ
essf
ul a
nd u
nsuc
cess
ful,
that
he
had
been
invo
lved
in a
ndse
en' l
mod
eled
up
to th
at ti
me.
Mat
thew
exp
ress
ed h
isde
velo
ping
sen
se o
f au
dien
ce in
.)hi
s co
mm
ent,
"Eve
rybo
dy k
now
s it'
s th
e ro
bot."
Mat
thew
hea
rdqu
estio
ns b
eing
aske
d ab
out w
ritin
g, h
is o
wn
and
othe
rs. H
e ha
dbe
gun
to ta
lk a
bout
wri
ting.
Nea
r th
e en
d of
this
per
iod
Mat
thew
beg
an to
off
er to
rea
d hi
s st
orie
s to
teac
her.
He
expe
cted
no
resp
onse
, did
not
wai
t for
one
bef
ore
resu
min
g hi
s w
ritin
g;ye
t he
wan
ted
the
oppo
rtun
ity to
hea
r hi
s st
ory
alou
d.H
is c
onve
rsat
ions
with
his
peer
s w
ere
still
lim
ited
to c
omm
ents
on
leng
th,
such
as,
"H
ave
you
been
wri
ting
on th
e ba
ck?"
, "T
hat's
your
thir
d pa
ge!
", o
r "H
owm
any
page
s ar
e yo
u on
?"A
dev
elop
men
t who
lly u
nrel
ated
to w
ritin
g le
d M
atth
ew b
eyon
d hi
s te
ache
r'sm
odel
ing
of q
uest
ions
and
his
lim
ited
peer
inte
ract
ions
. On
Nov
embe
r 19
the
desk
sin
Mat
thew
's c
lass
room
wer
e re
arra
nged
. Mat
thew
now
sat
bet
wee
n tw
o ch
ildre
nw
ho h
ad b
een
shar
ing
thei
r w
ritin
g in
form
ally
,qu
estio
ning
eac
h ot
her
abou
t the
cont
ent o
f th
eir
pict
ures
and
sto
ries
as
they
wor
ked.
In
this
new
posi
tion
Mat
thew
'sex
posu
re to
"w
ritin
g ta
lk"
expa
nded
.
Nov
embe
r 19
- F
ebru
ary
25
Que
stio
ns o
f le
ngth
wer
e qu
ickl
y re
plac
ed w
ith q
uest
ions
of
cont
ent
by M
atth
ew's
new
nei
ghbo
rs. O
n th
e fi
rst d
ay in
his
new
sea
t Tim
cau
ght M
atth
ew b
ysu
rpri
se:
Tim
:W
hat s
tory
arc
you
wri
ting?
46
Mat
thew
:W
hat d
o yo
u m
ean?
Wha
t's th
e na
me
of y
our
stor
y?M
atth
ew:
The
Flo
wer
and
Mat
thew
.
Tha
t his
nei
ghbo
rs w
ere
inte
rest
ed in
the
cont
ent o
f hi
s w
ritin
g an
d dr
awin
gbe
cam
e cl
ear
to M
atth
ew th
roug
h in
cide
nts
such
as
the
follo
win
g a
few
day
s la
ter:
Tim
:T
here
's a
noth
er w
ay y
ou c
ould
hav
e dr
awn
it, w
ith a
thin
g go
ing
dow
n hi
sne
ck.
Mat
thew
:I'm
goi
ng to
.T
im:
You
cou
ld e
ven
mak
e hi
m g
o go
bble
gob
ble.
Mat
thew
:Y
ou d
on't
have
to b
othe
r ab
out t
hatit
's m
y pi
ctur
e.
Mat
thew
rej
ecte
d T
im's
sug
gest
ions
but
fou
nd it
was
acc
epta
ble
to ta
lk w
''
othe
rs a
bout
thei
r dr
awin
g. D
urin
g th
e sa
me
day'
s w
ritin
g pe
riod
, Jen
ny, 1
k/1u
:-th
ew's
nei
ghbo
r, s
hare
d he
r an
imal
dra
win
g w
ith h
im. M
atth
ew o
ffer
ed, "
Why
don'
t you
go
over
it w
ith b
lack
for
the
spot
s?"
Jenn
y ac
cept
ed M
atth
ew's
idea
,re
info
rcin
g hi
s w
illin
gnes
s to
sha
re a
nd d
iscu
ss.
Ove
r th
e ne
xt s
ever
al w
eeks
Mat
thew
's n
eigh
bors
con
tinue
d to
invo
lve
him
insi
mila
r co
nver
satio
ns. J
enny
wou
ld o
ften
ask
Mat
thew
to li
sten
to h
er s
tory
.A
s M
atth
ew's
nei
ghbo
rs e
xpos
ed h
im to
thei
r w
ritin
g ta
lk, h
e be
gan
to m
odel
thei
r qu
estio
ns a
nd a
ctio
ns. O
n D
ecem
ber
2 M
atth
ew o
ffer
ed, "
Wan
t to
know
wha
tI'm
goi
ng to
wri
te a
bout
?" to
his
nei
ghbo
r. O
n D
ecem
ber
9 he
ask
ed J
enny
, "W
hat
are
you
wri
ting
abou
t?"
Tha
t sam
e da
y M
atth
ew r
ead
his
piec
e to
Jen
ny,
unso
l-ic
ited. A
long
with
his
dev
elop
ing
info
rmal
pee
r in
tera
ctio
ns M
atth
ew c
ontin
ued
tom
eet w
ith h
is te
ache
r to
dis
cuss
his
wri
ting.
On
Dec
embe
r 2
he m
et w
ith M
s.B
rist
ol to
sha
re a
pie
ce h
e w
ante
d to
pub
lish
abou
t a g
irl r
unni
ng a
way
and
fin
ding
hers
elf
in "
boys
land
":
Ms.
Bris
tol:
Iha
ve o
ne q
uest
ion
abou
t the
beg
inni
ng o
f yo
ur s
tory
. You
wro
te, "
one
day
I sa
k. to
mys
elf,
" so
that
sou
nds
like
it's
you
you'
re w
ritin
g ab
out.
The
n it
chan
ges
from
you
to a
gir
l. I
thou
ght t
his
was
goi
ng to
be
abou
tyo
u bu
t all
of a
sud
den
it's
abou
t a g
irl.
Is th
at c
onfu
sing
ther
e?M
atth
ew:
Wel
l, I'l
l cha
nge
thes
e w
ords
to s
omet
hing
els
e.(H
e re
vise
s "o
ne d
ay I
sai
d to
mys
elf"
to "
one
day
a gi
rl s
aid
to h
erse
lf."
)M
s.B
risto
l:T
hat s
ound
s m
uch
bette
r M
atth
ew. N
ow r
ight
aw
ay I
kno
w it
's g
oing
to b
eab
out a
gir
l. T
he o
ther
thin
g I
won
dere
d w
hen
I w
as li
sten
ing
is, w
here
was
she
run
ning
aw
ay f
rom
?M
atth
ew:
Hou
selo
ok (
he r
eads
fro
m h
is s
tory
). D
oes
that
sou
nd li
ke s
he's
at
hom
e?M
s.B
risto
l:So
rt o
f, b
ut I
rea
lly w
asn'
t sur
e.M
atth
ew:
Do
you
thin
k I
shou
ld a
dd it
?M
s. B
risto
l:I
thin
k it
mig
ht h
elp.
Mat
thew
:W
here
sho
uld
I ad
d it?
Ms.
Bris
tol:
Just
mak
e a
little
mar
k he
re, l
ike
this
, and
wri
te it
in r
eal s
mal
l.
Mat
thew
con
tinue
d to
rev
ise
his
"boy
slan
d" s
tory
the
next
day
dur
ing
a sm
all
grou
p co
nfer
ence
. Aft
er M
atth
ewre
ad h
is s
tory
to th
e gr
oup
Chr
is a
sked
, "W
hat
happ
ened
whe
n sh
e go
t to
the
boys
cam
p?"
The
thre
e ch
ildre
n ca
lled
to th
e co
nfer
-en
ce d
iscu
ssed
the
poss
ibili
tiess
he m
ight
mak
e fr
iend
s w
ith th
e bo
ys o
r sh
em
ight
leav
e. M
atth
ew s
how
ed in
tere
st in
thei
r su
gges
tions
. Aft
er th
ey r
etur
ned
toth
eir
seat
s M
atth
ew s
pent
sev
eral
min
utes
rev
isin
g th
e en
ding
of
his
stor
y. H
e
!7
eras
ed "
and
she
lived
hap
pily
eve
r af
ter"
and
add
ed s
ever
al s
ente
nces
in w
hich
the
plot
dev
elop
ed to
incl
ude
chan
ging
the
sign
for
"bo
ysla
nd"
and
mak
ing
frie
nds
with
the
boys
.T
he g
roup
rea
ssem
bled
to h
ear
Mat
thew
's r
evis
ed s
tory
. Mat
thew
ope
ned
the
conf
eren
ce w
ith th
e co
mm
ent,
"See
wha
t I c
hang
ed. N
ow I
bet
you
kno
w w
here
she
stay
ed." Chr
is a
nsw
ered
, "I
thin
k it'
s ki
nd o
f go
od. W
ell,
did
they
pai
nt th
e si
gn?
How
ldi
d th
ey c
hang
e th
e si
gn?"
"You
wan
t to
know
? I'l
l add
it in
. I'll
add
it o
n th
e en
d,"
Mat
thew
rep
lied
ashe
beg
an to
rev
ise
once
aga
in.
The
se c
onfe
renc
es s
how
Mat
thew
's n
ew d
esir
e to
rev
ise
to s
atis
fy h
is r
eade
rs'
need
s fo
r ad
ditio
nal o
r cl
arif
ying
info
rmat
ion.
Mat
thew
's r
evis
ions
wer
e la
rgel
y de
-pe
nden
t on
his
audi
ence
's s
peci
fic
quls
tions
and
sug
gest
ions
. He
was
now
rec
ep.
live
to w
ritin
g ta
lk y
et s
till u
nabl
e to
fin
d di
rect
ion
for
his
wri
ting
with
out s
peci
fic
4,he
lp w
ith w
hat a
nd h
ow to
rev
ise.
Ove
r th
e ne
xt s
ever
al w
eeks
Mat
thew
con
tinue
d to
par
ticip
ate
in in
form
al a
ndfo
rmal
teac
her
and
peer
con
fere
nces
. He
also
atte
nded
sev
eral
gro
up c
onfe
renc
esdu
ring
this
tim
e, li
sten
ing
to o
ther
s' s
tori
es, q
uest
ions
and
com
men
ts a
nd o
bser
v-in
g ot
her
youn
g w
rite
rs r
evis
ing
in r
espo
nse
to th
eir
audi
ence
. The
com
posi
tion
of ,s
thes
e gr
oups
was
car
eful
ly s
truc
ture
d by
Ms.
Bri
stol
to e
xpos
e M
atth
ew to
pee
rsw
hose
con
fere
nce
skill
s w
ere
mor
e de
velo
ped
than
his
ow
n. T
he r
ange
of
ques
tions
,hhe
was
exp
osed
to w
iden
ed. M
atth
ew's
con
fere
nce
expe
rien
ces
bega
n to
aff
ect h
isw
ritin
g be
havi
or.
Mat
thew
no
long
er w
rote
as
quic
kly
as b
efor
e. H
e fr
eque
ntly
sto
pped
dur
ing
wri
ting
to r
e-re
ad, u
sing
this
tim
e to
thin
k ab
out t
he d
evel
opm
ent o
f hi
s pl
ot. j
Mat
thew
con
tinue
d to
off
er to
rea
d hi
s w
ritin
g to
his
nei
ghbo
rs a
nd te
ache
r, c
allin
g :I
vth
eir
atte
ntio
n to
his
wor
k by
invo
lvin
g th
em in
con
vers
atio
ns s
uch
as, "
Jenn
y, th
isis
wha
t f w
rote
", o
r "W
ant t
o se
e w
hat I
got
so
far?
Gue
ss w
hat w
ill h
appe
n."
His
Ape
ers
wou
ld o
ften
res
pond
with
a q
uest
ion
abou
t the
plo
t's d
evel
opm
ent.
Ms.
Bri
s-to
l wou
ld u
se th
ese
oppo
rtun
ities
to p
ress
for
mor
e in
form
atio
n ab
out t
he c
onte
nt S
iof
his
sto
ries
, ena
blin
g hi
m to
ora
lly r
ehea
rse
idea
s fo
r th
e st
ory'
s co
ntin
uatio
n.T
hat M
atth
ew w
as b
egin
ning
to m
ake
choi
ces
abou
t the
con
tent
of
his
wri
t-in
g, d
isco
veri
ng h
is p
lot a
s he
wro
te, r
athe
r th
an s
ettli
ng q
uick
ly o
n on
e di
rect
ion
is e
vide
nt in
this
Jan
uary
22
conv
ersa
tion
with
his
teac
her:
Ms.
Bri
stol
: So
now
will
you
tell
wha
t hap
pene
d to
Jill
or
the
ballo
on?
Mat
thew
:I
ha..
^ th
ink
abou
t tha
t. It
won
't ru
n aw
ay. I
'll m
ake
Jill
let g
o bu
t the
ballo
on w
ill f
ollo
w h
er.
Mat
thew
was
als
o be
ginn
ing
to b
e aw
are
that
wri
ting
talk
is u
sefu
l to
the
wri
ter.
On
Janu
ary
23 h
e on
ce a
gain
off
ered
to r
ead
his
stor
y to
Jen
ny. U
nlik
e on
':ot
her
occa
sion
s M
atth
ew r
ead
his
piec
e an
d th
en w
aite
d in
sile
nce
for
Jenn
y's
reac
-tio
n be
fore
ret
urni
ng to
wri
ting.
On
the
sam
e da
y he
rea
d an
othe
r ch
ild's
pub
lishe
dst
ory
from
the
clas
s lib
rary
and
rea
cted
to it
, "H
e sh
ould
tell
mor
e. I
f I
was
at
Ter
ry's
con
fere
nce
I w
ould
ask
who
's M
artin
. I w
ould
n't s
ay th
is s
tory
was
ok.
"H
is c
onfe
renc
e sk
ills
impr
oved
as
he w
as g
iven
the
oppo
rtun
ity to
pra
ctic
eas
king
que
stio
ns o
f ot
her
chlld
rens
' wri
ting.
On
Febr
uary
10
Ms.
Bri
stol
ask
edM
atth
ew to
hav
e a
peer
con
fere
nce
with
Tif
fany
. Mat
thew
beg
an th
e di
scus
sion
48
with
que
stio
ns h
e's
hear
d as
ked
man
y tim
es, "
Whe
re d
id y
ou g
etth
e id
ea?"
, "D
oyo
u lik
e yo
ur s
tory
?" G
ettin
g be
yond
thes
est
anda
rd q
uest
ions
req
uire
d hi
m to
sto
pfo
r se
vera
l min
utes
and
con
side
r th
e co
nten
tof
Tif
fany
's s
tory
. "W
hy d
on't
you
tell
wha
t hap
pene
d to
the
othe
r m
ice?
'Cau
se h
ow w
ould
Ikn
ow th
at?
The
y ra
n af
ter
him
. Wha
t did
they
do
afte
r th
at?"
Mat
thew
's w
ritin
g an
d co
nfer
ence
exp
erie
nces
ena
bled
him
tode
velo
p th
eab
ilitie
s w
e sa
w in
the
Febr
uary
25
popc
orn
stor
yco
nfer
ence
with
whi
ch w
e be
gan
this
his
tory
. At t
his
poin
t in
his
wri
ting
care
er M
atth
ew w
asab
le to
"fi
nd th
equ
estio
ns in
the
stor
y,"
as a
noth
er y
oung
wri
ter
put i
t, an
d us
eth
ese
ques
tions
tohe
lp o
ther
s, a
nd la
ter
him
self
, mak
e de
cisi
ons
abou
t the
con
tent
of th
eir
wri
ting.
Yet
Mat
thew
was
stil
l dep
ende
nt o
n th
e pr
esen
ce o
f an
othe
rch
ild o
r ad
ult t
o as
k th
equ
estio
ns a
nd m
ake
the
deci
sion
s.H
e w
as o
n hi
s w
ay to
bec
omin
g an
inde
pend
ent w
rite
r. T
he la
stfe
w m
onth
sof
sch
ool s
aw M
atth
ew's
abi
litie
s gr
ow s
till f
urth
er.
Febr
uary
26
- Ju
ne 5
Mat
thew
's te
ache
r an
d pe
er in
tera
ctio
ns ta
pere
d of
f so
mew
hat
in th
e la
st m
onth
s of
scho
ol. T
he s
eatin
g ar
rang
emen
t was
cha
nged
onc
e ag
ain
and
a st
uden
t tea
cher
,un
trai
ned
in th
e us
e of
the
wri
ting
proc
ess,
man
aged
the
clas
sroo
m f
or m
any
wee
ks, A
udie
nce
rem
aine
d re
al th
roug
h pu
blis
hing
, ora
l sha
ring
and
smal
l gro
upco
nfer
ence
s so
that
a r
easo
n fo
r th
e co
nsis
tenc
y, lo
gic
and
real
ism
Mat
thew
sou
ght
in h
is p
opco
rn s
tory
rem
aine
d. W
hat c
F an
ged
was
Mat
thew
's f
orm
er d
epen
denc
eon
his
aud
ienc
e fo
r th
e sp
ecif
ics
ofho
v to
ach
ieve
thes
e qu
aliti
es. A
s hi
s in
tera
c-tio
ns w
ith o
ther
s de
crea
sed
he b
ecam
e m
ore
self
-rel
iant
in h
is c
onfe
renc
es.
Evi
denc
e of
his
gro
win
g ab
ility
to in
tern
aliz
e bo
th th
equ
estio
ns h
e ha
d as
ked
and
had
been
ask
ed o
ver
the
last
six
mon
ths
can
be f
ound
in a
look
at h
is w
ritin
gbe
havi
ors.
A ty
pica
l Oct
ober
wri
ting
sess
ion
saw
Mat
thew
wri
test
orie
s of
50
to 1
00
wor
ds w
ith tw
o or
thre
e er
asur
es to
cor
rect
lette
rfo
rmat
ion
or s
pelli
ng, b
reak
ing
the
flow
of
his
wri
ting
infr
eque
ntly
. In
Mar
ch h
e w
rote
api
ece
of c
ompa
rabl
ele
ngth
with
fou
r to
fiv
e tim
es a
s m
any
revi
sion
s, a
ll cr
oss
outs
rath
er th
an e
rasu
res
and
mos
t dir
ecte
d to
war
d co
nten
t cha
nges
inst
ead
ofco
smet
ic c
hang
es. H
e st
oppe
dfr
eque
ntly
dur
ing
wri
ting
to li
ft h
is p
aper
and
re-
read
, sha
rpen
his
penc
il, s
hare
his
neig
hbor
s' w
ritin
g, s
tare
ahe
ad o
r sh
ift p
ositi
ons
in h
is c
hair
;res
embl
ing
an a
dult
wri
ter
stru
gglin
g w
ith c
hoic
es in
the
cont
ent o
f hi
sw
ritin
g.T
he k
inds
of
revi
sion
s he
now
mad
e an
d oc
casi
onal
com
men
tsfr
om h
im d
ur-
ing
and
afte
r w
ritin
g pr
ovid
e in
sigh
t int
o th
e qu
estio
nshe
was
ask
ing
him
self
as
hew
rote
. On
Apr
il 6
Mat
thew
beg
an a
new
pie
ce o
f w
ritin
gw
ith "
Ann
's p
et is
nam
edSn
owba
ll."
He
stop
ped
afte
r w
ritin
g hi
s le
ad, r
e-re
ad it
and
revi
sed
"pet
" to
"ca
t."W
e ca
n im
agin
e hi
m a
skin
g hi
mse
lf, t
he w
ay h
is a
udie
nce
was
likel
y to
, "W
hat
kind
of
pet?
" Sn
owba
ll's
stor
y co
ntin
ued
to r
evea
l an
inci
dent
that
had
occu
rred
at
hom
e th
at m
orni
ng. A
t the
con
clus
ion
of th
e in
cide
ntM
atth
ew w
rote
"th
,"st
oppe
d, lo
oked
up
and
eras
ed "
th."
He
spok
e to
him
self
alou
d, "
Abo
ut S
now
ball,
wha
t els
e sh
ould
I w
rite
? I
know
, how
he
got g
irlf
rien
ds."
"The
End
" w
as to
fol
low
49
Snow
ball'
s m
orni
ng a
dven
ture
unt
il M
atth
ew a
sked
him
self
, "W
hat e
lse
wou
ldI
like
to te
ll pe
ople
abo
ut A
nn's
cat
?"M
atth
ew's
des
ire
to in
clud
e as
muc
h in
form
atio
nas
he
coul
d w
as c
lear
two
days
late
r as
he
hand
ed a
'fin
ishe
d' p
iece
to h
is te
ache
r w
ith th
e co
mm
ent,
"Tha
t'sal
l the
info
rmat
ion
I ha
d ab
out m
y va
catio
n."
He
seem
edto
hav
e in
min
d hi
s au
di-
ence
's p
oten
tial r
eque
st f
or m
ore
deta
iled,
add
ition
alor
cla
rify
ing
info
rmat
ion.
His
May
19
stor
y of
an
elep
hant
who
pac
ked
his
trun
k an
d tr
avel
led
to N
ew''.
Yor
k ag
ain
show
s us
Mat
thew
que
stio
ning
him
self
as
he w
rote
. The
ele
phan
t'spl
ane
cras
hed
into
the
wat
er ju
st o
utsi
de N
ew Y
ork,
str
andi
ng th
e el
epha
nt in
the,
wat
er. T
he n
ext s
ente
nce
Mat
thew
beg
an to
wri
te, "
at th
e m
otel
," w
as c
ross
edou
t:as
he
paus
ed to
thin
k al
oud,
"I
forg
ot to
tell
abou
t the
ele
phan
t." T
he r
evis
ed v
er-
sion
, "Ju
st th
en a
boa
t cam
e an
d go
t him
and
put
him
on s
hore
," in
clud
ed in
form
s-tio
n on
the
elep
hant
's e
scap
e fr
om th
e w
ater
that
had
bee
n m
issi
ng in
the
orig
inal
wat
er to
mot
el s
eque
nce.
In a
dditi
on to
info
rmat
iona
l que
stio
ns M
atth
ew w
as b
egin
ning
to q
uest
ion
him
self
reg
ardi
ng to
pic
choi
ce. T
he f
amili
ar, "
Wha
t are
you
wri
ting
abou
t?"
and
itsen
suin
g co
nver
satio
ns b
ecam
e a
sile
nt, s
elf-
sele
ctin
g pr
oces
s as
we
see
in M
at-
thew
's b
egin
ning
wri
ting
of M
ay 2
7. H
is f
irst
eff
ort,
"tod
ay o
ne o
f,"
was
era
sed
tow
rite
, "L
ast M
onda
y w
as m
ori d
ay,"
whi
ch w
as e
rase
d in
fav
or o
f "Y
este
rday
we
wen
t on
a fi
eld
trip
."M
atth
ew n
o lo
nger
dep
ende
d on
the
pres
ence
of
othe
rs to
dis
cuss
his
topi
cor
"fin
d th
e qu
estio
ns in
the
stor
y."
He
had
talk
ed a
bout
the
cont
ent o
f hi
s w
ritin
gso
man
y tim
es a
nd in
so
man
y w
ays
that
he
was
bec
omin
g ab
le to
hav
e a
dial
ogue
with
him
self
.T
he g
row
th in
Mat
thew
's c
ritic
al w
ritin
g sk
ills
is p
erha
ps b
est s
een
by c
orn-
;
pari
ng h
is s
atis
fact
ion
with
his
Oct
ober
boo
k st
ory
to h
is r
eact
ion
to th
e sa
me
stor
yin
ear
ly J
une.
Nea
r th
e en
d of
the
scho
ol y
ear
Mat
thew
wro
te M
s. B
rist
ol a
not
eab
out s
choo
l. H
e sa
id h
e re
ally
like
d w
ritin
g an
d st
ill w
ante
d to
pub
lish
the
stor
yhe
'd w
ritte
n ab
out t
he b
ook
that
love
d an
othe
r bo
ok. M
s. B
rist
ol p
ulle
d it
from
his
..rt
t,w
ritin
g fo
lder
and
cal
led
him
ove
r to
talk
, "R
emem
ber
this
? L
et m
e re
ad th
is to
you
..,;
sIf
you
stil
l wan
t to
publ
ish
it th
ink
if th
ere'
s an
ythi
ng y
ou'd
wan
t to
chan
ge in
it I
kbe
fore
we
publ
ish
it."
Ms.
Bri
stol
rea
d a
few
sen
tenc
es b
efor
e be
ing
inte
rrup
ted
by M
atth
ew, "
Ith
ink
it's
sort
of
conf
usin
g ar
ound
her
e."
"Wan
t me
to f
inis
h re
adin
g it?
" M
s. B
rist
ol a
sked
.M
atth
ew's
tone
sho
wed
his
impa
tienc
e, "
1 do
n't e
ven
wan
t to
publ
ish
this
one
any
mor
e."
Mat
thew
's w
ritin
g ta
lk h
ad le
d to
an
awar
enes
s of
his
aud
ienc
e's
need
s an
d a
,
chan
ged
view
of
the
role
of
revi
sion
. Mat
thew
exp
ress
ed it
his
way
in a
por
tion
ofan
inte
rvie
w a
bout
the
wri
ting
proc
ess:
Res
earc
her:
Wha
t is
a w
ritin
g co
nfer
ence
?M
atth
ew:
You
just
talk
abo
ut y
our
stor
y.R
esea
rche
r: H
ow d
oes
a w
ritin
g co
nfer
ence
hel
p yo
u?M
atth
ew:
Just
giv
es m
e id
eas
and
som
etim
es I
cha
nge
a lit
tle, H
elps
me
get r
eady
topu
blis
h th
at s
tory
.R
esea
rche
r: W
hat k
inds
of
thin
gs d
o pe
ople
tell
or a
sk in
a w
ritin
g co
nfer
ence
?M
atth
ew:
Som
etim
es th
ey s
ay, "
Do
you
like
your
sto
ry?"
Som
etim
es th
ey a
sk q
ues-
-0
tions
abo
ut y
our
stor
y. I
wen
t to
a co
nfer
ence
. I p
ublis
hed
thre
e bo
oks
and
that
mea
ns I
sho
uld
know
som
e of
the
ques
tions
. The
n I'v
e be
en in
vite
dup
to s
ome.
Res
earc
her:
Wha
t que
stio
ns d
o yo
u as
k?M
atth
ew:
Whe
re'd
you
get
the
idea
and
do
you
like
your
sto
ry a
nd s
omet
imes
it's
conf
usin
g in
som
e pa
rts.
Res
earc
her:
And
if it
's c
onfu
sing
in s
ome
part
s w
hat d
o yo
u th
ink
the
pers
on s
houl
ddo
?M
atth
ew:
Cha
nge
it.R
esea
rche
r: H
ow c
ould
they
cha
nge
it on
ce it
's a
lrea
dy w
ritte
n?M
atth
ew:
Just
era
se it
or
cros
s so
met
hing
out
. You
just
hav
e to
:iai
nk a
bout
it.
Mat
thew
's in
depe
nden
ce a
s a
wri
ter
had
grow
n tr
emen
dous
ly in
his
fir
st y
ear
of s
choo
l. T
he s
ituat
ions
and
inte
ract
ions
whi
ch le
d to
this
gro
win
g in
depe
nden
cene
ed n
ot b
e re
stri
cted
to M
atth
ew o
r hi
s cl
assr
oom
.
Impl
icat
ions
We
have
see
n th
e w
ritin
g ta
lk M
atth
ew w
as e
xpos
ed to
and
invo
lved
in le
ad h
im to
grea
ter
inde
pend
ence
as
a th
ough
tful
, cho
ice-
mak
ing
wri
ter.
The
seq
uenc
e of
Mat
thew
's d
evel
opm
ent s
ugge
sts
som
e m
ajor
ste
ps th
at te
ache
rs m
ay h
elp
stud
ents
follo
w in
mov
ing
tow
ard
the
sam
e go
al.
Initi
ally
, the
teac
her
is m
ost v
isib
le. H
er in
tera
ctio
ns w
ith th
e w
rite
r ar
e fo
-cu
sed
at f
irst
on
expo
sing
wri
ting
as a
pro
cess
, est
ablis
hing
rev
isio
n as
an
impo
r-ta
nt p
art o
f th
at p
roce
ss. S
he w
orks
fro
m s
impl
e un
its o
f re
visi
on, s
uch
as le
tter
orw
ord
chan
ges,
to m
ore
com
plex
rev
isio
ns, i
nclu
ding
sen
tenc
e or
par
agra
phch
ange
s. T
he te
ache
r he
lps
the
wri
ter
deci
de w
hat a
nd h
ow to
rev
ise
yet l
eave
s th
ech
oice
with
the
wri
ter.
The
wri
ter's
atte
ntio
n is
turn
ed to
the
cont
ent o
f hi
s w
ork
asth
e te
ache
r qu
estio
ns, l
iste
ns a
nd s
uppo
rts
his
effo
rts.
The
teac
her's
inte
rrup
tions
as th
e st
uden
t wri
tes
lead
him
to r
e-re
ad h
is w
ork,
to m
ake
self
-dis
cove
ries
pre
vi-
ousl
y ov
erlo
oked
. Her
que
stio
n, "
Wha
t will
hap
pen
next
?", g
ives
the
wri
ter
anop
port
unity
to d
iscu
ss a
nd r
ehea
rse
the
deve
lopm
ent o
f th
e pl
ot.
Mea
nwhi
le, o
ther
stu
dent
s be
gin
to a
sk q
uest
ions
and
talk
with
the
wri
ter,
wid
enin
g hi
s se
nse
of a
udie
nce.
He
is in
volv
ed in
thou
ghtf
ully
str
uctu
red
smal
lgr
oup
conf
eren
ces
in w
hich
he
hear
s hi
s pe
ers
and
teac
her
talk
abo
ut w
ritin
g an
dob
serv
es h
ow th
ey im
prov
e th
eir
wri
ting
thro
ugh
revi
sion
.T
hrou
ghou
t thi
s pe
riod
his
teac
her
and
peer
s co
ntin
ue to
initi
ate
inte
ract
ions
with
the
wri
ter
as h
e lis
tens
and
res
pond
s an
d gr
adua
lly le
arns
how
to d
iscu
ssw
ritin
g. The
wri
ter
begi
ns to
util
ize
his
new
ski
ll no
t on
his
own
wri
ting
but o
n th
ew
ork
of o
ther
wri
ters
. The
type
s of
que
stio
ns h
e as
ks a
nd c
omm
ents
he
mak
esde
velo
p in
sop
hist
icat
ion
as h
e he
ars
othe
rs' q
uest
ions
and
com
men
ts c
hang
e an
das
he
prac
tices
ask
ing
and
resp
ondi
ng. H
is c
onfe
renc
e sk
ills
pass
sev
eral
mile
post
sbe
fore
he
arri
ves
at th
e ab
ility
to li
sten
to a
noth
er's
sto
ry to
fin
d th
e m
ost h
elpf
ulqu
estio
ns to
ask
. The
wri
ter
star
ts b
y si
mpl
y lis
teni
ng to
ano
ther
's w
ritin
g. H
edo
esn'
t mak
e an
y co
mm
ents
or
ask
any
ques
tions
. He
has
mer
ely
prov
ided
an
audi
-en
ce. L
ater
he
may
con
cern
him
self
with
the
mec
hani
cs o
f th
e w
ritin
g do
ne b
y th
eot
her
stud
ents
the
need
for
nam
e, d
ate,
cor
rect
spe
lling
. Pee
r in
tera
ctio
ns in
crea
seas
stu
dent
s be
com
e in
tere
sted
in th
e le
ngth
of
wri
tings
. Fin
ally
the
focu
s ch
ange
s to
the
cont
ent o
f ot
her
stud
ents
' wri
ting,
fir
st s
impl
y to
the
topi
cof
thei
r pi
ece
and
then
late
r th
e sp
ecif
ics
of it
s co
nten
t. T
he w
rite
r as
ks q
uest
ions
,in
sm
all g
roup
mee
tings
, with
car
eful
gui
danc
e fr
om th
e te
ache
r. T
hen
hepr
actic
es th
em in
pee
rin
tera
ctio
ns w
hich
the
teac
her
may
hav
e st
ruct
ured
but
is n
ot a
par
tof
.O
ther
stu
dent
s or
the
teac
her
are
pres
ent,
yet n
earl
y in
visi
ble,
as
the
wri
ter
star
ts to
ask
que
stio
ns o
f hi
mse
lf. H
e m
ay w
ait t
o m
eet
with
his
teac
her
or p
eers
,us
ing
thei
r pr
esen
ce to
hav
e an
aud
ible
dia
logu
e w
ithhi
mse
lf. T
he w
rite
r as
ks th
equ
estio
ns a
nd a
nsw
ers
them
. The
list
ener
's r
ole
is to
be
ther
e, b
e qu
iet,
exce
ptpe
rhap
s to
ask
, "W
hat d
o yo
u th
ink?
"Sl
owly
the
dest
inat
ion
com
es in
to s
ight
. The
wri
ter
begi
ns to
talk
with
him
self
with
out t
he n
eed
of a
noth
er's
phy
sica
l pre
senc
e. T
he is
sues
he
deal
s w
ith g
row
inso
phis
ticat
ion
as th
ey d
id w
hen
he w
as c
onfe
rrin
g w
ith o
ther
wri
ters
.T
he jo
urne
y is
com
plet
e an
d ye
t une
ndin
g, a
s co
ntin
ued
inte
ract
ions
with
teac
her
and
peer
s w
ill a
id th
e gr
owth
of
his
inte
rnal
dia
logu
e.T
he w
rite
r fo
llow
sth
is p
ath
to in
depe
nden
t thi
nkin
g, th
en c
ircl
es b
ack
toex
pand
his
thin
king
.It
is a
slo
w p
roce
ss, f
illed
with
tim
e to
list
en, p
ract
ice
and
inte
rnal
ize
the
skill
sof
talk
ing
abou
t wri
ting.
One
rea
lizes
it is
tim
e w
ell s
pent
whe
n th
e w
rite
r ve
r-ba
lizes
his
vie
w o
f re
visi
on a
nd th
e w
ritin
g pr
oces
s, "
You
just
have
to th
ink
abou
tit.
ft
Iris
W. E
stab
rook
is a
res
earc
h as
sist
ant w
ith th
e N
EH
Ver
mon
tW
ritin
gPr
ogra
m a
t the
Uni
vers
ity o
f V
erm
ont i
n B
urlin
gton
.
Assessment techniques and strategies for the classroom teacher
Susan Mandel Glazer on
Akessment
Collaborating with Childrento Assess Writing ObjecfivelyA framework for observing,describing and summariz-ing writing.
Nine-year-old Claire has given mepermission to share the followingpiece of writing with you.
opinion about a child's writing?"Nothing is wrong, as long as you areaware of the fact that opinions arevalues your values and your opin-ion might not be the same as otherteachers'. I shared Claire's writingwith a colleague, who commented."Does this child really believe that
writer's block is an .illness? Her teacherreally needs to talkto her about that!" Ithought the com-ment was ridiculous,but this teacher wasserious. She saw nohumor in Claire'swriting. I spoke withClaire about herwriting and shethought it was justgreat. She said, "Ilike the way I usedmy mom's words in
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After reading Claire's creativewriting, I thought to myself: What adelightful child! She knows so muchabout poetic humor! She writes sowell that it's easy reading.
My immediate response to thechild's work was a biased critique ofher product My feelings and valuespushed me to make a subjectiveevaluation. If you reread, you willmost likely agree that the words"delightful," "so well," "easy read-ing," are opinions. These, and wordslike "very good, terrific, well writ-ten," are opinions often used to as-sess children's academic products. IfClaire had heard my thoughts, she,too, would have looked upon thewords as an assessment, for I amthe teacher and she is the student.
Now you might be asking your-self, 'What's wrong with a teacher's
the story. That'll make her happy,for sure!" A review of all three opin-ions clearly demonstrates that eachreviewer looks at Claire's writing dif-ferently.
Who is correct? All were correct. Alljudged the writing based on individ-ual expectations. All were also incor-rect, for the judgements, evaluationsand critiques of Claire's writing werebased on each individual "personal"framework. The frameworks or ex-pectations were different and so wasthe language for talking about thewriting.
The language of assessment mustbe consistent. Consistency provides
Susan Mandel Glazer is Dix tor of the Center forReading and Writing at Rider College,Lawrenceville, NJ, and a Teaching Editor ofTeaching K-8.
Reprinted by permission fromTeaching Pre-K-8, v24 n5, Feb 1994
rJ '4 TEACHING K8 FEBRUARY 1994
learners with guidelines for growth.It permits them, as well as adults, totalk about the writing in consistentwaves. Consistent assessment re-quires frameworks for looking atchildren's products. Frameworksprovide language that can be usedconsistently to describe children's
uled conferences, children learn howto use the audience awareness tool.The first time Claire and I confer-enced, I placed the audience aware-ness framework next to her story."Claire," I said, "this is a frameworkthat will help you and me look atyour writing. It will help both of us
describe the writing so we.
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writing. They guide us to observe,describe and, finally, summarizechildren's behaviors, growth andneeds. They permit teachers to ob-serve children's growth, but can alsobe used by children to assess theirown writing.
A framework for observing, de-scribing and summarizing writing.You might agree that Claire seemsaware of an audience. "Aware of anaudience" means many things. Theelements that define audience aware-ness -7 put into chart form becomea framework for observing, describ-ing and summarizing Claire's work.
Using the framework. I considerassessment frameworks teachingtools as well. At individually sched-
can summarize the ele-ments that make you agood writer." We beginusing the framework by lo-cating and reading one ele-ment at a time out loud to-gether. Claire wrote thecomments about each ele-ment discussed (at left).
This framework wasused many times byClaire. She used it inde-pendently to look at anddescribe her writing. I dis-covered that she learnedto name the elements asdescribed in the formallanguage of the frame-work. That excited me, forI confirmed for myselfthat the tool for assessingwas also a tool for learn-ing. As time progressed,Claire used the languageof the framework as sheconstructed her stories.On one occasion, I heardher say, "I think that I willuse at least one adjectiveto describe the charactersin my story. Adjectives arevocabulary words that
help a person understand my storymessage." How wonderful to guidechildren to look at their finiehedproduct and also learn the languageof writing at the same time!
What next? This framework is asimple one. As children grow andlearn, frameworks may be con-structed more intricately. More ofthe elements of the English lan-guage that make writing exciting, in-teresting and sophisticated can beincluded when children are ready forthem. The more extensive theframework, the more children willlearn about the language of cornposiLion. Descriptors will replace opin-ions and assessment will become anobjective part of the teaching/learn-ing process.
TEACHING X.8 FEBRUARY 1994 r
E !gestIndiana University 085 Bloomington, IN 47408-26982805 E. 10th St., Suite 150 (812) 1355-5847; (800) 759-4723
Publishing Children's Writingby Marjorie SimicTo make writing public, the writer must have anaudience. The audience becomes the writer'sstimulusthe purpose for writing. If children do nothave a purpose for writing (i.e., an intended audience)then writing becomes an "exercise" for a non-communicative event. Children who have not publisheddo not write for an audience, but instead write for acritical readerthe teacher.
Publishing for early writers may mean reading theirwriting to teachers, a group of children, a friend, or aparent. Publication may mean showing or displayingthe work. Writing can be displayed on bulletin boards,on classroom walls or in the halls, mailed to pen pals,
'M sent home, or published in "real" book form. PublishingINIF "real" books is a child-centered production, where the
child designs the book cover and illustrates the book,has a dedication and title page, and may even have apage written "about the author." Students modelbookmaking just like real authors.
Writing CompetitionsSome schools or school districts have writingcompetitions. The author of the best handmade book ineach classroom gets to attend a conference for youngauthors. Some schools arrange for all children in theschool to attend the conference. A children's bookauthor may be contacted to talk to the young authors,and workshops on writing may be conducted in whichchildren share ideas about being authors with eachother. The children's books are displayed, then put intheir school libraries for others to read. Copies aresometimes made and placed in public libraries to reachothers in the community.
Some people question the need for and value of writingcompetitions. One may think the rewards for becomingan author are publication and the self-satisfaction thatcomes from sharing one's idea. But acknowledgement ofgood writing, whether it is peer or adult, helps build anawareness of the importance of writing.
Marjorie Simic is an Educational Specialist with theIndiana State Department of Education.
Calkins (1986) and Hansen (1987) support rewards butalso see the need to celebrate throughout the schoolyear. They encourage teachers not to wait until the endof the school year to celebrate authorship. Thecelebration should take place taii,y in the year andcontinue throughout the school year. Make scissors,markers, crayons, paper; and other bookmakingmaterials and techniques available in September toencourage and excite students about publishing.Schedule author conferences periodically and invite thepublic in to browse. Events can be centered aroundcompletion of a topic, celebration of holidays,"awareness" weeks, or featured students, careers, etc.These celebrations of authorship to the process writingcurriculum generate excitement about writing, andthey promote more writing in clasSrooms.
Classroom EnvironmentHow teachers choose to make student writing publicmay not be as significant as the attitude instilled instudents during writing (Balcer, 1990). "That meanstreating students to that final and ultimate writerlypleasure of finding their words come alive in the facesof their listeners and their readers" (Willinsky, 1985).The classroom atmosphere determines the amount andkind of risks taken in writing. Children need to feelsupport and acceptance from teachers and peers to takethe kind of risks involved in the process of producinggood writing. When children feel safe from criticism,they become eager to write and to share their writing.The class becomes a community of writers.
During publication, children can play both the roles ofauthor and audience to other children's pieces. Insteadof questioning the teacher, they can question eachother for clarity of meaning. Children as authors usethe ideas of their audience when revising their writing.As audience, they have the opportunity to see theirideas used by other students in their revised stories.Shifting from author to audience and back encourageschildren to become perceptive readers and writers.
It is also important that children confer with each otheras they write. Some time should be set aside daily forchildren to read orally what they have written or are in
56
2 Publishing Children's Writing
the process of writing. Older children who areexperiencing difficulty with writing may find it lessthreatening to share their writing with youngerstudents. The benefits of such sharing are twofold: theolder student gains the confidence and esteem neededin order to continue his/her writing, and the youngerstudent sees, early on in his/her learning, theconnection between reading and writing.
The "Author's Chair"An integral part of the publication stage is sharing.Graves and Hansen (1983) refer to this sharing as the"author's their." As writers, children struggle to puttheir thoughts on paper, and they talk about thesethoughts with other writers. As readers, they composemessages and ask questions about published books.They play, they invent, they mimic, when they composein reading and writing and sitting on the author'schair." Use of an author's chair gives children feedbackon their writing, models conferencing, and develops asense of "community" for writing and authoring(Graves and Hansen, 1983).
Hansen (1987) says young authors need to respond toother authors if they are to make the importantconnection between reading and writing. "Authors whoshare their own writing and who ask other authorsquestions experience connections between reading andwriting," states Hansen. She describes 4 differentresponse situations: (1) response to unfinished pieces;(2) response to an author's published piece; (3) responseto other student's published books; and (4) response tobooks by professional authors. These situations all needto occur in the classroom for children to develop a senseof authorship.
Harste (1988) sees his "author's circle" as "crucial inhelping authors develop the sense of audience soessential to becoming a writer who can successfullycommunicate with others." This sharing andresponding helps students develop a reader perspectiveon their writing among readers they know and trust.The child receives opinions and ideas from manychildren, whereas during individual conferences, theauthor receives thecomments of only one person.Children learn how to be helpful responders in anauthor's circle. They learn how to discover goodqualities in a piece, and how to ask good questionsabout the content. Additionally, circle participantslearn that their ideas are valued when many of themlater turn up in the work of the authors they havehelped.
In the process of revision, children become responsiblefor corrections. A piece ready for publication mustcontain correct spelling, punctuation, grammar, andgood handwriting. It is important that the writing notbe taken away from the writer during the publication
stage. Final decisions about content, title, and so on,must be made by the author who must also attend toconventions. When involved in group publication, theauthor should remain in control of publishing decisionsabout illustrations, layout, form of publication, etc.
Hansen (1987) feels that students who attend to theirown misspellinf,s, errors in punctuation, grammar, andso on during the editing stage ofpublication learn andremember men of the mechanics of writing than if theerrors are found for them.. Calkins (1986) believes thateven adult writers who are writing for publication mustrelease their work at some point to have it corrected byeditors. She argues that, as writers, we no longer wantto "own" those errors. If teachers choose to do the finaledit, they are taking the "ownership" of the writingfrom the writer, and they should he awere of the effectsthis may have on future writing for students in theclassroom.
Teachers need to know their purposes for havingchildren write. Ultimately, the goal is for students to beable to express themselves and what they are learningthrough writing that clearly conveys meaning to thereader. Realistically, teachers must give studentssupport and encouragement to "make their best better,"and in so dsing, children must be allowed to be .
responsible for all the components of publication.
Making writing public brings an additional dimensionto reading and writing. Writers view themselves asauthors and value the interaction with their audiencein the process of writing. A cooperative and caringenvironment that invites children to share and torespond is the type of supportive environment in whichchildren's reading and writing can flourish.
ReferencesBaker, B. (1990). "Give Your Students a Reason to Write.
HeipThem Get Publialied."Loarning, 121(4), 52-55.[EJ 425 086]
Calkins, L. (1986). The Art of Teaching Writing. Portsmouth,NH: Heinemann. [ED 263 613]
Graves, D. and Hansen, J. (1983). "The Author's Chair."Language Arts, 60 (2), 17643. [EJ 276 117]
Hansen, J. (1987). When Writers Read. Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann. [ED 282 226]
Harste, J. et al. (1988). Creating Classrooms for Authors: TheReadingWriting Connection. Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann. [ED 320168]
Willinsky, J. (1985). "To Publish and Publish and Publish."Language Arts, 62(6), 619-23. [EJ 323 411]
This publication was with partial funding Tonal
Research and Improvement. US. Department of Education, under contract no.RR93002011. Cart actors undertaking such projects under government sponsorshipare encouraged to express freely their kudgnynt in orthogonal and technicalmatters. Points of view or opinions, however, do oot no:scarily represent the officialview of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
57
BIBLIOGRAPHYSelected Abstracts from the ERICEducaSonal Resources Database
14104411P
ERIC Clearinghouse onReading, English, and Communication
Indiana UniversityBloomington, Indiana
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How to Read an ERIC Abstractand Find Related Articles on this Subject
The ERIC educational resource database includes more than 800,000 bibliographic records.Educational resources listed in the ERIC database are of two types: EJ, journal (magazine)articles, which are easily found in most Education libraries, or through interlibrary loan; andED, documents such as Master's theses, which are available at any library that has an ERICmicrofiche collection. ED documents can also be ordered directly from ERIC DocumentReproduction Service by using the form at the end of this bibliography section.
You may also wish to perform your own ERIC database search, to retrieve the most currentinformation on your topic. This is easily done at any Education library; it may also beavailable to you online through your university computing system.
In the following bibliography, we have selected some recent relevant articles that you maywish to read for your further knowledge, or to use in a Distance EducationApplication/Research Project. ERIC abstracts are easy to read, once you are used to thesystem, which is detailed below.
Immogwa...ww1MSample ERIC Abstract
Note that this abstract has an EJ accession number, which means that the work abstracted is a journal article.
ERIC Accession Numberidentiitcation number sequentiallyassigned to articles as they are / Accessionprocessed. ..4(7 Number
EJ466919 EC606287Family-Centered Techniques: IntegratingEnablement into the IFSP Process. Andrews.Mary A.: Andrews. James R. Journal of ChildhoodCommunication Disorders. v I 5- n I p41-46 1993(Reprint: LJMI)Note: Theme Issue: Service Delivery to Infants and
Toddlers: Current Perspectives.ISSN: 0735-3170Descriptors: Child Rearing: 'Communication
Disorders: 'Early Intervention:'Family involvement: Individual Development:Objectives: Parenting Skills: Skill Development:'Teamwork: Young Children
Identifiers: 'Enabler Model: Family Needs:"Individualized Family Service Plans
Article Title e'-
Author(s)
Reprint AvailabilityDescriptive Note 0-
Major and Minor Descriptors 0-subject terms found in theThesaurus of ERIC Descriptors thatcharacterize substantive content.Only the major terms (preceded byan asterisk) are printed in theSub!ect Index of Current Index toJournals in Education (CUE).
This article describes techniques. used in a family-Annotation centered early intervention project. that both assist in
accomplishing the goals of the IndividualizedFamily Service Plan process and create opportunitiesfor families to display their present competenciesand acquire new ones to meet the needs of theirchildren with communication disorders.
Annotator's initials (Author/MD)
tzlote: The format of an ERIC JournalArticle resume will vary according tothe source from which the databaseIs accessed. Tho above format isfrom the pnrited Index. Current Indexto Journals in Education
Journal Title
Volume No., Issue No.. PagesPublicaton Date
ISSN(International Standard SerialNumber)
Major and Minor Identifiersterms found in the IdentifierAuthority List that characterizeproper names or concepts not yetrepresented by descriptors. Only themajor terms (preceded by anastensk) are pnnted in the SubjectIndex of Current Index to Journals inEducation.
1/95
53Prci rCry '`11141t. *nit
The Following Abstracts of Articles on Creative Writing in the Elementary Schoolhave been Obtained Directly from the ERIC Educational Resources Database.
Special Sections on Poetry, the Gifted, and Using Computers Follow the General Section
AN: EJ429714AU: Greene,-Beth-G.TI: Reading, Writing, Publishing (ERIC).PY: 1991JN: Journal-of-the-Wisconsin-State-Reading-Association; v35n1 p93-4 Win 1991NT: Themed Issue: Whole Language.DE: Elementary-Secondary-EducationDE: Audience-Awareness; 'Creative- Writing; Elementary-School-Students; 'Secondary - School- Students; 'Writing -for-PublicationAB: Cites the benefits of publishing student writing. Definesinformal and formal publication. Discusses how studentsconsider the audience. Offers further information on publishingstudent writing. (PRA)
AN: EJ429392AU: Marzollo,-JeanTI: Bookmaking Made Simple.PY: 1991JN: Instructor; v100 n9 p36,40-42 May-Jun 1991DE: Creative-Teaching; Elementary-Education; Experiential-Learning; Teaching-Guides; Teaching-MethodsDE: *Childrens-Literature; 'Class - Activities; 'Creative - Writing;*Student-PublicationsAB: A children's book author describes how to help studentsblend bookmaking techniques and the writing process tocreate a classroom hardback library full of unique publications.The project requires inexpensive, easily accessible materialsand results in impressive finished products. (SM)
AN: EJ425086AU: Balser,-Bernadette-T.TI: Give Your Students a Reason to Write. Help Them GotPublished.PY: 1990JN: Learning; v19 n4 p52-55 Nov-Dec 1990AV: UMIDE: Authors-; Elementary-Education; Elementary-School-Students; Instructional-Innovation; Teacher-Role; Teaching-Methods; Writing-SkillsDE: Class-Activities; Creative-Writing; 'Writing -Composition; 'Writing- for - PublicationAB: Provides guidelines to help teachers set up publicationprograms for young writers. Whether or not they getpublished, students benefit from that goal because they aremore motivated to be creative. Steps to motivate studentstoward publication include assessing the market; shapingwriting sessions; editing; and preparing for submission. (SM)
AN: EJ418024AU: Sklar,-Daniel-JudahTI: P(aymaking: Children Writing and Performing Their OwnPlays.PY: 1990JN: Teachers-and-Writers; v22 n2 p1-7 Nov-Dec 1990AV: UMIDE: Drama-; Dramatics-; Elementary-Education; Learning-ActivitiesDE: Creative-Writing; Playwriting-AB: Provides an excerpt from the author's book by the sametitle in which he shares an account of how a playwright guides
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the children from start to finish in writing and performing theirown plays. (MG)
AN: ED321295AU: Marley,-Bernard-M.; Marley,-Linda-G.TI: Big Foot to the Rescue Of Story Starters: A Component ofWhole Language.PY: 1990NT: 7 p.; Paper presented at the Annual Conference of theIndiana State Council on Reading (Indianapolis, IN, March 29-31, 1990).PR: EDRS Price - MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.DE: Classroom-Environment; Elementary-Education; Reading-Writing-Relationship; Whole-Language-ApproachDE: 'Class- Activities; Creative-Writing; Prewriting-;'Writing- InstructionAB: The creative writing process, like any writing process,begins with a prewriting activity. Story starters are one suchactivity which teachers can use to begin the creative writingprocess with their students. For example, large cartoon-likecharacters made on an opaque projector can be used toinitiate discussion. The second step requires a drafting ofideas into story form. Thirdly, the youngsters use their peersin revising their stories. The writer is responsible forresponding to the criticism and for making the essentialcorrections. Next, students rewrite their stories and proofread.They are encouraged to use a dictionary or get help from apeer. Noise levels may be louder than usual, but learning istaking place. Once all corrections have been made, thepublishing process begins. Given paper with an outline of thecartoon-like character on it, students write the final copywithin the drawn character. They illustrate the paper andmake covers for their books. Completed books are shared withthe class. (SR)
AN: ED321265AU: Vilscek,-ElaineTI: Sowing Story Elements and Structure in Good Literature,the Models for Chadren's Writing.PY: 1990NT: 26 p.; Paper presented at the Annual Southwest RegionalConference of Authorship (18th, Alberquerque, NM, February8-10, 1990).PR: EDRS Price - MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.DE: Authors-; Creative-Writing; Elementary-Education;Illustrations-; Writing-Instruction; Writing-SkillsDE: Childrens-Literature; 'Reading - Writing - Relationship;Writing-ImprovementAB: Quality children's literature can model a wide range ofeffective writing and illustrating techniques. When exposed togood models of writing, children can be encouraged to reflecton how authors and illustrators have shaped a story, andliterary elements, story structure, and design can be identified.As children progress in their understanding of story elementsand structure, they should be exposed to varied styles ofauthorship. Their awareness can be heightened by engagingthem in creative responses to good books. As they internalizethese models, they begin to take risks with them in their ownwriting. The valuing of authorship can be promoted throughthe creation of a writer's studio which includes: somethings/ways to highlight the techniques and story craftemployed by an adult author or Illustrator of renown; some
Hot Topic Guido 67: ERIC Bibliography 1
things/ways to highlight classroom student authors andillustrators; and varieties of tools for writing and illustrating.(Periodicals that publish children's original work, publishers'addresses, books on children's authors and illustrators, multi-media production companies, and instruction charts in literaryelements of story and design are included. Twenty-fourreferences, including children's books, are attached.) (MG)
AN: EJ403265AU: Erdman,-Michael; Gaetz,-ThomasTI: Using the Process Approach to Teach Writing and Poetry:An Investigation of Bententery Students' Attitudes.PY: 1988JN: Educational-Research-Quarterly; v12 n3 p51-56 Jul 1988AV: UMIDE: Creative-Writing; Elementary-Education; Grade-2; Grade-5DE: *Elementary-School-Students; 'Poetry -; *Process-Education; Student-Attitudes; Teaching-Methods; *Writing-InstructionAB: Surveys of two second-grade and two fifth-grade classes(45 and 40 students, respectively) assessed effects onstudent attitudes of using the process approach to writing asthe core of poetry instruction. The approach worked for bothgrades for poetry, but only for fifth graders for other creativewriting forme. (TJH)
AN: EJ370907AU: Ellis,-NormandiTI: The Question of Publication: An Open Letter to Teachersand Parents.PY: 1988JN: Childhood-Education; v64 n4 p206-08 Apr 1988AV: UMIDE: Comparative-Analysis; Elementary-Education; Teaching-MethodsDE: *Children-; *Creative-Writing; 'Talent - Development;*Writing-for-PublicationAB: Suggests ways of encouraging young children to writethat are preferable to forcing them to try to have their workprofessionally published. Points out negative aspects of youngchildren writing for publication, and offers more constructivealternatives. (SKC)
AN: EJ368636AU: Zancanella, -DonTI: On the Nature of Fiction Writing.PY: 1988JN: Language-Arts; v65 n3 p238-44 Mar 1988AV: UMINT: Thorned Issue: Literary Discourse as a Way of Knowing.DE: Elementary-Schools; Fiction-; Middle-Schools; Self-Disclosure-Individuals; Teaching - Methods; Writing-Instruction;Writing-SkillsDE: *Creative-Writing; *Nerration-; *Story-TellingAB: Notes that although fiction writing is a somewhatproblematic part of upper elementary/middle school writing, itis important for children to be able to compose good fiction.Suggests two methods to benefit young writers: (1) exposethem to a wide range of good fiction, and (2) preserve theirright to create personal fictions. (NH)
AN: EJ368624AU: Greeves,-AdrianTI: Learning from an Owl.PY: 1988JN: Use-of-English; v39 n2 p9-20 Spr 1988DE: Creative - Development; Creative-Expression; Creative-Teaching; Elementary-Education; Foreign-Countries; Self-Esteem; Student-Writing-Models; Teacher-Student-Relationship; Teaching-Methods
61
DE: 'Creative- Writing; 'Writing - InstructionAB: Describes one creative writing teacher's use of an owl asa focal point for writing activities and how the writingactivities aided the students' personal and creativedevelopment. Provides samples of student writing. (ARH)
AN: EJ300573AU: Young,-AlanTI: Learning the Craft: Creative Writing and LanguageDevelopment.PY: 1984JN: JournaKif-Aesthetic-Education; v18 n1 p51-58 Spr 1984AV: UMIDE: Elementary-Secondary-Education; Higher-EducationDE: *Creative-Writing; 'Language - Acquisition; *Teaching-MethodeAB: Creative writing should be an integral part of any totallanguage or English course of study at all levels of education,from primary school through higher education. Provided arespecific examples of methods which teachers can use to helpstudents develop their language skills and write creatively.(RM)
AN: EJ279420AU: Walshe,-R.-D.TI: The Writing Revolution.PY: 1982JN: English-in-Australia; n62 p3-15 Oct 1982DE: Creative-Writing; Elementary-Secondary-Education;Instructional-Improvement; Revision-Written-Composition;Teaching-MethodsDE: Theories-; 'Writing- Instruction; Writing-ProcessesAB: Describes the features of a process model of writing andefforts to translate the theory into practice. (JL)AN: EJ269736AU: Tompkins,-Gail-E.TI: Seven Reasons Why Children Should Write Stories.PY: 1982JN: Language-Arts; v59 n7 p718-21 Oct 1982AV: Reprint: UMIDE: Cognitive-Development; Creative-Development;Elementary-Education; Self-Concept; Writing-Composition;Writing-ResearchDE: 'Class- Activities; Creative-Writing; *Teaching-Methods;'Writing- ExercisesAB: Writing researchers suggest that children should writestories in order to (1) entertain, (2) foster artistic expression,(3) explore the functions and values of writing, (4) stimulateimagination, (5) clarify thinking, (6) search for identity, and (7)learn to read and write. (HTH)
AN: ED273968AU: McClain,-AnitaTI: I Can Teach, They Can Write! Student Teachers andPrimary Children Pattern Books as Models for Creative Writing.PY: 1986NT: 14 p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of theNorthwest Regional Conference of the National Council ofTeachers of English (Portland, OR, April 27-29, 1986).?R: EDRS Price - MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.DE: Comparative-Analysis; Creative-Activities; Creative-Teaching; Critical-Thinking; Elementary-Education; Methods-;Primary-Education; Reading-Aloud-to-Others; Story-Grammar;Writing-InstructionDE: Childrens-Literature; 'Creative- Thinking; 'Creative -Writing; *Modele-; *Prewriting-; Student-Teachers;Teaching-MethodsAB: To encourage children's creative writing in a classroomsetting, student teachers used two types of children's booksas models: (1) a traditionally structured picture book in whichthe story maintains strong development of plot, setting, and
Hot Took Guide 57: ERIC Bibliography 2
characters as in "Peter Rabbit"; and (2) a predictable patternbook that develops a repetitive pattern as in "In a Dark DarkWood." In both cases, the teacher read the book aloud,discussed the book with the class, and drew a chart on theboard illustrating the story grammar. The undergraduates whotaught both lessons self-evaluated the pattern book lesson asbeing more positive and effective than the lesson using atraditionally structured book. The student teachers' preferencefor the pattern book was the result of positive reactions fromthe children in terms of creativity and independence in easilywriting their own pattern stories. The pattern stories writtenby the primary children reflected more creative and criticalthinking in terms of story development than the stories theywrote in a traditional format. (Examples of the children'sstories are appended.) (SRT)
AN: EJ373362AU: Otten,-Nick; Stelmach,-MarjorieTI: Creative Reading/Creative Writing: What Do They Writsabout?PY: 1988JN: English-Journal; v77 n2 p80-81 Feb 1988AV: UMIDE: Death-; Secondary-Education; Student-Motivation; Writing-InstructionDE: Creative-WritingAB: Suggests that classroom writing reflect topics thatteenagers write about privately, such as powerful events,dreams, or rejected love. Includes a sample student essay onthe Challenger disaster, (ARH)
AN: EJ261472AU: Jacobsen,-MaryTI: Students Writ. Stories: Inside-Out and Outside-In.PY: 1981JN: English-Quarterly; v14 n4 p41-48 Win 1981-82DE: Fiction-; Group-Activities; Higher-Education; Newspapers-DE: Creative-Writing; 'Prewriting -; Teaching-Methods;*Writ ng-Composition; Writing-InstructionAB: Describes how students can be encouraged to draw upontheir imaginations and upon their observations of andspeculations about the outside world to write their own shortfiction. (AEA)
AN: ED354522AU: Daiute,-Colette; Dalton,-BridgetTI: Collaboration between Chidron Learning To Writs: CanNovices Be Mestere?CS: National Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy,Berkeley, CA.PY: 1992NT: 60 p.PR: EDRS Price - ME31/PC03 Plus Postage.DE: Educational-Research; Elementary-School-Students;Grade-3; Peer-Evaluation; Personal-Narratives; PrimaryEducation; Story-Telling; Urban-Education; Writing-Research;Writing-SkillsDE: Cooperative-Learning; Creative-Writing; Literacy-;Writing-InstructionAB: A study explored the role of peer collaboration in literacydevelopment as a case study in the broader inquiry on thesocial nature of learning and cognitive development. Fourteenlow-achieving 7- to 9-year-old children in a third-grade urbanclassroom used a word processor to write four storiesindividually and three stories collaboratively with a partnerover a period of 3 months. The individual stories, thecollaborative stories, and the transcripts of their collaborativeprocesses were analyzed to identify children's expertise, aswriters and to trace any transfer of knowledge betweenpartners. Results showed that almost all of the story elementsadded after collaboration had been the focus of children's talk
6 2BEST COPY AVAILABLE
as they composed together. All children showed the ability togive and receive information via transfer. Certain affinitieswith expert/novice pairs were demonstrated among thechildren work teams. A case study of two students'collaboration over time illustrates how children bring diverseexpertises to bear as they teach each other how to writestories. The literacy learning process involves intenseengagement among peers who share their relative expertisesas they focus intellectual and social energies on the text theycreate together. Furthermore, the repetition and co-construction characterizing novice peer interaction may be aunique benefit of peer collaboration. (Ten figures and threetables of data are included. Contains 70 references.) (HB)
AN: EJ458626AU: Heller,-CarolAN: EJ478599AU: Barchers,-SuzanneTI: A New Leaf.PY: 1993JN: Learning; v22 n2 p76-77 Sep 1993AV: UMIDE: Creative-Teaching; Elementary-Education; Teaching-Methods; Writing-InstructionDE: Creative-Writing; Journal-Writing; 'Writing - CompositionAB: Notebooks and journals can help interest students inwriting. A sample activity suggests that teachers begin theyear by reading a poem about notebooks then discussingschool supplies and writing. Discussions can examine creativethings to write on, creative word choice, creative use ofnotebooks, and turning favorite words into art (SM)
AN: EJ464066AU: Clark,-Mary-Louise; Montague,-MarjorieTI: Applying Story Writing Strategies in Regular Classrooms.PY: 1993JN: Teaching-Exceptional-Children; v25 n4 p50-51 Sum 1993AV: UMIDE: Cooperative-Learning; Creative-Writing; Elementary-Secondary-Education; Interaction-; Mainstreaming-;Reinforcement-; Student-Evaluation; Teaching-MethodsDE: 'Classroom- Environment; Learning-Problems; Writing-Composition; 'Writing - InstructionAB: This article presents several recommendations for helpingelementary and secondary school students with learningproblems to apply story writing strategies. Recommendationsinclude create an environment for writing that nurturesdeveloping writers; encourage teacher and peer interactionthrough a variety of collaborative activities; and monitor andreinforce strategy application. (JDD)
AN: EJ464062AU: Montague,- Marjorie; Graves,-AnneTI: Improving Students' Story Writing.PY: 1993JN: Teaching-Exceptional-Children; v25 n4 p36-37 Sum 1993AV: UMIDE: Creative-Writing; Elementary-Secondary-Education; Story-Grammar; Student-Characteristics; Writhe-ImprovementDE: Language-Handicaps; Teaching-Methods; Writing-Composition; Writing-InstructionAB: This article introduces a special section of four papersfeaturing strategies for improving the story writing skills ofelementary end secondary students who have problems withwritten language. It outlines the elements of story grammar,describes characteristics of students with writing problems,and notes the strategies presented in the four papers. (JDD)
Hot Topic Guido 67: ERIC Bibliography 3
AN: EJ461026AU: Bailey,-Dora-L.; Ginnetti,-PhilipTI: Formulating Fractured Fairy Tales: A Model for UsingProcess Writing in the Classroom.PY: 1993JN: Ohio-Reading-Teacher; v27 n2 p3-7 Win 1993AV: UMIDE: Creative-Writing; Elementary-Education; Teaching-Methods; Writing-Processes; Writing-StrategiesDE: 'Fairy - Tales; Writing-InstructionAB: Presents a three-phase strategy whereby teachers canintroduce the writing process to children at almost all gradelevels by involving them in writing fractured fairy tales or fairytales with a twist. Appends a sample fractured fairy tale. (SR)
AN: EJ456150AU: Johnson,-TerryT1: Structure and Economy in Writing Narratives: The Teacher-Librarien and the Writing Process.PY: 1992JN: Emergency-Librarian; v20 n2 p20-27 Nov-Dec 1992AV: UMIDE: Childrens-Literature; Creative-Writing; Elementary-Education; Grade-6; Teaching-MethodsDE: 'Media - Specialists; Revision-Written-Composition;'Story - GrammarAB: Examines current educational thinking about thedevelopment of children's writing, story structure and itsfunctional components, and economy in writing. Strategiesthat teachers and teacher librarians can use to improvestudents' work are suggested, and an annotated bibliographyof seven children' stones is provided. (eight references) (EA)
AN: EJ455162AU: Wall,-Shavaun; Taylor,-NancyTI: Igniting the Writing Revolution at Horne.PY: 1992JN: PTA-Today; v18 n1 p13-15 Oct 1992AV: UMIDE: Elementary-Secondary-Education; Family-Involvement;Study-HabitsDE: Creative-Writing; Home-Study; 'Parent - Participation;Parent-Student-RelationshipAB: Presents ideas to help parents enhance their children'screative writing at home by building upon what they learned atschool. Suggestions include modeling respect for writtenwords, reading aloud, providing good tools and a comfortablelocation, selecting topics, hearing the message behind thewritten words, and publishing the child's work. (SM)
AN: EJ450860AU: Cramer,-RonaldTI: Writing Workshop. Focus on Fiction.PY: 1992JN: Learning; v21 n1 p60-62 Aug 1992AV: UMIDE: Child ns-Literature; Elementary-Education; Writing-WorkshopsDE: Creative-Writing; 'Fiction -; Reading-Writing-Relations hip; 'Whole- Language - Approach; 'Writing- SkillsAB: Presents five ways elementary teachers can enrich theirstudents' fiction writing abilities: teach students incorporatetheir own experiences; enccerage students to do research;give students chances to read and discuss fiction related totheir writir,g; and help students recognize story elements.(SM)
AN: EJ448324AU: Stewig,-John-WarrenTI: Helping Children Be There, Then. Historical Fiction ea aSass la Children's Fiction Writing.
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PY: 1991JN: Journal-of-Teaching-Writing; v10 n1 p73-86 Spr-Sum1991DE: Class - Activities; Creative-Writing; F",mentary-Education;Junior-High-Schools; Writing-ImprovementDE: Childrens-Literature; Writing-InstructionAB: Describes how to use children's books as the basis forwriting sessions. Focuses on having children write fiction afterreading and listening to historical fiction. (SR)
AN: EJ439261AU: Sautter,-R.-CraigTI: Writing as a Community-Building Activity.PY: 1991JN: School-Community-Journal; v1 n1 p21-26 Spr-Sum 1991NT: Single copies available from Subscription Office, TheSchool Community Journal, 121 N. Kickapoo, Lincoln, IL62656 ($4.00).DE: Elementary-Secondary-Education; Journal-Writing; Self-Expression; Trust-PsychologyDE: 'Cooperative- Learning; Creative-Writing; 'Peer -Relationship; 'Student - ParticipationAB: Teachers can gradually develop the emotional andinterpersonal infrastructure of their classroom communitiesthrough a creative program encouraging youngsters to writeall the time and read to each other what they have written.The writing process involves four steps: brainstorming ideas,writing the rough draft, polishing the final draft, and readingand communicating a finished piece to others. (MLH)
AN: E.1436318AU: Kaminski,-RobertTI: Legends for Sale, Poems for Free: Whole LanguageActivities Can Se Inspired by Risk-Taking and Scene Changes.PY: 1991JN: Emergency-Librarian; v19 n2 p21-24 Nov-Dec 1991AV: UMIDE: Class-Activities; Elementary-Secondary-Education; English-Instruction; Grade-5; Grade-8; Writing-EvaluationDE: Creative-Writing; Legends-; Oral-Interpretation;'Poetry -; Whole-Language-Approach; 'Writing - ExercisesAB: Describes two classroom activities that were developed topromote a whole language approach to listening, speaking,reading, and writing. One involved fifth grade students whowrote legends that other students paid to read and evaluate,and the other involved an eighth grade English class who gavefree poetry readings in a coffee house setting. (LRW)
AN: EJ434894AU: Miller,-James-G.; And-OthersTI: Whole LanguageInside and OutsidelPY: 1991JN: Pathways-to-Outdoor-Communication; v1 n1 p14-16 Fall1991NT: Prior title was "Outdoor Communicator."DE: Elementary-Education; Grade-4DE: Creative-Writing; Outdoor-Education; Poetry-; 'Whole -Language- ApproachAB: Describes a teacher's efforts to create an anthology ofpoems written by fourth grade students. Whole languageactivities progressed from poetry reading end group writing toindividual writings based on outdoor themes. Presentsexamples of students' poetry. (KS)
AN: ED370130AU: Ediger,-MarlowTI: Creative Writing in the Language Arta.PY: 1994NT: 5 p.PR: EDRS Price - MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
Hot Topic Guido 57: ERIC Bibliography 4
DE: Class-Activities; Creativity-; Elementary-Education; Poetry-; Writing-AssignmentsDE: 'Creative-Writing; *Language-ArtsAB: Pupils need to express themselves in creative processesand products in the language arts curriculum. Too frequently,teachers require behavior which involves conformity on thepart of learners. Specific objectives many times delimit pupils'opportunities to express original ideas that come from withinthe involved learners. Many activities can assist pupils inachieving objectives: (1) summarizing the content of filmstripsusing diverse forms of verse; (2) telling and writing of original"tall tales"; (3) writing poems emphasizing syllabification afterviewing a set of stimulating pictures; (4) writing additionalcontent, a different ending, or modifying a part of the contentof library books or textbooks; (5) writing an advertisement toconvince others to read a library book; (6) interviewing aselected character in the library book; and (7) drawing picturesand captions relating to the content read. Pupils, with teacherguidance, need to choose vital objectives, learning activities,and appraisal procedures reflecting the concept of creativity.(RS)
PoetryAN: ED361747AU: Reid,-Gem; And-OthersTI: Teaching Poetry Tips; Teaching English without Desks.CS: North Dakota Univ., Grand Forks. Center for Teaching andLearning.PY: 1993JN: Insights-into-Open-Education; v26 n3 Nov 1993NT: 7 p.PR: EDRS Price - MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.DE: Creative-Writing; Elerr entary-Education: English-Instruction; Grade-2; Grade-6; Instructional-Effectiveness;Teaching-Methods; Units-of-StudyDE: Poetry-; 'Time -; 'Time-ManagementAB: This issue of "Insights into Open Education" presents twoshort articles dealing with teaching poetry and Englishinstruction. The first article, "Teaching Poetry Tips" (GemReid), discusses the author's experiences conducting a week-long poetry workshop for a class of 30 second graders. Thesecond article, "Teaching English without Desks" (MarlowEdiger), discusses a student teacher's implementation andevaluation of a unit on creative writing (using "learningstations") for a sixth-grade class. (RS)
AN: EJ441035AU: Morice,-DaveTI: Poetry Poker: Misfit Improvisations on Language.PY: 1992JN: Teachers-and-Writers; v23 n4 p1-6 Mar-Apr 1992DE: Mult-Education; Creative-Teaching; Creative-Writing;Elementary-Secondary-Education; Higher-EducationDE: Educational-Games; "Instructional-Innovation; 'Poetry-AB: Describes how to use "Poetry Poker," a strategy thatallows the student to write a poem by playing cards.Discusses how each student/player is dealt five cards onwhich are written one sentence of poetry per card and howthe student/player then must arrange the cards into the orderdesired to form a complete poem. (PA)
AN: EJ445264AU: Fina,-Allen-deTI: Sweet Rhymes by Dorothy /Wis.PY: 1992JN: Instructor; v101 n7 p48.49 Mar 1992AV: UMIDE: Childrens-Literature; Descriptive-Writing; Elementary-Education; Learning-Activities; Teaching-Methods; Writing-SkillsDE: Creative-Writing; 'Poetry-
6 1BEST COPY AVAILABLE
AB: Presents two children's poems about candy, by DorothyAldis. The article describes a teaching unit on the poems, thepoet, and her use of end rhymes. Activities include writingrhyming words, writing rhyming poems, rhyming a recipe, andcreating collages. (SM)
AN: EJ475082AU: Bates,-MarilynTI: Imitating the Greats: Art as the Catalyst in Student Poetry.PY: 1993JN: Art-Education; v46 n4 p41-45 Jul 1993AV: UMIDE: Audiovisual-Aids; Creative-Writing; Educational-Strategies;Elementary-Secondary-Education; Painting-Visual-Arts; Self-Expression; Teacher-Behavior; Teaching-Methods; Writing-CompositionDE: 'Art-Education; *Class-Activities; *Creative-Development;Interdisciplinary-Approach; *Poetry-; Visual-ArtsAB: Argues that student creative writing is stimulated bypainting and other visual art. Describes a seven-step processin which students view painting and other visual arts and thenwrite poetry. Includes suggested artworks and excerpts ofpoetry written by students. (CFR)
AN: EJ418025AU: Roberts,-LenTI: How to Start a Poem and Than Continue It.PY: 1950JN: Teachers-and-Writers; v22 n2 p9-12 Nov-Dec 1990AV: UMIDE: Creative-Writing; Elementary-Education; Writing-Instruction; Writing-ProcessesDE: 'Imagery-; 'Poetry -; 'Writing-ExercisesAB: Stresses the importance of using imagery when havingbeginning writers write poetry. Discusses additionaltechniques of stressing the unusual, continuation words, thefive senses, and repetition of a word or phrase. (MG)
AN: ED331093AU: Worley,-Demetrice-A.TI: Freedom within Boundaries: The Use of Structured andLoose Structured Poetry.PY: 1990NT: 17 p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of theIllinois Association of Teachers of English (Springfield, IL,October 26-27, 1990).PR: EDRS Price - MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.DE: Class-Activities; Classroom-Techniques; Creative-Writing;Elementary-Education; English-Instruction; Middle-Schools;Teaching-Methods; Writing-ProcessesDE: 'Poetry -; *Writing-InstructionAB: Often when teaching creative writing to grade school endmiddle school students, teachers encounter two problems:students state that they do not have anything to write about,or students keep their poetic voices quiet and imitate theexamples that they are givon. If students are encouraged tomentally create images of poetic forms and to write poetrywithin loose versions of the forms, they are more receptive topoetry. In addition, when students visualize the forms beforethey write, they have a sense of where they are going beforethey get there. In order for students to see poetry as living,breathing words which have a connection to them, educatorsneed to give students examples chosen from the middle of thepoetry spectrum. Students in the third through eighth gradesrespond best to quatrains and sonnets. The quatrain workswell as an example to use to explain how stanzas can create apoem. If teachers explain to students that what goes onwithin the sonnet is as important as, or even more importantthan, its formal elements, they can encourage students to seethat the menage within the sonnet is what is most important.Seeing a visual representation of the poetic form allows
Hot Topic Guido 67: ERIC Bibliography 5
students to visualize what a poem looks like; they then have aschema to tap during their creative process. Students canthen be given a sample poem to discuss in small groups.(Three figures are included.) (MG)
AN: EJ289454AU: Freeman,-Ruth-H.TI: Poetry Writing in the Upper Elementary. Grades.PY: 1983JN: Reading-Teacher; v37 n3 p238-42 Dec 1983AV: UMIDE: Childhood-Interests; Intermediate-Grades; Language-SkillsDE: "Childhood-Attitudes; "Creative-Writing; *Language-Usage; Poetry-; "Teacher-Role; 'Writing-InstructionAB: Notes that poetry writing can be a natural and interestingpart of the language arts curriculum. Offers an approach toteaching poetry to intermediate grade students that leadsthem to accept and like poetry. (FL)
AN: ED265566AU: Collom,-JackTI: Moving Waniows: Evaluating the Poetry Children Writs.PY: 1985AV: Teachers & Writers Collaborative, Department MW, 5Union Square West, New York, NY 10003 ($9.95, plus $1.00postage and handling fur first copy, $0.50 foreach additional copy).NT: 180 p.; Funding for this publication provided by The NewYork State Council on the Arts.PR: Document Not Available from EDRS.DE: Elementary-Secondary-Education; Figurative-Language;Imagery-; Metaphors-; Student-Motivation; Symbols-Literary;Writing-Evaluation; Writing-InstructionDE: *Creative-Writing; *Poetry-; "Teaching-MethodsAB: Beyond providing insights into evoking, evaluating, andencouraging children's poetry, this book may give other poetsand writers insights for their own writing. The 17 chaptersdiscuss the following topics: (1) teaching poetry in theschools; (2) relating persnal memories in poetry; (3) writingpoems about animals; (4) using the chant; (5) writing poemscollaboratively; (6) candor and innocence; (7) energy in poetry;(8) poems with the element of surprise; (9) rhythm, rhyme,and other sounds; (10) poetic "moves" or play with meaning;(11) creating poetry with an emphasis on factual details; (12)metaphor and surreal language; (13) concision, shapeliness,and understatement; (14) adult-like thought and feeling inchildren's poetry; (15) empathy; (16) other methods to use inwriting poetry; and (17) evaluating children's poetry. Theappendix contains eight poems by such poets as DeniseLevertov and William Carlos Williams. (EL)
Gifted
AN: EJ431049AU: Jampole,-Ellen-S.; And-OthersTI: Using Mental Imagery to Enhence Gifted ElementaryStudents' Creative Writing.PY: 1991JN: Reading-Psychology; v12 n3 p183-97 1991DE: Grade-4; Grade-5; Intermediate-Grades; Reading-Research; Writing-Ability; Writing-Assignments; Writing-ResearchDE: "Creative-Writing; "Gifted-; *Writing-Instruction;"Writing-ProcessesAB: Examines the effects of mental imagery instruction on 37gifted fourth and fifth grade students' creative writing enddevelopment of imagery vividness. Finds that treatmentsubjects significantly outperformed control subjects onoriginality and use of sensory descriptions but not on writinglength. (MG)
6-3
AN: EJ481436AU: Jampole,-Ellen-S.; And-OthersTI: Academically Gifted Students' Use of Imagery for CreativeWriting.PY: 1994JN: Journal-of-Creative-Behavior; v28 n1 p1-15 1994AV: UMIDE: Elomentary-Education; Imagination-; Instructional-Effectiveness; Writing-ImprovementDE: "Academically-Gifted; "Creative-Writing; "Creativity-;"Imagery-; "Teaching-Methods; "Writing-InstructionAB: This study evaluated the use of guided imagery practiceto enhance creative writing with 43 academically giftedstudents (stratified as either high or low creativity) in grades 3and 4. Groups receiving the guided imagery practice(regardless of original creativity level) generated more originalwriting, which contained more sensory descriptions thancomparison groups. (DB)
Computers
AN: EJ464065AU: Montague,- Marjorie; Fonseca,-FionelleTI: Using Computers to Improve Story Writing.PY: 1993JN: Teaching- Exceptional- Children; v25 n4 p46-49 Sum 1993AV: UMIDE: Creative-Writing; Elementary-Secondary-Education:Teaching-Methods; Word-Processing; Writing-ImprovementDE: *Computer-Assisted-Instruction; *Learning-Problems;*Writing-Composition; "Writing-InstructionAB: This article discusses the advantages of using computer-assisted composing (CAC) to teach composition to elementaryand secondary school students with learning problems. It alsodescribes the effects of CAC on student writing and offersseveral caveats for teachers who plan to use CAC in theirclassrooms. (JDD)
AN: EJ459327AU: Reissman,-RoseTI: "Can't We Plesesease Keep Writing?" Two FavoriteComputer Lab Activities.PY: 1993JN: Writing- Notebook: - Visions- for - Learning; v10 n3 p35-36Jan-Feb 1993NT: Special Issue: Writing in the Language Arts.DE: Elementary-Secondary-Education; Writing-InstructionDE: "Computers-; *Creative-Writing; *Writing-Assignments;*Writing-Exercises; "Writing-LaboratoriesAB: Offers 2 favorite writing activities for the computer lab:(1) students write about 100 words of the beginning and endof a favorite fiction book, while another student fills in themiddle; and (2) students choose from 1 of 3 plot twists, writeat least 5 sentences, and then write 3 more plot twists for thenext student. (SR)
AN: EJ463675AU: Boehm,-DiannTI: Creative Writing at Its Best with Kid Works 2!PY: 1993JN: Writing-Notebook:-Visions-for-Learning; n10 v4 p13-14Apr-May 1993NT: Focus on Writing as a Tool for Thinking and Learning.DE: Elementary-Secondary-Education; Teaching-MethodsDE: "Computers-; *Computer-Software-Reviews; *Creative-Writing; *Writing-InstructionAB: Details the creative writing software program called "KidWorks 2" and claims that it is a solid and useful means ofinspiring end fostering creative writing among young students.(HB)
Hot Topic Guido 67: ERIC Bibliography 6
AN: EJ461892AU: Reissman,-RoseTI: Using Computers. The Piot Thickens.PY: 1992JN: Learning; v21 n4 p43 Nov-Dec 1992AV: UMIDE: Elementary-Education; Story-Grammar; Teaching-MethodsDE: 'Class- Activities; 'Computer - Assisted - Instruction;*Creative-Writing; *Word-Processing; *Writing-InstructionAB: The article describes how to use a word processingprogram and add-on story starters for different genres toenhance elementary students' creative writing skills. Teachersinput story starters, then students select a genre and add on astory version in that genre. Students can also develop theirown story starters. (SM)
AN: ED331044AU: Yau,-MariaTI: Potential and Actual Effects of Word Processing onStudents' Creative Writing Process. No. 198.CS: Toronto Board of Education (Ontario). Research Dept.PY: 1991NT: 43 p.PR: EDRS Price - MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.DE: Classroom-Research; Computers-; Elementary-Education;Elementary-School-Students; Foreign- Countries; Literature-Reviews; Naturalistic-Observation; Writing-ResearchDE: 'Creative- Writing; 'Teacher -Role; 'Word- Processing;'Writing- ProcessesAB: A study examined the subtle impact of word processing(used alone) on the way students approach their writing tasks.Nine elementary school teachers were trained in techniques ofnaturalistic observation and received a kit containing importantguidelines for their observational task, daily log sheets, andjournal forms. The teachers then observed their students'spontaneous word processing behavior over a six-monthperiod. The three conventional writing stages (planning,composing, and editing and revising) were used as theframework for analysis. Results indicated that to tap the lullpotential of word processing technology to enhance students'writing skills, several conditions must be met: (1) a teachermust be actively involved in the process both as instructor andfacilitator; (2) the word processor should be employed inconjunction with, rather than in place of, other writing tools;(3) teachers and students should have enough access tocomputers and printers to ensure that the word processor canbe fully integrated into writing classes; and (4) teachers needto be supported and facilitated. (Forty-nine references areattached.) (RS)
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