Preschoolers may be novices in the area of writing but, as this article highlights, they are indeed writers. In a year-long ethnography of preschoolers during structured writing time the teacher/researcher explored how students adapted to a writing workshop format. Students participated in daily journal writing and sharing, and weekly conference…

Mikhail Bakhtin's understanding of the medieval carnival--a time when life is turned upside down, social hierarchies are lifted, and the lines between performer and participant are blurred--provides a useful framework for understanding both liberatory and potentially threatening aspects of writing workshops in elementary schools. An experimental…

This book, intended for teachers of grades 1-3, offers a step-by-step model for teaching writing. Each of the book's 15 mini-lessons includes a model lesson, lists of picture books suited to the writing skill being taught, samples of children's writing, and ideas for extending the lesson. The book's lessons cover exploring ideas for writing,…

An action research project addressed the problem of inadequate student knowledge of writing strategies and students' negative attitudes toward the writing process. The targeted population consisted of early childhood, first grade, and third grade students in two growing, lower/middle class communities located in the western suburbs of a large…

This collection of essays relates the experiences of teachers who have adopted and implemented a writing-process approach in their classrooms. In the collection, elementary, secondary, and college teachers candidly discuss their experiences--the struggles and successes, and the differences between their imagined ideal and the everyday reality.…