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During my practicum in early childhood education, I wanted to focus on the development

of children’s writing. I worked with the host teacher to use the play are to set up a post office to

encourage the reading and writing of authentic material. The goal of the post office was to

incorporate play into the art of writing. Fatima Al-Maadadi and Fathi Ihmeideh (2016) believe,

“If children are provided with opportunities to engage in writing activities, they can develop many

insights into the functions of written language for themselves” (p. 436). The kids in this class

loved to write and creating an area devoted to play and writing allowed me to teach letter writing

to a class of first graders.

I started the “Post Office” by first teaching basic letter writing skills. Hellen Bradford

and Dominic Wyse (2012) state “There is now a powerful evidence base to show that children’s

earliest discoveries about written language are learned through active engagement with their

social and cultural worlds. In addition, the idea of writing development as an emergent process is

well established” (p. 252). The students in this class were in the transitional phase of writing

development. This developmental phase incorporates conventional spelling, spacing, and

punctuation in his/her writing. Using the post office allowed them to strengthen their writing

development and continue to build social skills in the school. According to Hope K. Gerde, Gary

E. Bingham and Barbara A. Wasik (2012) “Writing is a critical developmental skill that lays the

foundation for children’s later literacy skills and reading achievement” (p. 351).

After the letter writing lesson, we taught the students how to use the post office, how to

address envelopes, and how to deliver the mail per the U.S. Post Office Rules. The letters were

not restricted to the classroom and could be written to anyone. My host wanted structure for the

play center for the first two weeks and after that it would be in the students hands, and the kids

could do with it what they wanted. When we introduced the envelope and the post Office, the
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process seemed to change, and more care was given to the message being sent. Students were

concerned that their messages were now more important because they were going through the

mail, not just in a box. When I taught the envelope lesson, I indoctrinated all the students as

postal workers, and told them they were all now responsible for delivering the mail. This opened

up the play to everyone and allowed them all to have the opportunity to be post men or women

and to bring more ideas and imagination into the play. Sinead Harmey and Emily Rodgers (2017)

state, “Early writing development identified five factors that explained differences in student

growth, including handwriting fluency, message complexity, organization variables, as well as

spelling and punctuation” (P. 160). I believe this shows development in writing because the kids

went from rushing through an activity, to composing letters that were delivered to another person

for a purpose.

This became real for the students, it became authentic writing that they took care to craft

the best possible work they could to send to friends and family. The entire first grade ended up

implementing post offices in their classrooms, so all the kids could participate in the activity.

Parents became involved by delivering letters to the classrooms for their children, and as

teachers we wrote to the students with positive messages of support.

Children develop their writing by practicing and using their environment. They depend

on each other to develop and change their methods to create authentic material and the play

portion teaches them how to interact in society. In the book Early Childhood Play Matters,

Shona Bass and Kathy Walker (2015) state “Learning play areas develop skills and opportunities

even before additional provocations are planned or added” (p. 100). The authors go on to say,

“Each play area is open ended, helping each child to create and explore from their own construct
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and experience” (p. 100). I believe I meet this standard by allowing children to explore and play

and at the same time, improve their social skills and writing development.

References

Al-Maadadi, F. & Ihmeideh,F. (2016). Early writing development: kindergarten teachers’ beliefs

about emergent writing in Qatari preschool settings. International Journal of Early Years

Education, 24(4), 435–447. doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2016.1244047 Retrieved from

http://eds.b.ebscohost

Bass, S. & walker, K. (2015). Early Childhood Play Matters, Intentional teaching through play:

birth to six years. Camberwell, Victoria: ACER Press. Retrieved from

https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy.library.uaf.edu

Bradford, H. & Wyse, D. (2012). Writing and writers: the perceptions of young children and

their parents. Early Years: Journal of International Research & Development, 33(3), 252-

265. https://doi-org.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/10.1080/09575146.2012.744957 Retrieved

from https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy

Gerde, H.K., Bingham, G.E., and Wasik, B.A. (2012). Writing in Early Childhood Classrooms:

Guidance for Best Practices. Early Childhood Education Journal 40(6), 351–359. DOI

10.1007/s10643-012-0531-z Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy

Harmey, S.J. & Rodgers, E.M. (2017). Differences in the Early Writing Development of

Struggling Children Who Beat the Odds and Those Who Did Not. Journal of Education

for Students Placed at Risk 22(3), 157-177. https://doi-10.1080/10824669.2017.1338140

Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/

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