Giving Writing a Place in Early Literacy

Early writing development plays a powerful role in shaping students’ literacy trajectories. When children begin writing early by experimenting with sounds, letters, and ideas, they are strengthening the same cognitive processes that support reading.

Writing and reading are deeply reciprocal. When children attempt to spell words, for example, they must segment sounds and connect those sounds to letters. These same skills support decoding during reading.

“Writing instruction supports reading development… Reading development supports writing development. So these two are really reciprocal in nature.”
— Nell K. Duke

Writing also gives educators a unique window into children’s developing understanding of language and print. While reading comprehension can sometimes remain invisible, writing makes thinking visible. Teachers can see what children understand about sounds, words, and meaning simply by examining what they write.

Just as importantly, writing gives young children a voice. It becomes a new way for them to express ideas, communicate with others, and participate in classroom life.

Building the Foundations of Writing
in Pre-K

In early childhood classrooms, writing instruction looks very different from what many adults imagine. Strong early writing instruction focuses on developing foundational abilities that make writing possible.

These include:

• Phonemic awareness
• Alphabet knowledge
• Fine motor development and handwriting
• Understanding that print carries meaning

Children must first learn to hear sounds in words before they can represent those sounds with letters. For example, being able to isolate the first sound in a word (such as hearing /d/ at the beginning of “dog”) is a key milestone before kindergarten.

Similarly, alphabet knowledge plays an essential role. Children need systematic opportunities to learn letters and their sounds, alongside authentic opportunities to see those letters used in meaningful contexts.

Equally important is handwriting development. Young children must develop fine motor strength and learn basic strokes like lines, curves, and hooks that form the building blocks of letters.

But foundational skill development should never be separated from meaningful communication. The goal is not simply to produce letters, it is to use writing to say something.

One instructional strategy that supports this balance is interactive writing, where teachers and students compose text together while sharing the pen.

‍‍“One of the things that’s really nice about interactive writing is that every child can contribute in some way.”
— Nell K. Duke

In interactive writing, the teacher guides the message while inviting students to participate in ways that match their current skill level—suggesting words, identifying sounds, writing letters, or contributing illustrations.

Writing as a Social and Playful Activity

Another powerful driver of early writing development is play.

In high-quality early childhood classrooms, writing does not only occur during designated writing time. It appears throughout the learning environment: in dramatic play centers, building stations, science investigations, and classroom projects.

When writing materials are readily available, such as sticky notes, markers, clipboards, and labels, children naturally incorporate writing into their play.

• They write signs for buildings they construct.
• They make lists for pretend stores.
• They label inventions and ideas.

In one classroom example shared during the webinar, a group of children building a rocket ship decided the rocket needed extra power. One student wrote a sign that read “power double” and attached it to the rocket.

The writing wasn’t assigned. It emerged from the child’s need to communicate an idea.

These moments matter. They help children see writing not as a school task but as a tool for expression and problem-solving.

Another important dimension of early writing is translanguaging, the natural way multilingual children draw from multiple languages and communication systems when expressing themselves.

When classrooms welcome this full linguistic repertoire, children can communicate more authentically and meaningfully in their writing.

“Translanguaging means using our full linguistic repertoire, all the languages and ways we communicate, to express ideas.” — Nell K. Duke

Supporting multilingual expression is not an accommodation. It is a recognition that language itself is a resource for thinking and communicating.

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Removing Barriers to Writing in the Primary Grades

As students move into kindergarten through second grade, writing becomes more cognitively demanding.

Young writers must juggle multiple processes simultaneously:

• Generating ideas
• Holding a sentence in working memory
• Spelling words
• Managing punctuation and spacing
• Controlling the physical act of writing

This complexity means many students find writing overwhelming. Effective instruction therefore focuses on removing barriers that make writing feel difficult.

One of the most powerful supports is building a bridge from oral language to writing.

Students can often speak complex ideas long before they can write them. Allowing students to rehearse ideas verbally, through discussion, partner talk, or oral storytelling, helps them organize their thinking before writing begins.

“Most students can say complex ideas long before they can write them fluently.”
— Elisabeth Ventling Simon

When teachers intentionally build bridges between speaking and writing, students gain confidence and clarity.

Another key strategy is explicit writing instruction.

Writing does not develop simply through practice alone. Students need models, structured support, and clear tools that help them internalize how writing works.

For example, sentence-level instruction plays a critical role in early grades. Students must learn what makes a sentence complete and how sentences communicate meaning.

Over time, instruction expands to include:

• Sentence expansion
• Combining ideas
• Studying mentor sentences
• Revising writing for clarity and impact

These strategies help students see writing not as a mysterious process but as a set of learnable skills.

Knowledge Is the Fuel for Writing

A central theme of the webinar was the connection between knowledge-building and writing quality.

Students struggle to write when they lack content knowledge about a topic. Without knowledge, writing tasks become exercises in guessing or filler language.

But when students study a topic deeply, whether ecosystems, historical events, or community systems, they develop expertise.

That expertise transforms their writing.

• Students begin to use more precise vocabulary.
• They explain ideas more clearly.
• They support claims with details and reasoning.

Knowledge provides the raw material for communication.

“We can’t write well about something that we don’t understand.”
— Elisabeth Ventling Simon

In integrated curriculum models, reading, discussion, and writing reinforce one another. Students read to learn about a topic, discuss ideas to deepen understanding, and then write to express conclusions or insights.

Writing becomes the culmination of learning rather than a disconnected activity.

Motivation: The Missing Ingredient in Writing Instruction

Even when barriers are reduced, writing still requires effort. Students must see a reason to put that effort forward.

Motivation grows when writing serves a real purpose. Students are far more engaged when writing helps them explain an idea, persuade an audience, or share expertise. Purpose and audience fundamentally change how students approach writing. When students know someone will read their work, whether classmates, families, or community members, they begin to revise and clarify their ideas more thoughtfully.

• They add detail.
• They refine language.
• They want their message to land.‍

‍"If writing feels like something the teacher wants me to do, it feels like compliance. But if writing feels like something I want to say, everything changes.”
– Elisabeth Ventling Simon

Designing writing instruction with authentic communication in mind transforms writing from an academic exercise into an act of expression.

What This Means for Practice

Designing strong writing instruction in Pre–K through 2nd-Grade classrooms requires both intentional structure and meaningful opportunities for expression.

For teachers, this means creating classrooms where writing happens frequently, not just during designated writing units but across the day. Short, low-stakes writing opportunities help students build fluency and confidence.

For instructional leaders, it means recognizing that writing development begins long before formal compositions appear. Supporting oral language, play-based writing, and scaffolded instruction in early grades lays the foundation for later success.

For curriculum designers and district leaders, it means integrating reading, knowledge-building, and writing into coherent instructional experiences.

When students learn about meaningful topics and have opportunities to express what they know, writing becomes both possible and purposeful.

Resources from the Webinar

Note: Citations are simplified for readability rather than presented in full APA format.

Research and Research Syntheses

Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers
Graham, S., Bollinger, A., Booth Olson, C., D’Aoust, C., MacArthur, C., McCutchen, D., & Olinghouse, N. (2012).

A widely cited Institute of Education Sciences practice guide synthesizing research on effective writing instruction in elementary classrooms.

Handbook of Writing Research
Graham, S., MacArthur, C. A., & Fitzgerald, J. (Eds.). (2025). Guilford Press.

A comprehensive overview of research on writing development, instruction, and assessment across grade levels.

Research-Informed Articles and Resources

Promoting Early Writing Across the School Day

Gerde, H. K., Seymour, T., Bingham, G. E., & Quinn, M. F. (2024).

An article exploring how teachers can integrate writing opportunities across classroom routines and subjects throughout the school day.

Sharing Their Ideas with the World: Creating Meaningful Writing Experiences for Young Children

Gerde, H. K., Wright, T. S., & Bingham, G. E. (2021). American Educator.

An accessible overview of why early writing matters and how teachers can support young children in communicating their ideas through purposeful writing experiences.

Teacher Knowledge and Practice in Early Writing Instruction

Bingham, G. E., & Gerde, H. K. (2023). Frontiers in Psychology.

An open-access research study examining early childhood teachers’ beliefs, knowledge, and classroom practices related to writing instruction.

Closing Reflection

Writing is often treated as the final step in literacy instruction: something students do after they have learned to read. But the conversation in this webinar suggests a different perspective.

Writing is not the end of literacy learning. It is one of its engines.

When classrooms design for depth by connecting talk, explicit instruction, knowledge building, and authentic communication, writing becomes a way for children to make sense of the world and share their thinking with others.

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