Tacit Shared Understandings of a First-Grade Writing Community

Abstract

This study examined first graders' tacit shared understandings about composing as related to expectations about the processes and meaning of writing. Data were gathered in one first-grade classroom during the 2 1/2-hour reading/writing block over a 20-week period. The 19 students were ethnically diverse and ranged in SES from low to middle income. Domain, typological, theme, and reconstructive intersubjective analysis were all used in analyzing the following sources of data: field observations gathered by a participant observer; informal talk with students and the teacher; formal interviews with the teacher, students, and parents; and regularly collected samples of the students' writing and drawing. Two levels of student assumptions emerged from the data. The first level addresses the community's assumptions about composing which evolved through daily interactions. Specifically, it was alright to compose in one's own way, but the writer had to be able to interpret it and attending to audience interest is more important than exact decoding. The second level includes the cultural themes regarding the meaning of writing: (a) Illustrations and text reference three different virtual realities that can mediate relations with others, (b) writing is for exploring self and issues, and (c) writing can be an act of unity with others. These assumptions have implications for the research and teaching of writing at all levels.

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