Using Writing Conferences to Scaffold First Grade Students' Narrative Writing

Abstract

Young teachers are entering into their profession with little training on effectively teaching writing to their students. Writing conferences promote the growth of student writing skills, but their implementation remains uncertain to unexperienced teachers. This qualitative case study explored how writing conferences are utilized as a means of scaffolding the narrative writing skills of three first grade students, who participated in a series of writing conferences which built upon the specific needs of the students. Results suggest that student interest and peer review are instrumental in cultivating students’ skills of sentence fluency. Implications of results are discussed.