This chapter discussed the idea of scaffolding childrens writing development.

According to Tompkins, there is five stages of writing; prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. The book discussed how the best way to implement the writing process is through writers workshop (which relates to the first article). This process allows for the students to engage more due to the idea of writing about a topic they have selected so therefore have more to say about it. Another way of implementing such process is interactive writing where they work directly with the teacher to come up with work. Tompkins writes how teaching writing involves three main components; first, writing strategies and skills, second, the six traits that make up a good writing piece, and lastly writing genres (such as descriptive, or persuasive. In the first article it shows examples of how one preschool teacher keeps track of all her students levels of comprehension/writing and what she does to track each one of them. She writes about the importance of children guiding their own learning and how she then scaffolds the children to reach a specific goal that she feels fit for each child towards successful writing skills. As mentioned in the second article, Early writing is one of the best predictors of childrens later reading success. Specifically, early writing is part of a set of important foundational literacy skills that serve as necessary precursors to conventional reading, including developing understandings of both print and alphabet knowledge. This article discussed how children begin to learn the difference between drawing and writing and placing meaning with their work. She explains that while children are engaged in center time, whatever station they may be at, they comprehend reading material while she is observing them and then discovers the children writing about what they are doing/seeing-taking place in that center.

Throughout my mine thus far in my practicum placement, I have seen lots of writingtaking place during center time. Within each center, there is a section where books are placed about the theme of each center (ex. in dramatic play, a childrens cook book) and many children I have observed draw what they see in the books and write their own mini story about what they are doing.