Date of Award
1992
Degree Name
M.S. in Education
Abstract
Students at all levels of literacy benefit when they are actively engaged in blending reading and writing, even from their earliest stages of development. Many elementary classroom teachers focus reading instruction on developing strategic readers. At the same time, these teachers are committed to helping children carefully plan, revise, and publish complete essays. In helping children understand and experience the separate processes of reading and writing, however, we often overlook obvious and natural ways to make the real connection between reading and writing. Students at all levels of literacy development benefit from this reading-writing connection when they actively engage in language that has a purpose and for which they receive tangible feedback. One activity which makes the connection between reading and writing natural, real, meaningful, and provides this tangible feedback is journal writing. Journal writing incorporates some of the natural aspects of oral language conversation and transforms it into written form for the student. Most educators agree that the most successful early readers are "pencil and paper kids," children who have had contact with written materials. In an emergent literacy curriculum, children can discover how to write, if the teacher surrounds the student with print and encourages them to produce print of their own. Writing is a mysterious process. Learning to write is largely an act of discovery. This discovery of the written process follows a natural progression from scribbling to writing meaningful messages. As a teacher of first-grade students, this writer does not always see this progression develop smoothly. What teaching strategies could one use that will enhance the natural development of writing for the emergent learner? This writer wishes to organize a procedure to facilitate journal writing in the first grade classroom. Time, materials, information, and encouragement of written expression, will be provided to instruct the first-grade student for the journal writing experience. This investigation will enable the writer to expand the journal writing format to include dialogue journal writing. Dialogue writing will create an audience for the emergent writer, as well as provide a positive model in correct written expression. It will also enable the reader and writer to develop a personal relationship. It is the intent of this writer, in a holistic approach, to encourage and foster the acquisition of reading and writing skills through the use of dialogue journal writing.
Keywords
English language Composition and exercises Study and teaching (Primary) Ohio, Children Diaries, First grade (Education)
Rights Statement
Copyright © 1992, author
Recommended Citation
Haeuptle, Shirley K., "The development, implementation, and evaluation of the writer's procedure for teaching dialogue journal writing to first grade students" (1992). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 3082.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/graduate_theses/3082
