Based on observations of three first grade classrooms in Milan, Italy, this paper provides information about beginning writing instruction in Italy and offers suggestions for adapting some of the more successful techniques found there into writing programs in the United States. The various sections of the paper contain the following: (1) background information on the classrooms observed and the techniques used to gather data, (2) a discussion of the beginning writing process as it is taught in Italian schools, (3) developmental changes in teaching techniques that occur during the school year, (4) a description of writing and language lessons that are built on play, (5) a review of the writing curriculum in the schools, (6) a list of perceptions about the teaching of writing in the elementary school, and (7) a discussion of the reasons for the success of the Italian form of beginning writing instruction, along with suggestions for incorporating several of its features into American classrooms. (FL)