Discusses efforts at teaching children in kindergarten how to write, indicating that emergent readers can indeed write with scribbles, random letters, numerals, and sometimes words. Discusses their dictation, journal content, writing stages, and developmental trends. (HTH)

Describes how kindergarten children use invented spelling to rewrite Mother Goose nursery rhymes, indicating the phoneme grapheme system the children perceived from spoken language. (HTH)

Contrasts, through portraits of five young writers, the writing strategies of children used at home and in a kindergarten writing center that stressed a formal language arts program. Argues that the teacher's approach to writing instruction and the child's writing strategies must be compatible to ensure independent writers. (HTH)

Illustrates how school writing environments that encourage talk between peers can help children learn about writing and the writing process. Describes recurring patterns of language behavior at a kindergarten writing table and shows how children's natural conversations are often reminiscent of adult-child interaction in the home. (HTH)