In this chapter, the authors present findings from a subset of data from a larger study to consider spelling development, as well as the development of one particular genre, the information report. The teacher's role in supporting the development of spelling and genre knowledge in early writing is also considered. The authors begin with a review of related literature with specific attention to what is known about how young children develop genre knowledge, spelling, and to a lesser degree, other concepts. The authors then describe a study of first-grade students' information report writing across the year from August to May, with a particular focus on their control of genre knowledge and spelling. The chapter ends with implications for teachers and how they might support young authors across these dimensions.
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Although the complexity of writing has been described (e.g., Bazerman et al., 2018; Dennis & Votteler, 2013; Graham et al., 2012; Kim & Schatschneider, 2017), transcription still dominates talk about writing instruction for our youngest learners in primary grades, often to the neglect of the larger picture of composition. This is seen in the focus on spelling, letter production, handwriting, and conventions such as word placement on the page and spacing in the primary grades. However, the need to consider additional elements of early writing is necessary to best support young authors (e.g., Cabell et al., 2013; Rowe, 2013) who bring with them varied experiences with language and print (Emerson & Hall, 2018; Quinn & Bingham, 2019; Rowe et al., 2022) and deserve teaching practices that provide access to school language and structures (e.g., Christie & Schleppegrell, 2012; Gamez & Parker, 2018). The larger focus on language use for different purposes is especially important to the continuous development of knowledge of genres required for school success (Brisk, 2014; Donovan & Smolkin, 2011). Ray and Glover (2008), in their professional text Already Ready, state “writing is a recursive process that requires writers to think deeply—about purpose, ideas, organization, word choices, craft, genre, tone, audience, presentation, and so on—and then use the skill of transcription to capture that thinking...” (p. 49). Often, however, the terms spelling and writing are used synonymously (e.g., Kim & Schatschneider, 2017). This complicates the discussion of writing development for young children in preschool through first grade because the purpose and genre of the text are often overlooked due to the limitations of children’s handwriting and spelling abilities.
Yet there is much that must be learned for children to develop as writers as they progress through their school years (e.g., Donovan et al., 2020; Quinn & Bingham, 2019; Troia et al., 2020). To ensure access to school language and structures, teachers, therefore, have an immense responsibility in this development beginning in the early primary grades (PK-1st) when they must support many developing factors at one time. We illustrate this in the following vignette of a child (B.J.)/teacher (Ms. Choi) interaction around a piece of writing produced at the beginning of the first-grade year (not the class of this study).