Drawing and writing in response to picturebook read-alouds, elementary children construct varying "visual hooks" in their sketches as effective visual devices for extending ideas for writing: the bubble hook, the zoom hook, and the group hook. This article reports on a 12-week qualitative study in which children in second grade develop as writers…

This article deals with a child's impression of literacy. The author interviews Sophia Kazee, a kindergartner, who was asked her about her favorite books. She asked her where she reads at home and in the classroom and asked her to draw these places. The first drawing shows children reading books and Sophia reading to her teacher, Ms. Cresse. The…

Discusses evidence that children's drawings and sketches are a part of their writing process and that stress on speaking and writing is superior to stress on reading and listening in sponsoring verbal growth. (DD)

In this article, the authors explore a young child's lived experience of discipline and play with/in a mandated balanced literacy curriculum. Mandating balanced literacy presents an interesting case of disciplining literacy because it is rooted in the progressive tradition of meaning-and-process pedagogies. As such, it avoids the most obvious…

Uses children's drawings about reading and writing to provide valuable insights into metalinguistic knowledge that children have about literacy, including their beliefs about self and others as language users and knowledge about the demands of different literacy events. Makes a case for children's art as a source of insight on the nature and…

Drawings and writings of two children produced for each year from age four to eight were presented to "experts" in the field of style to see if they could determine which student did each picture or paragraph, based on stylistic consistencies. Concludes that style is inherent in a child's first compositions. (HTH)

The Family Backpack Project provided 249 low-income, prekindergarten children and their families with opportunities to read and listen to audio recordings of 3 sets of books in their homes. Families received English or dual-language texts (English plus Spanish, Arabic, Kurdish, or Somali) matched to their home languages. Children and their…

This article reports on the meaning potential of daily access to drawing/writing media for widening and deepening meaning construction. In a yearlong study in a second grade classroom, the author worked with a second-year teacher to see what would happen when art and language were encouraged ways of knowing in which children could construct…

This teacher research study took place in a bilingual second-grade classroom in the southwestern United States. The study investigates the "cuentos" told during "platicas literarias"/literature discussions and explores how five young Latinas used their cuentos to communicate meaning through intertextual connections. These…

How do the children in our classrooms get identified as certain "types" of students, as "disabled" or as "competent"? What factors bear on who the children in our classrooms are able to be? How might exploring the answers to these questions lead us to create classroom communities that are more inclusive, livable, and equitable? Beginning with this…

Saavedra discusses how children in the borderlands can inform our language and literacy practices through the Latin American literary genre known as "testimonio." Drawing from the work of Chicana/Latina feminist pedagogy, I frame my "experiencias" with language and literacy in three different moments in my life. Through these…

Spanish-speaking, Mexican American parents participated in a literacy workshop in which they created short, personal letters called "cartitas de carino" for their children. This paper reports on the content of their texts, which included drawings and messages that reflected the cultural norms and traditions of the families. Using a…

A professor and students in an undergraduate honors research seminar were inspired to playfully link old and contemporary literacy theories to a 2.0 media artifact, the popular YouTube video Kittens! Inspired by Kittens! (KIbK) starring 6 year-old Maddie. In this article KIbK is theorized drawing on frames of school-based reading instruction,…

The article examines third graders who use reading, speaking, writing, gestures, and visual representation strategically in their inquiry research and to share what they learn. Examples of their speaking, writing and drawing shows their developing skill in choosing semiotic meaning-making systems appropriately for the purpose of developing their…

Letras y Arte: Literacy and Art, is a summer course that pairs college students and children from a Latino neighborhood for literacy and art learning. Started five years ago, Letras y Arte provides opportunities in four areas: (1) literacy opportunities that foster distinctive identities and voice; (2) immersion in a broad view of literacy that…