Topic: First Graders and Writing

Question: Can first-graders learn to write if they simply write from the first day of school?

Answer: “Examined 24 first-grade students expected to communicate in writing from their first day at school. Indicated that children can discover the writing system for themselves and produce fluent, comprehensible writing.” LN Dobson. 1983. 417. [Comment: Seems to indicate that students can learn to write by themselves unaided by the teacher. But writing in first grade also needs to be taught. There are issues of invented spelling, teacher correction, format and organization. RayS.]

Title: “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English.” RK Durst and JD Marshall. Research in the Teaching of English (December 1984), 417-438.