EDO-CS-91-06 July 1991
Reading and Writing in a Kindergarten
Classroom
Prepared by: Bobbi Fisher
ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication
Digest #63
- Mandy is a reader. She holds a book with ease in her lap and tells
the story in her own way, including much of the language of the text
that she has memorized from hearing it many times. She looks at the
pictures and sometimes at me as she reads. Her story is fluent and her
voice expressive.
- Sam is another reader. He has also chosen a favorite book, with a
simple, familiar text. He reads slowly, word by word, and his voice
often lacks expression. He is focusing on the words in the text.
- Allie is a reader, too. Her reading is supported by the meaning of
the story, the flow of the language, the pictures, and what she knows
about phonics.
- Taisha is a writer. She has just written a grocery list in the
housekeeping area. The paper has four lines of scribble-like writing.
- Joey is a writer, too. He has drawn a picture of his house and
primarily written random letters from his name all over the pages. He
has labeled house, H. He reads me his story.
- Stefanie is a writer. She uses many conventions of writing. For
example, she leaves spaces between words, spells some words
conventionally, applies temporary (invented) spelling in others, uses
vowels in every word, and starts two of the three sentences with upper
case letters (Fisher, 1991).
I have begun this digest with examples of the readers and writers in
my kindergarten, because whenever I talk about literacy learning I
have to begin with the children and what they can do. When I "kid
watch" (Yetta Goodman, 1985) and observe what the children do as they
read and write, I notice many predictable behaviors that emergent and
beginning readers demonstrate. But I also notice that every child is
making sense out of print in his or her unique way. My job as a
teacher is to help each of them continue to develop as a reader and
writer.
Therefore, my definition of reading and writing includes the wide and
unique range of reading and writing behaviors demonstrated by each
child in my classroom. For example, reading might be reading
environmental print, looking at the pictures in a book and telling a
story, pointing carefully to the print, or beginning to read
independently. Writing might be a drawing, scribbling, writing random
letters, inventing spelling or beginning to write conventionally. In
our classroom, when we refer to reading, the children and I know that
we mean using books to create meaning. When we refer to writing, we
know that we mean picture drawing and letters and letter-like marks.
THE ENVIRONMENT
Our classroom is a print-rich environment. Reading and writing
materials are easily accessible for the children to select and use
throughout the room.
- Reading. Big books and charts with poems, songs and chants in
enlarged text are displayed. Fiction and nonfiction trade books,
predictable books, dictionaries, and magazines are available on
library display shelves, regular shelves, plastic bins and crates, and
on tables throughout the room. A listening table is available,
equipped with a tape recorder, earphones, story tapes and multiple
copies of the accompanying text.
- Writing. The writing area contains a variety of paper, pencils,
markers, crayons, rulers, a stapler, and a date stamp and pad. The
alphabet in upper and lower case letters is hung at eye level, and
cards with the alphabet and an accompanying picture representing the
initial sound of the letter are accessible for the children to use
wherever they are writing in the room. A plastic file crate is
available in which the children file their daily drawings and writing
so we have a record of their growth throughout the year.
CONDITIONS OF LEARNING
"To foster emergent reading and writing in particular, whole language
teachers attempt to replicate the strategies parents use successfully
to stimulate the acquisition of language and the 'natural' acquisition
of literacy" (Weaver, 1990 p. 23). Brian Cambourne lists these
conditions of learning as Immersion, Demonstration, Engagement,
Expectation, Responsibility, Use, Approximation, and Response
(Cambourne, 1988). In my classroom I try to create these same
conditions to support children's growth and development in reading and
writing. I use Don Holdaway's (1979) natural learning classroom model
(Demonstration, Participation, Practice/Role Play, and Performance)
for organizing the day and planning for groups and individual
children.
- Demonstration and Participation. During group time, which I call
shared reading, I give many demonstrations of reading and writing, and
the children participate in these literacy experiences by reading
along, commenting on concepts of print, and discussing the story. We
read many different texts, such as predictable big books which support
emergent and beginning readers, as well as poems, songs and chants,
and fiction and nonfiction trade books. I model, and the children
participate by using a variety of strategies that successful readers
use, such as reading the sentence again, and using the beginning
letter of a word to predict and confirm what it is. We discuss skills
in context so the children will be able to use them as needed to
create meaning as they read for a variety of purposes. I write in
front of the children and they join in and participate, giving
suggestions for content and helping spell the words.
All of these demonstrations are whole, meaningful, and authentic
(Goodman, 1986). They take place in a non-competitive atmosphere as
each child participates at his or her developmental level. Each child
is a member of the literacy club (Smith, 1988).
- Practice/Role Play. Choice time follows shared reading. The children
have opportunities to practice what they have observed and engaged in
during the group time. I ask the children to read every day, but I
give them lots of choices of what to read. They can read big books,
small books, trade books, magazines, or charts or listen to a story
tape. They can read alone, with a friend, or to a grownup.
I also ask the children to write every day. Usually they can choose
their own topic. For example, they can write a book, write with a
friend, or write in conjunction with an art project, block building,
or the developmental play environment which we have set up in the
room. The general writing parameters are flexible: draw a picture,
write something (this varies from scribbles to labeling to
conventional writing, depending on each child's development), date the
piece with a date stamp, and write their name.
During choice time I watch the children and assess what they know so I
can help them develop as readers and writers. I listen to them read,
or conference with them about their writing. As I get to know them, I
am able to encourage learning by taking that teachable moment to
support growth.
- Performance. To complete the model, children need opportunities to
share what they know. In our classroom sharing takes many forms.
Children share their reading by reading to each other or to me and by
taking a book home to read to their parents. They share their writing
with their peers as they work at the writing table, make a sign for
the blocks, or put their piece in the sharing basket for group sharing
time. They share with me by coming to show me what they have done, and
they share with their parents by taking their work home.
CLASSROOM GOALS
My goal for the children in my kindergarten is for them to become
independent readers and writers (learners) for a variety of purposes.
I want to help each one become a self-motivated, self-directed,
self-regulated learner within a community of learners.
REFERENCES
Cambourne, Brian. 1988. The Whole Story: Natural Learning and the
Acquisition of Literacy in the Classroom. New York: Ashton Scholastic.
Clay, Marie. {1975} 1985. The Early Detection of Reading Difficulties.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. ED 263 529
Fisher, Bobbi. 1991. Joyful Learning: A Whole Language Kindergarten.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Goodman, Kenneth. 1986. What's Whole in Whole Language? Portsmouth,
NH: Heinemann. ED 300 777
Goodman, Yetta. 1985. "Kidwatching: Observing Children in the
Classroom." In A. Jaggar and M. T. Smith-Burke, Eds., Observing the
Language Learner. Newark, Delaware: International Reading Association.
ED 251 857
Holdaway, Don. 1979. The Foundations of Literacy. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann. ED 263 540
Smith, Frank. 1988. Joining the Literacy Club: Further Essays into
Education. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Strickland, Dorothy and Lesley Morrow, Eds. 1989. Emerging Literacy:
Young Children Learn to Read and Write. Newark, Delaware:
International Reading Association. ED 305 602
Teale, William and Miriam Martinez. 1989. "Connecting Writing:
Fostering Emergent Literacy in Kindergarten Children." In J. M. Mason,
Ed., Reading and Writing Connections. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. ED 290
161
Weaver, Constance. 1990. Understanding Whole Language: From Principles
to Practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. ED 326 847
Digest#63 is EDO-CS-91-06 and was published in July 1991 by the ERIC
Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication, 2805 E 10th Street, Bloomington, IN
47408-2698, Telephone (812) 855-5847 or (800) 759-4723. ERIC Digests are in the public
domain and may be freely reproduced. Additional copies may be ordered by contacting the ERIC
Document Reproduction Service at (800) 443-3742.
This project has been funded at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of
Education under contract number RI88062001. The content of this publication does not
necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of
trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
