Writing with Parents in Response to Picture Book Read Alouds

High-quality writing instruction needs to permeate elementary students’ in- and outside-of-school experiences. The aim of this research was to explore how teaching writing to parents may support home-school literacy connections. This qualitative case study explored parents’ experiences in interactive writing sessions. The descriptive coding and constant comparative analysis of transcribed parent writing sessions, field notes, and documents revealed three themes: (1) Writing Tips and Strategies, (2) Parent-Writers, and (3) Story Connections. The parent writing sessions facilitated parents’ understanding of how to support their elementary-age children’s writing development. Parents demonstrated a desire to support their children’s writing development, and they needed strategies to understand how to help. Parents applied suggestions as writers to support their children’s writing development at home. Collaborating with the children’s parents helped increase the likelihood the writing strategies gleaned from the writing clinic would be used within the children’s homes

Writing for an Authentic Audience – One Teacher-Writer’s Narrative Journey

The research literature shows many universities do not require elementary pre-service and in-service teachers to take a writing methodology course, yet elementary teachers must be prepared to teach K-8 writing. This qualitative case study highlights a beginning elementary in-service teacher’s experiences enrolled in a K-8 writing methodology course designed to strengthen her teacher-writer voice for authentic purposes using the writing workshop framework. Using narrative inquiry’s critical event approach to analyze and compare the teacher’s and her peers’ data (writer’s notebook, reflections, surveys, interviews, written selections, field note journal), this research article details her case study as a critical incident to gain an in-depth understanding of her course experiences. Choosing a personal audience (her father), she crafted a narrative the editor of her father’s favorite magazine accepted for publication. Achieving publication, she experienced the entire writing process and strengthened her teacher-writer voice. Writing for authentic audiences and purposes is critical for teacher-writers to strengthen their teacher-writer identities, beliefs, attitudes, and pedagogy. Such writing experiences transfer to teacher-writers’ pedagogical practice with elementary students

Responding to Literature Through Student–Author Interviews: Eighth-Grade Students Challenge Chris Crowe’s Mississippi Trial, 1955

This study explores virtual, student–author interviews eighth-grade students led with Chris Crowe in response to his young adult novel Mississippi Trial, 1955. The opportunity to interview the author motivated students to read the novel. Through their text-world development, students connected with the fictional and nonfictional characters, Hiram Hillburn and Emmett Till, respectively. Through their critical reader-responses, students sought truth about Emmett Till’s case as they questioned Crowe about the choices he made as an author and researcher, which supported students’ understanding of character development and historical significance of Emmett Till’s case. Crowe’s answers to the students’ critical questions were not easy, but through the student–author interview preparation and implementation process, participants captured a shared understanding of Emmett Till’s case and how its connection to the U.S. civil rights movement impacted history and is pertinent today. Ultimately, this article advocates for reader-response pedagogy to include virtual or in-person student–author interviews

K-12 Writing Teachers’ Careerspan Development: Participatory Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Writing

This narrative grounded theory study examines 19 US K–12 teachers’ development of pedagogical content knowledge of writing (PCKW) across their careers. Building on writing pedagogies and career cycle theories, we invited writing teachers to tell stories of critical experiences that contributed to their development. Findings indicate that teachers’ understanding of writing, being writers, and teaching writers were propelled by various critical experiences--both personal and professional. Our model shows that these experiences prompted teachers to engage in participatory PCKW to cultivate development. Implications are that writing teachers need communities of practice, mentors, and ongoing participatory engagements to sustain process pedagogies