The Effects of Modeled Writing on Early Literacy Development in Preschool Children

Author

Bethany M. Froehlich Collins, The University of Montana

Year of Award

2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Name

Speech-Language Pathology

Department or School/College

Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders

Committee Chair

Lucy Hart Paulson

Commitee Members

Ginger Collins, Patty Kero

Keywords

early childhood education, literacy, preschool, writing development

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the impacts on early literacy development in preschool children by engaging them in writing activities that were intentionally modeled within their typical classroom setting. Twenty-five typically developing children 3 to 5 years of age participated in the study. The "Picture Story/Word Story,” a preschool writing strategy described by Paulson, et al. (2001), was used to model the developmental levels of writing for the subjects two times a week for 10 weeks. The experimental group engaged in writing activities, which included intentional modeling of the stages of writing development that were just above the children’s level of skill development. The same writing activities were provided for the control group with only conventional writing as a model. Pre and post levels of early literacy development were established using the Emergent Literacy Screening (Paulson, 2001) at the beginning and end of the study. General trends in the data suggest greater early literacy skills in children who engaged in modeled writing instruction of the developmental stages of writing.

Recommended Citation

Froehlich Collins, Bethany M., "The Effects of Modeled Writing on Early Literacy Development in Preschool Children" (2012). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 1006.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/1006