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This is to certify that the

dissertation entitled

The Cognitive Processes Of Competent Third Grade

Writers: A Descriptive Study

presented by

Barbara J. Diamond

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

PhD degree in Education

    

Major professor

Laura Roehler

Date January 21, 1985

MS U is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution 0- 12771

 

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THE COGNITIVE PROCESSES OF
COMPETENT THIRD GRADE WRITERS:
A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY

By

Barbara J. Diamond

A DISSERTATION

submitted to
Michigan State University
in partiaI fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department of Teacher Education

I985

ABSTRACT

THE COGNITIVE PROCESSES OF COMPETENT THIRD GRADE WRITERS:
A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY

BY

Barbara J. Diamond

The purpose of this study was to describe and explain the task
environmental influences of three competent third grade writers and to describe
the underlying cognitive processes involved in their writing. Key elements of the
task environment identified for examination were the students' socio-cultural
background, the teachers instruction, the student's interactions, and their oral
language use. The writing processes of the students were examined for
descriptions of the planning, transcribing and revising processes.

This ethnographic study was conducted by the classroom teacher in her
combination third/fourth grade classroom. While the teacher directed the study,
observations were made by a research assistant, who was the investigator's
teaching partner. The data consisted of field notes of writing instruction and
student writing, student and parent interviews, student writing samples, and the
teacher's journal. Two units of analysis, the group literacy episode and the
individual literacy episode were structures in the observational data from which
inductively reached categories were formed and charted. Within the individual
literacy episodes writing behaviors of the students were analyzed by examining
their "problem solving stops".

The major findings revealed that the following elements of the task
environment influenced the writing proceses of the students: I) the writing
content of organization and structure that was emphasized by the teacher, and
her de-emphasis on mechanics; 2) the formality of the group literacy episode; 3)

the time restrictions imposed upon subjects and upon the school day; it) the

 

Barbara J. Diamond

literate socio-cultural backgrounds of the target students; and 5) the nature of
student's interactions with peers, which were both distracting and helpful.

The findings related to cognitive processes revealed that: I) these
competent students were able to balance the cognitive constraints so that they
could effectively express the meaning desired; 2) they each planned for writing,
but in different ways; 3) they revised during the process of writing, two
primarily for orthographics, structure, and handwriting, and one for meaning and
audience; and it) they could readily express meaning because of the wide store of

available knowledge.

DEDICATION

To Mom and Dad, John, Kim and Johnny

1'1'

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank the many people who offered help and support during the
writing of this dissertation. I am especially grateful to:

Dr. Laura Roehler, chairperson, who displayed a skillful combination of
wisdom, patience, and encouragement in guiding this dissertation. She was
always available; a valuable resource and a special friend.

Dr. Frederick Erickson, Dr. Sheila Fitzgerald, and Dr. George Sherman, the
members of my committee, for their expertise and advice they shared.

Barbara Reeves, who was an extremely competent typist and who never
expressed frustration or impatience in spite of occasional pressure filled
circumstances.

The children and staff at Riverton School who were wonderful to work with
and whom I value so much as colleagues and friends.

Mom, Dad, and my sister Pat, who have given so unquestionably of
themselves in helping me achieve this goal.

Kim and Johnny, my children, whose enthusiasm, humor and belief in me
helped me to keep things in perspective.

John, my husband, whose love, understanding and encouragement was
always there, and without whom this dissertation and degree could not have been

achieved.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Figures ..................... vi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .................... I
The Problem ............................ 2
Significance ............................ 3
Overview ............................. 7
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ............ 8
Introduction ............................ 8
Composing Processes in the Classroom . . ............... 9
Cognitive Processes in Writing .................... [4
Writers Interacting Within the Classroom Community .......... 20
Summary .............................. 25
CHAPTER III: THE DESIGN OF THE STUDY, PROCEDURES,
AND METHOD OF ANALYSIS . ............... 27
Research Method ................... - 27
Procedures ............................ 29
Selling .............................. 32
Data Analysis .......................... 4|
Analysis of Group Literacy Episodes ............... 42
Analysis of Individual Literacy Episodes ........ - 46
Planning ......................... 49
Tronscribing ........................ 50
Reviewing/Revision .................... 50
Social Interaction ..................... 5|
Other Considerations in the Data Analysis ............. 5|
Summary .............................. 52
CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS ...................... 51;
TOSk EHVironmeni .......................... 55
Socio-Cultural Background ................... 55
Mindy's Background .................... 55
Kathy's Background .................... 57
Anne's Background .................... 58

Teacher'slnstruction - - .

What--Tasks Assigned/Content Emphasized
How the Episodes Developed . . .
How Students' Verbal Behaviors Related to Instruction.
Summary of Teacher's Instructions ...... . .

Student Interactions - - . . . . .

Mindy's Interactions ----- . .

Kathy's Interactions . - . .
Anne's Interactions

Oral Language and Its Relationship to Writing

Students' Verbal Behaviors During Group Literacy Episodes

Students' Oral Language During Interactions In

Individual Literacy Episodes.
Sub-vocalization During Individual Literacy Episodes .

Summary of Task Environment . . . . .

Cognitive Processes of the Target Students.

Mindy. . . . . .
Planning- - . . . . . .

Transcribing - . . . . . .
Review/Revisions- - . . . .

Summary. . . .. . . .
Kathy. . . . .
Planning. . . . .
Transcribing . '.
Review/ Revision
Summary -
Anne . . . . . .
Planning .
Transcribing . . .
Review/Revision
Summary. .
Summary of Findings . . .

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
FOR PRACTICE AND RESEARCH -

The Task Environment for Writing .

Cognitive Processes of the Writers - °

Implications for Practice -
Implications for Further Research °
A Final Thought

Appendices. . . .

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . .

O O O O O

O O O O O

O O O o o O o

.IIS
.Il6

. I20

I20
I24
I28
I33
I34

I36

224

\lChU‘IJ-‘WN

00

LIST OF FIGURES

Physical layout of the classroom

Charting of group literacy episode for analysis .

Charting of individual literacy episode for analysis . .

Synoptic chart of group literacy episodes . . . . .

Chart showing hierarchical and temporal organization . . .

Organization for autobiographical sketch

Functional typology of student verbal behavior during
literacy episodes ................

Task environment for writing. . . . . .....
Excerpts of Mindy's story with teacher's comments -
Excerpts of Kathy's story ..... . . . . . . .
Excerpts of Anne's story, showing insertions - - .

Planning, Transcribing, Reviewing/Revising Processes
of Target Students ...............

group

34
as
. 147,48
. 62,63
64
65

74

90

- 96
|06, l07
-lllI

-II7

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

One of the major goals of research on writing should be to impart
information that can help teachers be more effective in providing writing
instruction. In an effort to achieve this goal, research on writing has begun to
flourish in the decade of the l970$ and has continued in the I980s. Researchers
have looked at specific kinds of knowledge that writers possess and bring to bear
as they formulate meanings and express these meanings in writing (Flower &
Hayes, l98l; Nold, l98l; Scardamalia, I98I). These researchers have looked at the
cognitive processes that enable the generation of meaning. In doing this, they
have contributed to the understanding of writing as a cognitive activity. This
knowledge in isolation, however, cannot readily be translated into implications
for effective writing instruction.

Other researchers have conducted investigations which examine the
context or situation in which a person writes and its influence on writing
processes (Graves, I982; Florio & Clark, I979). These situations and goals can be
closely associated with instructional writing tasks and affect to a great extent
how these tasks are structured. These contexts also include specific functions of
written language that are defined within a writer's social and cultural group and
his/her classroom community.

Additionally, oral language functions as a part of social context of
students' lives and is shown to influence written language in yet another way.
Cook-Gumperz & Gumperz (I982) have contributed to the understanding of
writing as a contextual activity. While the studies of context of writing are

crucial to an understanding of the writing process, in order to actualize the goal
of effective writing instruction this perspective alone is also inadequate.

One approach to achieving this goal of providing information which can
help teachers increase their effectiveness is to study the cognitive processes of
students as they are involved in different kinds of writing activities in the
classroom setting. Such an approach reflects the interdependences of the two
perspectives--the cognitive and the contextual--on the process of writing. In
conducting such an investigation, an attempt is made to bring together the
internal and cognitive processes the writer uses to construct meaning with the
external environment that shapes and constrains this meaning. The research

undertaken here takes this approach.

The Problem
The purpose of this study is to describe and explain the task environmental
influences of three competent third grade writers and to describe the underlying

cognitive processes involved in their writing. The task environment includes the

 

context of writing—instruction, situations in which these students write, and
their purpose for writing (Frederiksen & Dominic, l98l). It also includes the
socio-cultural environment and the social interaction that can influence writing

as a cognitive activity. Cognitive irocesses are those mental activities

 

employed in activating different kinds of knowledge that the writer has and can
elicit in constructing meanings and expressing them in writing. m in this
investigation is defined as the process of selecting, combining, arranging, and
developing ideas in effective sentences, paragraphs, and often longer units of
discourse (NCTE, l98l).

The two major research questions entailed in the study are as follows.

I. In what ways does the task environment constrain (influence) the
writing process of three competent third grade writers?

--How does each student's socio-cultural background
affect the process of writing?

«How does the teacher's instruction affect the process?

-What influences do students' interactions with each
other have on these students as they write?

-What is the relationship between the children's oral
language and what they do during the writing process?

2. What cognitive processes do these three competent third grade
writers use in generating written text?

--Do students evidence planning or Ere-writing
activities?

«What does the transcribing process (the written
representation of ideas) look like?

 

--Do students evidence the revision process? What is the
nature of this process?

--How do these processes interact?

Significance
The study is of special interest to practitioners and researchers because
the findings (0) have practical and theoretical application, (b) will extend and
clarify existing information, and (c) will answer the need to contribute added
meaning to knowledge about writing.

The findings will have practical application for teachers through the

 

identification and description of environmental influences that can affect the
writing process. Teachers are often faced with decisions regarding the amount
of social interaction to allow in the classroom while providing an appropriate
environment for learning. It is often the view held by both teachers and
administrators that a quiet classroom is the most productive. The literature also
shows a positive correlation between the time students spend on task and
academic achievement (Fisher, Filby, Marliave, I977; Smyth, I979). Recently,

however, in the area of writing, social interaction has been viewed as a means of

enhancing students' writing, and findings show that classrooms of this type may
provide an environment that is more conducive for producing writing (Britton,
I970; Dyson 8. Genishi, I98l; Rosen 8. Rosen, I974). An analytic description of the
task environment and how it affects the writing process can help teachers in
making informed decisions that pertain to social interaction and writing.

Findings that identify and describe cognitive processes of writers can also

have practical applications. With the identification of these processes, a model

 

can be developed which specifies what competent writers do. This model can
serve as a guide to writing instruction and to diagnosis of writing difficulties
(Hayes 8. Flower, l98l). Teachers, faced with the charge to teach writing, have
often implemented instruction based on their knowledge of themselves as writers
and conventional wisdom about what is important to teach. Indeed, processes
such as planning, organizing, and editing have been identified as important by
teachers for some time. However, investigation into the nature and use of these
processes and the possible identification of other processes, particularly in young
children, can lend support to already established practices and serve as a guide
to the development of new practices.

The identification of writing processes in children can help in establishing a
theory of writing. Several researchers have worked toward the development of
such a theory and have called for more data that can aid in its development
(Collins & Gentner, I980; Shuy, l98l). Collins and Gentner envision a theory that
would be both prescriptive and descriptive and one that would explicate
underlying principles of the writing process. An ethnographic study, as is the one
proposed, can be particularly effective in theoretical formulations because it is
discovery-oriented, concerned with the particulars of context, the dynamics of

social interactions, and the construction of meanings. It places the researcher in

classrooms and allows him/her to develop a grounded theory (Glaser 8. Strauss,
I967) based on what occurs in those settings (Kantor, Kirby, 8. Goetz, I98I).
Information from the study can be significant to teachers and researchers

in clarifying existing knowledge regarding the type of instructional support that

 

is most appropriate for the development of competent writers. The literature
offers essentially two views regarding the development of writing abilities and
the roles that teachers should play. The first view held by some researchers is
that learning to write is an extension of language development. These
researchers view children's writing as a natural state in the overall development
of language (Emig, l98l; Britton, I970; Loban, I976). This view sets forth the
belief that although writing is natural, it is activated by enabling environments--
safe, structured, private, unobtrusive, and literate. Adults in these environments
do not directly and explicitly teach information about writing; rather, they are
fellow practitioners and providers of possible content and experiences.

Bereiter (I980), on the other hand, holds that it is important for educational
purposes to look at and identify the distinctive features of writing, rather than
to treat it as an extension of other kinds of language development. By
identifying these distinctive features of writing, Bereiter maintains that
researchers and others can identify whatever is potentially susceptible to direct
influence. One of the distinctive features identified, for example, is that
because written utterances can be shaped and reshaped, writing lends itself to
development of craftsmanlike skills not normally found in speaking. Educators
feel that direct instruction may serve a useful purpose in helping students
acquire these skills.

These two views of writing development and teacher intervention reflect

the types of decisions about instruction that teachers must make. They must

decide when to directly intervene in students' writing development and/or how
best to provide an "enabling environment" for the maximum growth of students.
They must determine how much intervention is good and necessary in what is
considered by some to be a naturally occurring process? The proposed study can
aid in clarifying knowledge related to this issue.

The study can also help to clarify conflicting findings regarding the

 

identification of writing processes in young children. For example, many
researchers and theorists hold the view that the planning and reviewing processes
are late-blooming processes, not found in young children (Bereiter, I980; Flavell,
I977). In fact, some experiments have shown that necessary activities for both
planning and reviewing, such as examining the message for faults and taking the
role of the audience are late-developing activities (Markman, I977). The
research shows that children simply write down thoughts as they come to mind,
giving no thought to clarity of message and reader understanding.

Other researchers have reported conflicting findings. Scardamalia (I98l)
has found that children displayed a sense of audience in an essay writing task by
addressing the reader. Graves (I980) has identified the process of rehearsal for
writing in first graders. These students use drawing and talking as a means of
planning topic and story content. This rehearsal process in children is analogous
to the planning process identified in older students and adults. Graves (I979) has
also identified the beginnings of the reviewing process in young writers, and
Calkins (l98l) has found that third graders review their writing frequently and in
different ways.

With the conflicting evidence among researchers about the existence of
given processes in children, there is a clear need for clarification as to what
processes are evidenced in young children and an extension of knowledge about

the nature of these processes.

Finally, and significantly, there is a need to contribute added meaning to

 

knowledge about writing. This study proposes to identify and describe the
cognitive nature of processes in competent third grade writers. This analytic
description will add support and meaning to information about processes that has
been identified by other researchers. Graves and his colleagues have conducted
extensive research on writing processes of children over a two year period. They
have stated, however, that
More needs to be learned about what occurs within the writing
episode in the 805. We are just beginning to get a sense of the
ingredients in the process, but far more data are needed to explain

how children function (Graves, l98l, p. I99).

This study can provide a portion of the needed data.

Overview
The chapters which follow are arranged in the following manner: Chapter
II presents a review of the literature related to the study; Chapter III gives the
design of the study, the procedures used, and the method of data analysis;
Chapter IV presents findings which answer the questions raised at the outset; and
Chapter V provides discussion of the findings and implications of the study for

instruction and future research.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Introduction

In recent years much of the research on writing has shifted from product-
oriented research from which processes were inferred to research directed
toward actual behavior of writers throughout the composing process. Studies
which sought to determine the relative efficacy of one treatment over another
have become less frequent. Rather, descriptive investigations and case studies
from which relevant hypotheses can be generated and a theoretical framework
about written discourse can emerge have become prevalent (Cooper 8. Odell,
I978).

The type of inquiry which looked at the conditions under which students
wrote became prominent as an outgrowth of basic research in the last two
decades on syntactic development (Hunt, I965; O'Donnel, Griffin, 8. Norris, I967;
Smith 8. Swan, I978; Loban, I976), rhetorical development (Britton et aI., I975;
Kroll, I978; Moffett, I968), and composing processes (Emig, l97l; Stallard, I974;
Graves, I975; Flowers & Hayes, I977). Because of findings from this body of
research on processes involved in producing written discourse, it became a
natural next step to ask questions about how the observed phenomena occurred in
the natural setting of the school and the classroom.

This literature review reflects the view advanced in this study that writing
occurs (and thus should be studied) within a task environment in the classroom
which interfaces with the cognitive activities and processes in which the writer

engages. Therefore, the literature related to the study addresses the area of

interest by categorizing the research about (a) the composing process in the
classroom, primarily reflecting the orientation of English and language arts'
educators; (b) the more detailed cognitive processes in writing, reflecting the
views of cognitive psychologists; and (c) writers' social and academic
interactions within the classroom environment, reflecting the views of
educational anthropologists and sociolinguists. Because literature is being
assimilated that will help to construct a "story of writing" and because research
on writing processes is relatively new and somewhat limited, the literature
bearing on this study does not always deal with child writers as subjects. In
studies in which adult or older student writers are used as subjects, the studies
are discussed because of the systematic and detailed identification and
description of cognitive processes they provide. In these cases, care has been

taken to clearly identify the age of the sample group or individual.

Composing Processes in the Classroom

During the last six years, Graves and his colleagues have done extensive
research in the classroom setting with young children, which, in addition to
providing insight into behaviors children engage in during the process of writing,
raises questions about specific cognitive activities in which students engage
during writing. Graves' initial study (I975) involved the use of the case study
method, analysis of broad samples of children's writing, and the naturalistic
observations of children while writing. He identified characteristic behaviors of
students as they wrote, which categorized them into two types:

I. reactive writers: these children showed erratic problem solving
strategies, the use of overt language strategies, the use of overt
language to accompany pre—writing and composing phases,
isolation that evolved in action-reaction couplets, proof reading
at the word unit level, a need for immediate rehearsal in order

to write, rare contemplation or reviewing of products,
characterizations that exhibited general behaviors similar to

 

This Graves study was the first of elementary aged children as they
actually engaged
characteristic behaviors gave subsequent researchers a provocative point of
departure from which to investigate more deeply. In fact, Graves (I979) himself
engaged in further research, looking at revision as an important aspect of
writing. He examined and documented how and in what order primary children
change their composing, spelling, and motor behavior during the writing process.

In this study of three students in a first grade classroom, several findings related

their own, a lack of a sense of audience when writing, and an
inability to use reasons beyond the affective domain in
evaluating their writing; and

reflective writers: these children exhibited little rehearsal
before writing, little overt language to accompany writing,
periodic rereadings to adjust small units of writing at the word
or phrase level, growing sense of audience connected with their
writing, characterizations that exhibit general behaviors similar
to their own in the expression of feelings, and the ability to give
examples to support their reasons for evaluating writing.

 

to revision were presented. These included the following:

children revise in other media forms such as block building,
drawing, and painting before they revise in writing. Children
who demonstrate an overall learning stance toward revision in
another area are more likely to demonstrate it in an area such as
writing;

when children try a new approach to writing, other areas in
which they might have been competent may suffer temporarily;

beginning writers do not revise;

toward the end of the primary years, many children reach a point
of equilibrium when handwriting and spelling problems are behind
them and messages flow easily onto the paper. Children do not
revise these messages;

peer audiences have an effect on children's revision and their use
of new approaches to the writing process; and

when children no longer erase but cross out, draw lines and
arrows for new information arrangements, or change their
handwriting to a scrawl, they indicate a changed view toward
words.

in writing in the classroom. Identification of these

In another research report related to revision, Calkins (I979), a colleague of
Graves', discussed findings based on her study of one advanced third grader and
the sequence of problems she faced as she changed her approach to revision. The
student found that writing consisted initially of choosing a topic and putting
down ideas. The writer's words at this time were pre-determined and final.
Calkins documents the change that occurred over a three month period as the
writer made her first revision, became less bound to one neat paper and made
several drafts, and depended less on teacher intervention for approval. For this
student the process of revision was gradually internalized.

The revisions made by the subject in the Calkins study were made initially
as a result of teacher intervention in the writing process. This leaves the
question unanswered as to when in the process children see the need to revise on
their own and what knowledge or mental activity brings this to bear. This study
of cognitive process can address this issue.

Another phase of the writing process that has been investigated is what has
been identified as the pre-writing phase. Sowers (I979) looked at the writing of a
beginning first grader over a five month period. The pre-writing phase was
marked by activities of talking and drawing. Before the subject wrote, she would
draw a scene, then talk about it. As she progressed through the writing, she
continued to compose aloud.

Sower's findings about children's behaviors during the pre—writing period
are consistent with those of other researchers (Britton, I970; Graves, I975;
Rosen, I979). Gundlach (l98l) used compositions by primary children to make
inferences about the nature of writing processes. He, too, saw a connection
between writing and speaking. He stated the following about one incident:

We have observed children occasionally producing a soundtrack

as they compose--as in the case of the second grade boy who made
the sounds of a revving engine and squealing tires as he draw a

picture of a racing car, then wrote about the new toy racing car
he had recently acquired (Gundlach 8. Moses, I976, p. I40).

Dyson and Genishi (I982) studied the writing processes of two six-year old
first graders to determine (a) the purposes for which each child used oral
language when composing and (b) how the writing was affected by social context.
The findings showed that both children used oral language chiefly to encode
words to print, to transform their messages from something spoken to something
written. The results showed further that the "muttering" of young children to
themselves and their "chattering" with each other can be valuable and, for some
children, critical factors in the process of learning to write.

Dyson (I983) used participant observation to examine the role of oral
language in early writing. In a writing corner set up in a kindergarten classroom,
children were simply asked to write according to their own definitions of writing.
The researcher observed and interacted with the children to gain insight into
their perceptions of writing and their reasoning about writing behaviors. Dyson
found that the writing center was a hub of both oral and graphic activity. The
oral language was an integral part of the early writing processes. Talk provided
both meaning and, for some children, the systematic means for getting that
meaning on paper. Any thematic content of the writing product often evolved in
the task preceding writing. Talk was also used to elaborate on the full meaning
of products to audiences. Further, oral language was a tool for seeking needed
information, assisting self in encoding and decoding, and, finally, distancing self
from work (i.e., expressing evaluation of completed work).

This study strongly suggests a relationship of oral language and written
language. It would appear that it is a means of assisting in encoding for young
writers and perhaps is useful in helping the student understand and incorporate

meaning from his/her external environment into his/her writing. Literature

which contributes to an understanding of the latter area will be presented in the
category of "Writers Interacting Within the Classroom Community."

The behavior that the writer shows from the time first words are put on
paper until all drafts are completed is referred to by Graves (I983) as composing.
He enlists data from three writers in pointing out the complexity and variance in
how writers compose. Each writer has an image of what s/he is trying to say,
and each begins by laboring to write the correct words to portray the image. Of
himself, Graves writes, "I write a line. It doesn't fit. I try another line. A dead
end. I clean my study, make phone calls, eat, return and write some more . . . . I
wonder when the great breakthrough will come." Graves contention that all
writers follow a simple pattern is not easily documented in the literature. What
is clear is that composing is a process in which several different behaviors can
occur.

Two other studies are worthy of mention here. The first, Emig's (l97l), is
important not only because it was the first to examine writing behaviors as
students engaged in writing, but because it looked at nine components of the
composing process. While this study does not deal with young children as
subjects, the components of the composing process and behaviors identified may
be useful as points of comparisons between young writers and older writers.
Emig examined the writing behavior of eight l2th grade student writers using
case study procedures. Each subject met four times with the investigator in an
experimental setting in which s/he was asked to compose aloud and/or generate a
written selection. Nine components of the composing process were identified:
(a) context, (b) nature of stimuli, (c) pre—writing and planning, (d) starting, (e)
composing aloud, (f) stopping and contemplating the product, (9) reformulation,

and (h) seeming influence on writing by teachers of composition.

Emig also identified two modes of composing that students exhibited.
These are:

I. reflexive: this writing was most often poetry, characterized as
having a long pre-writing period in which starting, stopping, and
contemplating the product occurred and reformulation occurred
frequently. The self is the chief audience in this mode; and

2. extensive: this writing was chiefly prose and characterized by
writing discourse that is often detached and reportorial.
Audience is adult others, notably teachers.

The second study, Stallard's (I974), also looked at senior high school writers
who were asked to write on a preselected assignment topic area. Student
behaviors observed included the following: (a) planning behavior, (b) revision, (c)
rate of writing, (d) audience awareness, (e) consideration of purpose, (f) stylistic
concerns, (9) attitudes toward writing, and (h) the practice of stopping to read
during the composing process. Stallard found that good writers spent more time
both contemplating and completing the writing task than did randomly selected
students. He also found that good writers made more revisions and made them
during the process of re-reading their papers.

The next category of research presents literature that looks more deeply

into the mental activities which can account for some of the student writing

behaviors identified here.

Cognitive Processes in Writing
Studies which look in greater depth at some of the processes cited above
can provide additional information from the theoretical perspective of cognitive
and developmental psychology. Flowers and Hayes (l98l) and Nold (l98l)
identified component processes of writing that, at a gross level, can be
segmented into the following categories:

I. pre-writing or planning during which the writer plans, organizes,
and discovers information;

 

2. articulating/translatigg/transcribigq when the writer puts ideas
into words; and

 

3. post-writing/reviewing/revisiLg when the writer evaluates and
modifies text.

 

These processes were more finely delineated by Hayes and Flowers (I980) through
a technique of protocol analysis, a technique typically used by cognitive
psychologists in problem solving tasks, in which novice college writers were
asked to think aloud into a tape recorder as they wrote. Through the analysis of
a number of protocols over a two year period, the authors proposed a tentative
model of the writing process. The authors divided the writer's world into three
major parts: (a) the task environment, (b) the writer's long-term memory, and (c)
the writing process. The model describes the writing process. The task
environment and the writer's long-term memory are the context in which the
model operates. A brief description of the model follows:
I. task environment: includes everything outside the writer's skin
that influences the performance of the task-~writing assignment,

intended audience, motivation, and, once writing has begun, the
text which the writer has produced;

 

2. writer's long-term memory: includes writer's world knowledge
(about people, games, story, characters, and many audiences);
also includes generalized writing plans, perhaps in the form of a
story grammar; and

 

3. the writing process: consists of three major processes: planning,
translating, and reviewing. The planning process consists of sub-
processes of generating, organizing, and goal setting. The
reviewing process consists of reading and editing.

 

The authors feel that "although the model is provisional, it provides a first
approximate description of normal composition that can guide research and
afford a valuable starting point in the search for more refined models" (p. l0).
Nold (I98I) advanced a model of the writing process which is similar to that
of Hayes and Flowers. Her model of plan/transcribe/review describes these

component processes of writing as recursive and occurring in irregular patterns.

She asserts, for example, that planning occurs regularly in the middle of draft
writing, not only before transcribing, and rewriting actually occurs throughout
the writing of the draft. Nold identified the products of the planning sub-process
as a representation of (a) the writer's intended meaning, (b) the writer's intended
audience, and (c) the persona the writer wishes to project through his/her
writing. She identified two kinds of constraints that influence the transcribing
process:

I. glgbal plans that reflect a writer's conception of meaning,
audience, and persona; and

 

2. local plans that reflect the writer's knowledge about language
such as syntax, vocabulary, and orthography.

The reviewing sub-process is bounded by the planning sub-process that has
preceded it. Consequently, young writers who do not make elaborate plans about
meaning, audience, and persona can be expected to review their texts only
against the conventions of written English they hold in memory. Nold cautions
against the assumption that review and revision are one-time processes that
occur at the end of a writing session. Rather, revising and rewriting occur
throughout the writing of a draft.

The development of a model of writing which has much in common with
models of speech production was advanced by Bereiter (I979). It includes:

I. high level executive schema which directs the whole operation
(of writing?

 

2. genre schemas which consist of knowledge available for directing
certain kinds of writing;

 

3. content processor which draws semantic material from memory
and organizes it according to instruction from genre schema. Its
output is called a gist; and

 

4. language processor which receives the gist and puts it into
explicit language.

 

With this model in mind, Bereiter feels that one interpretation of writing
development is that it consists of the gradual elaboration and refinement of
relevant schemes at different processing levels.

The above models of the writing process are based on data obtained from
adult skilled writers. However, the models can provide a body of information
against which to examine and understand data obtained in this study and to see
which part(s) of a model fit child writers.

Scardamalia, Bereiter, and Goelman (l98l) have examined and advanced
their views about ways in which the conditions of text production may influence
cognitive processes in composition. Two of the conditions are particularly
relevant here because of the focus of this study on both the internal (cognitive)
and the external (environmental) processes of writing. The first condition was
based on the hypothesis that interference from the mechanical requirements of
the written language interferes with high level concerns of composition. This
belief is firmly embedded in conventional wisdom. In an experimental procedure
with fourth and sixth graders, the researchers were able to separate results of
the effects of mechanical (spelling, punctuation) interference from effects of
rate. This was done by introducing a third production mode in addition to writing

and normal dictation. This third mode, slow dictation, was dictated by the child

 

to an experimenter who transcribed according to each child's previously-
determined writing rate. Thus it was possible to isolate the effects of
mechanical interference by comparing writing with slow dictation, since they
were equivalent in speed.

The results indicated that the low level requirements of writing do make a
difference to children. If these are removed, children produce more and do it a
great deal faster. With respect to quality, however, the differences were small

(significant at the .06 level) and indicated that they had only a weak effect, if

any, on higher level components of the writing process. In fact, after getting
students to increase their quantity by production signaling, the researchers found
that writing was the superior medium for producing coherent and well-expressed
composition.

The second condition was based on the hypothesis that there is
discoordination in processing resulting from lack of external signals. This
presupposes a model of the composing process consisting of sub-processes
governed by an executive system which orchestrates or regulates the sub-
processes of writing. Scardamalia et al. state that "it is probably this factor
more than any other that limits the novice's ability to profit from being taught
the strategies of the expert." The novice is so involved in mastering the sub-
processes that s/he has little spare capacity for implementing more sophisticated
executive procedures.

The theory behind this second investigation stems from a theory of speech
production. The executive system controls speech production, and this same
executive system is adapted to writing. The authors contend that because the
system is initially oriented to speech production and thus designed to respond to
signals from the external environment, without such input the system has trouble
functioning.

Thus, in their experiment, the authors provided an external cue (normally
missing in writing) to increase quantity of text produced by fourth and sixth
grade subjects. The results showed that (0) children added more material by
elaborating on points they had made previously and (b) this intervention led
children to extend a coherent string of text units. How children learn to sustain
language production without external signals is a question raised by this study.
Scardamalia et al. give a more refined view of the writing process in looking at

component processes and two of the production factors that impinge upon them.

Matsuhashi (I982) gave yet another close view of the writing process as she
looked at the writing process "in motion; the writer engaged." She held that the
temporal aspect of writing can give clues to the writing process; specifically, the
BLUE between words. Her purpose was to locate some patterns in observational
pause data that could suggest how planning requirements for generalizing and
reporting (writing) differ. Although her subjects were adult writers, Matsuhashi's
method of analysis and her findings could have implications for this study. She
found that:

l. whatever range of plans--whether local or global--the writer was

operating under, schematic representation of knowledge and

experience inform text production at all times; and

2. when subjects paused to re—read, they were planning for new
content that would move the discourse forward.

Matsuhashi further made two broad claims about planning:

I. planning does not correspond to grammatical units; rather it
corresponds to psychological processing and is based on
underlying conceptual content; and

2. long pauses accompanied by gazing or re-reading activity and by
removing the pen from the page corresponded to multiple
decisions, generally ones which encompass global issues as well
as local ones.

It is apparent that there are many constraints and cognitive demands
placed on the writer as s/he plans, transcribes, and reviews his/her writing
(Bereiter, I980). Scardamalia (I982) looked at one aspect of how children cope
with the cognitive demands of writing specifically in their ability to coordinate
an increasing number of ideas in writing. Children of different ages (IO-I4) were
asked to (a) write about the information contained in a four-celled matrix and (b)
defend a thesis. In the first task children were taught how to read matrices and
instructed to write a paragraph or sentence containing all the information in the

matrix. The results of student writing were classified into four levels of

integration from low to high. In the second task students were asked to express

20

a position on an issue. Scardamalia found that students had great difficulty in
putting thought together in writing. In fact, she found that writing presented
obstacles to complex idea coordination. In further discussing the findings, she
stated
There is a paradox underlying children's difficulties with idea
integration in writing. Young children who are particularly
constrained by limited resources do less planning, less notetaking,

less revising, and less reading than adults. Thus, the very activities

adults use to break up this complex activity into manageable sub-

routines are what children fail to take advantage of. (p. l00)
While Scardamalia explained the "demandingness" of writing and held that there
were no easy solutions, she offered, "The challenge to researchers and educators
is to understand the various cognitive processes that accompany writing, their
demand characteristics and how the multiple processes involved in writing get
coordinated" (p. l0l).

Thus far, processes at the gross levels of planning, transcribing, and
reviewing have been identified. Researchers have offered evidence and
conceptual discussion about cognitive activities that occur when the planning,
transcribing, and reviewing, are being actualized. Although many of the studies
discussed conceptions of how adult writers use cognitive activities as they write,
they are important here because they (a) increase the state of knowledge about
these processes and (b) underscore the need for this study in helping to describe
these processes in children. Research which looks at the environment in which

these processes occur can give added information and insight into writing in the

classroom.

Writers Interacting Within the Classroom Community
The third category of research that has implications for this study is the
research reflecting the perspectives of the sociolinguists and anthropologists.

Researchers in this group provide a richer understanding of life in classrooms,

2l

revealing the diversity of students and the complexity of communicating in
context. These descriptions serve as a source of new ideas for investigating the
processes of teaching and learning. The fact that writing is a process of
communications and that it is learned/developed in a context dominated by oral
interactions make it important for this study to examine findings from these
perspectives.

Cook-Gumperz and Gumperz (l98l) point out the primacy of oral language
in the child's culture in the early years and that the attribution of meaning, both
cognitive and social must be mediated through the oral medium during this time.
When children enter school, however, adults study and evaluate their
performance and competence from a written literacy perspective. Students
must not only learn to write but learn to read and get meaning from the written
word. They must learn to move from the contextually-oriented oral tradition of
the home to the decontextualized, literate tradition of the school (Cook-
Gumperz 8. Gumperz, l98l; Olson 8. Torrence, l98l).

There is a differential distribution of ability to move from the oral to the
literate tradition which may have an effect on acquisition of written competence
in students. Scollon and Scollon (I978), in studying their daughter Rachel's
socialization into literacy, found that before she reached the age of three, she
had adopted many of the important literacy skills necessary to success in school
that her parents possessed. Examples of socialization in the child's life before
school were continuous with the school preparation of literacy in many segments
of Western society. Scollon and Scollon express the view that children from
orientations other than those of the majority culture might find it difficult to
develop the literate orientation in spite of heavy teaching of grammar, spelling,

and oral display of reading.

22

Collins and Michaels (I980) in studying oral narratives of first and fourth
grade students were able to discover distinct differences in discourse strategies
among the students. The oral narratives of some of the children showed
consistent use of lexical and syntactic devices which resembled the discourse
style of middle class, literate adults. Other children relied more on prosodic
cues which reflected an oral discourse style. Further, in the written version of
two fourth grade narratives, the same stylistic dichotomy was evident.

Because children first learn to communicate through oral language, it
might be expected that students' background plays an important part in literacy
learning and in the processes involved in that learning. The interaction between
teacher and student and the context in which children are exposed to literacy
instruction has an effect in determining student competency in both receiving
and producing language and can influence cognitive processes involved in both
modes. DeStefano, Pepinsky, and Sanders (I982) described rules of discourse
operating within the framework of literacy instruction (in a desegregated
classroom) of first graders. The researchers examined (a) teacher-initiated talk
and their replies to talk initiated by others, concentrating on academic rather
than social interaction; (b) cohesion in text to determine whether student talk
tended to become more related to teacher talk; and (c) grammatical structuring
of student talk to determine structural changes in patterns of talk over time.

The results of the various analyses showed that there were relatively few
open bids on the teacher's part for initiating talk in the classroom. Most student
discourse consisted of student responses to nominations by their teacher to have
them talk. Spontaneous bids on the students' part tended to be relatively
infrequent as the teacher, for the most part, demanded, commanded, questioned,
and exhorted, eliciting largely single words in response from students. There

appeared to be no mutually devised "social construction of reality"--no

23

reciprocity between teacher and students. The teacher clearly controlled the
discourse. The study points out the teacher's influence in shaping and structuring
the processes of literacy learning.

Mosenthal and Jin Na (I98l), in investigating the way students compose
text, found that differences are related to the type of speech register or verbal
response pattern students most often adopted in verbally interacting with a
teacher. The subjects were first classified into those who employed either a
non-contingent, imitative, or contingent response register. Students were then
asked to compose a description of a picture stimulus. Noncontingent students
tended to write more interpretive essays and use more interpretive propositions
in devising their compositions than did the other two register groups.

The authors felt that one interpretation of these findings is that in addition
to the writer attending to the form and meaning of external and internal events,
the writer attends to a third type of meaning which is social or situated meaning
(Cook-Gumperz, I977). The manner in which writers integrate external form and
meaning with schemata is determined, in part, by the way the writers understand
the social context in which they are writing (Doyle, I979; Winograd, I977; Freedle
8. Duran, I979).

Erickson (I982) views talk in lessons and interactions between teacher and
student "as the collective improvisation of meaning and social organization from
moment to moment." He views school lessons in terms of an academic task
structure and a social participation structure and sees both aspects of
organization as mutually constitutive. Successful participation in a lesson
requires the student to have knowledge of both subject matter organization and
its logical organization as well as knowledge of discourse and its social

organization.

24

In examining a number of instances of the performance of a small lesson
sequence, Erickson discovers an underlying ideal model of a lesson. He finds,
however, in looking at an instance of the lesson sequence, that some features of
specific organization deviate from the general inferred model. These
discrepancies represent "adoptive" action taken by teacher and student (in one
instance) and have consequences for both the academic task structure and the
social participation structure. As students gain meaning for writing, these two
structures interact. The nature of the interaction can influence processes in
writing.

The inseparability of the academic-cognitive and social-interpersonal
dimensions of classroom life are underscored in a study by Florio and Clark
(I982) in which they examine children's use of writing in the classroom. The
study was conducted over a two year period in a second/third grade classroom.
In this open-space type classroom, students were encouraged to make choices
about timing and format of their academic and social activities. They also
worked in a variety of interactional arrangements, including small groups,
teacher-led groups, mixed-age tutorials, and learning centers. The organization
of the classroom in this way encouraged and legitimized writing. Through such
an organization, teacher and children interacted and negotiation of choice in
learning was possible. Further, the organization helped to "ensure that more
than formal, teacher-generated, written monologues were undertaken."

Florio and Clark identified the following four functions of writing:

I. writing to participate in community,

2. writing to know oneself and others,

3. writing to occupy free time, and

l;

. writing to demonstrate academic competence.

25

These functions reflect both the oral tradition and literate tradition and allow
for practice of discourse functions which differ from those normally associated

with school writing.

Summary

The purpose of this study is to describe and explain the task environmental
influence of three competent third grade writers and to describe and explain the
underlying cognitive processes involved in writing. The literature review has
presented the research in three categories that are relevant to this study in an
attempt to provide insight into the state of the knowledge in the area of writing
process research.

The literature in the first category provides a good background of the
composing processes but, at the same time, offers support for the need for this
study. While the literature makes clear that children can make revisions in their
writing when teachers intervene, for example, it raises the question of the
presence of revision in writers without teacher intervention. It also leaves the
question of the nature of this revision unanswered. The importance of oral
language and writing is identified in studies of beginning writers. However, the
relationship of orality and writing in older children needs further explication.
Pre-writing as a component process of writing is established and explained in
younger writers, but what and how older elementary writers plan and rehearse
for writing needs further clarification. Finally, certain patterns of behavior in
composing are advanced, but there is clearly a need to look more deeply into the
mental activities involved in composing, especially in light of information
provided by more detailed studies of older writers.

The second category of research, that related to cognitive processes of

writers, provides models of the writing process which identify three sub-

26

processes (planning, transcribing, and reviewing). The literature further
addresses the influences on cognitive processes that the conditions of text
production may have. Researchers also examine pause data and the implication
of pauses between words for the planning and transcribing sub-processes. The
thrust of the literature presented points out the number of demands placed on
writers, particularly young writers, and the importance of attempting to
understand how processes involved in writing get coordinated by these young
writers. This study of competent writers will further examine these processes.

The third category of research relates the importance of oral language as
the basis of written language for young writers. The literature also suggests oral
language is important because it is the medium through which communication
between students and teachers and between students and students occurs and
that this communicative interaction has implications for what writers understand
as meaning and how these writers use this meaning as they engage in the writing
process.

Studies presented in this category point out the fact that learning occurs
within a task environment that includes academic-cognitive and social-
interpersonal structures. This fact makes a strong case for the study of writing

processes within a framework that takes these two structures into account.

CHAPTER III

THE DESIGN OF THE STUDY, PROCEDURES,
AND METHOD OF ANALYSIS

The major questions of this study related to the issues of task environment
for writing and the cognitive processes in which competent students engage as
they write within the task environment. Specifically, the major questions are:

I. In what ways does the task environment constrain (influence) the

writing process of three competent third grade writers?
-How does each student's socio-cultural background
affect the process of writing?

«How does the teacher's instruction affect the process?

—-What influences do students' interactions with each
other have on these students as they write?

-What is the relationship between the children's oral
language and what they do during the writing process?

2. What cognitive processes do these three competent third grade
writers use in generating written text?

--Do students evidence planning or pre-writing
activities?

 

-What does the transcribin process (the written
representation of ideas) look like?

--Do students evidence the revision process? What is the
nature of this process?

--How do these processes interact?

Research Method
The investigation of cognitive processes of competent third grade writers
was conducted using ethnographic methodology with the teacher as principal

investigator. Ethnography was found to be most suitable because it (0) supports

27

28

the notion of researcher as participant, (b) is discovery-oriented, and (c) is
concerned with the particulars of context and social interactions. In this study
all of these factors are vital.

The first factor, support for researcher as participant was important
because this researcher served a dual role--that of researcher gm teacher in the
classroom. Therefore, she was a participant in the fullest sense of the word. It
was important that the teacher role not be viewed as intrusive to the research
process, but as a useful and even necessary part of the inquiry. As teacher,
certain background knowledge, experiences, and predispositions were present and
bound to be continually farming as the study proceeded. Ethnography supports
the subjective judgments of the researcher in a way that allows her to combine
her responses with a systematic scrutiny of participants' behavior. Wax (l97l)
maintains that the successful ethnographer develops the ability to maintain a
dual identity, insider and outsider, and to present authentically the experiences
of people being studied. This methodology, more than any other, lends itself to
teacher as investigator and holds that there can be advantages to the dual role.

This study is concerned with process. Because processes are dynamic,
continually developing, and occur in real time, it was important to use a method
that could be sensitive to the sometimes subtle changes in behavior that signal
the occurrences of cognitive processes in writing. Implicit in most ethnographic
inquiry is a discovery process in which a variety of questions are addressed,
possible answers proposed, and alternative explanations suggested as the study
proceeds. Because of the probing, discovery-oriented process, ethnography
provides the most appropriate method of inquiry of a study of the cognitive
processes in writing.

The fact that this investigation is concerned with the task environment in

which writing occurs underscores the importance of the third characteristic of

29

the ethnographic method cited above. Contextual elements in ethnographic
inquiry are deeply rooted and reflective of the research model developed by an
anthropologists and fieldwork sociologists. Human behavior and values as
manifested in group interaction are viewed as significant in both disciplines. It
is the view advanced in this investigation that a study of processes in which the
physical, natural, and socio-cultural environments are also studied is crucial to
understanding and explaining these writing processes. Ethnography is highly

compatible with this aspect of the study.

Procedures

This teacher-investigator was concerned with capturing the context in
which target students wrote and the cognitive processes they used within this
context. It was important then to focus on both the student and the wider social
context of the environment. As teacher, it was impossible to conduct systematic
observations and to effectively carry on normal teaching duties. For this reason,
observation of the classroom procedures and individual students were made by a
research assistant who was also the afternoon teacher of the students, the person
with whom the teacher-investigator shared teaching responsibilities. Prior to
data collection, the research assistant was trained in data collection techniques.
VTraining was conducted during two Saturday afternoon sessions and two after
school sessions in which literature on ethnographic techniques was read and
discussed. In addition, fieldnotes taken by the investigator and other
ethnographic researchers during other research studies were examined by the
research assistant. The investigator pointed out salient features of note taking
and observation during this time. Two practice sessions were conducted in the

classroom to further train the research assistant and to de-sensitize all the

30

students to her presence in the room as participant observer rather than as
teacher.

During note-taking and observations, the research assistant moved to
several different locations in the room. When making observations of the whole
class, she distanced herself from the group and sat or stood in the back of the
room. At other times, the research assistant was interested in observing two or
three writers at once. During these observations, she positioned herself in the
aisle between the writers. Finally, when observing one writer only, the observer
sat to the writer's side and slightly behind him/her. The writers seemed
comfortable with this arrangement; and from this vantage point, the research
assistant was able to observe in detail when necessary and also interact and
informally question students about their writing behaviors as the writing
progressed.

The teacher-investigator made every attempt to teach writing as she had
before the study began, as she made a conscious effort to maintain consistency
in teaching style and delivery. Procedurally, writing was conducted in the same
way, also, with a pre-writing experience designed to provide background and
information about writing before the students began to write, followed by
independent writing with the teacher's providing help as needed. This help was
with idea development, language usage, word choice, and other writing skills.
The only conscious change was that writing was scheduled at least three times a
week rather than the usual two times.

Students were informed that a study was being conducted, the purpose of
which was to learn more about students' writing. Because the study was not an
experiment in which one group's performance was measured against or compared
to another's, the effect of subject contamination or the Hawthorne effect was

not an issue. Rather, the fact that all writers were observed during the study

3|

would make the possibility of effects of increased writing performance, if any,
likely to occur across all writers. Further, the most important factor in
maintaining the validity of the study in regard to subjects is the intensity of the
observations. As the amount of direct observation increased, the students
become increasingly desensitized to the fact that they were being observed.
Therefore, the likelihood of the subjects "faking" or "putting on an act" was
decreased.

The observations were conducted first with a broad focus to capture the
physical and social .context in which learners Operate. The focus was then
narrowed to target students as they engaged in writing. What was ultimately
required were changes and shifts in focus as individuals were intently involved in
writing, in social interactions, and in the overall learning environment. These
observational focus decisions were guided by the teacher-investigator when
feasible.

The data were collected during the months including the end of January

through April, I983, and consisted of the following:

I. observation and field notes of classroom writing activities and
target individuals, gathered two mornings a week;

 

2. student journals written in three or four mornings a week, which
provided a data source of unassigned, uncorrected writing,
representative of students' feelings, concerns, and daily
experiences;

 

3. student writing samples including letters, creative writing,
expository writing, and informal notes generated by teacher
request and by the students themselves, both in school and at
home;

 

4. student interviews of target students (one formal and several
informal) by which to capture the students' thoughts and feelings
about writing. These were both formal and informal; and

 

5. teacher journal kept two or three days a week and including
plans for and reflections on the teaching of writing, observations
of the students' reactions to their writing, and theoretical notes
as insights occurred.

 

32

Field notes provided the most extensive source of data and were reviewed daily
with the research assistant. The student journals provided data about how
students write when given a free rein. Student interviews were useful as
students reflected on their writing and shared their perceptions of themselves as
writers. The interviews also served as triangulationI with the fieldnotes,
teacher journals, and writing samples. The teacher journal provided an
important link between the field notes taken by the research assistant and the
teacher's perceptions of what was occurring. Three videotape recordings were
made and were to be a part of the data source. However, due to the quality of
the tapes, analysis was difficult and the tapes did not contribute enough

significant additional information to warrant their use.

Setting

Riverton School2 was the site of the study. This school is the oldest school

 

in Riverton, a mid-Michigan community which is the home of a large university.
There are two stories to the school, with primary classrooms housed on the first
floor and intermediate classrooms (grades 3-5) housed on the second floor. The
rooms are large and airy, and most rooms have a small room adjoining the large
room which provides additional work space.

The student population of Riverton School is 2l0. The population is
predominantly white, with black, Hispanic, and Asian students comprising
approximately l8% of the student enrollment. The attendance area includes
three distinct neighborhoods. One-third of the students come from an area of

middle income residences that surround the school. Many of the parents of these

 

lThe process of comparing different types of data with one another to test
working hypotheses.

2Pseudonyms are used for the school, town, and students.

33

students are employed by the nearby University. Another one-third come from
the student population that is bussed from a middle income area of single family
homes. The final one-third reside in a low-middle income housing development
of town houses; they are also bussed to the school. The racial composition from
the latter areas reflects the racial composition of the general school population.

The classroom was a third/fourth grade combination with 24 students: two

 

Asians, four blocks, and l8 Caucasian students. The students represented a range
of academic achievement from slightly below grade level equivalent in
reading/language arts and mathematics to well above grade level in these areas,
as measured by standardized achievement tests. In the teacher's judgment,
about three-fourths of the class was highly motivated in all academic areas. The
other one-fourth often had to be motivated by external means, such as small
rewards. The three target students were highly motivated.

The room was arranged so that students were seated in rows facing the
chalkboard as noted in Figure l. Earlier in the year the desks had been arranged
in clusters of four and a horseshoe arrangement. While this facilitated group
interaction, the students' attentiveness and completion of assignments declined.
A discussion between the teacher-investigator and her teaching partner resulted
in the decision to use the arrangement described in the study which helped
increase attentiveness and still allowed for student interaction in other areas.
The room was bright and airy, with tall windows on one wall of the room. There
was student work displayed on the bulletin board, along the walls under the
chalkboard, and in the small adjoining room. The carpeted area in the back of
the room was used for class discussion and small informal group meetings. The
table in the back was used for individual and group meetings of a more formal

nature.

34

       
                     

 

 

 

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Physical layout of the classroom.

Figure l.

35

In the small room, students worked in pairs or in groups on a variety of
activities such as practicing a play or writing a group report. This room had the
advantage of allowing students to talk more freely without disturbing others.
The following example highlights this point.

Mindy, Kathy, Kate, Yvette, Shelly are all working in small room.
Teacher working in other room helping students individually.

Mary and Kathy working together on George Washington Carver
report. Exchanging ideas. There is disharmony; arguing over who

would write and who would look the information up in the book.
(Fieldnotes, 2/l7/83)

The general atmosphere in the room was of "relaxed control." The teacher
controlled the ebb and flow of classroom activity, giving students explicit cues
as to what behavior was expected and when. During the beginning of one writing
period, for example, after passing out papers the teacher told the students, "You
have l0 minutes until recess-either use that time to write or think of an idea for
writing." A few minutes later, she said, "The people in the front of the room are
off to a good start." And later in the same IO-minute period, "Many of you
should be working a lot quieter" (Fieldnotes, l/27/83).

With the exception of discussion times, students were generally able to
move freely around the room. In addition they could go to the library to read,
write, or complete assignments. The student did not have to ask permission, but
would take a pass and place it on his/her desk so the teacher would know where
the student was. During independent writing time, students were allowed to talk
quietly and move around if they were not disturbing others. In fact, peer
discussion about their writing was encouraged. For example, students were told
that they could read portions of their text to each other and ask others for help
with ideas.

During class discussion periods the teacher stood at the front of the room

to conduct the lesson. Students sat at their seats and were usually quiet,

36

directing verbalizations to the class as a whole. Roles and behaviors were well
understood and firmly established by this time of year. Further and specific
elaboration on the environment as it relates to the writing processes will be
discussed in Chapter IV, Findings.

The elementary school curriculum was prescribed by the district and set

 

forth guidelines in the form of objectives in the subject areas of science, social
studies, reading, and math for grades one thorugh five. The writing curriculum
was prescribed in the Common Writings Program. This program specified a group
of writing objectives for each of the grades; two of the objectives were minimum
objectives specified for mastery. The objectives for the first, second and third
grade students are appended (Appendix A).

These objectives were guidelines, but teachers typically went beyond them
in teaching writing. What occurred was that each teacher taught writing in the
way that she saw appropriate, as long as the objectives were achieved. Each
student was to have two samples of his/her writing in a Common Writings Folder
to be passed on as part of the student's permanent record. This was the only link
with the previous year's writing instruction other than informal conversations
with teachers.

Writing in this third/fourth grade classroom was usually done twice a week,
but varied depending on emphases on other areas of the curriculum. Sometimes
it was done more frequently, sometimes less frequently. The teacher had noted
in her plan book the types of writing activities that she would have students
engage in. These were autobiography and biography, journal writing, creative
writing--poetry and stories, report writing, and classroom newspaper
publications. The teacher embedded the teaching of skills in the specific genre
in which the students were writing. Typically, instruction centered around either
structure, content, or purpose. For example, when concentrating on content,

emphasis

37

would be on what ideas were to be expressed in the given genre and how they
were related. While all three emphases were important in writing instruction,
one element was usually made the object of primary focus.

Students wrote drafts of writing when it was going to be published (in book
form or newspaper format for others to read). When writing in journals and for
other assignments (i.e., some stories or essays not to be published), they were not
9MB required to write a first and then final draft. The techer made her
decision based on her perception of the benefit to the students. In fact,
sometimes the student's expectation that s/he would have to write a paper over,
limited the amount s/he would write and negatively affected his/her willingness
to write.

Oral language development was encouraged through announcements at the
beginning of each morning during which students would bring to the class'
attention items of interest (an incident, possession, poem). Class elections were
held three times a year, and during this time campaign speeches were written
and delivered by supporters of candidates and the candidates themselves. A
microphone was avilable and was used during speech time.

The teacher had taught for Ill years, maintaining a one-half time teaching

 

position for the last four years. During these last four years, she has been in the
unique position of being able to (a) engage in writing instruction in her
classroom, (b) work on a research project focusing on language arts--particularly
writing, and (c) study the literature on writing pursuant to her academic studies.
The teacher brings to this study teaching that reflects the practical knowledge
that comes from many years of teaching and the theoretical knowledge gained
from several years of research and study. As a result, teaching decisions,
strategies, and procedures in the study reflect the blending of knowledge gained

in these three areas.

38

The three target students selected for primary focus exhibited a high level

 

of competence in writing as determined by the following criteria:

I. a modified, focused, holistic evaluation (Greenhalgh & Townsend,
l98l) of current writing samples. Included in the evaluation
criteria were attention to purpose and audience, ability to
organize ideas, use of varied and rich vocabulary, and overall
ideational content and development;

2. teacher evaluation of in-class performance during writing
assignments. This included appropriate contributions to oral
discussion and questions related to writing tasks and task
completion; and

3. evaluation of samples from previous years' writing folder.

The focused, holistic evaluation was chosen because it could effectively
evaluate writing based on specific criteria set in a classroom and not by some
general criteria established elsewhere. The teacher-investigator and research
assistant (afternoon teacher) made the evaluations.

Each student had a Common Writings folder, required by the school system,
that followed her/him through her/his school career. Several writing samples
were specified to be included in the folder. Evaluation of these samples, using
the criteria of ability of organize ideas and overall ideational content, was made.
This, again, was done by the teacher investigator and research assistant.

After evaluation of the students' writing samples and in-class performance,
three students were chosen to be the target students: Mindy, Kathy, and Anne.
The fact that they were all female was based solely on the fact that these three
best fit the selection criteria. It is acknowledged that male students exhibit
differences in writing behavior from females (Graves, I975), and an examination
of male students could have proved fruitful. However, it was decided that

including male students who did not meet the criteria would compromise the

purpose of the study.

39

In addition to their writing competence, each of the target students had
qualities, noted below, which helped with the analysis and understanding of their
behavior as it related to the task environment and cognitive processes in writing.

Profiles of each target student follow.

Mindy

Mindy lived in the area of Riverton which had rental townhouses.
She was an only child, living with her mother who was a college
graduate and worked as a secretary at the nearby university. This is
what Mindy's mother said about Mindy's early years:

Well, when she was a little baby, about six or seven
months, I gave her books, and I let her tear them up just
so that she would be exposed to handling them. They
were old books. I just let her play around with them and
tear them up . . . . Then afterwards I started reading and
since the father was not in the home, even at that young
age I talked to her a lot and she was the only one with me

. . . . We were on welfare at the time. (Interview with
mother, 4/ 9/ 83)

Mindy was bubbly, enthusiastic and eager to perform well,
always oriented toward completing a task well. She was a capable
student, an avid reader who scored above average on standardized
tests. She was an extremely informative subject because of her
ability to be in tune with her feelings and express her thoughts and
intentions.

Mindy was well liked by her fellow students. She was elected
president during one of the three class election cycles. She was able
to lead and be a leader without alienating others.

Kathy

Kathy lived in the iddle class neighborhood of older homes
surrounding the school. The students in this area all walk to school
and knew each other both in and out of school. Her father was a
fiscal analyst and her mother was a college graduate not employed
outside the home. Kathy's mother was active in school activities
such as the PTA and school carnival. Academic achievement was
important to Kathy, much of which seemed to be self-imposed. While
her mother seemed to want her to do well, she seemed to prefer that
she make an overall good adjustment in school. Learning come easy
for Kathy, and she scored extremely well on standardized tests.

Kathy had a traditional, middle class family background with a
strong family orientation. Her cultural sketch stated:

40

My family celebrates all of our holidays at home, but
later on in the day we visit one of our grandparents'
homes. On Easter we go to my grandparents' house that
we live closer to so that we can also go to our church. We
go to church every Sunday, and we are Catholic. I like
Christmas because we get presents to help entertain us,
and also because Jesus was born on Christmas.

Our family spends a lot of time together, and I am
proud that our family is happy most of the time. (Writing
sample, cultural sketch, 2/3/83).

Personally, Kathy was friendly but somewhat reserved. She was
not likely to be Spontaneous in her relationships with others, although
she would speak up once she had established a level of trust. She was
an honest, dependable subject-—consistent in her responses, if not
prolific in words. In a group, she was a strong contributing member
but seldom the leader.

Aux

Anne lived in a an area of middle income housing in Riverton in
which students were bussed to school. Her mother was a nurse and
her father a CPA. Her parents were born in China, and Anne and her
sister were born in a town near Riverton.

Her family appeared to have a strong bond, and she seemed
especially fond of her small sister who was in kindergarten. The
family made a conscious effort to maintain their Chinese-American
heritage. Anne wrote:

Since I am Chinese, l have to eat Chinese food and
soon it gets boring. So on special days we have American
food instead . . . . My mother and father just love Chinese
food. They don't let us have American food very often.

Anne was somewhat of a "loner" and did not make friends easily.
She seemed to want to be friends with the other students, but said
that they rejected her. In one of her writing samples, she closed by
saying,

Sometimes people put me down on purpose by calling

me "Chinese eyes" or "Wang Tang eyes." (Cultural sketch,
2/ 3/83)

Anne was a very bright student who scored well on standardized
tests. As a subject, she was not given to detailed verbalizations and
was somewhat constrained in her descriptions. She was an extremely
warm and affectionate student, however, giving hugs to the teacher
and stating "I love you."

4|

Data Analysis
Because data were collected in a way that attempted to capture the
naturally occurring classroom events, the field notes and writing samples
contained facts of classroom life that might not directly pertain to the major
questions advanced in the study. While all the data were useful in formulating
general impressions of classroom life and writing in the classroom, there also

needed to be units of the data which could be closely analyzed in order to answer

 

the questions entailed in the study. These units of data were an outgrowth of
two major social participation structures3 in the classroom that related to
writing. The first was the whole group social participation structure. Within
this structure, certain writing-related events continuously appeared in which the
teacher discussed writing with the class in general. The unit of analysis had the
following features:

I. a writing content focus initiated by the teacher and addressed to
the entire class,

2. student-teacher verbal exchange centered around this writing
content, and

3. a connected sequence of time bounded by teacher beginning
statements and ending statements about writing time.

These units were designated group literacy episodes. Group literacy episode is

 

used here rather than group writing episode because both oral and written
language behaviors are observed and analyzed. These units of analysis yielded
information about the general task environment for writing-~the teacher‘s
instruction, the purpose for writing, and the situation and context in which
students wrote. There were six group literacy episodes that centered around the

following topics: (a) trip narrative, (b) cultural sketches (autobiographical), (c)

 

3The teacher made arrangements for the presentation of content which

determined how the students may acceptably interact during the lesson (Phillips,
I972; Mehan, I979).

42

story writing for publication, (d) newspaper publication. Two of the episodes
covered the some topics.

The second type of social participation structure was characterized by the
students' individually and independently engaging in writing activities (thinking,
transcribingupencil to paper, conversing about ideas) that were initiated during
the group literacy episodes. The teacher was not directly involved with all the
students at any one time, but available to them on an individual basis as needed.
What emerged from this social participation structure was a second unit of
analysis having the following features:

I. a period of writing time that extended over at least two separate
class periods and usually more,

2. focus on the target students' engagement in writing (paper-to-
pencil as well as pauses in writing), from the initiation of an idea
for writing to production of a finished writing piece, and
3. social interaction from a given target student's perspective.
These units collectively yielded information about the target students and their
cognitive processes as well as the task environment in which they wrote. They

provided information from the inception of an idea to the completion of the

written product. These events were termed individual literacy episodes.

 

Each individual target student began the writing process in the whole group
literacy episode, often getting their ideas during this time. Therefore, the
individual literacy episode was often a direct extension of the whole group
episode. The separation of the two types of episodes was for analytic purposes

only. These types of episodes are discussed in detail below.

Analysis of Group Literacy Episodes

Three specific categories were used in the analysis of the group literacy

 

episodes. These categories were (0) academic tasks, (b) teacher verbal

behaviors, and (c) student verbal behaviors.

43

Academic tasks were those specified by the teacher and set the direction

 

for the lesson. In one episode, for example, the teacher's journal entry specifies
the following, "I want to help the students organize their ideas into sequential
units and to identify how to develop main ideas and supportive details in
paragraphs. By using the trip sequence, they should be able to accomplish this"
(Journal entry, I/2h/83). Here we can see that the teacher had a definite planned
task for students to accomplish. Doyle (I982) supported the importance of
identification of task, asserting that "students' academic work in school is
defined by academic tasks that are embedded in the context that they encounter
on a daily basis." Tasks regulate the selection of information and the choice of
strategies for processing information. Clearly the identification of academic
tasks is requisite to an understanding of how students gather and process
information.

Teacher behavior is the category in which an examination of verbal

 

interaction reveals steps and strategies that teachers and students use in
completion of the literacy episode. This was done through connected sequences
of verbal interaction. These verbal interactions were coded in such a way that
identified teacher-initiated questions and statements and the resultant student
responses and comments. Figure 2 details an example of a coded episode using
this category. Once the episodes were coded, certain patterns become apparent.
These patterns become important in determining how the lesson was shaped, who
determined changes in the direction of the lesson, and generally how learnigg

occurred. From these data, a narrative description of the lesson was written.

41+

Included in the episode was the what of instruction--a second step in the
analysis in this category. Each teacher statement about content was identified,
read, and re-read before elements of content emerged. These categories were:

I. idea production which involved simulation of background
experiences and world knowledge,

 

2. overall text structure which involved the organization and
grouping of ideas to form a meaningful and coherent text,

 

3. paragraph structure involving the identification and
development of a single idea through use of related details, and

 

ll. orthographics which involves concerns about spelling,
punctuation, and capitalization.

 

These writing content elements provided detailed information about the type of

content emphasized as the teacher worked to meet the task objectives.

Key to CodingDesiggtions

T: Teacher S: Student

Tex: Teacher explanation 5,: Student response

TqU: Teacher question Squ: Student question

Tr: Teacher response SC: Student comment

TB: Teacher request for SB: Student behavior*
behavior

A sequence was comprised of (a) a comment initiated about a topic and (b)
resultant responses related to that topic.

A change of topic signalled a new sequence.

Interrupted sequence occurred when unrelated or inappropriate questions
occurred or disturbing behavior occurred (that was noted by teacher).

shows connected sequence

 

----------- shows interruption of sequence

* indicates inappropriate behavior

[TBI

Tex

.TqU

 

 

 

45

Group Literacy Episode #I

 

All right, you should be sitting like K, K, and A. Boys and girls--
I'm waiting for J. The spelling test will be after our writing exercise
so put away your spelling lists.

Yesterday, we took a trip to the MSU Museum. Who can tell me what
we said about writing that was related to our trip?

You need to think about the things that happened and get the main
idea and details and the order that things happened. We write what
happened first, second, and like that.

Yes. We start with one main idea from the trip . . . the thing that
happened first, then fill in the details. Who has an idea about a way
to begin?

(looking at the outline on the board) Do we write it like that?

No. I'll explain that in a minute. (T starts calling on students as they
raise their hands to give the teacher ideas for starting their stories.)

We came into the room . . .

One day . . .

(looking at Ki) Once upon a time . . . (she giggles)

(Yo is bothering Er. Teacher told her to stop.)

(Writing on the board) One day our class took a field trip to the
Museum. It was a cold day when we came upstairs and started a

discussion about our trip.

(Teacher explains how to develop this with other sentences that tell
what the discussion included.)

Okay, if you start your story with the bus as the main idea of your
first paragraph, you fill in with details about what happened once you
were on the bus.

You wrote "It was cold day" (corrected the teacher).

(inserts 9) Okay, are there other ways that you can think of for

starting?

It started out with our class or "Back in the I9th century . . . " (She
laughs.)

Figure 2. Example of group literacy episode.

46

The student behavior category identifies salient student verbal behaviors

 

including student questions of the teacher, student responses to the teacher's
questions, and student-initiated comments. The nature of these responses were
specifically defined. From these data it was possible to determine whether
students tended to ask procedural questions (concentrating on local concerns) or
content-related questions (concentrating on global concerns); whether they
initiated comments about content or commented primarily on ways to complete
the task; whether they expressed themselves orally at length and in detail, or in
short phrases and in a cursory way.

Data from each literacy episode was charted using the categories specified
above. A narrative description of each episode was written based on this
information. Additionally, a narrative description of instruction across these

episodes was made.

Analysis of Individual Literacy Episodes

 

In each individual literacy episode, the range of behaviors in which target

 

students engaged was examined and charted on a continuum from the beginning
of the written selection initiated in the group literacy episode to its completion
several days later; Figure 3 is an excerpt from the charting of an episode. These
behaviors were all-inclusive, from non-verbal behaviors dealing with the position
of the pencil when pausing, to walking around the room to relieve tension.
m behaviors documented the teacher-student interaction and student-
student interaction (both social and academic-related). Also documented and
analyzed were instances of vocalizations and sub-vocalization by students while
writing. Additional information was gained from student and parent interviews.
After extensive readings and re-readings of the episodes, salient dimensions of

the students' writing behaviors and social interactions were categorized under

7
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48

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cam wCHuHHB mu.=om wcfinquom usoam xcfise mmum mmsafiuaoo mm

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49

the sub-processes of writing: winning, transcribing, and revision. A fourth

 

category of social interaction was added to capture the task environmental

 

aspects of writing. While ascribing to the literature that points out that these
processes do not occur in discreetly defined stages, for purposes of analysis, such
categories seemed the most effective way to provide insight. These categories

are discussed in further detail below.

Planning

Even though the literature clearly identifies planning as a key part of the
writing process (Graves, I982; Hayes & Flower, l98l), the degree to which the
planning is evident in children's writing and what the process looks like is still
unclear. In fact, planning and prewriting are sometimes confused. In this
analysis, an adherence is to the distinction made by Emig (l97l) which states that

Prewriting is that part of the composing process that extends

from the time a writer begins to perceive selectively certain features

of his inner and/or outer environment with a view toward writing

about them . . . planning refers to any oral and written establishment

of elements and parameters before or during a discursive

formulation. (p. 38)
For the purposes of this analysis, prewriting is considered as a part of the group
lecture/discussion episode and occurs but once in a writing period. Planning, on
the other hand, can occur many times during the writing episodes. In this
category, behaviors relative to planning before the transcribing process such as
notes and oral discussion were recorded. The relative ease or difficulty of the
planning in target students is also documented. Additionally, any prohibitions to

planning and the role that the teacher plays are the types of information that are

included in this category.

50

Transcribing

 

The student writes--formulates ideas and meanings, may think about
spelling and punctuation--and may consider audience during the transcribing
process. What is ultimately transcribed reflects the juggling of all these several
concerns and decisions about what to attend to and at what point in the process
to deal with them. Thus, planning and transcribing are intricately bound.

In this analytic category certain behaviors tended to recur. Pauses were
examined, for example, and what was written after the pause seemed to be
indicative of the student's thoughts and decisions about writing at this point.
What writers said as they wrote was also a way to capture their cognitive
processes. While the degree to which target students verbalized as they wrote
varied, each of the subjects yielded some data in this area.

The ability to monitor one's writing is another behavior that is manifested
during the transcribing process. Student decisions about getting started, where
to go next, and keeping track of where they have been is necessary for the
control over the writing process itself. While the literature shows that most
young writers lack this ability, certain behaviors that seemed to reflect this

ability were recorded and analyzed when they were seen.

ReviewirLg/Revision

 

Reviewing is the reading and evaluating of a text for some elements
perceived to be present. It has been said that younger children generally review
their text for punctuation and spelling rather than for meaning and audience
awareness (Bereiter, I980). Instances in which target writers went back to read
the text, upon analysis, give information about how sophisticated their review

and revisions can be and the degree to which they engage in review.

SI

In revising, writers add or delete elements of the text--letters,
punctuation, words, phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs--because they have
examined them as faulty ggg think of a good way to change them. This is not a
one time only process that occurs at the end of a written episode. Examples of
changes in text as the student went along were recorded and the nature of

changes made were analyzed in this category.

Social Interaction

 

This final category, more than any other, is reflective of behaviors that are
occurring throughout the writing process. The social interaction that occurs is
intricately a part of the task environment. What was observed was overt
behavior and the nuances of behavior between students, the student and the
teacher, and student and the participant observer. This category provided
information about how the students' cognitive processes were affected by the
social interaction behaviors.

While the use of analytic categories are linear and appear to lack depth, it
was felt that certain elements and moments within the writing process need
particular attention and need to be isolated in order to ultimately be described
most fully and clearly. The purpose here is to establish a category system
against which the literacy episodes can be examined. The narratives of the
collective episodes of each student, in contrast to the analytic categories,

convey the richness, density, and the interconnectedness of the writing process.

Other Considerations in the Data Analysis

 

Important to this analysis was the written product. This was considered in
the analysis in two ways. When the target student was the primary focus for an
extended length of time, the student behaviors and actual writing of text were

documented at the same time. In other words, written text and student behavior

52

were recorded simultaneously. Thus pauses, re-scanning, erasures were noted,
and the thought processes contributing to these behaviors could be determined
either by what the student wrote next or by questioning from the observer. In
these instances, the product became a dynamic part of the task environment and
was analyzed as being integrally related to the range of behavior exhibited by
the students.

A second consideration was the written product is its completed form. In
this type of analysis, student behaviors were documented but were not linked
with the specific wording of the text in progress. Thus the product was analyzed
after completion by examining it for reflection of contextual constraints
(purpose, audience, personna) and textual constraints (grammatical and thematic

cohesion). Through this analysis, inferences about processes could be made.

Summary

In this chapter, the ethnographic method was purported to be particularly
useful as the method of inquiry for the study of students' cognitive processes in
writing. Three main reasons are that ethnography supports the notion of
researcher as participant, is discovery-oriented, and is concerned with the
environment and interactions of participants in the environment.

Procedures for conducting the study were presented. These procedures
were non-traditional in the sense that the teacher in the study was the principal
investigator. Advantages of this situation were reported. Additionally,
precautions taken because of the teacher's close involvement in the situation
were explained. One of the primary procedural adjustments was that
observations were made by a research assistant. Data were collected from
several sources-~field notes (the primary source), student journals and writing

samples, student and parent interviews, and the teacher's journal.

53

The setting for the study, a classroom of 24 third/fourth graders, yielded
information about how three target students interacted with the teacher and
peers as they engaged in writing. Two distinct units of analysis were identified

and were used to analyze the data. The group literacy episode was the first unit

 

of analysis, and the individual literacy episode was the second. These became

 

broad organizers from which analytic categories emerged. From these data,
charts and narrative accounts were developed which, when assimilated, produced
answers to the major research questions entailed in the study. These findings are

reported in Chapter IV.

CHAPTER IV

FINDINGS

The major questions of this study are:

I. In what ways does the task environment constrain (influence) the
writing process?

«How does the student's socio-cultural background
affect the process of writing?

«How does the teacher's instruction affect the process?

--What influences do student interactions with each
other have on students as they write?

-What is the relationship between children's oral
language and what they do during the writing process?

2. What cognitive processes do competent third grade writers use in
generating written text?

«Do students evidence planning or pre—writing
activities?

«What does the transcribirm process (the written
representation of ideas) look like?

 

--Do students evidence the revision process? What is the
nature of this process?

«How do these processes interact?
These questions reflect the approach taken in this study, which looks at two
perspectives on writing. The first perspective, addressed in question one, looks
at the external contextual environment for writing (influences outside the
writer's skin). The second perspective, addressed in question two, looks at the
internal and cognitive processes (influences within the writer's head). As the

findings are reported, these two perspectives can provide a point of reference.

54

55

The findings, 0 result of the analyses described in Chapter III, first answer

the question of the task environment by (a) describing the students' socio-

 

cultural background as it relates to writing, (b) describing and explaining the
teacher's instruction and the students' verbal behavior as it related to this
instruction, (c) describing student interactions and their relationship to writing,
and (d) describing the target students' oral language and its relationship to the

writing process. Findings which are related to the cggnitivegrocesses of the

 

students are reported next by describing the mental activities of the target
students as they wrote during the three component phases of pre-

writing/planning, transcribing, and review/revision.

TASK ENVIRONMENT
Socio-Cultural Background
The findings related to the backgrounds of each of the students identify
aspects of this background that can influence students' writing. These are (0)
parents' interests in writing and discussions centered around students' writing, (b)
the presence of books in the home and students' interest in reading, (c) students'
actual writing in the home, and (d) the presence of a variety of experiences. The

findings regarding each of the students' backgrounds are presented below.

Mindy's Background

 

Mindy lived with her mother who spent a lot of time with her. Mindy
talked about the influence that her mother had on her writing. She discussed her
story that was to be published: "I don't know how I started this, but it took me
just a half hour to think of this idea. Mom said I had author's block. I guess I
did" (Fieldnotes, 3/I6/83). Then, later, as she continued to write, Mindy said,
"Mom said it's important to get the ideas down--I'm afraid I might forget my

ideas if I don't write them down right away" (Fieldnotes, 3/l6/83). Mindy's

S6

mother took time to react to her writing and to Mindy as a writer. Her mother
explained the relationship between her economic plight and the value she placed
on writing.

But I have always, Ms. 0., I've always encouraged her what she

can do herself, like all her math papers and reading assignments from

grade one I threw out. I kept what she wrote, what she has done,

what she has made, because I felt that when I was on welfare if I had
resources I would have lived well if I could sew, fix the heater, fix

the refrigerator. I felt that our own inner resources were more

important than money. So this is where I got the idea of encouraging

her to do things on her own, you know? To see if she could make up a

play or if she could think of things herself. (Interview, 4/l8/83)

Mindy's mother valued the self-expression and creativity that writing
encourages. She also felt it was important to expose Mindy to children and to all
kinds of children, as she explained:

. . . I always had a lot of children in our room. I always brought

in a lot of kids because she was alone. So I wanted her exposed to all

kinds of children. So I brought her all kinds of kids. Kids that had

parents who were on drugs. All kinds . . . . (Interview, 4/I8/33)
This emphasis on exposure to all kinds of children again underscored the feeling
that Mindy's mother had about her child's exposure to the "real world" and her
ability to cope as a result of this exposure.

Finally, discussions of emotions at home seemed to be reflected in Mindy's
writing at school. Her mother stated:

We try to straighten out our emotional problems by discussions;

and if she gets angry, I tell her don't be made at your own anger.

Anger is all right if it's not destructive, and we have discussions on

anger because I feel that anger is an important emotion, not

something to be discarded and put away. That's too big of an
emotion, and l have anger. (Interview, ll/l8/83)
Mindy spent a good deal of time having her characters react with just the right
emotions. this emphasis probably stems, in part, from reactions to emotions in
her home.

Mindy's family was not a traditional one, but a single parent family. Her

mother made a great effort to give Mindy support and security and took an

57

active interest in what she was doing in school, particularly things that enabled
her to call on her inner resources to produce. Thus, she had stimulated Mindy to
write and to value writing.

Kathy's Background

Kathy lived with her mother, father, and brother, and she got help with her
schoolwork and with writing from her family. Kathy's mother was not employed
outside the home but was active in school activities as a volunteer. Kathy did
writing at home and stated that she was writing a book. When asked what kind it
was, she said, "Well, it's not the kind that we learn in school. It's like just a little
book, because I'm trying to help my brother learn to read" (Interview, ll/Il/83).

Kathy stated that a neighbor helped her learn to read, "During the summer
before I went into kindergarten we had a neighbor who had a bunch of books and
I'd go over there and he'd help me read." The fact that Kathy's neighbor and not
Kathy's mother taught her to read is indicative of the fact that although Kathy
was bright, her mother and father did not exert excessive pressure on her to
excel academically. Conversations with her mother pointed out that she was as
concerned with Kathy's social adjustment as well as her academic adjustment.

In an interview Kathy was asked if her mother and father helped her with
writing. She stated that they did and that they helped her if she was having
trouble wording a sentence or having trouble spelling a word.

Kathy's cultural sketch indicated that the family enjoyed holidays and
birthdays together and that they went to church every Sunday. An example of
the influence of the family Christian values came out in the statement that
Kathy made as she was writing a paragraph about her favorite holiday.

Kathy started writing. "My favorite holiday is . . . "

Kathy: I can't write that Christmas is my favorite holiday
because of the presents or else my mom will be mad.

58

Kathy continued writing ". . . because Jesus was born." (Fieldnotes,

4/2/83).
Kathy's family values and background influenced her writing directly as
shown in the excerpt above. They also indirectly affected her writing as she had

experiences that built a knowledge source from which to draw as she wrote.

Anne's Background

 

Anne lived with her mother, father, and sister in a close-knit family
situation. Her parents were interested in what occurred in school and came to
conferences and other school activities. When asked if her mother and father
helped her with her writing, Anne said that her mother helped because her father
was so busy. She stated, "When I finish a rough draft of a letter, she will correct
it and then I'll go write it over . . . " (Interview, 4/I3/83). Anne also indicated
that she wrote letters to her grandfather and her babysitter who moved to
California. She also said that "Usually I end up writing in Chinese rather than
English. Writing in Chinese is something different. It's a character for each
word so it is totally different."

Anne's mother indicated that Anne has to practice her Chinese at the
sitter's after school before she can watch television. (This was revealed when
Anne's mother stopped by the school to leave something for Anne. The teacher
had been concerned that Anne was doing her Chinese writing rather than other
assigned work. Anne's mother and teacher discovered that Anne had decided the
more Chinese she could get done in school, the more television she could watch
at her sitter's.)

Anne said that her mother also read her writing and told her that " . . . she
doesn't know what that means." Then Anne did rewriting.

Anne was encouraged to read. She stated that she liked Carolyn Keene

books and that is her favorite author. In the interview she said, ". . . My mom

S9

hates those books 'cause I never look at the books she buys. I keep on checking
them out and keep reading for hours." When asked what kind of books her
mother bought, she said, "She buys stuff like the Wizard of Oz and I've seen the
movie . . . Pinnochio and Robin Hood, and so they are kind of boring."

It is apparent that Anne's mother wanted her to engage in activities at
home that would reinforce the literate environment of the school. Anne's
cultural sketch indicated that the family engaged in many activities together,
both cultural and recreational. Those experiences provided her with a strong
background from which to draw when writing.

In summary, the socio-cultural backgrounds of the students show that they
were given support and encouragement for learning and for academic success.
The students were from literate environments in which exposure to books,
reading, and writing were the norm. Writing served a functional purpose in the
homes of two of the students, Kathy and Anne. In Mindy's home, writing was
also encouraged because it stimulated creativity and the development of critical
thinking that could be useful in life. All three students received critical

feedback from their parents on their written products.

Teacher's Instruction
The teacher's instruction comprised an important part of the context for
writing and, therefore, could provide valuable information about the relationship
of instruction to cognitive processes in writing. Three aspects of the instruction
‘ were examined and are reported here. These were (a) m was included--the
tasks assigned and the content emphasized, (b) M the instruction was delivered,
and (c) how the students verbal behavior related to this instruction and the

cognitive operations necessary for participation in instruction.

6O

What--Tasks Assigned/ Content Emphasized

 

The tasks assigned and the content emphasized were closely related. The
tasks specify in a general way the work that the student was to do. These tasks
were delineated in the teacher's journal and were determined before the episode
began. The content or the "what" of instruction was the specific, substantive
portion of instruction that the student needed to understand and internalize in
order that learning occur. This was taken from the fieldnotes and was the
content that was actually taught. Figure 3 gives a synoptic view of the six
literacy episodes. In looking down the first two columns for each episode (task
set and content emphasized), it was clear that the content emphasis and the
tasks were primarily focused on the organizational and structural components of
writing. The first two episodes dealt with the organization of a paragraph, while
the third, fourth, and fifth dealt with overall text organization.

In the first episode, the teacher built on the common experience of a trip
to the museum to show temporal organization as well as hierarchical
organization. Figure 4 shows a chart used to help students understand this
organization. The students were first asked to tell what the major events of the
trip were. The teacher explained that these were the main idea of each
paragraph. Then the details about each paragraph were elicited by the questions
who? what? where? and how? (as seen in Figure 4). This type of main idea

structure demonstrated to students how ideas were arranged hierarchicall . It

 

was then pointed out that each major event was ordered according to what
happened first, second, third, and fourth. Therefore, a second type of structure
was developed because each event could be ordered temarally.

In Episode 3 (Figure 3), the task emphasis was again on structure although a
part of the task emphasizes cultural background. The students were to write

autobiographical sketches using cultural information and using the concept of

6|

paragraphing--the use of main ideas and detail-~which was developed in the two
previous episodes. The teacher again used an organizational framework (see
Figure 5), this time in the form of an outline. The structure developed was
hierarchical only, since the main ideas were in categories such as family
traditions, foods, music/dance, and did not need to be arranged temporally. The

fieldnotes show how the content was developed.

62

 

 

 

 

Task Set by Content How Teacher Student Verbal
Teacher Emphasized Taught Behaviors
Episode Organization Paragraph Asks questions; Responds to
l of ideas into development gives explana- teacher's ques-
(story sequential units (main idea, tion; uses tions; questions
about for writing; detail, idea chart (Frome); teacher about
trip) identifying development; writes on procedures,
main idea of ordering of board; answers length; makes
paragraph-- events in questions. comments that
elaborating sequence; teacher cor-
on ideas and use of ditto rects; concern
adding details marks (inci- about doing
to logically dental teach- what teacher
expand idea). ing); main wants.
idea of para-
graph; logical
ordering of
events.
Episode Same as Reads example Response to
2 Episode I of student teacher ques-
(story (review). paper; ques- tions.
about tions about
trip) main idea;
explains how
to achieve
coherent text.
Episode Student under- Cultural back- "Lecturette"; Comments about
3 standing of ground of dif- explanation of culture; re-
(auto- concept of ferent groups organization sponse to ques-
bio— culture and organization with chart; tions and con-
graphi- identification of information response to tent (about
cal of practices about back- student ques— content).
sketch unique to his/ grounds; con- tions.
her own cul- tent-family
ture; write tradition, holi-
autobiographi- days celebrated,
cal sketch in- etc.; nothing
cluding cul- about mechan-
tural informa- ics.
tion 951g cor-
rect para-
graphing.
Episode Identification Elements of Explanation Comments re-
ll of story struc- story struc- with trans- sponse to

(prepara-

ture that is

ture; what's

parency; ques-

teacher ques-

63

 

 

 

Task Set by Content How Teacher Student Verbal
Teacher Emphasized Taught Behaviors

tion for embedded in included in tions; reads tions; student
story text to aid in each element student ex- reads.
writing) reading com- in the setting; ample; re-

prehension initiating views.

and story event.

writing.
Episode Same as epi- Same as epi- Questions; Responds, com-
S sode story sode 4 records stu- ments (ini-
(story structure to (review). dents' re- tiates); ques-
to be be used in sponse; tions proce-
published writing teacher re- dures; clari-
in book (review). views; ex- fies content.
form) plains by

example.

Episode Identification Headline, by- Explanation Respond; read
6 of how news- line, lead with article volunteer
(article paper article paragraph of as example; information.
for class is written; news article; questions;
news- write news- how these calls on stu-
paper) paper article function; dent to read

for class what's in- responds to

newspaper. cluded; nouns, student ques-

verbs as used
in headlines;
definitions
of words.

tions.

 

Figure 3. Synoptic chart of group literacy episodes

 

 

64

 

 

TEMPORAL ORGANIZATION HIERARCHICAL ORGANIZATION
Questions Main Idea Details

What happened We came in and talked Who? Ms. D., Ms. M., class
first? about the trip. What? talked about behavior

Where? in the room
How? whole class discussion

What happened We got on the bus. Who? our class and Ms. K's
next? How? noisy/quiet
What? did you talk? about
what? who did you sit by?

What happened We arrived at the Who? tour guides met us
next? museum. Where? entrance to museum
What? took off coats, went
to lecture room, passed
around rocks and tools

What happened We took a tour of the Who? two classes and tour
next? museum. guides
What? saw things from
pioneer life; saw dif-
ferent kinds of dinosaur
bones.

Figure 4. Chart showing hierarchical and temporal organization.

 

 

65

Introduction

name

American

heritage or culture
Family traditions

holidays

special celebrations

things we do as a group
Foods

examples: Greeks--baklava
Church

what is it like?

Music and dance

People like me that I am proud of

Figure 5. Organization for autobiographical sketch.

 

 

The teacher uses the chart on the board.

T: This is the introduction.

This will be your first paragraph. I

want you to do it in sentences, expressing the main idea first.

Then add details.

Your next paragraph will be about family

traditions with a sentence as the main idea, then details about

these traditions.

As the teacher passes out paper for writing after the discussion, she
again stresses the organizational structure.

T: I want you to think of the main idea and some examples. Use
specific details (Fieldnotes, 2/3/83).

In Episode 4 (Figure 3), the emphasis was on the underlying story structure

that was embedded in text. The teacher presents this structure on the board:

Setting
Initiating Event
Reaction
Action

Conclusion (Fieldnotes, 2/24/83).

She explained what each part meant, and then used a short story on a

transparency, asking the class to select the parts of the story that correspond to

the story structure elements.

66

It can be seen from the episodes described above that the organizational
and structural elements of writing were a major content emphasis of the
teacher's writing instruction.

A second emphasis of instruction was idea production. The fieldnotes in

 

several episodes showed the teacher eliciting ideas of what to write about from
the students. In Episode I, for example, the fieldnotes show the following:
T: . . . who has an idea about starting?

The students started to give the teacher ideas for starting their
stories:

Mindy: We came into the room . . .
Alice: One day . . .
Shelly: Once upon a time . . .
The teacher wrote these on the board.
Later in the episode, the teacher asked for ideas for topics to write about.
Students generated many topics which the teacher wrote on the board. As
students began to write independently, the fieldnotes showed:

The teacher is asking Alice questions to stimulate ideas for her story
(Fieldnotes, l/27).

In Episode 3, a discussion about culture was used to stimulate students to
think about their own backgrounds. The teacher asked the students, "How do you
celebrate? What are your family traditions?" They shared their experiences,
drawing on their personal backgrounds to respond.

While these are examples of initial generation of ideas, they do not show
the teacher explaining ways that these ideas can be developed. The teacher
encouraged students to write details about the idem, but there was no
documentation that they were shown how to do this. In the discussion of story
structure, however (Episode 5), there was an approximation to this idea

development. The teacher and students together generated ideas that could be

67

used in given parts of the story structure. The teacher began by asking why it
was important to learn about story structure and then used the chart on the
board that outlined story structure to have students generate types of
information that could be included in each part of the structure. In this episode,
the students were lead in thinking about ways of developing a setting by
including certain information. During the discussion, some students were also
stimulated to talk about books they had read in which the author either enhanced
the story by adding certain ideas or made the story less interesting for the
reader by including seemingly unnecessary information.

It has been pointed out thus far that emphasis on structure and idea
generation formed the primary focus of the teacher's instructional content in
writing. In further analysis of the data, it became apparent that the teacher de-
emphasized orthographics (spelling, sentence structure, and grammar) during
writing. Several statements were made during the instruction which showed this.

T: Boys and girls, if you don't know how to spell a word, leave a
space for it and come back to it later.

And later:

T: Don't be overly concerned about handwriting and spelling.

In another episode, story structure and development were emphasized and
spelling was de-emphasized.

T: If you have a burning idea, then let me know. Include
characters, setting, plot, what will be happening, and a good
conclusion. Remember the film that we saw about story endings.

I'd like a well—developed story. First copy; don't worry about
5 llin . You will do this after on your final copy (Fieldnotes,
15(3793')

It must be noted here that spelling was taught as a separate subject in this
classroom, however. The students were divided into three spelling ability groups,
and there was a weekly list and a daily assignment for each group. The words

were taken from a commercial spelling series, and the lessons were developed

68

from the suggestions in the series and the teacher's judgment about what was

important for the students to know.

One spelling lesson was developed from the information below that was on

the chalkboard.
On Board:

9:30:

noun: the name of a person, place, or thing

toes

potatoes/s

calves

calf: change the f to v and add gs
fairy: change the y toiand add g

singular plural
child children
foot feet
boys

keys

toys

The teacher is discussing plural and singular endings to
nouns in preparation for spelling assignment to be done.

This is what I want you to do now.

(I) finish yesterday's spelling assignment

(2) do today's assignment

(3) work on reports on black Americans

I will check them in the back of the room (F ieldnotes,
2/23/83).

This excerpt documents the type of isolated spelling lesson that is a part of the

instruction in the classroom. The teacher explained the lesson which dealt with

adding g or as to nouns and had written the words on the board as she explained.

During the lesson, accuracy was stressed. However, when students wrote during

writing time, they were told not to concern themselves with correct spelling, at

least for the first draft. There was a change in behavior expected on the part of

the students during spelling time and during writing time.

69

Grammar was taught during one episode in which the use of nouns and
verbs was explained in the context of writing newspaper articles. Here the

teacher discusses the succinct way that headlines are written.

T: All right, the headline consists of just two words. Think
of the parts of speech they are. What is hijacker?

Tammy: Verb?

T: No. (She calls on Sandy.)

Sandy: A noun.

T: Yes, hijacker is a noun. 21319 is a verb, Tammy, an

action word. The important thing is that a noun and a
verb only are used here. The articles, or small words like
g and the; are not important here. The headline is made

up of action words; they should catch attention
(Fieldnotes, 4/27/83).

While grammar was taught in this example, it was in the context of a specific
use in writing.

In summary, the content emphasis from the analysis of the episodes and
other data was strongly geared toward the way students organize their writing at
the paragraph and whole text levels. Secondly, an emphasis was put on the
generation of different ideas and, to a very limited degree, development of these
ideas within a logical structure. Orthographics were de-emphasized during the
writing instruction, but spelling was emphasized and taught as a subject separate

from writing instruction.

How the Episodes Developed

 

As data from each of the individual episodes were analyzed, patterns of
behavior for teacher and student became apparent. The verbal interaction
coding in every episode was marked by teacher questions/student responses. .1312
teacher controlled the direction of the episodes through use of strategically

placed questions. The following example shows a student asking a question about

 

70

procedure during a time in the lesson when the focus was on the content of idea
generation. The teacher answered the student's question, then got back to
content by asking a question herself.

Anne: Can we write more than four paragraphs?

T: Yes. Don't be overly concerned about handwriting. Who
has other ideas for writing? (Fieldnotes, l/27/83)

In another exchange the teacher had been eliciting responses from the
students about elements of story structure. They discussed the setting and what
was included, and the teacher asked them what was included in the initiating
event. Several students responded, then one went back to a comment about the
setting which moved the direction backwards rather than forward. The teacher
used a directive to get back to the immediate focus as the excerpt shows.

Mindy: I read some authors do put more in the setting. If Nancy
Drew talks to dad, it tells what she said. Sometimes
authors will say what her face looked like and lots of
details.

T: Right. Mitchener's Hawaii had lots of details in the
setting. He went on and on for many pages describing the
land and how it looked and how people came to live there.

Alice: In a book I read, it was boring for a while because it took
so long to get to the interesting part.

T: Yes, sometimes there are a lot of details. Back to the
initiating event. As your story develops, many times

there is more than one initiating event (Fieldnotes, 3/3
/83).

Immediately after this exchange, the student who changed the direction initially

asked another question which was off the focus.

Mindy: We're going to get an author, aren't we?

T: Yes. Next Wednesday. Sheila Roberts. OK, let's see
what's next (teacher is referring to next element in the
lesson).

The teacher asked a question to get students focused again. What seemed to

have occurred in all of the episodes was the allowance of a temporary and short

7I

deviation from the content focus, then the teacher drew students back in the
direction she wanted them to go.
In addition to the questioning pattern and its use, findings from the data

show that guestions served important functions for the teacher in guiding student

 

thinking. These functions were:
I. to have students focus at the beginning of a lesson,

2. to have students retrieve information from memory and apply it
to text,

3. to have students spontaneously generate ideas, and

4. to elicit from students their knowledge and understanding of
word meanings used in context.

The first function was used at the outset of the episode to have students focus on
what the lesson was to be about. In Episode I, for example, after the teacher
stated that the day before the class took a fieldtrip to a museum, she asked,
"Who can tell me what we said about writing that was related to the trip?" In
another episode, the teacher said, "Before you start your books, let's review what
we said about story structure. Who remembers why we use a structure?" In
instances such as these, questions focus and alert students to the emphasis of the
lesson.

Another function of the questions was to have students retrieve and apply
knowledge. As the teacher read a story that a student had written, she asked
students to identify the main idea. Here the students must (a) retrieve from
memory the definition of a main idea and (b) select from the information in the
paragraph that which corresponds to the definition of a main idea. This type of
processing was repeated several times in the data. In another episode, for
example, students were asked to identify story elements from a story that was
projected on a transparency and match it with the corresponding element in the

story structure (Episode 4).

72

Another function of questions was shown by the teacher when she used
them to elicit students' ideas and had them brainstorm topics for writing. These
ideas were listed and form a reference for all students to use. In these cases the
teacher took all the ideas that students had without condition or judgment.

Finally, students were questioned to see if they had specific word
knowledge for understanding of the teacher's talk. The teacher might use a word
in an explanation and then question to see if students knew what the word meant.
It almost seemed as if it were a deliberate attempt to "stretch" students'
vocabularies while in the process of teaching about something else or giving an
explanation. An example follows:

Mary had told the class about finding several books about George
Washington Carver in the library and using these to do her report.

T: (enthusiastically and smiling) You'll have information overload.
Sometimes there are discrepancies among books in the
information given. Does anyone know what discreEncy means?

Several students responded with the wrong answer before teacher
explained.

Teacher put example of a discrepancy on board . . . George
Washington Carver resource books give two dates for his birth . . .
She pointed out the fact that there was a discrepancy because he
could only have one birth date. Pointed out the fact that they didn't
keep accurate records then (Fieldnotes, 2/l/83).
The teacher might not expect the students to know the answer, but she
encouraged their use of context to come up with an educated guess. This use of

questions was seen several times in the data.

Explanations of concgpts were usually given after a questioning/response

 

sequence. In Episode 2, for example, the students were asked to identify the
main idea of each of the paragraphs in Mary's writing. At the end of the reading
and the identification of the paragraphs, the teacher said, "You see how Mary
took the idea of a trip to Ann Arbor and told about several things? She then

developed each one and arranged them in the order that they occurred"

73

(Fieldnotes, 2/I/83). The explanations were usually brief and to the point as is
the one above. This was the teacher's way of bringing closure to the content
focus and of preparing students to begin to write.

In only one episode did the teacher lecture to the students. This was a
short Iecture—-"lecturette"--in 'which the teacher talked about different ethnic
traditions in an attempt to give students an understanding of things that make up
a person's cultural background. In this case she spoke for a somewhat prolonged
period of time without eliciting questions or having students initiate questions

(Fieldnotes, 2/3/83).

How Students' Verbal Behaviors Related to Instruction

 

There were three major categories of students' verbal behavior that
provided data about instruction. The three major categories were (a) student
responses to teacher questions, (b) questions asked by students, and (c) comments

initiated by students. As is shown in Figure 7, student responses to teacher

 

guestions made up the largest category of student verbal behavior, as might be
expected. The recall of specific information was observed most frequently as
students responded to teacher questions. Students answered in this category by
selecting from their knowledge in a specific area. In the following example the
student was asked about the parts of speech.

T: Think of the parts of speech they are ("Hijacker Seized").
What's hijacker?

Student: A noun?
This response involved recall of specific information. Another example of a

response in this category:

74

Student Responses to Teacher Questions

 

recall of information

free production of ideas (brainstorming)
generation of experiences

generation and application of knowledge

sew

Questions Asked by Students

 

l. procedural
2. writing content/subject matter related
3. general informational

Comments Initiated by Students

 

l. extension/elaboration of concept
2. concerns about task completion
3. application of previous reading experiences

Figure 7. Functional typology of student verbal behavior during group
literacy episodes.

 

 

T: OK, what's an accomplice?
Lolita: A companion?
Teacher explained that it is a little more than a companion.

Here the student drew on knowledge of word meaning.

A second response type was "freely produced (brainstormed) ideas in
response to the teacher's questions." In this category, students' ideas could flow
in an uninhibited manner. This was in contrast to the specific selection of
knowledge needed to generate answers in the previous category. Students'
responses in giving ideas of ways to start a story showed the nature of these

responses:

75

Mary: We came into the room . . .
Alice: Once upon a time . . .

Shelly: One day . . .

Mindy: It started out with our class . . .
Lolita: Twas the date of January 20 . . .
Curtis: It was a cold day . . .

Another response similar to brainstorming was the "generation of
experiences that related to a specific topic." In response to teacher questions
about trips to write about, students responded by generating several. In a sense
students were engaging in brainstorming, but there was a greater condition
placed on the ideas that they came up with because students had experienced the
trip.

The fourth response, and the least frequently seen, was the "generation of
specific knowledge and its application into a content-specific text situation." In
these responses, student not only generated knowledge, but were called upon to
apply this knowledge. These response types made greater demand on the
students' cognitive abilities.

Students also asked questions of the teacher, although this was seen for

 

less frequently than the "response to teacher questions" category. When asking
questions, students generally asked "procedural questions," wanting to know how
to do a writing assignment that the teacher had made. Specifically, questions
were about such things as how long their writing had to be and if they had to
write the headings. Students sometimes wanted information of a more general
nature, asking questions such as "We're going to get an author, aren't we?" or
"Will we get to write adventure stories?" These were "general informational
questions" and were asked considerably less frequently than procedural questions.

A third type of question was "related to the writing content/subject matter
focus" of the episode. For example, when discussing story structure, one student

was confused about the story elements of action and reaction and said, "I got a

76

question with action and reaction. It seems you're skipping something between
action and conclusion" (Fieldnotes, 3/3/83). Another question was about the
focus on racial and ethnic differences. One student asked, "Is it true that black
people couldn't sit where they wanted to at the movies?" Only a small number of
verbal behaviors were questions initiated by students, and only a small
percentage of those were related to content.

Students sometimes initiated comments or shared their ideas that were

 

related to a given topic being discussed. At times this would take the form of
extensior or elaboration of a concept--as when a student told about a book she
had read that had a long setting that was boring. Another student told about
things she had learned by viewing 8221s on television and how she learned things
about her cultural background. This showed a greater level of involvement of

the student and longer duration of speaking.

Summarj of Teacher's Instruction

 

In summary, the teacher orchestrated the episodes by determining the
topic to be discussed and by employing questions in an effort to achieve the
purposes for the lesson and for the students. Students responded by giving the
teacher the types of responses she desired. These appeared to be short and to
the point, primarily responding with the naming of specific information or
concepts.

There was only limited discourse from the students as they did not
volunteer information or elaborate on ideas to any extent. Rather, while
allowing students to initiate comments, the teacher did not encourage them, as
she would soon get back to the topic and the direction she had in mind for the
lesson. One notable exception to this pattern was the episode on culture. In this

episode, although the teacher led the discussion, students volunteered

77

information and initiated comments and opinions. The teacher not only allowed
this to develop during the episode, but seemed to encourage it.

Because of the nature of the interactions in the group literacy episodes,
certain cognitive situations were most relevant. Students were primarily
retrieving information from long term memory and sorting this information in
order to select a specific information requested by the teacher. They were not
involved in making planning decisions directed at goal setting and purpose setting
because this was done by the teacher in the episodes. Providing the
organizational frames, in particular, precluded students' need to make planning

decisions to set purpose.

Student Interactions
Students interacted with each other primarily during the individual literacy
episodes, inasmuch as the teacher controlled the interactions during the group
literacy episodes. The nature of these interactions and how they affected the
writing process (either helping students write or hindering the writing process)
are reported here. These interactions were analyzed from the perspective of the
individual target students; therefore, findings will be reported from the

perspective of each of the three students.

Mindy's Interactions

 

Mindy showed several types of interactions with other students. Several

instances were seen where students approached Mindy for help and she assisted

 

them. Sometimes these were short exchanges in which she helped another
student spell a word. Other instances were for longer periods as when she

volunteered to have a "conference" to help another student as described below.

78

Mindy: (reading Debra's story, playing with hair braid): OK, let's
see; well, maybe like Garfield, I don't know. Garfield
could be planning something on his birthday that Jon
didn't know about (Mindy is helping Debra with ideas). (to
Debra) Did Garfield open all his presents?

Debra: Only the teddy bear.

Mindy: (giving suggestions to Debra for what Garfield could do,
questioning her about comic strip) What is your Garfield?
Different? shy? nice?

Debra: Funny.

Mindy: Funny Garfield goes with a funny teddy bear. What do
you think? (moving her arms as she talks to Debra; many

hand gestures)

Debra: (moves away, seemingly satisfied with the help she
received from Mindy). (Fieldnotes, 3/8/83)

Another kind of interaction was noted when Mindy left her writing

 

completely and walked around. This occurred after she had been working for a

 

sustained period of time. She had been writing a report on Ethel Waters in the
classroom; she got up and took a walk to the small room. As she approached
Kathy and Mary, she said, "Teacher said I could walk around since I've been
working so hard" (Fieldnotes, 2/l7/83). She then went back to her seat and
continued reading and talking notes for her report. In another instance she said
she needed to "walk off tension."

A third type of interaction with Mindy and other students occurred

when students come over just to talk--usually the conversation centered on

 

writing, however. Two examples follow.

Jendy came over to Mindy who was working on the cover of her report.
Mindy asked Jendy what she did her report on.

Jendy: O. J. Simpson, but I'm not through yet. (Fieldnotes,
3/l/83).

In another episode:

79

Yvette began conversing with Mindy.

Mindy:

Yvette:

Mindy:

Sometimes chapters end up being very short. Once in
kindergarten, I wrote a story about a princess who wanted
a toy. It was very long, and I guess kind of boring. When I
was four years old, I wrote "The Mischievous Mouse." I
couldn't pronounce it, though. My printing was big and
lopsided. In summertime, I wrote "Bedtime Stories" which
is a collection of my short stores.

You're a good illustrator.

I don't like to draw. My mom is good at it. (Fieldnotes,
3/I6/83).

Mindy was able to interact with other students, and in some cases it seemed to

move her writing forward as many of the interactions were centered around

writing.

Mindy would sometimes test her characters' reactions by asking her friends

 

how they would react to an incident. Mindy's response in an interview pointed

out her she questioned her friends.

Often in parts there'd be a part and I wouldn't know how to

explain it . . . I had to ask my friends about their emotions or the
reaction to something because if I had her just smile when her
grandmother was kidnapped, you know, so I asked, "What would you
do?" you know, and then took those ideas and put them down.
(Interview, 4/2l/83)

Mindy talked further about the importance of having a "kid" read her story.

. . . I know you read it and I took some of your suggestions, but a
kid, you know, because it's really based on a kid's story, and I wanted
to know what a kid would think about it. So I tried reading it to
Jackie and she's six years old and it's kind of hard when you're reading
in cursivenyou get impatient; so I'm asking people if, do you want to
read my story? But it's awfully long to read. (Interview, 4/2l/83)

Finally, an exchange between Mindy and Kathy seemed to be counter to the

characteristic behaviors that Mindy exhibited in other interactions. In the

following exchange, Mindy and Kathy were discussing how they would start their

80

writing. Kathy asked Mindy to tell her what she was writing about. The

following conversation ensued.

Mindy: OK, but not all (reluctant to show Kathy).

Kathy: You can tell me the initiating event. On her paper, in
I984 . . . .

Mindy: (shows Kathy what she's written) What are you writing
about?

Kathy: I don't know.

Mindy: (asks observer how hot it is in China)

Kathy: (writes) In I984 there was a new school being . . . (she

covers up her page as Mindy tries to look)

Mindy: I told you now, so tell me.

Kathy: I'll tell you at recess.

Observer note: social problems between the two girls.
After recess the class continued writing for about l5 minutes. The fieldnotes
note that Kathy and Mindy wrote notes back and forth-~something about being
sorry and playing together. In this exchange there seemed to be competitiveness
between the two girls. However, in the interview, Mindy explained her
reluctance to share her story with Kathy in this way, "I wasn't feeling good about
Kathy reading my story, not so much that I didn't want her to because I was
afraid she was going to copy, but I wanted it to be a surprise . . . " (Interview,
4/2l/83). There is definite tension between the two girls which may be one of
the unintended outcomes of school writing. It does not seem to be constructive

in helping Mindy's writing.

Kathy's Interactions

 

In reading the interactions that Kathy engaged in during the individual
literacy episodes, certain patterns emerged. Unlike her behavior in the whole

group episodes, Kathy initiated interactions frequently, was assertive and

8l

sometimes competitive as a writer. The two major behaviors seen were
interactions that showed her monitoring the work of others and a general
awareness and curiosity about what was occurring in the room. These behaviors
were interspersed throughout the writing process.

This inclination to monitor the work of others was noted several times in
the fieldnotes. In one episode in which she was working on her book, the
f ieldnotes read:

”:03 Page 9 in her writing . . . "During the night Jean . . . "
pencil point on paper . . . pauses for two seconds to see if
Mindy's done with her story yet . . . asks her.
Mindy: no.
Mindy and Mary are adjacent to Kathy. Mindy is finishing
her story while Mary is copying it over for her. Mindy is
questioning Mary as to how she'd feel (see page 40 of
draft) in a situation.
“:07: Kathy playing with her pencil. Continues to write,
interrupted easily. Glances over to Mary and Mindy to
help out . . . . (Fieldnotes, 4/2l/83)
Several instances were noted when Kathy asked other students if they were
finished already. Another episode showed Kathy again looking at Mindy's paper.
She said, "Mindy, you have to do those" (pointing to questions on the front page
of a spelling assignment) (Fieldnotes, 4/28/83). In another instance, she asked
Mary if she wrote on the back. These and other exchanges pointed out that
Kathy was constantly aware of what Mindy, in particular, was doing. She
appeared to feel that it was important to know where she was (whether finished
or not) and how she was going about completing the task. It is difficult to tell
whether this was a concern for Mindy's doing the work correctly or whether she
wanted to make sure that others didn't complete the work before she did.

In the interaction described earlier between Mindy and Kathy as they

discussed how they would begin their writing and their reluctance to share,

82

Kathy was eager to find out what Mindy had written but reluctant to tell what
she herself had written. While her behavior could be indicative of insecurity
about the value of what she had written, it could also indicate a desire to have a
story that was better. More important than the motivation of the behavior,
however, was the result. Her preoccupation with what Mindy was doing was not
productive in helping Kathy write.

Kathy was also aware of what was occurring in the classroom. In the
middle of her writing, she would stop as this notation suggests:

Kathy: Mary, I want my story back. (puts in desk; writes name,
date, language arts)

Kathy looks at paper; writes "one day during school . . ." Kathy turns
around to look at the class (five seconds), whispers to Mindy that
Anne's seat has been moved. (Fieldnotes, 4/l7/83)

In another instance while she was writing, she stopped and commented:

Kathy: (to Ray, laughing) You're putting all the states in the
world . . . (Ray was at the map in the front of the room)

Ray: No, I'm just trying to locate the states I need for my
story.

Kathy started talking about math homework to Ray. (Fieldnotes,
4/I7/83)

The observer commented in the fieldnotes that Kathy was easily distracted. She
always returned to her writing, however, and she was able to continue and to
complete it. In an interview Kathy stated that she preferred to "write alone"
because she could get more work done. It was apparent that most of her
interactions with other students were not centered around the content of what

she was writing.

Anne's Interactions

 

Anne had few interactions with other students while writing. She tended to

write alone and stated in an interview, when asked if she liked to write with

83

friends or alone in a quiet place, that she liked a quiet place because she could
"concentrate and get better ideas." Although she interacted very little with the
other students, she was aware of what was occurring in the room, particularly
what the other students were doing. In an interview, for example, she knew the
types of stories her classmates had written and some of the details.

Instances when she did interact with other students were only tangentially
related to writing. She was asked by other students to illustrate their books,

report covers, and other work. In these instances Anne would write her own

 

story gpg illustrate for someone else simultaneously. An example illustrates how
she worked.

9:53 Continues writing, looking intently at paper.

9:55 Sits back in chair, stretches, sighs. Anne asked the

observer if she should start a new paragraph of a
quotation "Mother knows . . . " Continued to write.

9:57 Got up to get another sheet of paper.
9:59 Started talking about how she liked her new pants.
IO:OO Left seat to talk to Shelly and Yvette about their stories
(which she is illustrating).
l0:02 Rearranges her pages in order.
l0:03 Yvette came over to read Anne a poem ("The Circus") and

watched her illustrate it by drawing a horse.
Note that in this sequence Anne was involved in three different activities--
writing her story, illustrating her poem, and planning illustrations for her
classmates.
Another example is further illustrative of Anne's interactions with other
students. The students were writing cinquains; Anne had written a poem that

was not a cinquain, and she was decorating the background.

84

II:I4 Anne finished with decoration. Pencil in hand, she looked
up at the blackboard (one second), write "Mother," said to
herself "adjective-—let's see . . . " (four second pause).
Asked "how do you spell lovable? Let's see . . . "
Scratched head, looked up at Blackboard, right board. "I
want one with two syllables . . . " (paused l6 seconds).
Jumped up, "Yeechl" Went to wash glue off of hands.

II:I7 Sitting back in chair, leg bent, elbow resting on knee.
Then wrote, "sweet, kind."
II:I9 Julie asked Anne if she could draw a butterfly.
Anne: I don't know; you mean like this? (She drew.)
Julie: "Yes. Thanks, Anne." (Fieldnotes, 4/5/83)
Julie went back to her seat, and Anne went back to writing her poem. Then
another student came over and interrupted Anne, asking her to draw a butterfly.
Anne again complied, then went back to her writing.

While preferring to work alone, Anne seemed able to interact with others,
to do several things simultaneously and still get back to her writing. It was
through her artistic ability that she seemed to be able to interact with the other
students. Her writing did not appear to be negatively affected by these
interactions.

In summary, on examination of the interactions of the three target
students indicated that they responded and initiated contacts with other students
in a variety of ways and for a variety of purposes. What seems to be common to
all the students, however, is the fact that these interactions were a distraction,
but they were able to handle the distractions in their own ways and successfully
get back to the writing at hand. In Mindy's case, she was able to use the
interactions to help her with decisions about her writing. Kathy's interactions
showed her concern for completing the task at hand and how other students

sometimes distracted her. Anne was able to concentrate on her writing but her

85

interactions point to her love for art, its importance for her, and how she "made

room for it" in her writing.

Oral Language and Its Relationship to Writing
There were three ways that oral language and writing were examined in
this study. These were in looking at (0) students' verbal behavior during group
literacy episodes; (b) target students' verbalizations with other students,
teachers, and observers during individual literacy episodes; and (c) target
students' sub-vocalizations while writing.

Students' Verbal Behaviors During
Group Literacy Episodes

 

The oral language behaviors of students in the classroom were reported in
some detail under "Teacher's Instruction" and "Students' Verbal Behaviors." The
primary oral behaviors seen, as reported, were responses to teacher's questions
and these were of short duration. Students did not engage in extensive discourse
or in exchanges of ideas to any great extent.

Specifically, during group literacy episodes, the amount and type of oral

language behavior varied among the tamet students. Mindy was the ;most

 

verbally involved in the group episodes. Of the IO types of verbal behaviors
identified (Figure 7), she exhibited seven of these behaviors. The major
categories of verbal behavior for Mindy were questions asked of the teacher and
initiation of comments. In asking procedural questions, Mindy primarily showed
concern that the task be done correctly and that the expectations of the task be
understood. A typical example occurred after the teacher and students had
discussed story structure and had been told that they would be writing their own
stories. Mindy asked, "How long are you going to let us work on these things?"

(Fieldnotes, 3/3/83) and "Does it have to be one of those topics?" In adding to

86

and initiating comments about concepts being discussed, Mindy demonstrated
involvement in the episode beyond a simple recall of information and showed a
degree of interest in and knowledge about what was being discussed. At one
point in the group literacy episode, the teacher was discussing different cultures.
Mindy offered, "Here are some Indian legends," and she opened her desk to show
the book. Another time she stated, "I read some authors do put more in the
setting. If Nancy Drew talks to Dad, it tells what she said; sometimes authors
will say what her face looked like and lots of details" (Fieldnotes, 3/3/83).

Kathy's verbalizations during the group literacy episodes were few. She
responded to questions by recalling specific information. In fact this was her
primary way of responding. The teacher asked, for example, "What is the next
element of story structure after the setting?" Kathy responded, "The initiating
event" (Fieldnotes, 3/3/83). When she answered questions, most were answered
with short phrases.

Kathy had only one verbalization in which she initiated a comment. At
that time, she elaborated on a point made by the teacher. She volunteered the
following, "Sometimes you put weather in the setting" (Fieldnotes, 3/3/83.
Again, the comment was short and direct.

Anne showed two types of behavior. She asked procedural questions and
responded to the teacher's questions by recalling specific information. A typical
procedural question was asked by Anne during the group literacy episode when
they were discussing the trip essays when she asked, "Can we write more than
four paragraphs?" (Fieldnotes, l/27/83). Her primary concern expressed by her
verbal behavior seemed to be in making the teacher's expectations of the task
clear.

A second type of verbal behavior was responses to questions asked, which

required recall of information. Anne responded correctly and her answers were

87

short and to the point. She responded only twice in this category. In looking at
these responses, it is clear that there was a difference in the number and type of
behavior displayed by the verbal target students. Mindy and Anne used language
to gain information about how to proceed with the writing ask. Mindy, however,
engaged more in extensive talk about writing concepts than did the other two
students. Kathy and Anne's verbalizations were primarily responses rather than
generations of ideas or talk about concepts.

Students' Oral Language During Interactions
in Individual Literacy Episodes

 

 

The students' oral language during individual literacy episodes, as they
interacted with the teacher, observer, and peers, was shown to be related to

writing in three major ways. Students used oral language to clarifj meanings and

 

stimulate ideas. they asked their peers and others about whether a portion of

 

text made sense or whether a character's reaction was the way they would react
if they were that character. Other examples show students using language to
question other students in an effort to stimulate their thinking, to help them
generate ideas. In writing an article about a carnival, for example, Kathy
stated, "I was thinking about how I should put this; I want to tell about the people
who make the carnival a success" (F ieldnotes, 4/28/83).

Oral language was used to share writing experiences, to verbalize how their

 

writing was progressing, and what they were writing about. These sharings were

 

outlets for both positive and negative feelings about their writing. Anne, in
writing her autobiographical sketch, stated that it was easy to write about her
culture and showed a great deal of enthusiasm (Fieldnotes, 2/3/83). On the other
hand, when writing a report on Martin Luther King, she stated, "I wish we didn't

have to do this--this is so stupid."

88

Students occasionally went to one another's desks and asked what they
were writing about and shared with each other more specific information about
their writing. Jendy came over to Mindy's desk, and Mindy asked what her report
was one. Jendy replied, "O. J. Simpson." Mindy went on to talk about her report
on Ethel Waters, that "Ethel started out by singing songs that she knew. I think
that's really good she went so far" (Fieldnotes, 3/l/83).

Students used oral language as a means of seeking approval for their

 

writing. They asked the teacher, observer, and other students to react to what
they had written or wanted to know if their work were neat. This approval
seeking occurred while the writing was in progress and seemed to encourage
students to continue with more confidence.

Finally, oral language was used in a way that showed no relationship to
writing. Students engaged in general conversation about school, play, home,
reading or spelling, or relationships with each other. While these conversations
did not seem to directly aid writing, they may have helped indirectly in that they
provided a "break" from writing. In Mindy's case, this oral change of pace served
to relieve tension. In other cases it appeared to be a distraction for students.

Oral language then appears to be an integral part of writing as students
used it as a way to test their understanding and perceptions of the environment.
Language appeared to be a bridge between meanings and experiences in the
environment and students' ability to internally represent meaning as they wrote.

Sub-vocalization During
Individual Literacy Episodes

 

 

Careful examination of the individual literacy episodes for the three target
students showed surprisingly few instances of sub-vocalization of students while
writing. In fact there were only three instances noted in the data: two of Mindy

and one of Kathy. The literature suggested that sub-vocalization among young

89

children (six year olds) was quite prevalent and that talk provided both meaning
and, for some children, a systematic means for getting that meaning on paper
(Dyson, l98l; Dyson & Genishi, I982).

The target students in this study showed similar behaviors to those of the

reflective writers described by Graves (I975). These reflective writers were

 

more similar to competent adult writers-«exhibiting little overt language to
accompany writing, a growing sense of audience, and periodic re=readings of
their text. The absence of sub-vocalization suggested that the target students
had completed the transition from the contextually oriented oral tradition of

early home environment to the de-contextualized literate tradition of the school.

Summary of Task Environment

 

The findings which describe the task environment and its influence on the
writing process were reported from four perspectives: (a) the socio-cultural
background of the students, (b) the teacher's instruction and students' verbal
behavior, (c) the social interaction of the students with each other, and (d) the
oral language and its relationship to writing. Figure 8 summarizes these
findings.

In examining the aspects of task environment related to the socio-cultural
backgrounds, Figure 8 shows that the target students had somewhat similar home
environments which supported the goals of the teacher for written literacy.
Both reading and writing were done in the home of each student, and parents

offered support for student achievement and writing.

90

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mean no auou3l

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can commusoucu mm: mewpmmmn mcfiufiuz um: pummusouca

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mzz< Vikki >O-HZ

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Hausuasu
Iofioom

9I

In the teacher's instruction, the content for writing stressed organization
and structure at the paragraph and whole text level. Idea development was also
a part of the writing content, whereas a de-emphasis was placed on orthography.
The teacher orchestrated the whole group episodes by determining the topic to
be discussed and by asking questions in an effort to achieve the purposes for the
lesson and for the students. The findings showed that there was only limited
discourse from the students as they did not volunteer information or elaborate on
their ideas to any great extent.

The interactions of the students indicated that some were helpful in
moving the writing forward, and other interactions hindered the process. For all
three students, there were instances in which the interactions were a distraction.
The target students in the group episodes varied somewhat in their verbal
behavior, with Mindy being more assertive and asking questions of the teacher
and initiating comments. Anne and Kathy did more responding to the teacher's
questions. Finally, the oral language of the students was an important part of
writing as it was used to clarify meanings and stimulate ideas. It was also used

to share writing experiences and to assess how writing was progressing.

The findings thus far have addressed the first perspective on writing with
which the study deals, that of the contextual environment for writing. The
second perspective on writing, that of the cognitive processes of competent
writers, is reported below. In this section, we look at the three target students

and their writing processes.

COGNITIVE PROCESSES OF THE TARGET STUDENTS

As the students wrote, they each exhibited ways that they employed

92

mental activities to bring forth different kinds of knowledge that they possessed
and how they used this knowledge to express themselves in writing. Because
data were collected from writers in action, the dynamics of composing were
reported. There were no neat packages of behavior that were necessarily
common to all three students, as they experienced writing as individuals. The
behaviors of the students were reported under the three major processes of

writing, those of planning, transcribing, and reviewing/revising.

 

 

The planning process consists of the generation of ideas, organizing of

 

these ideas, and setting of goals in order to establish a writing plan to guide the
production of text to meet these goals. In the target students, behaviors which
were indicators of these subprocesses of planning were observed to varying
degrees. These behaviors indicated (a) ways that the students come up with
ideas; (b) the kind of specific framework or schema, if any, that they had in
place to guide organization; and (c) whether there were an internal criterion for
judging the text.

The transcribing process acts under the guidance of the writing plan to

 

produce language that corresponds to the information and ideas that the writer
attempts to convey. What has been done is to directly observe competent
writers at work. As they wrote, they made stops or "surfacings" which allowed a
view of problem solving attempts. These surfacings or problem solving stops are
the glimpses of the underlying mental processes of the writer. These problem
solving stops revealed the writer's attention to constraints that are imposed on
the writing process. These constraints reflect global plans (meaning audience,
persona) and local plans (orthography, grammar, syntax) and reveal pg! the
writer gets to her goal. The constraints that the writers attend to during these

problem solving stops are reported in the transcribing section.

93

The reviewing/revising process consists of reading and editing of what was

 

transcribed to detect and correct perceived inaccuracies in expression of
meaning and/or linguistic and orthographic conventions. The findings about the
rewriting/revising report the target students' incidences of and purposes for
reading what they have written and the types of changes (revisions) made as a
result of this reading.

The planning, transcribing, and reviewing processes of individual students
are reported in narrative form for each student with emphasis on the writing
strategies and problem solving stops that they exhibited while writing.

A figure at the end of the narrative further elucidates these processes in

graphic form.

Planning
It's like a square frame; it starts here and I've got my idea all

planned out and the details go around it; and if I want to change a

place, I've got to work those details in, but I've still got to have that

basic idea in there somewhere. (Interview, 4/2l/83)

Mindy's statement about planning was supported in the observational data.
She seemed to have a definite idea of what she wanted to write about and
wanted to adhere closely to this plan. In fact, in writing a story to be published
in book form, she resisted suggestions to make some changes in her text by both
the teacher and an author who visited the classroom. On one occasion, the
teacher suggested that she might want to leave out a portion of text (note
teacher's comments encircled page 20 of her draft, Figure 9). Mindy stated,
however, that her characters' conversation and involvement with her teaching
(Mrs. Longing) was important to the plot. The author who visited the classroom

took Mindy's story, along with others, to read outside of class and to critique.

Mindy stated, "Ms. Roberts told me a few suggestions; but to fol low those, I'd

94

have to change my whole book around, and I don't have a whole year to do that!"
(smiled). Here, again, she resisted deviating from her plan, partly because of the
time involved, but she also seemed committed to her original plan.

When having to make an initial decision about what to write, Mindy had
difficulty. In the writing of their stories, Mindy and Kathy sat together talking
for a while. Mindy was heard stating, "I don't know how to start." She began to
write about seven minutes later. She and Kathy were involved in a controversy
about sharing what they had written which added little to Mindy's productivity in
getting off to a good start. She continued writing after recess, however, but was
not "overly enthusiastic" as the observer noted.

Mindy discussed her difficulty with the teacher the next day as the journal
excerpt notes, " . . . Mindy wanted to talk to me in private and waited until the
others . . . " In this conference, she was very concerned that her story be "right"
for her and that it make sense. Here she was concerned in her planning with
audience. In the interview, too, she also expressed concern for sufficient time to
plan.

I feel that when you write, like I should be given some time
because when I write and just all of a sudden write, and you've got,

let's say--okay, Mindy, you've got a week to do it, like it's rushing me

and I can't put down all the ideas like I want them, so I think I like it

better when I've got the idea and have time to think about it and time

to plan my story because I plan my story in my head, you know;

because I've got my story and then I add details and what I want as I

go along. (Interview, 4/2I/83)

Three points about Mindy's planning were brought out in the excerpts.
First, it was clear that she herself had to feel that what she had come up with
was "right." She seemed to have criteria for what was an acceptable piece of
writing and that influenced her planning. The second thing that came out was

that Mindy did not want to be restricted by time in making decisions about her

writing, as was usually the case in school. She talked about its taking her a week

95

or two to think about her ideas. Finally, she was concerned that the text make
sense, that it seem "right" to the reader who would see it. Here she considered

the audience in her planning.

96

 

Figure 9. Excerpt of Mindy's story with teacher's comments.

97

Planning was not a one-time process of Mindy; rather, it occurred over and
over as her writing progressed. It had to occur each time a decision was made.
This type of planning will be considered in the discussion of the transcribing

process.

Transcribing

 

While Mindy actually engaged in writing as a paper/pencil process, it was
possible to observe the several cognitive processes that were used as she
constructed meaning. One way to observe these processes was to examine her
behavior when she paused during writing. As these pauses were examined

closely, it became clear that most of them were centered around global concerns

 

(expression of meaning, audience response). For example, she focused on
meaning when she stopped frequently to plan the actions of her characters.
Typical of this was the instance in which she decided on the course of the
"breakfast conversation" between two of the main characters in her story. She
gave considerable thought to who would initiate the conversation and the course
that the conversation would take.

During another pause she deliberated on a character reaction.

She's writing (pauses one second). Looked up, continued writing .
. . (paused 30 seconds), put pencil down. Huddles; seemed to sense

something was wrong.

Then she said to the observer, "Do you think a cat could know
that?" (Fieldnotes, 3/22/83)

Here as Mindy wrote, her attention was focused on the authenticity of meaning
that is conveyed to her audience. Again, Mindy stopped to consider the action of
her main character, Tassie, discussing how she would react to the "tragedy" of
her grandmother's kidnapping: "Well, when something tragic happens, people
usually hug their pets so that could be Tassie's reaction-~right?" (Fieldnotes,

3/ 22/ 83)

98

These examples underscore Mindy's concern for meaning and audience. she
drew information from her memory and selected that which was correct and
appropriate to the concept she was trying to express to her audience.

During transcribing, other pauses were illustrative of Mindy's attempts to
use language in a way that appropriately expressed the meaning that she was
working to express. In writing her text, Mindy had to draw on her knowledge of
language forms and how to use these forms correctly in written language. In the
example below, while writing her story, she stopped to think about how to
rephrase a sentence that she had just written, explaining that Tassie had no
relatives. "Mindy paused. 'Tassie didn't have many uncles and aunts, let alone
(really bothered her).' Mindy said this didn't sound right. Changed to " . . . aunts
that lived nearby'" (Fieldnotes, 3/I6/83). She had probably used the expression
let alone in oral language, but seemed to draw on her knowledge of written
language usage to realize that this was not appropriate.

Mindy gave attention to choice of words as she wrote. She tried to use
words that showed excitement or created interest. This seemed to reflect a
definite influence of instruction. In one example she explained to the observer
that "Mrs. D. said the words should be more interesting, exciting." Mindy then
went on to show her an example in which she used the words, "' . . . a hidden
message,‘ gasped Tassie" instead of the less interesting version "' . . . so that's
the note' said Tassie." She also used "Tassie responded wearily" instead of
"Tassie said."

When transcribing, Mindy become concerned about the physical layout of
her story. This occurred after the teacher was overheard discussing chapter
organization with other students. Mindy said aloud to the observer, "I'm going to
have to choose chapters and paragraphs!" Up to this time, Mindy had not been

concerned with how the overall text would be structured. She was organizing

99

and expressing thoughts into cohesive units, but physically there was no
indication of where one paragraph ended and another began. In other writing
that was not as long (report, trip essay, newspaper essay), Mindy was able to
structure her paragraphs, although much of this was done by the teacher when
she provided the organizational framework during the whole group episodes. In
an interview, when asked about whether she was aware of thinking of such things
as paragraphing and punctuation, Mindy said, "I put them aside . . . I know it's
awfully hard to read, but I think I'd rather write than worry about the
paragraphs. As for Kathy, she writes and paragraphs and automatically it comes
down; she can't help it." In terms of spelling and punctuation, Mindy was able to
put these on hold. She felt it was more important to concentrate on "getting her
ideas down." Indeed in examining the draft of her story, it's clear that she had
not given attention to spelling. It is noteworthy, too, that of the questions and
comments to the observer and teacher, not one of them involved concern about

how to spell a word.

Review/Revisions

 

Mindy did much of her revision as she went along. She would stop to
evaluate what she had written, then she would make a change. Sometimes she
would ask the observer or teacher how her writing was going. Other times she
would ask a classmate when writing her story. The fieldnotes give this account
of Mindy's changing a portion of text: "Paused, pencil eraser to mouth, 'When
Tas got downstairs she found breakfast ready . . . ' Paused to change sentence
structure; wanted two ideas instead of just one" (Fieldnotes, 3/l7/83). Much of
Mindy's writing was characterized by these types of changes as the writing

progressed. In a sample page of her story (Appendix E), she inserted a part at

IOO

the asterisk to keep the story line in tact. She realized that she left out a part
of the story that was important to the credibility of the plot.

She reviewed her text often to see where she left off and to check to see if
something made sense. When she hadn't written for a while, she had to review to
"reacquaint herself with the story." When she reviewed her text the final time
after it was completed, she tried to check for spelling. The draft shows how she
wrote over words to correct spelling errors. This was how she addressed spelling
concerns and grammatical concerns. She inserted words that were missing and
added correct punctuation and capitalization (see Appendix E).

Some revision was not observed by the observer. In the interview,
however, the question was asked:

Q: So, do you go back a lot while you're writing and read something
over and then see if it really makes sense?

M: Well, if it combines, like if I read a part of it, and I stopped, and
I skipped some, and then I read what I had written, and I want to
see if those two have some sense of connection; because if they
don't, then; I've got to change something. (Interview, 4/2I/83)
The observation data supported this statement and showed that Mindy attempted

to make changes which would keep the meaning in tact.

Summary

Mindy's writing seemed to be guided by global concerns, and that was
where the primary cognitive processes seemed to focus. The planning process
was marked by Mindy, beginning with a basic idea and then adding to it as she
continued to write. Planning was adversely affected by imposition of time
restrictions. When Mindy was engaged in the transcribing process, global plans
guided cognitive activities. She searched for meaning and authenticity in
character reactions and story line. She also expended effort in searching for

language that expressed the desired meaning and specific words that not only

IOI

were functional but aesthetically pleasing in that they needed to be interesting
and exciting. The local concerns (physical layout, orthography) were put aside
during transcribing. For example, words were frequently misspelled and
handwriting was often messy. Revisions were made in progress (as the writing
occurred), particularly those having to do with meaning. Other revisions related
to spelling, paragraphing, punctuation, and chapter organization were done after
the text was completed. The final draft of the story to be published was typed,

based on the revisions of the first draft.

Kathy

Planning
The first thing I do is think about if you have a choice, what will

be easier to write about, and I get my characters. Usually, I think

about what they will be doing . . . . Usually, I get to my plot and then

that's when I start thinking about how my story is going to end . . . .

It is hard to have a good ending to a story you have if it is really

complicated or it is really a big scene or something so it's kind of

hard to have a good ending. . . . The story could build up to that.

Sometimes I do know what my ending will be, and I just build my

story up to that. (Interview, 4/l/83)

Initial planning began for Kathy during the whole group episodes so that
when she got her paper, she did, indeed, have an idea and a plan of sorts to write
about. She stated in the interview that she started thinking while the teacher
was talking and explaining the writing assignment. However, when writing her
story initially, Kathy seemed to have difficulty getting started. She stated that
while usually she could start right away, sometimes she waited because she had
to think awhile. There was evidence in the observation data that she and Mindy
did sit and discuss their stories and hesitantly share the beginnings as they slowly
developed. At the second writing session, Kathy asked the teacher for help with
her story, stating that she was having trouble getting from the setting to the

initiating event. She also stated that she wasn't satisfied with her setting.

I02

It is significant here that in her planning, Kathy used the elements of story
structure given by the teacher in whole group episode #3. she seemed to use
these elements as an organizational guide for her writing. This type of
organization framework seemed to help Kathy in all her writing and eliminate
her need to do her own planning related to organizing.

In examining Kathy's story (see Appendix E), it was clear that she began
her planning with her characters. The characters were a projection of her
friends, and she used some of their personality traits in her story. She drew on
her knowledge of very familiar behavior patterns and gave them to her
characters. Her emphasis was primarily on character development and less on
the development of her plot. This explained part of her difficulty in getting
from the setting to the initiating event.

In her planning, Kathy did not seem very restricted by time for planning,
and she stated that she started getting her ideas as the teacher was talking. "
sometimes, I'll wait, though (until the teacher finishes talking), 'cuz, like when
we were writing our books, I waited, then I started. I had to think awhile.
Usually, I think while you're talking" (Interview, 4/l/83). Here it seemed that
Kathy could do her initial planning rather quickly. Again, this underscores her
planning for characters and working her way to the plot as she clarified in her

mind what her characters would be "doing."

Transcribing

 

As Kathy wrote, like Mindy, it was possible to observe the type of mental
activities in which she engaged. In closely examining her behaviors, it appeared
that most of her activities were centered around local concerns (physical layout,
orthographics, and word choice). She seemed particularly concerned with

physical aspects of paragraphing. In one instance, Kathy was waiting for the

l03

teacher to read her paper and began looking it over, realizing she forgot to
indent. She said to Mindy, "'Oops, I forgot to indent.‘ Quickly corrects this"
(Fieldnotes, 2/3/83). In another example, as Kathy was writing, the following
observation appeared in the fieldnotes: "Wrote one line, looked over again to
Mindy and Mary (two seconds); continued writing, turned back to page 9 to see
how long her paragraph was. She told me then she'd know when to start a new
one" (F ieldnotes, 4/2l/83). Her statement to the observer indicated again that
there was a formula for Kathy which told her how long her paragraphs should be,
based not on the cohesiveness of ideational content, but on physical length.

As she wrote, Kathy took note of her choice of words several times. In
some cases it seemed to be motivated by a sense that a given word would simply
be good to use. In the draft of her story, for example, Kathy said, "I'm going to
use the word passageuthat's one of our spelling words" (F ieldnotes, 4/2l/83). On
other occasions, she was concerned about whether the word was aesthetically
appropriate. In a portion of her writing, she was concerned about the repeated
use of the pronoun M. "It's funny; I have eight characters, so I always use the
word Iggy. It's kind of boring. I have to use the girls or something" (Fieldnotes,
4/2l/83). This also showed a sense of awareness of audience and what was
pleasing to them.

Spelling concerns were very evident during the time when Kathy was
transcribing. In fact, most of Kathy's interactions with the observer were
centered around the spelling of words. Among those that the observer noted

were the following:

l0:2l Out at r ; Kathy pausing (six seconds), looked
around room. She asked me if "recess" is correct
spelling . . .

I0:27 Kathy erased. "I was spelling from. I always put an

g instead of an m. Kathy asked me how to spell
amazement.

 

I04

”:05 Kathy paused for five seconds and yawned, looked at
fingernails and pencil in hand; started to write. She
asked me how to spell introduce. (F ieldnotes,
4/l7/83)

Several other examples show the emphasis that Kathy placed on the spelling of
words correctly. This emphasis on correctness along with her concern for the
physical layout of her writing underscored Kathy's orientation toward local
rather than global concerns.

Only one occasion was noted in which Kathy paused to concentrate on the
meaning conveyed. When Kathy was writing an article for the class newspaper,
the fieldnotes report, "Kathy is working on carnival article . . . pause (three
seconds); new paragraph. She says, 'I was thinking about how I should put this. I
want to tell about the people who make the carnival a success'" (F ieldnotes,
4/2l/83). Her concern for meaning here may have been due to a personal interest
in the carnival and who helped because both of her parents were very much
involved.

A statement Kathy made as she was writing seemed to express her feeling
about writing and the lack of time she devoted to attending to meaning. As she
wrote, the fieldnotes state, " . . . Kathy went back up to the word haunted on
page 9 and made it neater. She turned the page over. 'Finally, I'm in the lens!"'
(Fieldnotes, 4/2l/83).

In response to an interview question, when asked about punctuation,
paragraphing, spelling, Kathy stated, "Sometimes like if I want to get done
quickly, I then . . . I'll put the punctuation in later; but most of the time, I'll put
them in as I go. Then I don't have to do it later." For Kathy, the punctuation,
paragraphing, and even spelling did not appear difficult. Rather, it seemed that
she was doing much of this automatically. She stated this, "Yup, all of it is

automatic . . . " (Interview, 4/2I/83).

IOS

Review/Revision

 

The reviewing of the text that Kathy did was done intermittently
throughout the time she was writing. The primary reason for reviewing the text
was to see where she left off. Other reasons were nearly always to indent for a
new paragraph which she forgot to do several times and to make her writing
neater. Because of the care she took with spelling and neatness, in her mind
there was very little need to revise her text after she completed it. The first
two pages from the first draft (Figure 9) of her story graphically demonstrate
why Kathy felt little need to revise. The final draft, that was typed, bore close
resemblance to her initial writing because of the very few revisions made. In
view of the fact that she seemed to be content with the initial meaning and plot
development of the story as it evolved and her original copy was accurate and
neat, she revised very little after her writing was completed.

In an attempt to get Kathy to think more about global issues in her writing,
the teacher suggested that Kathy add more elaboration in one of her stories. She
resisted, as the following excerpt shows.

Kathy: Mrs. D., first of all, the way my story is, I don't want to
do that.

Teacher: Why not?
Kathy: Just because I don't want that in there.
Teacher: Well, by writing "the week was over," you really left the

reader hanging. Maybe if you added what went on during
the week, it would make it more interesting.

Kathy: Smiles and agrees.

9:55 Kathy starts writing about the week. She giggles at first
as she writes. How'd you think of ideas to start writing so
soon?

Kathy: I started thinking when Mrs. D. was talking . . . I told her

during my interview that I start to think while she's
talking (smiles).

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l08

9:57 Kathy is writing diligently . . . "thought she would make it
and she did/I"

Kathy: Started to talk about Mary's birthday party and roller
skating.

IO:00 Kathy continues with her story. LEft hand holding paper
down. She erased. I asked if she spelled something

wrong. "Whenever I write a line thinking ahead, so I
wrote the next word--ahead." Kathy asked me how to
spell committee. Paumree seconds); turned to see
what Was were doing. Kathy with a smile, "I
hope she's (Mrs. D) satisfied!"

|O:Oll Kathy got up to show Mrs. D.

Here the teacher's attempt to have Kathy look more closely at the meaning
expressed in her writing had little positive affect in terms of changing her
attitude about the need for more concern in this area.

In response to a question about revision, Kathy said, "Sometimes I'll look
back to see if it makes sense or should I put something else in later in the story.
Like I was reading a book and they didn't even look back or anything and they put
. . . there was . . ." She gave an example of a book she read that didn't make
sense because of conflicting information given by the author.

There was inconsistency in the observation data and the interview data on
the revision process for Kathy. She showed very little evidence of making
substantive changes, although she articulated that she did in the interview data.

In the book written for publication, she showed no evidence of revisions in the

longhand version other than spelling and punctuation changes.

Summary

Kathy was a confident writer who was guided by local concerns and plans
for completing the writing tasks. The planning process was relatively easy for
her when the teacher provided an organizational framework. There were times

when she wrote about a trip, on autobiographical sketch, a newspaper article,

|09

and a story to be published that Kathy responded attentively and welcomed the
"schema" for writing provided by the teacher.

Transcribing for Kathy was marked by cognitive processes dealing with
orthographic concerns and about the physical layout of the text. She was able to
use the language in clearly expressing meaning. She did not concentrate on this
aspect of writing to refine her meaning, but, rather, it seemed less important
than completing the task.

Kathy made only minor revisions because of the careful attention she gave
to spelling, neatness, and paragraphing as she transcribed. She showed a
satisfaction for the meaning conveyed the first time and saw no need to change

if.

Anne

 

Planning
The first thing I do is think of an idea--something to write about

. . . then I think how I'm going to put it into words. I have all my

ideas, then go along, figure out that doesn't make sense, so change it

. . . . I usually know how it's going to end. (Interview, 4/l3/83)

At first glance, Anne's first two sentences seemed to be an obvious
assertion. However, the statement showed a great deal of insight. She
presented the fact that not only did she need to come up with an idea, but
putting this idea into words required thought. She realized that writing required
a specific way of connecting words and sentences and that she had to deal with
that. Anne stated that she thought about how she was going to put her ideas into
words at the beginning. It is reasonable to assume that she thought about this as
she got into her text as well. In fact, she stated that she went along and made

determinations that something didn't make sense, so she changed it. Based on

the interview statement then, it can be said that Anne planned for producing a

llO

paper by generating specific ideas and by planning how to translate those ideas
into language.

In planning for writing, Anne also showed that she was aware of the need
for procedural plans. In some cases these plans were specified by the teacher.
Anne was usually quick to ask questions about ho_w_ the writing should be done.
For example, the teacher had an outline on the board and was discussing the
content of the paper when, referring to the outline, Anne asked, "Do we do it
like that?" (Fieldnotes, l/27/83). At this point, she was thinking ahead, planning
while the teacher was explaining what to include in the paper. She realized that
she needed to plan her format in terms of sequencing and clumping together of
ideas. Later, she also asked about length, asking if she could write more than
four paragraphs.

When the plan (topic and format) was not provided by the teacher, Anne
wrestled with coming up with an idea. In writing her story to be published in a
book, she stated that she didn't know what to write about. She eventually came
up with the idea to write a story entitled "The Jungle." When asked how she
came up with that idea, she stated, "That's all I can think about now" (F ieldnotes,
3/3/83). Anne seemed limited by time as she said 92’1- The implication was that
if she had longer to think, she might possibly come up with something different.

Beyond the initial planning, Anne seemed to sense the need to have what
she was writing make sense to the reader. She stated this in an interview. Other
planning during writing was focused on physical features of the text. Anne was
quite preoccupied with this; in fact, this concern is graphically illustrated in the

findings reported during the transcribing process which follows.

Transcribing

 

Anne's transcribing behavior was analyzed through observational data,
through analysis of her written products, and through interview data. Her
behavior, more than that of either of the other two students, seemed to be most
affected by the particular genre in which she was writing. When writing the
autobiographical sketch, she was very enthusiastic and wrote extensively without
many pauses. The fieldnotes state, "Anne has written one side of a page, is
diligently working on the back sheet." Later in the episode, the following note is
made, "Anne still working neatly. I asked her if it's easy to write about her
culture. 'Yes.' She was very enthused." The text of that paper (see Appendix E)
demonstrated that Anne, on her first draft, was able to attend to the physical
and organizational aspects of paragraphing as she indented appropriately for the
most part and had appropriate information included within each paragraph. She
considered and used punctuation as she transcribed, using not only periods but
colons as well. While the colons were not always used properly, in most
instances they were. Anne also used commas when separating things in a series
which is a fairly advanced skill. Additionally, Anne capitalized holidays
appropriately and only failed to capitalize Chinese and American.

What is evident here is that Anne was able to employ cognitive processes
necessary to attend to orthographic concerns while conveying the meaning that
was necessary for the reader to have. This was probably possible because of the
freedom Anne had from planning and organizing of informational content. The
outline that the teacher provided gave Anne an external framework to use in
organizing and selecting information about which to write.

This point was clearly made when Anne's writing behavior when writing her
story is contrasted with the writing above. In the writing of a story, Anne had to

choose her own topic, plan for the organization of the content, and make

l|2

decisions about what to include. In other words, she had to engage in more
complex cognitive processes. While the physical layout and orthography were
correct, the meaning and logical were somewhat inconsistent (see Appendix E).
To examine this more closely, the most consistently observed type of cognitive
activity was related to physical layout and orthographic concerns. She was
especially concerned about handwriting as the following excerpt shows, "Anne is
being very careful about her handwriting. She erases almost every six or seven
words because she doesn't think they're neat enough" (Fieldnotes, 11/20/83). And,
if Anne stopped writing after two minutes, the fieldnotes pointed out her
attending to paragraphing: "Anne sat back in chair, stretched and sighed. Anne
asked me if she could start a new paragraph for a quotation 'Mother knows . . . '
(p. 6 of copy)" (F ieldnotes, 4/20/83).

As Anne attended to the physical layout of her text, she was at the same
time constructing meaning for the reader. At only one time was it noted that
Anne interrupted her writing to consider global concerns (meaning, audience,
personna). This was written in the fieldnotes in the following manner. "Anne
said, 'Gosh, I was thinking about the part of the story that doesn't make sense."'
The observer responded, "Why not?" Anne said, "I wrote a part that mother told
Joy 0 story and wanted her to pass it down. It doesn't make sense to me." The
observer asked Anne, "Why leave it in if it doesn't make sense?" Anne told the
observer that she might take it out. Anne never revised or deleted that part of
the story, however.

It appears then that Anne's cognitive processes were involved most in local
concerns and that attention to global details was secondary. It also appears that
when having to decide on topics and organization as well as content of her
writing, she faced the problem of excessive constraints on her as a writer. She

appeared to have set priorities and "satisficed" on meanings and concentrate on

|l3

organization and orthographics. She made a decision about where she would

concentrate her efforts.

Review/Revision

 

Anne's review of her writing involved looking at her text to see if it were
neatly done, as in the case when she erased an e to "make it fatter" (Fieldnotes,
4/20/83). She also went back to read where she left off so that she would know
where to begin again.

The fieldnotes document no revisions such as the one above in which she
was attending to letter formation and neatness. But examination of the draft of
Anne's story showed places where Anne went back and made changes in the text
in preparation for having the story typed. These changes give information about
the nature of the revisions.

Several revisions were designed to give added information to the reader.

 

Note in Figure ll, portions of the text from pages I and 2 showed insertions that
Anne made. On page one she wrote, "She had no brothers and sisters (but she had
a cat)." It is not clear what the importance of this revision is to the story since
the significance of the cat was never mentioned again. It seems as if Anne
wanted to give more detail to the reader about her characters and place.
Similarly, she added the name of the hotel where her characters slept when she
inserted "called the Holly Hotel." This name was not mentioned again in the
story.

Anne made other revisions that demonstrated her awareness that she

 

needed a referent that the audience could identify without ambiguity. In writing

 

about a conversation between two female characters, Anne had initially used she

referring to both. After re-reading, she realized that she had to identify each by

Ilh

s

 

 

 

20%;". ;
win {i/W/

   

 

Figure ll: Excerpts from pages I and 2 of Anne's text, showing insertions.

”5

name so she could be understood. This revision helped to clarify meaning for the
reader.

These reflect the only two types of revision that were related to meaning
concerns. Anne also read through the story and added phrases that had been left
out but needed to be added to clarify the meaning of the sentence. For example,
she had written, "The time probably wouldn't be till morning and came to her
mother's room." She inserted "at morning she" after 933 which gave the
sentence meaning.

Although changes were made, there were no major revisions in content of
the story as far as plot and characterization were concerned. Her one reference
to concern about the story's making sense was never addressed as she decided to

leave it as it was.

Summary

Anne's writing was guided by a determination to efficiently complete the
task at hand. This was reflected in her planning, transcribing, and revision. The
planning process saw Anne's major cognitive activity directed toward deciding on
an idea and addressing the linguistic concerns necessary to put these ideas in
writing. She also planned procedurally how she was going to complete a task
(i.e., use teacher's outline, write several paragraphs).

Transcribing varied depending on the genre in which Anne was writing. Her
primary cognitive processes were directed toward fine motor concerns of
handwriting and orthographic concerns of spelling and punctuation. Attention to
global concerns were minimal as Anne seemed content to go with her first
expression of meaning.

Revisions made by Anne were primarily concerned with handwriting and

neatness. She made some changes in wording to decrease ambiguity.

||6

Summary of Findings Related to
Specific Cognitive Processes of the Target Students

The findings are summarized in Figure l2 and show strategies and problem
solving stops observed in the three students. During planning, Mindy seemed to
have the most developed schema of the three students. She would fill in and
modify as she wrote. Kathy's writing was less dependent on a general plan than
on character development and actions. She would also use elements of story
structure in guiding her planning, switching to this when she got lost. Anne
started with general ideas and added to them and modified as she went along.
She was also guided by procedural concerns such as length and format. Both
Mindy and Anne were aware of audience and sense making.

The transcribing process (Figure l2) shows that Mindy was most concerned
with global plans (meaning and audience) and less concerned with local concerns
such as physical layout. On the other hand, Kathy and Anne were making "stops"
that placed attention on local concerns such as physical layout and spelling with
few stops that focused on global concerns such as meaning and audience.

The review and revising followed along the same lines as the transcribing.
Mindy reviewed her text frequently as she wrote to find her place and to check
to see if what she had written made sense. She revised as she went along,
primarily for meaning. Kathy reviewed her text frequently, checking on
paragraphing and neatness of her writing. She made revisions as she was writing.
These were primarily punctuation revisions. Anne reviewed frequently for
neatness and to find her place. She revised in progress for word meaning on only

two occasions.

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ll8

Findings related to the task environment for writing and the specific
cognitive processes of the target students have been presented in this chapter.
The discussion of what these findings mean and their implications for the

classroom, methodology, and further research are presented in Chapter V.

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR
PRACTICE AND RESEARCH
Two major questions guided the study and were cited at the beginning of
Chapter IV as the findings were reported. It is appr0priate to draw conclusions
from these findings--to discuss the meaning of what was reported--by referring
again to the two questions. The first addresses the task environment for writing
and seeks to identify the ways that the task environment influences the writing
process. The second question seeks to identify the cognitive processes used by
competent third grade writers. Conclusions about these two aspects of the study

are discussed below.

The Task Environment for Writing

The issue of task environment was raised in the study because it was the
view of this investigator that to look closely at students during writing without
taking into account the environmental influences that can affect the writing
process would produce a far less complete and understandable account of
writing. Therefore, four elements that could affect the process of writing were
identified. These elements--the students' socio-cultural background, the
teacher's instruction, the students' interactions, and the students' oral language--
were not viewed evaluatively as to whether they were good or bad, but, rather,
descriptively and in a manner that could elucidate the relationship of these
elements to the processes of writing of the target students. It was found that

the major influences from the task environment were:

|l9

l20

I. the content stressed by the teacher in her instruction, which was
her emphasis an organization and structure in writing, and her
de-emphasis on mechanics;

2. the formality of the social participation structure of the group
literacy episode;

3. the time restrictions imposed upon both the group literacy
episodes and the individual literacy episodes;

4. the literate socio-cultural backgrounds of the target students;
and

S. the students' interactions with peers, both writing-related and
non—writing-related.
These elements of the task environment affected the target students and their
writing processes to varying degrees and, in some cases, in different ways. The

impact of these elements is, therefore, discussed in greater detail.

The teacher's emphasis an organization and structure was apparent in the

 

writing behavior and samples of the three students. They were able to
incorporate the organization in their writing at both the paragraph level and the
whole text level, with relative ease. For these students, then, the primary
instructional emphasis, that of organization and structure in writing, was
realized. In fact, it seems that the teacher's continued emphasis through several
episodes may have been superfluous for these students. Two of the students
(Kathy and Anne) were careful to use the organization and structure prescribed
by the teacher and, perhaps, came to believe that writing YES). primarily
paragraphing, indenting, and organization of similar ideas. For these competent
students, a one time exposure to the content could very well have been sufficient
for them to apply this knowledge to their writing. Emphasis on other aspects of
writing may have been indicated, and their writing development may have been
better served.

Significant in the teacher's instruction was the teacher's lack of emphasis

on spelling and handwriting during the literacy episodes. Two of the target

|2|

students (Kathy and Anne) who adhered closely to the structural and organization
emphasis that was stressed by the teacher, paid close attention to spelling during
writing, which was M stressed by the teacher. There are two possible
explanations that could account for these students' behavior. The first is that
they felt compelled to spell correctly because of previous conditioning by
teachers and parents. This conditioning may have been so strong that they chose
to concentrate on spelling in spite of the teacher's frequent statements to the
contrary.

The second explanation, relative to spelling in particular, is that the
teacher may have given a "mixed" message to the students. By emphasizing
correct spelling when it was taught as a separate subject, she led the students to
believe that, indeed, spelling was important. On the other hand, by teaching the
students to ignore spelling during writing on the first draft, seemingly she
refuted her first message. The students may have been unable or unwilling to
change their behavior as their situations changed. The second explanation seems
most plausible, but it is possible that both explanations could account for the
students' behavior. The other student (Mindy) sorted out the teacher's message,
put orthographics on hold, and concentrated on meaning and other aspects of
writing.

Another part of the task environment that affected the students' writing

processes was the time restrictions imposed because of recess, lunch breaks, and

 

changes to other subjects. The students all seemed bothered by "not enough time

 

to think." Also having an affect on their writing were the more subtle time
problems imposed because the students knew that their writing had to be
completed within a given period of time. There was pressure (from themselves
and from other students) to think quickly, to come up with an idea so that they

wouldn't "get behind." The structure of the school day and the imposition of

l22

deadlines (even though loosely enforced) seemed to work against the give and
take, the mellowing of ideas and thoughts that otherwise might have occurred.

Along with time, the way the grog) episodes were structured also was an

 

important element of the environment that affected writing. The episodes were
shaped by the teacher through questioning patterns. First, the teacher was able
to elicit specific response about what had been taught and direct the amount of
discussion in which the students engaged. Secondly, she was able to guide
student thinking by the questions she asked. As a result the students were able
to encode the information, retrieve it, and use it in their writing (as seen in their
writing samples). This type of structure was useful in imparting knowledge about
writing in an efficient way. What may have occurred as a result of the formal
structure of the group episodes was the loss of verbal exchange among students
about ideas and information and about ways to express these in writing.

The target students functioned easily in the setting and complied with the
teacher's expectations. Two of the students (Kathy and Anne) found this
structure very comfortable. In fact, it appears that the structure reinforced
their view of writing as a subject to be completed to teacher specifications like
math and reading. They did not question, reorganize, and assess ideas in the
group episode as it was structured to allow only limited verbal exchanges
between teacher and student. When these students wrote during the individual
literacy episodes, their writing was organized and coherent, but did not reflect a
conscientious assessment of ideas and intended meaning. The other student
(Mindy) questioned more, commented more in the group literacy episode. During
individual writing, she became involved in questioning and probing for meaning as
she wrote.

The socio-cultural backgrounds of the three students were similar and were

 

important in giving them real experiences from which to build a store of world

I23

knowledge. They were also given support and encouragement for learning and
academic success. The students were from literate environments in which books,
reading, and writing were the norm. Writing served a functional purpose in the
home of each of the students in that they wrote letters to grandparents and to
friends. Kathy also wrote a book to use in teaching her brother to read.
Additionally, in Mindy's family writing was encouraged, not only for its
functional purpose, but also because her mother felt it stimulated creativity and
the development of critical thinking that could be useful in life. All three
students received critical feedback from their parents on what they had written.

As might be expected, this literate background is reflected in the students'
competence in writing. Even the emphasis on writing as a creative process
appears to have a relationship to Mindy's orientation to meaning and creativity in
her writing. What is more significant is that in their homes they were involved
in writing in which they used cognitive processes in plannina, goal setting, and
decision making as they wrote letters and books for others to read.

While the students did not interact with each other during the group
literacy episodes, they interacted quite freely in the individual literacy episodes.
were able to initiate conversations related to any topic and walk around and
work together as they chose. The teacher was there as a resource, providing
individual help to students.

There were basically two types of interactions across target students--
those that moved the writing forward and those that impeded the writing. The
types of interactions that seemed to be helpful to students as they wrote were
those in which students (a) helped other students, (b) visited to "relieve tensions,"
and (c) asked peers to react to their writing. Interactions which seemed to

impede the students' writing were those in which students (a) monitored other

l24

student work, (b) engaged in conversations marked by competitiveness, and (c)
questioned others aimlessly and responded to classroom activity.

All three students experienced interactions that were distracting. They
expressed a preference for writing in a quiet place in the interview. One of the
students, Kathy, seemed to be the most distracted and least helped by the social
interactions, whereas Mindy seemed to be the least distracted and most helped
by the interactions. The student interactions seemed to have the least affect on
Anne, as she interacted very little with the other students.

What seems significant about these interactions, in addition to students'
desire to have a quiet place in which to write, is the fact that these competent
students were quickly able to return to writing—40 pick up at the point where

they had been interrupted.

Cognitive Processes of the Writers
The selected cognitive processes addressed in this study--those that were
identified as a result of the "problem stops" made by the target students--yielded
several commonalities among these students. These competent writers:

I. planned by beginning with a basic idea initially then developing
this idea and/or modifying it as they went along;

2. worked out a system of balancing cognitive constraints that are
necessary while transcribing;

3. readily called on world knowledgeuexperiences, books read--and
transferred this knowledge to their writing; and

it. did a majority of their revisions during the transcribing process--
as they went along.

Planning was of two types for these target students: (a) pre-writing
planning and (b) in-process planning. The pre-writing planning occurred as the
ideas "incubated" before the pencil touched the paper. The pre-writing planning

was of short duration for these students, due in part to the nature of the task

I25

environment. The students had much of the planning done cooperatively as the
teacher discussed the topic and purpose and provided an organizational frame for
much of the writing. During the group literacy episodes, the students were
undoubtedly engaged in individual planning while the teacher was talking and the
episode progressed.

For the time when the pre-writing period was not structured by the
teacher, the data showed that the students began with an idea in which some
details were in place. These details were filled in and modified as the writing
progressed. There was no pre-conceived outline or well-developed schema,
rather a loosely-formed schema that was filled in as the students wrote.

The in-process planning showed differences among the students in the
choice of procedures used in guiding the development of their writing. For
example, one student used her own system of organization for planning her story
based on her knowledge of mysteries and on a series of books that she had read.
Another student planned using the story structure outlined by the teacher during
the group literacy episode. Her planning also placed strong emphasis on
character development. The third student sought to bring together the teacher's
suggestions with her knowledge of story and how it should be structured. Even
with these differences that influenced how they planned and what guided their
planning, they all made many planning decisions as the writing progressed.

An important ability that the three writers possessed was an ability to
develop a system of managing the complex demands made on their cognitive
abilities. As they transcribed their ideas into written form, they used processes
that called on their knowledge of language, ideas, and information to create text
that was coherent and rhetorically appropriate for the genre in which they were
writing. They also had to deal with word choice, syntax, physical layout,

handwriting, and spelling as they composed. While the way they dealt with these

l26

demands was different, they were all able to work out strategies to manage the
writing process.

The cognitive processes used by two of the students, Kathy and Anne,
addressed primarily the local plans during transcribing. They spent most of their
pauses on word choice, spelling, punctuation, letter-formation, and neatness.
Consequently, they did not spend time dealing with the intricacies of meaning
expressed, but, rather, put meaning on automatic processing. The other student,
Mindy, spent much of her cognitive activity on global concerns dealing with clear
expression and consistency of intended meanings and concern for audience. She
put the local concerns, particularly spelling and handwriting, on hold. The ability
to balance these demands, to put some elements on automatic processing, to
ignore, or to minimally deal with them is to allow the writing process to move
forward with a degree of effectiveness. These students possessed this ability.

The ability to retrieve information from a broad store of world knowledge
was another common process that these students possessed. The fact that they
were from environments which had a literate orientation has been discussed.
this type of background provided them with a range of ideas and information that
they could readily draw on in writing text. This ability made one less constraint
with which they had to deal. In other words, they could readily expend energy on
other elements of writing rather than expend it on attempts to create
meaningful text from a limited store of knowledge.

These common elements found in the problem stops of competent writers
can be useful in aiding the understanding of how these writers function. It is not
surprising, however, that there were differences found among the three writers.
The one major difference that is significant is the consistency throughout the
data in which Mindy addressed global concerns, and Anne and Kathy addressed

local concerns. This pattern was evident in the group episode as Mindy not only

l27

asked questions about procedures, but initiated comments that would elaborate
on concepts that were being discussed. Anne and Kathy primarily responded to
the teacher's questions or asked procedural questions.

This difference in behavior was also present in the pre-writing literary
episodes of the writers when they had to choose a topic. None of the three was
really pleased with her initial topic. Mindy, however, was the only one who
thought about her topic and writing at home, changed her topic, and began re-
writing at school. From the several behaviors and comments throughout the
data, it appeared that the students had different views of writing as a subject.
Anne and Kathy appeared to view writing as a subject in which tasks were
assigned and had to be completed according to certain guidelines, most of which
were established by the teacher. Mindy, on the other hand, viewed writing as
"different from other subjects." She seemed to have her own standards of
acceptability for completing a writing task. She was intricately involved in the
process of writing. In her mind, this made writing different from mathematics
or reading.

It could be that Mindy's view of writing was a natural pre-disposition to
thinking in terms of the meaning-based concerns expressed in writing and that
students like Anne and Kathy who have a more product-oriented view may be
inclined to local concerns. This relationship can be further explored.

Finally, after examining the findings about the processes in which the
students engaged, it is clear that the processes of planning, transcribing, and
reviewing/ revising do not occur in stages. These processes are dynamic and must
be integrated in order for the writer to produce written text. A look back at
writers in the act of writing shows how these processes are interrelated.
Planning occurred during transcribing when Mindy was writing about the

conversation of two characters in her story: "Mindy paused, played with lips--

I28

pencil relaxed in hand--thinking of way to get into the conversation. Changed
'Tassie questioned' to 'Mrs. L. questioned'" (Fieldnotes, 3/l7). Here Mindy is
planning how conversation should be fitted into the story line. she was in the

process of transcribing when she realized she was not expressing the meaning she

 

wanted. Consequently, she made a change--she revised her text, based on the
planning that she did.
Another example shows Kathy concerned with her choice of referent:
Kathy: It's funny; I have eight characters, so I always use the
word M- It's kind of boring. I have to use the girls or

something else instead.

In the process of transcribing, Kathy paused, reflected, and planned for changes

 

in her writing as it related to use of referent. This behavior is typical of the way
the processes are interacted in the study. What was seen throughout was that
the tasks of planning, retrieving information, creating ideas, and producing and

revising language all interact with one another throughout composing.

Implications for Practice

One of the major goals of research on writing should be to provide
information that can help teachers to be more effective in providing writing
instruction. This lead statement from the introduction of this study is repeated
here to underscore a view widely held by some researchers and practitioners and
by the teacher/investigator in this study. Therefore, this section is devoted to a
discussion of what the conclusions of the study can say to teachers of writing.

It has been pointed out that one of the characteristics of the target
students was their ability to cape with all of the cognitive demands of writing by

/'
employing specific strategies. Teaching students to specify priorities on which

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Woentrate can help to free them from many conflicting demands.

J
When students write in school, they tend to feel that they are expected to

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I29

produce a perfect paper. However, when they learn to plan in order to isolate

 

 

 

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key elements and/or ideas in a given piece of writing, they are freed of the
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myriad details of written language that can immobilize them.

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A teacher might tell students to write and create events in a story that
have authenticity and excitement. At the same time, s/he might explain to the
students that s/he is going to be much less concerned about telling details about
characters or about paragraphing and spelling. In fact, the student is to make a
point of ignoring these things and is instructed to be satisfied with a lowered

standard of acceptability. Newell and Simon (I972) hold that as a corollary to

 

 

giving some constraints high priority, writers choose to "satisze" on others. A

 

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writer "satisfices" by choosing to take the first acceptable solution. For

 

 

 

 

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satisfices with the first acceptable sentence" and moves on to other matters
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(Flower & Hayes, l98l). What teachers can do is explain the strategy and have

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students make it work for them. This can be useful because in addition to

reducing the cognitive task, it also lowers a writer's anxiety.

Another implication for teachers is based on the findin e may be

a relationship between the way students view writing as a subject and their focus
‘\

of attention to thLmeanina based concerns or the mechanical concerns of
_ \_\\
Wich writers have ample
time to write, in which deadlines gre relaxed and disgussigns and feedback are
N ———’—'—.~__-

the normsWts' views of writing. Students mgy

cppnito see writing as an important process that evolves as the writer learns to

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express intended meanings and that the final product is not always what is so

 

 

 

 

my valued in learning to write. Young writers who learn this may be more

 

inclined to spend time on developing, sorting, and rearranging ideas and less time

I30

on letter formation, spelling, and punctuation. The teacher's attitude and
encouragement can legitimize this behavior.
Planning how to proceed was something that each target student worked

out in her own way because she had the knowledge to do so. For teachers of

writing, he ping u ents work out procedural plans can be important. Some

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students may not be capable of incorporating what they know about how authors

 

 

 

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WWW?” the genre in which they are writing to help them

proceed. A teacher can explicitly present story structure to students as well as
.——\E

 

‘reading to them, thereby encouraging them to read different types of stories,

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for example, that mysteries have certain key elements that they can plan to

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devefop as they write. They can also be made aware of the various schemata
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writing truly their own. A teacher can provide them with strategies designed to
help them plan and proceed with their writing so that they will not be lost and
immobilized as so often happens.

Another aid to planning is the use of oralJanguaqe. Students in the study
- f

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usqulate their thinking and to help them generate ideas.

Teachers can afford opportunities for students to informally discuss and refine

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their ideas for writing and to give feedback to each other. Further, students

H:—

 

need to be taught how to do this kind of small group exchange so that it is
beneficial to both writer and helpers.

In the findings, it was noted that perhaps the teacher gave a "mixed"
message to the students when directing them to ignore spelling during the
transcribing of their first drafts, but stressing correctness in spelling when it was
taught as a separate subject. It seems that there are two issues raised here.

First, it would appear that if there was indeed an equivocal message given to the

|3|

students, teachers need to take extreme care in what it is they express to
students. For example, when students are told that spelling is not important,
that it can be put on hold during the writing of the first draft, the teacher must
underscore the fact that the correctness in spelling that is emphasized applies

only to final drafts or pieces for publication, not to first drafts done during

 

initial transcribing.

  

The second issue raised, however, is that the students may have understood
the teacher's message, but chose to attend to correctness in spite of what the
teacher said. It is not uncommon for teachers to tell students to ignore correct
spelling and to concentrate on expressing their ideas. Nor is it uncommon for
many students to continue to attend to spelling concerns and correctness.
Indeed, Scardamalia (l98l) found that telling children they need not be concerned
with correctness does not ensure that they won't be. In fact, she found that not
only had this instructional treatment failed to free children f om concern, bu
that it has meant that they have not mastered the mechanics\over the years and
were doomed to go on worrying about them.

It would appear then, that for some students--those who are determined to
expend cognitive activity on correct spelling--the teacher, rather than
attempting to eliminate this concern, might strongly encourage students to
attend to their higher level concerns of writing in addition to spelling. The
repeated emphasis on selecting, sorting, and/or refining meaning by the teacher
could help the student adopt another emphasis for writing and allow him/her to
ill be able to concentrate on spelling. Certainly some students may be quite
capable of dealing with the meaning and spelling constraints during writing if
properly instructed on how to do so.

The issue of drafting (transcribing) and revising was particularly available

for scrutiny because of the freedom in decision making that was given the

 

I32

students. As they made their choices, information was learned about what these
children were capable of, what they chose to write about, and what they viewed
as important. It would appear that for teachers of writing, attention to the
students thoughts about revision should be considered because these thoughts are
often consistent with the students' view of audience and purpose. When
competent students in the study saw the importance of revision, they were
capable of making these revisions and did so in their own way. They chose to
revise based on their view of purpose and audience. It is extremely important,
then, for teachers of average and poor writers to help them identify audience
and purpose. It is important to provide the ;kind of writing opportunities that
are meaningful and that afford students the opportunity to see the m to
revise. Florio and Clark (I982) identify these meaningful opportunities as

occasions for writing. When meaningful opportunities are provided, teachers

 

legitimize their emphasis on revision because it isn't viewed by the students as a
writing exercise, but as a necessity in order that the reader will understand the
writer's message.

Imbedded i ' wis any practitioners has been the
belief that writers need "quiet" in order to write. This study found this to be
true--to a degree. There were times, however, when verbal interactions were
very important in moving writing forward. There were other times that students
wanted to work, free from intrusion and distraction. What this says to a teacher
is that the physical arrangement of a room should accommodate the varied needs
of students so that they may write in relative quiet or ask questions and discuss
their writing as necessary.

Finally, as the students wrote, it seemed important to have a person
available at a given point in their writing to which the writer could address a

question. When 20 or more writers are in a classroom, it becomes impossible for

I33

0 teacher to fulfill their needs as they write. It is important for the teacher to
have other adults available during writing time to conference with students.
Graves' (I982) research underscores the value of conferencing, particularly after
a draft has been written. Conferencing Mtg the transcribing was extremely
useful for the students in this study and is an important consideration for
teachers to explore. In addition to parent volunteers, other older students who
have some competency as writers could be used.

Underlying the implications for teachers of writing that are presented here
is the belief that teachers ih_ou_ld intervene in the writing process. Their primary
purpose is in helping students unlock the knowledge they have and coordinate this
into their writing. There is no one way that is satisfactory for all students in a
given class. Rather, the teacher can personalize the instruction so that the

varied needs of the students can be met.

Implications for Further Research

Upon examining the findings, it was noted that there were several
commonalities among the processes of competent writers. These findings are
important for practitioners and for researchers. They also provoke other
questions which may be addressed in future research. One of the questions
raised is how these processes differ, if at all, in the writers who are less
competent, average, or poor. Do they use the same processes that competent
writers do, but to a less intense degree? Do they have a system in place for
coping with the demands of writing? An inquiry which looks at less competent
writers in a similar context could prove useful information in either supporting
the findings of this study or in adding to knowledge about writers.

Another issue raised by the study is whether the students' writing behaviors

were consistent across genre. Findings of processes during both narrative and

I34

expository writing showed a degree of consistency across genres. Because there
was more data of the three students' writing narratives than expository text,
however, a strong statement of consistency could not be made. A study of
student writing process across genres is certainly a fruitful area for future
investigation.

Much of the research on child writers has been conducted with no attention
to the writers' conceptions of writing as a task. This study shows a possible
relationship between writers' conceptions of writing and the cognitive processes
that they display. This relationship needs to be investigated further. It is
possible that a correlational study could be designed with this problem as its
basis. This understanding of the students' conception of writing could have broad
interest among researchers and teachers.

Finally, this study looked at students over a period of l2 weeks, two days a
week. While there were important findings from the investigation, clearly
looking at competent students and the processes and environment over a longer
period of time could yield more for reaching results. One wonders, for example,
if and when changes occur in the nature of the cognitive processes exhibited?
Another issue is whether views toward writing change over time so that the more
the student writes, the better s/he understands the nature of the process. A
study conducted for a longer period could also allow for the investigator to look
at the processes far more intently and perhaps every day, to further explain the

nature of these processes.

A Final Thought
As teacher and researcher in the classroom in which the study was
conducted, this writer attempted to be constantly aware of the process of

conducting the study and what it meant to be so intimately involved. The role of

I35

being both teacher and researcher was unique and had several dimensions. It was
demanding and difficult as one worked to balance the researcher's objectivity
with the useful insights that a teacher has as a result of being a part of the
"scene." There were times that observing students rather than teaching or giving
assistance to students was desirable for the study, but impossible at a given
moment. There was a need to be vigilant in guarding against the intrusion of
one's prezdisposition about possible findings on the students and on the classroom
environment. The teacher/researcher had to allow the roles to complement each
other without doing a disservice to either.

The role of teacher/researcher was, at the same time, exciting and
energizing as one saw more clearly, and in some cases for the first time, events
and behaviors that had gone unnoticed before. As data were collected, sorted,
and organized, events and behaviors that had had little meaning prior to the
study took on new meaning and significance. The excitement of discovery or
support for findings from other studies seemed to generate new energy as the
study progressed.

Rare is the teacner who teaches and never questions the meaning of this
teaching. For the teacher who wants to begin to clarify and find answers to
questions of practice, research in the classroom can be a powerful mechanism.
Not only does the knowledge gained make the effort worthwhile, but the process
of being both teacher and researcher enhances the individual's way of viewing
teaching, giving her renewed confidence in her ability to make sound and

effective decisions about practice.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

THE COMMON WRITINGS

APPENDIX A

THE COMMON WRITINGS
| - 3

GRADE I

The students will maek a picture book with short sentences telling about
themselves; e;g_., family, house, foods they like, pets, favorite activities, etc.

The students will write a complete sentence.

The students will alphabetize by first letter and learn how to check out a
book from the library.

FOLDER Upon completion of an art project (puppets, picuture, etc.) the
student will write an imaginative sentence to go with the project.

The students will copy numerals and the alphabet from a model on the desk.
Product should be on grade level paper.
GRADE 2

The students will bring in 5 or 6 photographs that were taken during their
life or that they have taken from a magazine as representative of themselves.
They will assemble these and write about their significance in their life.

FOLDER The students will write interrogative, declarative, imperative and
exclamatory sentences.

The students will alphabetize by second letter and gain familiarity with
library arrangement.

The students will copy a short paragraph from the blackboard.
GRADE 3

The students will write directions; e.g., How do you play ? (a game)

The students will prepare a main points biography of a famous person.

The students will present written summary sentences of the basic four

components: main idea, characters, time, place.
I36

The students will, given a model in writing, expand a sentence with
describing words.

The students will use encyclopedia, dictionary, and other general references
and take notes (copy facts) from the source on one subject.

FOLDER The students will list words and phrases that deal with sensory
impressions of places and things observed at first hand.

The students will use the idea of a treasure hunt. Have students draw a map
and write simple directions so that others can find the treasure.

The students will copy from a model in cursive writing.

I37

APPENDIX B

INTERVIEWS

APPENDIX B

INTERVIEWS

Parent Interview Schedule

Do you remember when became interested in books (at what
age)?

 

When did she begin drawing or show an interest in paper and pencil tasks?
What does she do when alone or left to choose an activity?

Does she write to friends and relatives?

Do you do a lot of writing (letters, scholarly, lists, etc.)?

What do you do with the samples of writing that brings
home from school?

 

What types of reading ;material do you have at home?

What were some of the characteristics of play activities in which
engaged?

What are her good friends?

l38

I39

Parent Interview

This is parent interviews. And um, that's Ok (she asked if she could
smoke).

I'm interested in getting information about students and the kinds of things
they do at home. Especially as it pertains to writing. So, I'm going to try
and keep it informal. And, but I do have some questions written down. So
why don't I start and then you can add anything you want. I wonder if you

remember when became interested in books?

 

Well, when she was a little baby about 6 or 7 months I gave her books and I
let her tear them up, just so that she would be exposed to handling them and
I didn't care what she did with them. They were old books. I just let her
play around with them and tear them up.

Oh, what a good idea.

Then afterwards I started reading and since the father was not in the home,
even at that young age, I talked to her alot and she was the only one with
me.

Isee,

We were on welfare at the time

Isee.

and, um, sort of trying to find a place to live and get myself situated again,
um and so it was she that I conversed with alot.

How did she, did you talk to her in regualr adult language?

Yes, no goo goo gaa gaa

No goo goo gaa gaa

No baby talk, none of that.

I see

I40

I wanted someone to talk to after a day of being outside, living in
California we could live outside all day long, and then I would take her to
the parks and take her to different child care centers and I would talk to
the teachers while she played with the children, as long as I was there they
didn't mind, that (inaudible) was in the playground.

Great.

So she had alot of exposure to all kinds of things, even though I was at a
low economic level she was exposed to all kinds of things at the University
of California campus.

I see, you were there.

Yeah. But having money, for different books, or teaching things I didn't
have. I somehow was able through garage sales to get different things for
her all kinds of things to play with.

That is interesting. Was she always able to sustain her efforts for a long
period of time. Was she becoming ingrossed in something for a long period
of time. Let's say at an early age. did you notice that, you probably didn't
have much of a comparison since she's an only child. (Parent "Right") But
did it seem unusually long?

You mean like her attention span?

Her attention span, yeah.

I thought it was just like other children because I always had alot of
children in our room. I always brought in alot of kids because she was
alone, so I wanted her exposed to all kinds of children. So I brought her all
kinds of kids. Kids that had parents were on drugs. All kinds...

Is that so?

Right, cuz that's when we lived in some hotel, about a year. And then
after that, I noticed that her attentions span might be longer than I

expected her to be just a little bit, but not more so.

llll

Cuz I noticed that.

I'm trying to go backwards and think.

I noticed that she likes to go and complete, complete something she's
started. Some of the other students will stop and maybe have a short
length of time they will work, but Marra seems to be driven enought to
complete something. And I'm wondering if it's something sort of natural,
especially writing. She just seems to really like to go on complete, maybe
because she has all these ideas she wants to get out and she thinks to stop
and stop that flow.

Right, but there are projects she has started but not finished.

And not finished, I see. Then this is just sort of peculiar to just writing.
But I have always, Mrs. Diamond, I've always encouraged her what she can
do herself like all her math papers and reading assignments from grade one I
threw out I kept what she wrote what she has done, what she has made
because I felt that when I was on welfare if I had resources I would have
lived well if I could sew, fix the heater, fix the refrigerator, I felt that our
own inner resources were more important than money. so this is where I
got the idea of encouraging her to do things on her own. You know. To see
if she could make up a play, or if she could think of things herself.

Yeah, so you kind of encouraged her to be creative? to think rather than
getting things from other sources.

Yeah.

That may explain...

I wish I could have sewen then...

Cuz she has even made up worksheets for the rest of the class, and that
kind of thing.

So has the other...

So has the other kids.

I42

That's what lheard, you see we lived in upper middle class family and I just
went through some bad times and living and the welfare taught me a few
lessons that what yuo can do for yourself is more valuable and when it
comes to clothes or just ordinary things its just what you have that you can
use and you know, perhaps I could have sewen and maybe made money that
way.

I see, I think I'm gonna find you an ashtray.

I'm gonna use this.

Can you use that?

Yes.

Great, ok, um, what about paper and pencil tasks, I was wondering if she
um, if you noticed a time when she did that.

Um, (thinking) I think I started fairly early, but no earlier than anybody
else. As soon as she could get a crayon or something I would just let her
scribble or something. And if there was an older child in the room then
they would do it together. Um when she was about 2, I think, we were still
living in that room, there was a boy 6 years old that could not read, and she
was having fun with books and trying to work with words or something or
tell about the picture, the little boy was not up to reading he liked math.
So there was sort of like a little thing going on between this boy.

And she was 2?

That wasn't it because we came here. It had to be very young, no it 21251
reading because we would stop at the stop signs, when it says stop and
walk, in Berkley they have stop, walk and I would repeat it to her at a very
young age, see what does that say, so it was repetition, and sometimes I
would take this little boy down the street and try to read words, perhaps
off the signs and I remember that very vividly. Then like we sang a song

"love you in the park" and we love you all the T-I-M-E time (spelled time

l43

out). It was just, perhaps (inaudible of children. I've always had kids
around. I was always so sure that she had kids around.

I see. Um, if she is left alone to chose an activity, this is now, and even
maybe you could reflect backwards, what kinds of things does she usually
do?

It used to be reading until we got the TV. We didn't have a TV until this
last year.

Is that so? Oh, that's interesting. Was this a conscience think that you just
didn't want?

I didn't want it cuz I thought TV just talked down to you. I had one and I
dumped it. When she was six she listened to records and read, and we
would play games. Now it's TV. Of course with Nickelodeon, I approve the
programing. It's such a good cable station that I don't mind her watching it
at all. It stimulates her and we have discussions through it and we're
exposed to all kinds of issues that come up.

Do you have a special time that you talk? Do you set aside time, or do you
just sort of let it happen?

Well, if she's home sick then I stay home with her and we get a chance to
sort out all sorts of problems and we discuss every night at dinnertime--
things that have happened during the day and problems and I try to keep my
office work and my problems somewhat light. I try not to have her
involved in those worries.

She seems awfully sensitive.

Very true.

So she actually would choose reading rather than TV.

Very much. She was onto Nancy Drew rather than TV.

Does she write to friends and relatives without being asked or is ti

something that is Spontaneous?

I44

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But I encourage her. If I ever want to send
a note to my mother I say "Would you write a sentence or two to
Grandma?" and she'll write a sentence or two. I started out with a little
bit like that, and now she writes letters to her friends. It's pretty normal.
Do you, um, do you do alot of writing?

No. Zero.

Is that so?

I just write letters. None.

You mentioned, cause I was interested in the things that came home, and
you mentioned that the writing, the creative kinds of things you tend to
keep, the other things you don't.

Because I like art and dance, myself, and I know schoolwork--math and
reading--are important and the assignments are important but I also wanted
her to know that what she can do from her herself. Perhaps I realized that
too late for myself and if I had gone into a different field in school perhaps
I would be doing something I really enjoyed. Office work is okay. But I
can't do what I want to do and see I never developed that. But she has a
good side, I mean she's disciplined enough to do her math and reading and
we did alot of art projects at home when I moved here and we got a place to
stay for ourselves and I got a job we did alot of art projects before she
really got into reading and I have other kids in on it too and we make our
own Christmas decorations and all that kind of things.

I'm going to let you talk 'cause I know you had some things written down
and your time is short. Most of the things I had written down I think were
answered.

I think you know, M., well enough now, after your second year, but I think
sometimes just what happens in my home might have a bearing on how that

long story might have developed. Now I asked her specifically, we had a

I45

quiet time, Dr. Wagner has posed a question -- if you were in an airplane
and it exploded, what would happen afterwards -- and I guess he wanted
them to write a story and it started out there at that point and I gave her
some suggestions because she was really after me to give her some ideas,
but she wouldn't take them -- she wouldn't take mine, and she wouldn't take
Dr. Wagner's. So she had some of hers and she didn't like them, something
about falling into a volcano and a city developed and all this and she didn't
like that. So she threw that out, but it was getting close to the time she
had to start writing and she got a writer's block and she said "Mom, I can't
think and I'm very nervous," so I explained to her that it must be writer's
block...

Oh, she said something and mentioned writer's block...

So she said that and she sat and thought and thought perhaps about some
ideas and finally it came out and she had the ideas and she started writing
at the babysitters and then didn't stop for thirty-some pages, right... and I
wanted her to stop. I really wanted her to be brief, I really did and she was
thinking of, instead of a kidnapping, a grandnapping. Did she explain that
to you?

Uh, uh. No she didn't.

Well, there's a grandmother who's kidnapped in there so she was thinking of
having in the title "grandnapping."

That's cute! Instead of a ked, okay.

And, uh, she had asked both teachers for some ideas, too, and she discarded
those, but after she had that big block, she was very worried, then it just
poured out and she had read a book just prior to that time, "Who Stole Cat
DeJonge" so it had to do somethin with stealing anyway, there.

So she king of got the idea from the book plus some of here own ideas.

I46

Uh, huh. She had read that book and then I asked her specifically, and she
said "some of it, mom, not all of it." She said it's mostly the ideas and
feeling of being scared she was working at. She wanted to get all those
emotions out, so she asked her friends if they were kidnapped how would
they feel. Because the story doesn't just have plot and action, it has...
Really alot of emotions...

Yes, uh, huh. We try to straighten out our emotional problems by
discussions, and if she gets angry I tell her don't be mad at your own anger.
Anger is allright if it's not distructive, and we have discussions an anger
because I feel that anger is an important emotion, not something to be
discarded and put away. That's too big of an emotion and I have anger.
Well, we all do. It's a normal thing, you know.

And, um, I had gone through some very bad times before I had M., so I think
I had to cope with some very basic emotions and I had to know for myself,
and I think it‘s now helping me to cope with my job and raising M., and I
hope that I can help her when she's older and when she has to really tune
into herself...

And make some decisions, too...

Uh, huh, right. but she's more ideal oriented. I get my ideas from doing.
If I'm painting a picture I just go ahead, M. thinks first.

And make some decisions, too...

Uh, huh, right. But she's more ideal oriented. I get my ideas from doing.
If I'm painting a picture I just go ahead, M. thinks first.

Yeah, that's interesting, because I was thinking about the data that I had
collected already and trying to pull some ideas together, and not just on
M., but on some of the other kids and I said that it seems that some of the
kids will develop their ideas as they go along. The process of writing helps

them think of things, but I think that M. thinks first, and I guess she has a

I47

plan before she even starts to write. Alot of writers don't do that. That's
what I'd read somewhere, that alot of adult writers even write and, I'm not
thinking professional writers, but people who just write, think of ideas as
they go along and it sort of develops. I've found that in several parts and
pieces of literature where they just do that and it's interesting, isn't it,
because you'd think they'd have a plan. And even college writers, they
said, tend to plan as they go along. And sometimes they don't know where
it's going, where the story's going.

That's interesting. See I don't know anything about that. And I think, too
other children help, just being around and discussion with M. and K. and all
these other kiddies who talk a lot.

That's one of the things I've been trying to see to, is the part that
interaction plays, and when I interview kids I'm going to ask them if they
like, um, writing by themselves in a quiet place they like to be with other
children, and I imagine they'd say they'd like to be with other kids. I'll see,
I'll find out, cause I think they'll be honest -- I think they'll be vary honest.
Inaudible

Okay, well, is there anything else that you want to share, or... Well, I know
you mentioned that... who are M.'s friends?

She has B. 5. who lives across the way and she's six years old, and she's like
a little mother to B., and M. and K...

are her good friends...

yes, and she was separated last year and I didn't realize what it meant. I
felt you should learn new friends, but she was down for two months.
Remember when I had talked to you about that?

Right.

And I see the difference in her this year, and her enthusiasm. And they're

becoming quite buddy-buddy, and so perhaps they shoudl stay together. I

I48

tried it last year with Mrs. D., and she had you, but she felt alone -- two
months it took her, two months to come out of it.

And then there were some, uh, first graders in there, too, which, I mean
there were girls, but they were younger and obviously she didn't know them
as well. Were they together in nursery school, the whole group?
Kindergarten.

Kindergarten and then they went to first grade together with Mrs. M. and
then they were separated.

I thought it might be good so she could learn new friends. One of the
reasons I'm still here, because this weather gets me down... After living in
California and moving here and having to face the weather, but seeing how
she's doing so well here, and the fact that my sister and her family are
nearby and there's a very nice closeness there, there's some feeling of
roots, it's hard for me to leave, because I...

...You'll never know what you'll find out there...

I know, but, we have friends out there, I have friends out there and it's just
hard, but the longer she stays here the harder for me to go. Being a single
parent, I don't feel single parents are accepted so well here. It's a very
conservative comminity.

Yeah, it is. I know I was talking about, to someone about that, you know,

and I think there're certain conventions people expect and...

I49

Student Interview Schedule
What topics do you most like to write about?

What type of writing do you enjoy most--reports, stories, letters
to friends, or some other type?

Do you seem to write better when; you are at home, at school, in
a quiet corner of the classroom, or sitting near a friend? Is
there another location that you prefer for writing? Why do you
write better in this location?

Can you tell me where most of your ideas for writing come
from?

Can you name some of your favorite books? What types do you
seem to prefer?

Do you write at home? What type of writing do you do?

Does your mom or dad help you with your writing? If so, in what
way?

When you are going to write a selection--a story or report, for
example, what do you do first (provide concrete example . . . in
the story you wrote yesterday, what did you do at the very
beginning of the writing period)?

When you write, do you continue writing until you have
completed your selection or do you stop, take a break, then go
back to it? Can you explain why you do this?

How do you usually feel about what you have written?

If you don't like what you have written, are you likely to change
it or leave it the way it is? If you make changes, when is this
likely to occur?

Some students think that writing is a complicated process. How
do you feel about this?

Would you rather _w_rile a story or t_el_l a story?
What kinds of books do you like to read?

Who are your favorite authors?

What is your favorite subject in school?

On a scale from one to ten, with ten being excellent and one
being poor, where would you rate yourself as a writer?

ISO

Student Interview (Excerpt)

Mindy

What I want to ask here are some things about writing, why you write, and
what you think about, and just a lot of questions and you can tell me
anything you want me to know, okay? Alright, and if there's a question you
don't understand, then you can let me know and I'll try to word it a litlle

differently. Okay, um, first question is, when dolou seem to enjoy writiLq

 

mosthhen a topic is assigned to you or wheruou can pick your own topic?

 

Well, I feel that when you write, like I should be given some time because
when I write and just all of a sudden write, and you've got, let's say -- okay,
Mindy, you've got a week to do it, like it's rushing me and I can't put down
all the ideas like I want them so I think I like it better when I've got the idea
and have time to think about it and time to plan my story because I plan my
story in my head, you know, because I've got my story and then I add details
and what I want as I go along. 50 it takes me, I don't know, a week or two to
think about it and I put the ideas down as they come, because I don't want to
lose any of the ideas, because if I have my ideas in my head and I all of a
sudden think of another idea totally it ruins my story and makes it have a
different base. I think I'd rather be able to spend time, but when people
assign assignments like you did for that one book, I had time to think about
it. Like my mom said, I guess I had a reader's block, but I spent like that
night thinking about it and I thought about it at my babysitter's for about an
hour then I started writing it down and I felt -- it took a lot of courage to
throw away that one paper -- I didn't think that was my idea, it was Dr.

Wagner's idea and was going along with the way he thought.

ISI

Oh, did you ask him about that, about what kind of thing you could write
about?

Well, I was thinking about, you know, in some island and end up in a volcano,
but that was so fictionary I didn't like the way it was like, students take
tours sometimes and meet on a school trip to go and do some research on
something and I had to do research in Europe except they passed the island
and then they fell into the volcano and started a city, and that's kind of a lot
of fiction.

How did Dr. W. enter into the picture?

Well, he put it like there is an island here and you fall down.

Did you ask him about it or...

No...

Oh, but he was kind of telling a story like that...

Right, he was saying, okay, pretend and he gave me the idea and I didn't like
the feeling of that.

So you really got the idea from something Dr. W. said in social studies...
Right, and I didn't like that because it was something that I wasn't, it wasn't
my idea because he had already did half of the story and it would be all laid
out so I tried to draw a different ending and tried to go into a volcano or
something except that I feel it was too much fiction and it was like a fact,
you know, it's okay to have research and then there was all this fiction, and
that really concerned me. This scared me and I was afraid that I didn't
finish, I think my fear and all my feelings, a lot of my emotion went into the
story I'm writing now instead of something someone else wanted me to
write.

50, you think you'd rather have, if the topic is assigned it's all right as long
as you have time to do it. (Agreement) Okay. All right, now, do you write

at home?

I52

Yes, I do. When I'm bored sometimes I take up reading or sometimes I do
something like play with my friends, but one day I had like this urge of
writing and so I started typing a story, but, and the typewriter, you go one...
...you know how fingers go...

...yeah, and I was doing terrible so I figured that I might as well write it, so I
wrote a story and I figured I don't like this story, so I add more to the story,
so I added more as I went on and then I stopped and then it took me like the
whole summer to finish this book. I started a little bit of last year, it took
me the whole summer because I really put a lot of time into it instead of
looking all of the time | (inaudible) when I felt like it. And I used one story
from school and then I put some poems in it, and I put stories that I liked
and I made one that's called "The Girl Who Had Too Many Toys" and mom
said it was something like a dream, you know, something that I wanted, and
another story that I put in was one I did with Mrs. Fuller, it was just from
school and I put that in, too.

Was this the "Fractured Fairy Tale?"

Yeah, this had fractured fairy tales and was called "Bedtime Stories."

Oh, yeah.

And then there's the one about the talking tree, 'cause I always wanted trees
to talk and that's where my idea came in.

So your ideas come from all different places...

Yeah.

And then they both (inaudible)

Well I think it's books and my feelings and things I might want all combined
together and making something of that, like what you've got clay and you've
got to mold it and it takes ideas from your head. And that gave me some

ideas. I don't know. I guess I got them from all around.

The room is quiet then.

I53

l54

The room is quiet and I can get my ideas and, because when I finish my story
I had my ideas set on the paper, they're like set there and I just wrote them
down because I had the whole story in my head, but I've kind of changed it
around and I switched different things and I didn't have down exactly what
I'd planned at the beginning but I evened it out so it wouldn't seem like it's a
totally different idea. Because sometimes I feel that when I'm writing a
long story or something and you say, well, guys, you've got a week to finish
it I rush myself and I'm not able to put down what I want on the paper.

So you think this time with your story you had enough time to write it.
Right, because you didn't mind that I wrote what I wanted because I knew I
had to finish it but I knew that I wanted a good story, also, and it wasn't just
to have a lot of pages because all my ideas drifted down on the paper and I
couldn't help it being long.

Did you have a hard time, ever, finally writing your story, thinking of what
to say nexy? What to do next?

Often in parts there'd be a part and I wouldn't exactly know how to explain
it to get to the next thing I was doing. Like during the middle and during
the conclusion that was a hard time because I had to write down things,
because if you leave an unanswered question and the reader's saying "Hey,
you forgot to leave out that, you know, you forgot to put that in," it gets me
mixed up, you know. I think I'd prefer like... yeah, there were some hard
parts down that time. I had to ask, sometimes I'd ask my friends about the
emotion or the reaction to something because if I had her just smile when
her grandmother was kidnapped, you know, so I asked "What would you do?",
you know, and then took these ideas and then put them down. I wanted
something real, noth something that she wouldn't do. How would they feel if

somebody really close was kidnapped, or like, Jody had her accident. I think

l55

that people who are really close to her had just as much trouble as she did,
but in a different way -- 'cause it's hard to go on when you felt something
terrible happened. So I had an incident in school and the teacher took place
a lot and I think that teacher was you, in a way, (inaudible) and it wasn't
you, you know, but I think that you were there all the time, you know, and
not exactly guiding, but there, you know, to help me here and there, and
that's where the teacher part came in. But it was kind of hard to get into a
conversation sometimes if you were in the middle of locking the door.

50 you had to put together all htose pieces so that they hang together and
draw the conclusion. But it seems like you have a framework in your mind
but the details and how they're going to weave together is sometimes what
causes...

It's like a square frame, and, so, it starts here and I've got my idea all
planned out and the details go around it, and if I want to change a place I've
got to work those details in, but I've still got to have that basic idea in there
somewhere because if I change that whole part around, you know, it just
doesn't sound right. It feels like I'm changing my story all the way, and
that's what I felt on my other story -- that I was changing it too much in a
totally different way because they were on this (inaudible) trip and all of a
sudden they fall into this volcano? You know, that sounds kind of funny
because my ideas were okay with Dr. Wagner, you know I thought everything
okay, and then I thought, I worried. So that's where I think my other idea
came in and I didn't (inaudible).

When we have a discussion or I explain a paragraph, explain paragraph
writing, or writing in general, like writing a newspaper article, before you
actually begin to write does that make a difference in your writing? If I

give an explanation or if I kind of set up a scene?

I56

Well, I like to draw my own ideas as I said and sometimes it makes me feel
like, not that bad, but, you know, like maybe I should change a certain part
and when you discuss something I feel like I know what you're trying to
discuss so I can see if my story is somewhat of you're discussing. Like when
you're talking to me at the back table about my story and how it's going, I
felt like I, um, knew what you were talking about and that it wasn't hard for
me to tell you because it was all on tape but I wanted to get my ideas down
before I switched to a totally different idea. Because if I, I like to like keep
going on my story because if I wait like a long, long period like maybe two
weeks or three weeks and don't, and not work on my story at all, I, it's hard
to come back to like when I finish my reading. It was kind of hard to get the
jist, so I had to read like two pages to know where I was and to get the feel
of the story, because in order for me to write I've got to know what my
story's about. I hadn't read my story in general, or haven't read it, but, you
know, I've got the feeling of it inside myself and know what I'm writing. I
think that's important, because if I don't know what I'm writing then I get
mixed up and I can't write at all and I think that's what happened, you know,
with Dr. Wagner.

Do you think that, uh, do you think a lot about the reader when you're
writing -- the person who's reading the story -- or do you think more about
how it makes sense and feels to you?

I think, like, I wasn't feeling good about Kathy reading my story, not so
much that I didn't want her to because I was afraid she was going to copy,
but I wanted it to be a surprise. But I still wanted somebody to read it, so I
feel their point of view, see what they think about it, and I know you read it
and I took some of your suggestions, but a kid, you know, because it's really

based on a kid's story and I wanted to know what a kid would think about it.

l57

So, I tried reading it to Jackie and she's six years old and it's kind of hard
when you're reading a story in cursive. You get impatient, so I'm asking
people if, do you want to read my story, but it's awfully long to read. So, I
like to go by their ideas and what they think that would really happen, not so
much that, in a sense, go by their ideas in a way, well my story's based on
that, but I take some of their suggestions and some of my suggestions and
put them together and see what I can get.

Okay, I was thinking about when you finally get it done and you know that
somebody's going to read it, do you think about the people that are going to
be reading it and do you kind of write for them or do you write for yourself,
do you write to satisfy what your audience might be or do you write for
yourself? Or do you even think about how it's going to sound to them?

I think I'd better satisfy myself first, and I'll sometimes say "does this make
sense to you" and have them read that paragraph or part over and see what
they think, and if they think it doesn't make sense, I try to change my
thinking but still take their opinions because I don't want something that
isn't going to make sense. Because often when I write, I say something and
it wouldn't exactly tell the part that the other people might want it to tell.
Let me see. What's your favorite, of all the writing that you've done in
class, what is the time you've liked the most? Like your E.T. story, or about
a trip that you've taken and the book that you're working on, you wrote
about pioneer times and wrote letters to pen pals and journals and tall tales,
book reports, and reports on things -- Black American -- cardfs and letters
to families and friends.

I think that writing the book has been my favorite time because I put in
what I really want to say, and when I'm writing my letter or even in my

journal, I also like writing in my journal pretty much because I put my

l58

feelings and try not to have too many private pages because I know you want
to know where I'm thinking of you at, so I put "Mrs.? what do I do" in a part,
but I like writing in my journal because it's taking out some of my feelings,
but I think it's more my feelings than when I want to do. But I think that
writing books has been my favorite time because I put out something that
I'm good at, and I put it down on paper and I see if I like that . So I think
that's my favorite time, you know, other things are good, too, but...

Do you ever talk to yourself when you write?

Yeah.

You do?

I say, like, "Mindy, come on, this doesn't make sense" because sometimes my
mind goes to something else. So I read it over to myself and say, "hold on,
does that sound right to you or doesn't it?"

So you go back a lot while you're writing and read something over and then
see if it really makes sense?

Well, if it combines, like if I read a part of it, and I stopped and I skipped
some and then I read what I had read and I want to see if those two have

some sense of connection, because if they don't then I've got to change

something.

l59

Student Interview (Excerpt)

Kathy

This is Kathy, and I'm going to be asking her some questions. Kathy, when
do you enjoy writing the most, when a topic is assigned and it's explained to
you like we did this morning or when you can choose your own topic.

Well, I think most of the time I like to choose my own topic because I know
I have a choice and it's easier to think and use one of my own then to use
one that is given to me.

Why do you think it's easier to think?

I don't know, it's just like you thought about it awhile and you know what to
write, like if I know what I'm going to do on an assignment before I go
home and we'll be doing it the next day, I might be able to think more. But
if we have to write one that's assigned and it's kinda hard.

When it's your own, then you have your ideas already ready, is that what
you're saying? Okay, um, do you write at home?

Um, hum. I'm writing a book right now at home, too.

Oh, are you? What kind of a book is it?

Well, it's not the kind that we learn in school, it's like just a little book,
because I'm trying to help my brother learn how to read.

Oh, I see. Would you bring that sometime so I can see?

Okay.

Okay, what's the topic of it?

It's about a clown.

I think that's cute. How'd you happen to think about that?

I don't know. He just likes funny things (inaudible)

That's nice. How old's your brother?

I60

He's six.

He's just in kindergarten. A lot of kindergarteners can't read. Were you
reading in I:kindergarten?

Um, hum. During the summer before I went into kindergarten we had a
neighbor who had a whole bunch of books and I'd go over there and he'd help
me read.

He did? Your mother didn't help you then, just a neighbor and you picked it
up.

Yup.

Oh, I see. Was your mother surprised?

Yeah. She let me go though.

Okay. Um, do your mom and dad help you with writing?

Yeah.

How do they help you?

Well, if I'm having trouble, like how to put a sentence or how to spell a
word. . .

Do you prefer to sit and write with friends or do you like writing alone in a
quiet place?

I usually like writing alone because I can get more work done.

Are you able to think better, or

Yeah.

What about (inaudible) what if you're trying to get your ideas together,
does it help to discuss it with somebody or would you rather think about it
on your own?

Most of the time it's easier to talk it over with somebody and ask them like

what would'they do if something happened to them, a certain thing

l6l

He's six.

He's just in kindergarten. A lot of kindergarteners can't read. Were you
reading in I:kindergarten?

Um, hum. During the summer before I went into kindergarten we had a
neighbor who had a whole bunch of books and I'd go over there and he'd help
me read.

He did? Your mother didn't help you then, just a neighbor and you picked it
up.

Yup.

Oh, I see. Was your mother surprised?

Yeah. She let me go though.

Okay. Um, do your mom and dad help you with writing?

Yeah.

How do they help you?

Well, if I'm having trouble, like how to put a sentence or how to spell a
word. . .

Do you prefer to sit and write with friends or do you like writing alone in a
quiet place?

I usually like writing alone because I can get more work done.

Are you able to think better, or

Yeah.

What about (inaudible) what if you're trying to get your ideas together,
does it help to discuss it with somebody or would you rather think about it
on your own?

Most of the time it's easier to talk it over with somebody and ask them like

what would they do if something happened to them, a certain thing

I62

happened to them that happened in the story. Like you can ask a lot of
people and then sort of put them together.

But if you're working by yourself, you can't do that. So you go back and
maybe ask them, and then go back to your own place. Is there a location
that you prefer to write in like around in the classroom, say at school is
there a place where you prefer to write? Most of the time we do it in the
room.

Does other students talking bother you when you write?

It depends on what they are talking about.

Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

Well, if they talk about the book I'm writing or they're writing I usually
(inaudible)

Um, do you ever talk to yourself as you write?

Yeah, like, as I write something like a sentence or something I tell myself
what I want to write over and over I say write the words.

50 that helps you then. Um, I can't ask you this question, if you would
rather write to a friend or talk on the telephone. Ok, when you are going to
write a story or a report or a news article or a letter to a friend, what's,
can you think about the first thing you do. Like this morning when l
assigned that um, story, this morning. What was the very first thing you
did?

Think about, like if you have a choice, like what will be easier to write
about and I get my characters; usually I think about what they will be
doing.

So you probably have a plan, you've got some kind of plan when you start.
Yeah.

Do you know how long that usually takes?

I63

It doesn't take long, usually I think about things as you're talking.

I knew you'd say that! When I was talking this morning, I thought . . . I bet
some people started thinking while I was talking. So when I finished, I
wondered how you could start writing right away, some people by the time
they get their paper are ready to write, and there are some who are just
still trying to find something to think about or write about, like l0 minutes
into the writing time.

Sometimes I'll wait though, cuz, like when we were writing our books, I
waited then, I started, I had to think awhile. Usually I think while you're
talking.

There is nothing wrong with that, it's just interesting that I'm talking and
I'm thinking they're listening and some people are thinking about and some

people can hear what I'm saying and still be thinking, or thinking along with

listening.
I do that. At home, sometimes I'll be reading a book and I won't stop
because I like have a paragraph left, and my mom will be telling me

something and screaming at me cuz

Why do you like to stop at paragraphs?

Cuz it's easier to get my place if I'm not at the end of a paragraph.

Yeah, Ok, um, when you're thinking about your story, and you say you get
your characters and what they are going to be doing, um, do you know how
it is going to end right from the start?

No, usually I have to get to my plot and then that's when I start thinking
about how my story is going to end.

Is that the hardest part? To

yeah

Um, ending, why do you think that is?

I64

It is hard to like have a good ending for a story you have if it is really
complicated or it is really a big scene or something so it's kind of hard to
have a good ending, ...the story could build up to that. Sometimes I do
know what my ending will be and I just build my story up to that.
Sometimes you might think of the ending first, but most of the time you
kind of think about your ending after you get your climax or plot. Does
that filmstrip help, Friday I didn't see it, but I just read about it.

It was really crazy.

Was it?

The endings that they had you would have thought they'd be the endings,
yet, they would have a little more.

It kind of left you hanging. Um, are you aware of thinking about such
things as punctuation and paragraphing and spelling when you write your
stories or whatever you're writing the first time. Are you aware of
thinking about that?

Sometimes, like if I want to get done really quickly, I then I'll put the
(inaudible) but most of the time I'll put them in as I go and l (inaudible)

So you kind of think about it as you go along. Ok, sometimes you don't
even recall thinking about it, you sort of automatic, do you think with you
it's automatic?

Yup, all of it is automatic. Instead of a colon I'll put a comma or stop it
there or put an exclamation point.

Ok, where do you get most of your ideas for writing?

Usually it is stuff that has happening but I change it around a little and I
get my ideas from things that have happened to other people.

So, even if it's like a fiction story, then you kind of build it on something

that's like a real experience.

I65

Yeah.

Ok, sometimes writers seem to have difficulty with keeping going or even
with what to write next, has this ever happened to you?

Yes.

Ok, when is it likely to happen? Can you think of a time or is it just
anytime.

Well when I was writing (inaudible) after I do the setting, it's kind of hard
to start into the real story. You have to stop and think.

Um, hum. Why do you think something like that happens?

Well, usually for me I'm always trying to be good and it usually doesn't
make a lot of sense, so I usually just start (inaudible)

Okay, now, I think I know the answer to this, but you tell me anyway, when
you are writing do you usually continued to write until you have completed
you selection or do you stop and take a break and then go back to it?

At school I keep writing, but at home I usually take a break.

Oh, you do? Oh, why is that?

I don't know, when I'm at home, I'm just uncomfortable, do I keep on going,
I just keep on going and I keep going until I get something (inaudible) I don't
know why, that's just the way I am and I never can sit and watch a whole
TV show without getting up and going to get something to eat or
something.

But you don't have any trouble at school doing that?

No.

Do you think it's because there are different expectations at school that
you're kind of forced to sit there and get your work done?

I don't know, I'm just that way.

 

I66

That's interesting. Um, where do you think your writing is better, at school
or at home?

At school.

You do. Where do you have the most fun writing, at school or at home?

At school.

Do you? Um, do you critique your own writing and go back and look at it
and think about what's good about it and what's bad about it?

Yeah.

When do you usually do this? As you writing it or after?

Well, as I'm writing it. Sometimes I'll look back to see what I've put to see
if it makes sense or should I put something else in later in the story. Like I
was reading a book and they didn't even look back or anything and they put
"there was a boy and a girl" and the boy said that he had 2 brothers and a
little sister and the girl had 2 sisters, and then later on in the story they
said they were telling about their family and the boy told about his sisters.
And before he said he had 2 brothers.

That doesn't seem to make sense! Who wrote that, was it...

It was, I'm not sure about the first name, but it was Sacks.

Oh really? Marilynn Sacks?

I think so, I'm not sure. It was Bus Ride.

That makes the reader think that it's not very realistic, or very authentic.
Um, how would you evaluate yourself as a writer. How do you feel about
what you have written?

Sometimes I think it's not so good, but other times I think its good.

Sometimes when it's not good I think it is.

I67

Student Interview (Excerpt)

Anne

 

When do you seem to enjoy writing most? When a topic is assigned and
explained or when you get to choose your own?

When I get to choose my own.

Ok, and why do yuou suppose that is?

Because when l have my own idea I have more things I can write about.

Ok, alright, do you write at home?

Yes, I write letters.

Ok, who do you write to, friends?

My grandpa, and my babysitter that went to California.

Ok, do you do any other kind of writing? (long pause) At home? That you
can think of.

(long pause) Usually I end up writing in Chinese rather than English.

Oh, I see. Is it easier for you to write in Chinese?

No

No, but you enjoy that more or is it just something different?

Writing in Chinese is something different. It's a character for each word so
it is totally different.

I see, is it easier to express your ideas in Chinese or English?

EngHsh

Is it, ok, of the difficulty in making Chinese letters.

Yes

I see. Ok, but your thoughst are pretty much the same either way?

Right

 

I68

Ok, do your mom and dad help you with your writing? When you sit down
to write at home?

Yes.

They do?

Yes

Who helps you?

Usually my mom cause my dad is so busy.

Oh, I see, and how does your mom help you?

When I finish a rough draft of a letter she will correct it and trhen I'll go
write it over.

So you usually make 2 copies?

(inaudible) makes us do that when we write to our pen pals.

Do you ever change parts when you do your rewriting?

Yes

I see, why do you change them?

Cause sometimes they don't make sense to me.

Ok, then you can pick that out when you go back and write it.

(Long pause, alot of noise)

You can, when you go back and rewirite it, you can make things a little bit
different, you change it.

Yes

That way it makes more sense.

Yes

Ok, what things can you think of that trigger or help you realize that
something isn't making sense.

When my mom says that that's not true, when my tells me that she doesn't

know what that means.

I69

Ok, usually if you try it out on someone else you can tell.

Yes

What about in school, do you do that in school? Do you try...

Miss M (afternoon teacher) reads it over and she tells me some parts that
don't really make sense to her.

But what about with, if you just do it on your own, can you tell whether or
not.

I usually go back and read it over, so I can figure out the parts that don't
make sense to me.

Do you read it over as you write, do you go back as you're writing and look
back on parts...

Usually I write about 2 or 3 paragraphs and then I go back and read it over.
Ok, does that help you to go on to know what to write in the next
paragraph?

Yes.

Ok, do you think you do that more now than when you were in the second
grade?

Yes

Ok, do you prefer to sit and write with friends, or do you like to write
alone in a quiet place.

In a quiet place.

You do. Is there any place around here that you like better to write in?
Seems like most of the time you are at your desk. But if you could pick
like a small room somewhere do you think you would like that better?

It depends on whether it was quiet in the room or not.

You wouldn't want to be in a small room if there were alot of people there?

No, I wouldn't

I70

Why is it that you like a quiet place better?

'Cause I can concentrate and I get better ideas there.

Ok, When we have a discussion or I explain paragraph writing or writing a
newspaper article before you actually begin to write, does that make a
difference in your writing? If I explain it or,

It does

In what way?

Well, it makes more sense than it would if I just went on my own, if I just
went and did it.

Is there ever a time when you feel like you already know that?

Yes.

Alot of times, or just some of the times?

Some of the times

Some of the times, lets say I am talking about the main sentence in the
paragraph and how you put in your ideas that add detail and then you start
writing it. Do you think about those things when you are writing?

Yes

This is sort of related to that, does it give you ideas when I explain things
or does it slow you down? When you are writing, you know, when I've
explained something before, talk about...

It gives me ideas.

Ok, the writing we have done in class, what has been the kind that you've
liked most? Say, we wrote ET stories and we wrote about a trip taken, and
we wrote about pioneer times, and we wrote books, you did a book, and we
wrote letters to pen pals and journals and tall tales, which one did you
enjoy most?

Stories.

I7I

The stories?

Yes

The stories where you came up with your own ideas?

Yes

Oh, Ok, why do you think that was the case?

(long pause)

Did you like having it in a book or making a book cover for it or its easier,
you know we did reports too and,...

I think it was because I chose my own topic.

Oh, ok, so you would really like it if we would let you choose your own
topic most of the time.

Yes

Ok, how about the report on famous black Americans, did you enjoy that at
all?

Yes, I enjoyed reading, reading in the books.

But not the writing of the report.

It wasn't as good as reading, but it wasn't too bad.

Cause I seem to remember that one you didn't seem to like, and I am trying
of other reports that we did but I remember particularly that one. Did you
do any reports in Social Studies?

No

Ok, you did a good job on that, especially the cover and the pictures. Ok,
what is your favorite topic to write about?

In what?

In stories.

Mysteries

Mysteries, oh!

I72

Except I have a hard time tieing it all up.

Yeah, that is the hardest thing, and I think Mara had a hard time getting
hers to end, she wrote and wrote, you know how long her story was.

Yeah, it was over 54 pages long.

Yeah! I think she just got involved with it and had a hard time...What is it
about mysteries you think makes it...

So esciting, and I would rather read a mystery than just a baby book.

Yeah.

Like, "The dog went to play"

Do you, are you able to figure out the mysteries pretty well?

Yeah, sometimes they don't make too much sense though.

Ok, (long pause) Does it bother you when other students are bothering you
and talking in class when you are writing?

Yes

It does. Why is that?

Cause when I hear them talking it taks my concentration off of writing...
Ok, and what about, does it ever give you any ideas or...

No

No, you don't hear them say a word and go "Ah, that gives me an idea,
maybe I can use that"

No, that never happens.

Never happens, ok. I interviewed one student one time, this was a fourth
and fifth grade class, and that is what she told me and that, and that is why
I thought I would ask you, I was surprised when she said that she said "I like
it when people are talking around me, sometimes it gives me ideas." And I
was really surprised at that. Do you ever talk to yourself as you write?

Yes

I73

You do?

Well, it helps me to keep the idea because sometimes when you write so
much ahead of it that you have to keep the idea in your head for a long
time and sometimes when you get to the part when you need it, it has gone
out of your head.

Oh, so talking helps you do that. In a way. Oh, that's good. Ok.
Sometimes writers seem to have difficulty with keeping going or even
thinking abo9ut what to write next. Has this ever happened to you?

Yeah, and then I have to go back and find out wht I did that I didn't wnat in
there and take it all out. Sometimes I have written so much, that I don't
want to take the time to erase it all, so I just cross it out.

Ok, what do you do when it hwllens and you can't think of anything else and
you just sort of stop and what do you do?

I go back and I read it and I figure out what I can put into it.

So usually just going back kind of helps you.

Yeah.

To think of more thjings. Have you ever gotten to the point where you just
couldn't think of anymore things and you just put it away?

Yeah.

You have?

Tiffany does it all the time.

Yeah.

You just stuff it in your desk and take out drawings or something.

So sometimes you just want to get away from it. I guess, then when you
pull it back out is it easier to get started again?

Well, I get up with an idea the next day I'll pull it back out and work on it.

8:

I74

It's funny how that happens. Sometimes with me late at night and I'm doing
some work, well sometimes I'm trying to do some work, trying to do some
writing, and it just doesn't come. Nothing.

That's what comes to me. When I go to bed, I get the idea. When I wake
up, I forget about it. Usually I shake my arm out. Cause usually when you
write alot your arm begins to tense up.

What about thinking? Does it help you to think better?

When I run out of ideas, I sit there and I think and I think and I then I go
back to writing again.

(long pause) How do you usually feel about what you have written?

Usually, I'm most concerned about it not making sense. then the whole
story wouldn't make any sense to the reader.

Yeah. You think alot about what the readers going to.

Like get into my head.

Get into what?

If it doesn't make sense, then the whole story won't make sense to them.
There is no sense in reading the book.

That's true. You know alot of people don't even think about that at all?
some poeple don't realize that they are writing for the reader, and not for
themselves.

Sometimes they write he instead of the person, and then the reader goes
who's he?

Yeah, that's right. Cause he has to refer to somebody. You just can't say
he and the reader doesn't know. How do you think you realize that? A
good writer like that? Did it just sort of happen?

Would you say that question again?

I just wondered how you think you realized that you had to be aware of the

reader in your writing, and not...

I75

Sometimes I read a book and it doesn't make much sense to me and so I
start thinking about when I write a book I've got to put sense into it.

And these are adult authors, and they probably don't realize that they don't
make sense.

I've never read a book by Judy Bloom before.

You haven't?

Yeah, and every day I hear Meggan going "Judy Bloom, Judy Bloom" and |
go who is Judy Bloom?

Why haven't you read pme by Judy Bloom? You just not interested in her
kind of books?

No, I like Nancy Drew. I like Carol Keen books.

Who was your favorite author? Carol Keen

Carol Keen. My mom hates those books cause I never look at the books she
buys. Keep l on checking them out and sit reading for hours.

What kind does she buy?

She buys stuff like the Wizzard of Oz and I've already seen the movies,
Pinnochio and Robin Hood and so they are kind of boring.

Those are classics though. Those are books that people have read over the
years. And they are considered really good literature, or well written
books. So that is probably why she wants you to read them.

She bought one "The Kite" that was completely new, but I didn't understand
a word of it.

Is that so?

Yeah

Is it because it wasn't expressed clearly? or was it because they used big

wor ds?

APPENDIX C

SAM PLE FIELDNOTES

APPENDIX C

SAMPLES OF FIELDNOTES

Classroom Observations - Grade 3/4
January 27, I983
9:47

As I entered the room, the teacher was writing the reading assignments on
the blackboard. There was a chart in one corner of the board (see the end of the
fieldnotes for this date). The room was quiet as the students were involved with
silent reading. Pg has been reading silently the entire time and the teacher
notices this:

T I like the way & is reading. Also, If; and Sh are reading well.

5 is reading, however looking over shoulder; she is also looking at the
pictures in her book instead of reading the words. Now, she is reading
her book.

Lo reading quietly at her desk

Kathy working on book report: Ramona The Brave

 

Mindy writing diligently; pauses to look up at the blackboard and momentarily
out the window. She then continues to write.

Jo, Li reading books at their desks
Ja wanders around the room as he reads
T announces that she is really pleased with the way everyone is working.

The class started to get noisy; the students didn't want to stop working on the
book reports.

T asks how many like book reports - many students raise their hands.
T asks how many like journals - only Mindy raised her hand.
T asks, Okay now we'll start our writing assignment.

Lo came up to me - told me she went from lower to higher level spelling
list. She had a big smile on her face.

C Miss M, guess what?! This is the first time I got all my spelling words
right! He showed me his list hanging on the Spell Well Turtle Shell.

I76

Lo

Anne

T

I77

Alright, you should be sitting like Kathy, K, and Anne. Boys and girls
I'm waiting for Jo - the spelling test will be after our writing, so put
away your spelling lists. Yesterday we talked about our trip to the
M.S.U. Museum and how we can relate that to writing. Who can tell me
what we said about writing?

You need to think about the things that happened such as main ides,
details, the order that things happened. We write what happened first,
second, and so forth.

Yes. We start with one main idea from the trip, what happened first,
then we fill in the details. Now we are going to be writing individual
stories about the fieldtrip using the idea of writing with a main idea for
each paragraph and sequencing the paragraphs according to the order of
the events. Who has an idea about starting?

(looking at the outline on the board) Do we write it like that?

No. I'll explain that later.

The students start to give the teacher ideas for starting their stories:

Me

An
Sh
Yo

We came into the room...

One day...
(to Kim) Once upon a time... She giggles
is bothering Er - teacher told her to stop.

ON THE BOARD:

One

day our class...

It was a cold day when we came upstairs and started a discussion about our

trip.
T

Cu
Mindy

Lo

Ju

Okay, if you start your story with the bus as the main idea you fill it in
with details once you were on the bus. This becomes a paragraph.

You wrote 'It was a cold day' - (corrected the teacher)

It started out with our class or "Back in the I9th century... She laughs.
'Twas the day of January 20th...

Very good! 'Twas is another way of writing It was.

You could have three or four paragraphs: write about the bus ride, the
lecture, the tour, and the ending. Your paragraphs would would consist
of the main ideas, then the details. If you have four main ideas, you'll

have four paragraphs.

Does it have to be about the museum?

Anne

I78

Very good question. You can be creative. If you want to write about a
trip to Cedar Point that is fine.

Can we write more than four paragraphs? T Yes.

Don't be overly concerned about handwriting. Who has any other ideas
for writing?

ON THE BOARD

Our Trip the L.I.G. (Lansing Ice Skating and Gymnastics Arena)

A Trip the Mackinaw Island Anne corrected T spelling T I'm right!
A Trip to Kings Island (K)

A Trip to Disney World (Sh)

A Trip to Greenfield Village (Ra)

T

Does anyone know what these lines (") mean?

An answered correctly.

The teacher has been taking suggestions for topics to write about.

MR I got the best answer...Epcot Center (enthusiastically).

Ju
Kathy

Er
Mindy

Mindy

Lo

(I asked MR when he had been there ...He's going on 2/25.)

Polynesian Culture Center

Detroit Museum

Boblo

Okay, I got a question: When we write our semi-story, is it:
I. a question

2. a main idea

3. the details

No, this (painting to writing on the board) is just an outline to follow.
Can we put fiction parts in it?

Okay, but mainly factual - so no trips to the moon. (smiles)

Some people will put things that you don't want them to put so then
they have to do it all over again. (I noticed she seemed upset about
this.)

You don't have to check with me about your story — just make sure it's a

trip. If it's a trip that you took and you use the ideas from that trip so
that it's primarily non-fictional, you won't have to do it over.

The teacher passes out the writing paper. "You don't have to put the title first."

MR Can you write about a place you are going to visit?

T

No.

Mindy

Kathy

I79

You have ten minutes until recess - either to think or write.
Each write their titles.

(to T): Should I write about the Polynesian Village?

(to me): There was something disgusting at Mackinac Island.

Are you telling me your story
I don't know.

The people in the front of the room are off to a good start.
Can we draw a picture when we are done?

Yes, that would be a good idea.

I wrote the title and 'by Mindy Gaines.’

Boys and girls if you don't know how to spell a word leave a space for it
and come back to it later.

(looks at Mindy's paper) notes Mindy's title then looks at Mindy's

barrette on her desk - begins writing: 'A Trip to Detroit'.

T
An, Me
Jo,Sh,K
Sh
K
T
Anne
Anne

II:00

I walked

An

Li

Mindy

Many of you should be working a lot quieter.

Talking; then writing - I can't hear what they're saying.
sitting under table in the back of the room -

How do you spell island?

checked for her.

talking to Ja

is ringing the bell for recess. K is annoyed; Who's ringing the bell?

shows the teacher her story so far.

into the room as the students are writing.

Ro, Ja get to work or you'll stay in for recess.
While writing, stops to look around the room.

Don't forget, have ideas separated into paragraphs.
leans chin on desk as she writes

shows her paper to the teacher, Is that good so far?

Kathy

Kathy
this.

Er
An

R0
Sh, K
Sh
T
Ro

Me
P

Ra

l80

Yes
Ja go sit at the reading table because you're not concentrating.
waiting for the teacher to read her story.

(to Mindy) "Oh no, I forgot to indent for my paragraphs. She corrects

her sister came in to read a story to her.
asks teacher about paragraph indentation.

An, add some detail - your whole trip has been described in one
paragraph.

asked if 'favorite' has an 'e' at the end.
asked me for spelling of words.

is worried about indenting paragraphs.
(to Sh) just put a mark to show me.

as he writes, he talks quietly to himself.

(to P) How's the story coming?
It's decent!

Are you still doing the survey?

As I look around the room I infer that the students are mostly concerned with
spelling and indenting paragraphs as they write their stories.

Me
Anne

T
K

Ja

Ja
II:I7

(to Anne) Why do you skip lines when you write?
It looks neater

is asking An questions to stimulate ideas for her story.
showed me her story - she numbered her lines - 2l so far.

(to me) So I called R0 and he asked his mother, should I put a comma -
she said yes? I showed Ja to make this into 2 sentences.

Okay, wait - I have a better idea.

Room is getting much noisier now.

Ro
T

hasn't written more than one sentence in IS minutes
rings the bell - Time for spelling tests - you have 5 minutes.

Questions

What happened first

What happened next?

What happened next?

What happened next?

I8l

Chart - (Taped on board)

A Trip to the Museum

Main Idea

We came in and talked
about trip

Got an the bus

Arrived at the museum

We took a tour of
the museum

Details

Who? Mrs. D, Miss M,
class

What? talked about
behavior

Where? in room

How? Whole class
discussion

Who? Classes (ours
& Ms. K's)

How? Noisy/quiet

What? Did you talk
about and who did
you sit by?

Who? tour guides met
us.

Where? Entrance to

museum

What? Took off coats,
went to lecture
room, passed
around rocks
and tools

Who? Two class and
and tour guides
What? Saw things from
pioneer life,
Saw different
kinds of dino-

saur bones.

I82

Thursday, February 3

I0:07

 

I walked

in as the teacher was discussing culture (black) with the students.

ON THE BLACKBOARD:

 

Introduction Foods

-name Church

American -what is it like?

culture or heritage (ethnic) Music and dance

Family traditions People like me that I am proud of
-holidays Special Problems

Special celebrations
things we do as a group
examples: Greek - baklava

Lo
T

Sh

Lo

Mindy

Everyday we learn more about ourselves - Roots

Most black American descendants came from Africa as slaves, were not
allowed to learn to read and write— worked on plantations

-mentions the Winds of War - Jews were targeted

I want you to think about the things in peoples' backgrounds that help
explain how people act and react. The Polish are having problems now.
in Poland. Not allowed freedom as we have here. I want you to be
aware of cultures.

 

Offered to bring in magazine about Black history.
Good

The reason for Black history month is to get blacks caught up in the
history books. Most books give poor information on the role of blacks in
building this country and the contributions blocks have made. Also, the
Indians didn't get a fair shake.

I don't think Indians were treated fairly.

Many people agree with you.

Here are some Indian legends.

Okay, I want you to be aware of other cultures. I want you to think if
you're black what it's like to be white; if you're Chinese what's it like to
be Indian, etc. But, first, I want you to be aware of your own

background. We're going to write about ourselves and try to identify
things that are a part of our culture.

The teacher uses the chart on board. This is the introduction. I want you to do
it in sentences with main ideas.

I83

The teacher talks about holidays - How do you celebrate? What are your family
traditions?

An

We have hotdogs on the 4th of July and turkey on Thanksgiving.

MR Party on the 4th of July.

Me

T

In the summertime (August) we have a family reunion in Minnesota.

Many people in Minnesota have Swedish background

The teacher proceeds through the chart with the students. She mentioned types
of music and the class became very noisy and excited. The teacher also
mentioned that dance is a part of music.

T

MR

An

Lo

Mindy
T
I0:29

 

don't forget, I want you to mention in your story someone whom you are
very proud of.

Can it be someone way back in our family? T - Yes.

(looking at the chart on the board) What are special problems?

Well, when I was young, I wasn't always treated right at resturants.
That was a special problem for me. Other examples would be "They

won't include me in a game because I'm Chinese, Black, etc.

(very excited) wanted to contribute to the class discussion.
comment - that wasn't fain.

moves to back of room

I told my mom that I wanted to learn about famous black people so she
got me a set to learn.

Very good. I bet you learned a lot.

Is it true that black people couldn't sit where they wanted at the
movies?

Yes. Many times Blacks had to sit in the balcony of a theatre.
I'm not sure if my family has special problems.

Any question.

The teacher passes out the paper to the students.

MF
T

Can we start?
Yes

|84

The room is very noisy right now; most of the students are talking.
T Boys and girls, freeze. I want you to think of the main idea and some
examples. Use specific details. We will start this right after recess.
I0:32 Melt and go outside.
I will now observe the following students: Mindy, Kathy, Anne, Lo, Li, MF, P.
I0:55
Li Starting to write; most of the class is still talking. My name is Li...

T Alright, everyone get to work.

Mindy Miss M, I don't know if I should put Iraqy American or Iraqy and Welsh
American.

Kathy My name is Kathy. She is looking at the blackboard. Then, she looks at
Mindy as Mindy writes her story.

MF wrote on his paper: 'Introduction'

The teacher announce to the entire class - "Don't write 'intro., name, etc. - this
chart is just an outline to follow.

MF asks me if he can keep 'intro.‘ - I said okay.

Anne Title - "All About Me" - writing every other line for neatness. She
wrote a few lines then looked up for a few seconds. She continues to
write.

Lo "My name is Lolita BEard and I'm a ." She is drawing on her
eraser and hasn't written anything else. Her hand is raised. She asked
me what she should write for heritage. My reply - Black American

 

Lo Now what do I do? I don't understand what the teacher wants us to do.

P has written a few sentences. His parents are Chinese - he uses
exclamation marks in his story. 'I'm the only American in my family!’

Kathy hasn't written anything new. Drew a dot on her paper and is circling it
over and over. Wrote a few words lightly and erased them. She went to
talk to An; then wandered around the room.

Mindy asked me how to spell a word.

T Boys and girls, you all tell me some exciting stories so write them
down on your papers.

Anne has written one side of a page; diligently working on the back sheet.

I85

February I7, I983

9:55

I entered the room during a discussion about Ben Bannaker

T

Here's Mindy's report notes. They aren't very neat but that's Okay.
When taking notes it's acceptable. Mindy has crossed things out and
drawn lines and arrows. (T walks down center aisle to show notes to
students).

(K turns to me and complained of a stomachache.)

Me

An

Lo

Anne

Anne

Yesterday, we went to the library and got four biographies on George
Washington Carver? (Says this to class after being recognized and
called on.)

(enthusiastically and smiling) You'll have information overload!
Sometimes there are discrepancies among different books in the
information. Does anyone know what discrepancy means?

(raises hand, T acknowledges) You mean a lot of information?

No. (Still standing in front of room.)

Useless information?

No.

I'm guessing, Okay? (T says okay to guess, if reasonable.) Information
about a lot of different things?

No. That's not it either. (Julie comes up to teacher with complaint
about sore finger. T looks at it and tells her to put towel with cold
water on it. Class waits)

Puts example of a discrepancy on board George Washington Carver
resource books gave two dates for his birth date. She points our the
fact that there is a discrepancy because he could only have one birth
date. Points out the fact that they didn't keep accurate records then.
Talked about Ben's birth... didn't keep accurate records.

Okay, let's get started on reports.

Writing pen pal letter. I told her to put it away.

Me, Kathe, K, Yo, Sh: All working in small room.

T

Working in other room helping students individually.

I0:05

 

Me &
Kathy

Mindy

Me

Mindy

K,Yo,Sh

Sh

Sh

Anne

P&Ro

Me &
Kathy

Mindy

I86

Working together on GW Carver report. Exchanging ideas. There is
disharmony; arguing over who would write and who would look the
information up in the book.

I'm doing Ethel Waters (talking to me).

Me, Me, & Kathy are gonna do a play (don't tell). Well practice on
Saturdays. (She's really proud). We're doing

What happened to Uncle Albert?

 

Does that have anything to do with Ethel Waters?

yes, she was a black actor (I corrected her...Actress) and I want to

see what it's like to be an actress. (ON: Mindy's very interested in
acting.)

Working together, listening to tape--copying notes and copying word for
word, constantly replaying tape. All writing the same things.

Held up her paper to show how much she had done. Three girls argue
over playing tape and when to turn it off.

On Tape- "Ben's schooldays started at I2"

Oh, and then ended at l5.

No!

Wanna bet?

Tape - and ended at l5.

Told ya!

Reading to herself (at her sear in the back of the room). book is Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (Not happy about having to do report or about
the topic of Black history. Is very sullen).

Lying on the counter. Ra says We're putting comedy in our notes.
Working in small room. Talking about their resource book and whether
or not it is a biography. Kathy wasn't sure. (ON: factual book.

Don't know name).

Came up to Kathy and Me. T said I could walk around since I've been
working so hard.

 

I0:20

I87

K,Sh,Yo Still listening to tape. Sh and K still arguing over running the tape and

Mindy
Me

Mindy

Anne
Me

Anne

what it says.

(Back at seat) Has been reading.

Mindy, what have you learned?

Ethel was a good singer. She was a thea...(couldn't pronounce
theatrical--didn't know what it meant. I showed her word 'theatre').

She read her booklet and wrote as she went along. Put report in her
own words.

Sitting with three books on Martin Luther King on her desk.

What are you doing?

I don't know-~just resting. I've read a lot.

K,Yo,Sh Tape: Prosperous gentleman...

Me

Sh

What does prosperous mean?
No one knew so I told them.

Miss M. we're writing lists of words but we don't know what they mean.

l0:30 RECESS. T RINGS BELL

T
l0:58

Alright, back to your seats. It's time for recess.

Students return from recess. Go rather noisily to their seats.

T
T

Yo&Ju

Mindy

walks in room and walks to the front.

Okay, let's settle down. (students quiet down)

For the next 30 minutes we will work on reading assignments. If you
need help with workbook--Mindy is the buffer and she can help out.

working on Apple Computer.

(Responding to talking) Alright--you have l5 seconds for this transition.
I like the way the people in the back are working.

pointing out books for Kathy and Me in the back of the room.

Ro & Ja working in workbooks - not talking.

Lo & An reading silently in books at desks.

MR
Er & De
Jo

Lo 8 An
Jo

Je

Anne

Sh

Ro
Yo
Er

I88

Asks teacher for help in workbook

Reading silently in independent reading book.

Walking around room. Have questions about workbook pages.
working while standing up

I like the way MR is working.

Playing with Lo's braid

Workbook page is one dealing with the Long I sound. She doesn't
understand how to do the page.

Miss M. this is an interesting book. (Referring to Alvin's Swap Shop)

 

Threw up her arms--l did it? She finished her workbook.
Asks me for help in her workbook.

Working quietly.

Staring at reading group activity; glanced at clock.

working with Ja in workbook.
working by himself

(standing in corner of room) I asked her what she was working on--she
was reading material from Creative Corner. She said, well I should be
doing reading. She smiled. (ON: she commented on my writing all the
time. She said she wrote a lot yesterday and she hurt her fingers.

 

Working on quilt; sewing fabric.
Staring at computer
(sitting on floor meeting with reading group.) They are working on a

play in their reading book-Freedom Ground. Students in group are P,
Ro, MR, Lo, An.

 

Standing up—-talking with Jo
Tracing cartoon characters.
Fought with Kim over chair.

Asked me if she could work in hall. I said yes.

l89

(ON: Most of the class is working quietly. Groups of two's or just
individually.)

Still working with reading group.
Rang bell- Okay, time to get ready for lunch. (Students begin moving

back to seats, put things away and sit with arms folded in order to get
called on for dismissal for lunch.

I90

February 23, I983 - Wednesday

ON BOARD: Noun - the name of a person place or thing

9:30

toes

potatoes / s

calves

calf-change f to ve and add es
fairy change y to i then add es

singular plural my
child children
foot feet

boys

keys kies studies toys

T is discussing plural and singular endings to nouns in preparation for spelling
assignment to be done.

T

9:35

This is what I want you to do now:

I) finish yesterday's spelling assignment

2) do today's assignment

3) work on reports — I will cneck them in the back of the room.

Classroom fairly quiet. T compliments Je, Yo as good workers (orally).

Anne

Mindy

Kathy
& Me

(ON: Focus on Anne, Me, Mindy, Kathy

(to teacher) I have finished today's assignment. I need yesterday's
assignments. (Anne was absent yesterday.)

working on spelling sheet

working on report on Ethel Waters. Wrote title, then looked up to
ceiling (left) started sentence, Ethel Waters lived an ugly childhood..

I asked her if she was doing her good copy? She stated that she was.
She said she printed because it enabled her to gather more information,
faster. She started a good copy before today but crossed out so much
that she started over.

I know I won't need as much paper for my good copy because I'll write
smaller and neater.

working in small room together on report.
This is our rough draft.

 

 

 

 

 

Kathy

Jo

Kathy

Kathy

Kathy

Kathy
Me

Kathy

I9I

We're trying to put this together but it gets messy and we forget words.
working on spelling, K helping her.

(to Kathy) Kathy, should we put his education all in one long
paragraph?

George Washington Carver didn't care about money.

Me, don't put didn't care about money yet...

(Kathy goes into big room to get biography. ON: They were trying to
organize report. Me continues to read over what's written.)

(as she looks through the book) I don't believe that George Washington
Carver got over 282 items from peanuts...l know the part about money
is on a left hand page.

(They are still trying to locate the paragraph about Carver's lack of
interest in money.)

He pays no attention to clothing either... He's weird! Oh well, I can't
find it!

comes in, wants Me in other room.

takes over writing rough draft.

When Carver was 26 he entered Simpson Collage.

Traces and retraces over word _h_e_.

comes in, reads what Kathy has written, and erases Collage.
(annoyed) What are you doing?!

It's egg not ggg.

(annoyance shows in voice) 50, I still know what it means.
Moves away and leans on counter.

needed to spell a word.

I'm not going to find it.
Went to get book, couldn't find it.

got book.

came to see Me & Kathy. She said, with a smile, that she needed to
walk some tension off.

I92

Numbers written on paper 3

34
35
I
45

I asked Kathy what the numbers are for. She and Me told me they were filmstrip
pictures.

Me My mom has tickets for Treasure Island.
Jo comes into room, draws a on Kathy's paper.
Kathy (annoyed) took it away, said Jo!
Me wrote on the back of paper.
Kathy I thought you said we weren't writing on the back?
Me Oh, m M?
(ON: There is a lot of tension surrounding this exchange.)

Kathy continue writing.
& Me

Me OK, Kathy -- you write, too -- I'm not doing the whole report.
Anne working on spelling words. Interrupted T at back of room. T asks her

not to interrupt because she's working with someone else. Anne asks
me about a spelling word.

she needed to unscramble words. Working on unscrambling her words;
looked up at me to smile.

Mindy walks around, gets a drink of water. Actually it's not hard to copy. I
think I'm doing well. (She showed me her paper -- Ethel Waters.) Do
you think this is neat?

Me Yes.
Mindy I mean really!

Me Yes.

(Mindy skipped a line between paragraphs. I explained that she didn't
need to do that when she indented.)

T rang bell to tell students that much of their reports should be
concluding and that they would be stopping for gym in a few minutes.

I93

Kathy Now this is the boring part.
Me What's that?

Kathy Writing down all George Washington Carver's ideas for sweet potatoes
and peanuts.

Me Well, if it's boring you can leave it out.

Kathy Well, it's interesting but it takes a long time to do. I'm finishing the
rough draft and Me's starting the final copy.

I0:32

T rings the bell for gym.

I94

March I6, I983 -
_9__:_l__2

T Alright, now you will first write in your journals, then silent reading.
Room is fairly talkative.

Mindy This is my second journal; I have one at home. I don't know exactly
what I'll do with my journal. Mom says it'll be fun to look back on .
One of my diaries I don't like because they don't give me enough room
to write everything.

Mindy's notebook is at 90 degrees to her.

Dear Me, March l6, I983
Today a new girl came to Central (my school)...

Mindy would look up at left hand side of bulletin board. She asked me if there's
any such word as I'_d. She put pencil top to mouth; looked up, then continued to
write. She then erased to spell Creek correctly. Miss M. is right next to me and
we talked about dissecting animals.

9:30

Mindy wrote more on her paper, then started talking out loud. She turned around
to show R that his name is in her journal -- she showed the word gross -- See, R
is in the word gross. She then continued with writing; then asked me to sign my
name in her journal. She then flipped back to her book at phone numbers. She
then turned back to finish writing her story.

T (sitting on desk at front of room) talking about student storybooks and
illustrations.

Mindy See, Ms. Roberts told me a few suggestions -- but to follow those I'd
have to change my whole book around and I don't have a whole year to
do that! (smiled)

T True, your book is very personal; you don't have to use the suggestions.
Ms. Roberts said her book was censored in South Africa.
Explained censored.

Mindy Ms. Roberts used the word banned.

T Yes, banned or censored. OK, I want you to be your own critic.
Now standing in front of room, using hand gestures as she talks.
Your first revision.

Mindy raised her hand.
My book's kind of long -- oops I forgot! (to me) This is a different type
of clear. (?) I don't know if I'd have time or room to copy this story
over. It would take so long to change a few parts.

I95

I explained to Mindy about making revisions -- she doesn't need to change the
whole thing.

Teacher from other class came in for science materials.

Mindy

Me

Mindy

Me

Once when my cousin wrote a report she put too many " " marks and my
mom couldn't figure out what she wrote.

Mindy then continued to write.

I can't believe tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day already.

She continued to write. Looked up at board and flipped her notebook
over. Looking back through story for the word mansion. She asked me
if may-see-on was the same thing as manchian -- I think she was
confused because of the spelling. When I corrected her, she said Oh,
yeah, mansion looks like may-see-on. Busy writing, she glanced up at
the teacher wandering around the room, then continued to write. She's
sitting up straight.

Vacant means what -- empty?

 

 

Yes.

Does this make sense? There were no windows in the small vacant
room where grandma slept.

Yes.

Mindy's legs don't touch the ground in her chair so she lets them dangle and
occasionally moves and kicks them back and forth.

I0:00

Now Mindy has written 3/4 of a new page. Kathy is absent today so I am sitting
in her desk, which is adjacent to Mindy's.

Mindy

I0:07
Kathy
T

Mindy

When you have a ? and " ,does the ? go before the " even though this
isn't a computer paper the ? might mean PRINT to someone!! (She is
referring to a lesson taught about the Apple II computer and BASIC
language.)

She continues writing on next page. She looked back to previous page
to see where she left off.

I don't know how I started this but it took me just a half hour to think of
this idea. Mom said I had author's block. I guess I did. Sometimes I get
frustrated with the story then I put it down for a while to get re-
acquainted with it.

arrived and sat down.
talking about deciding how much text to put on each page of book.

I'm going to have to choose chapters and paragraphs!

I asked Mindy how long her story will be.

Mindy

Me

I96

I don't know, let's see.

She counts pages.

I've got l8 pages right now. I'm not a good illustrator but... I don't
know how to divide, organize my book into chapters. Like in Nancy
Drew they always make you want to read more. I've read most of
Nancy Drew's books. She's changed a lot. I wrote to Carolyn Keene but
she died last year. I thought that would be the end of Nancy Drew
books but there were some around her house.

getting back to organizing.

At this point, Mindy is worried about length.

Mindy

Mindy

Mindy

Y&Je

Mindy

I thought of writing it in chapters. I have a reason but I can't think of
it. I could organize it when done, you know, but I'm not sure if I can do
it. I think if I did it 2 hours at home maybe I could do it. It would be
easier to arrange in chapters as I go along.

She continues to write.

Mom said it's important to get ideas down -- I'm afraid I might forget
my ideas if I don't write them down right away.

began conversing with Mindy.

Sometimes chapters end up being very short. Once in kindergarten, I
wrote a story about a princess who wanted a toy. It was very long and I
guess kind of boring. Four years old I wrote the Mischevious Mouse. I
couldn't pronounce it, though. My printing was big and lopsided. In
summertime I wrote Bedtime Stories which is a collection of my short
stories.

 

You're a good illustrator.

I don't like to draw. My mom is good at it.

She talked about different drawings her mom has done.

What do you call a card that says you own a house or something?

Deed.

Remember -- think about one thing you're writing about. Don't get
caught up with a lot of details. It will get too long and you'll be bogged
down. You have just about five minutes to finish up for today.

turned around to talk with me.

continues writing.

Bell rings, it is time for gym.

I97

April 20, I983 - Wednesday

9:50

Students finishing books/stories.

On Board:
Choices for Assignments (?)

9:5I

Anne

9:52

\0
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N

I0:04

 

Anne

I0:06

I 0:07

working on her story. She is writing a good copy, glancing at scrap
copy.

pencil in hand near good paper (p. 6). Using left pinky finger to hold
place, writing with right hand. She is always concerned about neatness.
She is erasing the word IE to make the e fatter.

continues writing, looking intently at paper.
sat back in chair, stretched, and sighed. Anne asked me if she should

start a new paragraph for a quotation Mother, house... (p. 6 of good
copy)

 

Anne got up to get another sheet of paper.
Anne started talking about how she liked her new pants.
Anne left seat to talk to Sh and Y about their stories.

rearranging story pages in order.

came over to read Anne's poem The Circus and watch her at once
illustrate it by drawing a horse.

Let's see, where am I? How's your f inger?... (p. 7 of good copy)

 

Anne is involved in discussion about tropical fish -— she has just taken a
look at classroom guppies.

Anne is being very careful about her handwriting. She erases almost
every six-seven words because she doesn't think they're neat enough.

On page five of scrap copy, Anne asks me if yv_as_ or were -- I told her
since more than one wolf, were. Also talked about plural of wolf --
wolves, not wolfs.

Gosh, I was just thinking about the part of the story that doesn't make
sense.

Me Why not?

Anne

Anne

I0:l5

|0:25

Anne

|0:27

I0:29

Sh

_I_0:3_0
Anne
M
I0:33

I98

I wrote a part that mother told Joy 0 story and wanted her to pass it
down. It doesn't make sense to me.

If it doesn't make sense, why leave it in?

I don't know, I may take it out.

Page six of scrap copy -- Anne putting *** where she wants to put a
new paragraph. She'd now sitting back further in her chair with fingers

to chin.

Anne told me the plot (she didn't use this word) to her story. She
smiled. She seemed pleased with herself.

Anne currently working on finishing chapter three of The Sad Story.

 

FREEZE

Class had increased the noise level.

I don't want to hear I'm starting over -- you all know how to write
stories.

 

using folder half to block out outside distractions (cubby hole). Looking
around the room, she sighed and then said she was tired.

reading sentences aloud as she writes. She is sitting back in chair,
hands at sides, pauses for eight seconds.

came up to me and wanted to read me her story.

I read Sh's story because I'm doing her illustrations.

Anne continues to copy from scrap paper.

rings bell for gym class.

APPENDIX D

TEACHER JOURNAL (EXCER PTS)

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STUDENT WRITING SAM PL ES

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