Videotapes have proven useful in studying children's early classroom writing experiences, capturing and preserving the contextual integrity of the writing situation in a way that would be nearly impossible to do in words. Because the tapes can be played over and over again, it is possible to extract meanings from the situation that might otherwise be missed. Tapes of this sort give the prospective teacher a chance to study and observe experiences that underlie and influence teaching practice before they actually set foot in the classroom. Experienced teachers, on the other hand, can use videotapes to see how strategies different from their own work in the classroom, and perhaps be inspired to try a new approach. Finally, videotapes can save time, showing research findings in action to teachers too busy to read the original research reports. The 20-minute videotape, "Beginning Writers," is a good example of what tape analysis of a classroom situation can accomplish. It follows two first grade students through six stages in a writing exercise: choosing and planning projects with help from the teacher, working on the projects, interacting with the teacher, writing about the projects, producing the final projects, and holding conferences with the teacher about the completed exercise. Each segment of the tape points out the writing research being illustrated and shows how it relates to two major themes of recent language and literacy learning research: the active construction of knowledge by children, including knowledge of reading and writing, and the supportive context of people and things that enables this construction. Such tapes foster an understanding of the general principles of language and literacy learning and help teachers to interpret children's behavior and provide for their needs. (Ordering information for the videotape described in this study is included with this document.) (RBW)