The reactions of children to a written interchange that they redid by co-opting riddles, that is a genre which is unavoidably dialogic, is focused. The research conducted for the same through exchange of e-mail letters is discussed in detail.

Examines the tensions created when students resist suggestions in writing conferences. Selects four writing conferences with children as the focus for the study. Analyzes the data for interesting points and recurring themes that indicate what typically transpired in a conference. Endeavors to interpret children's responses on some of these…

Shares interviews with elementary and middle school teachers that offer insight into how they respond to potentially controversial writing topics in an effort to understand their perspectives and beliefs about writing topics within their classrooms. Suggests that teachers need to ask challenging questions, acknowledge their biases, and get ready…

Explores how issues of power and identity are embedded within the cultures of a first-grade writing classroom. Explores the ways in which children's instructional stances--their responses to the ways they are positioned as writers in the classroom--affect their literacy learning. Presents the theoretical and research contexts in which educator's…

Examines the ways in which the boys and girls in three fourth-grade classrooms used writing to perform gender roles. Notes that the characters in girls' narrative writing demonstrated more emotion and more prosocial behaviors (helping, sharing, empathizing), whereas characters in boys' narrative writing exhibited more aggressive behavior and…

Draws on research in a fourth-grade classroom to show that teachers can teach composing strategies that encourage a variety of ways of interacting socially while writing. Shares various views of social interaction and student choice in writing classrooms as a way of establishing support for exploration of the social interactions that occurred in…

Presents four case studies to examine how first and second graders worked together using source texts to write their own informational books. Concludes that all four pairs of students were successful in many ways. Notes how the students saw themselves as experts, and were able to see firsthand how important reading and writing were in their…

Describes how the author participated in her son Carl's writing process at home when she realized his growing resistance to writing in school in the second grade. Examines the in-class composing process and Carl's frustrations. Describes how she became Carl's scribe at home as he gradually discovered that writing could be a symbolic representation…

Draws on a series of case studies and instructional projects to illustrate the importance of proofreading and developing a "spelling conscience" and, ultimately, learning to spell conventionally. Argues that proofreading is a special kind of reading that requires readers to "read like a speller," and that proofreading should be an integral part of…

Surveys parents to discover their perceptions of spelling and spelling instruction. Notes parents see spelling as critically important, want time in school devoted to spelling instruction, want to see a grade in spelling on students' report cards, and see reading and writing as the primary ways in which children learn to spell. Describes effects…

Investigates effectiveness of a first-grade formal spelling program (with explicit spelling instruction and weekly spelling tests). Shows that most children knew a majority of the spelling words before being given explicit instruction, and they transferred few of their spelling words to their journals. Notes the classroom reading/writing workshop…

Reports results of a content analysis of 61 narratives of classroom practice that appeared in "Language Arts," volumes 69-74 (1992-1997), as a way of illustrating that narratives that include the twists and turns of practice are more powerful and persuasive than narratives that report only success. (SR)

Uses the concept of "genderprints" to discuss how the writings of a group of eighth-grade girls were infused with the multiple realities of their lives as young women in a working-class neighborhood. Discusses the kinds of writing done by the girls, how choices of genre and topic reflected their gendered voice, and ways that they represented…

Suggests that it may be important for teachers (1) to identify the social elements and pressures that kindergarten children must manage as they try to "write themselves" in an interactive environment; and (2) to identify the coping strategies children develop to accommodate their social agendas. (SR)

Presents a case study of a first-grader who began to articulate a literary voice through her appropriation of narrative form. Focuses on her active response as she made narrative discourses her own. Draws on the work of L. Vygotsky and M. Bakhtin to suggest a way of talking about how young writers construct themselves. (SR)