Considers whether dramatic play with toys would be as important for beginning readers and whether it could be used to support their story writing. Discusses the introduction of toys to the writers' workshop. Considers how to reflect on the physical world as a source for story ideas. (SG)

Examines three children's early experiences of school literacy lessons to consider what makes a difference in their relative success and failure during the first months of school. Argues that how, whether, and to what extent children take up what teachers make available to them is inextricably connected with the repertoires of practices and…

Illustrates how the making of a reader emerges in the relationship between a supportive adult and an emergent reader. Explores the nature of scaffolding in a tutoring relationship with a first-grade child who is learning to read and write. Analyzes and describes qualities of the interpersonal relationship that allow and contribute to the creation…

Illustrates the influence that different preschool experiences might have on children's literacy development by describing the literary understandings of three capable children from low-income and language minority families. Notes that the parents were highly supportive and, to varying degrees, provided literary resources for their children at…

Investigates how culture might influence the choice and reading of children's texts to children. Describes a two-year, longitudinal, qualitative case study of the storybook experiences of a US-born Chinese girl, describing the social, moral, and literacy practices in her family (which included the girl, her parents, and her grandparents). (SR)

Examines the real-world literacy contexts in which children find themselves. Discusses research at multiple sites over five years looking at how teachers struggle day by day to work out how to acknowledge and build on the language and cultural diversity of the students in their schools. Explores and illustrates four distinct "constructions" of…