Ways of knowing: Implications of writing curriculum in an early childhood classroom

ABSTRACT

Early childhood writing curriculums typically focus on skills and encouraging interest. What children are asked to write is rarely closely examined. Through a self-study of my first and second grade classroom, in this paper I look at the implications of genre when teaching young children. I first identify some of the problems of a popular personal narrative curriculum and then showcase the ways that fiction can be more empowering for my students.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusion
• early childhood
• personal narrative

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the children featured in this paper, who patiently taught her to teach better. She is also grateful to Cristina Cammarano and Stephanie Burdick-Shepherd for seeing the potential in this project and the critically wise anonymous reviewers who helped her find the paper she wanted to write.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. As a teacher I was actively involved in the Elementary Teachers Network, the National Writing Project, the Institute on Descriptive Inquiry, and I briefly led a book group.

2. I saw this long-term commitment as a positive opportunity for the child to commit to something and build an attention span. Myra Barrs (1983) finds that long pieces are sources of concern for Graves and Calkins. A touchstone of their workshop curriculum is revision. Long pieces are hard to revise.

3. This is a pseudonym.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cara Elizabeth Furman

Cara Furman is a professor of early childhood education and a former elementary school teacher. Her work focuses on inquiry, asset based inclusive practices, and the support of both teachers and children. She integrates qualitative research on classroom practice, teacher research, and philosophy in both her teaching and research.