EXAMINING THE PARTICIPATION OF
PRESCHOOL CHILDREN IN THE
WRITING CENTER DURING FREE
CHOICE TIMES
Dondu Neslihan Bay
Douglas K. Hartman
This study is about supporting the writing skills
of children. Research shows that children evolve
from drawing to spelling to learning conventional
writing (Vukelich & Christie, 2009).
 Print environments in classrooms provide
important opportunities for children to observe
written language. Also, the writing center is
important for preschool children because this
center is stocked with many materials and is
organized, which encourages children’s
independent and self-centered participation
(Johnson, 1999; Vukelich & Christie, 2009).
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We know little about what children are more
interested in independently, on about how much
time they spend in the writing center. This study
researched four and five years old children who
were doing writing activities.
 Also, this study was designed to reveal what
children prefer to do in the writing center. Thus,
the focus of this study was what the effective
factors are for improving children’s writing.
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Children want to learn how to read and write. The
first level for independent writing is writing center
experiences, such as copying names from a
predictable chart, random letters from the alphabet,
or words from a poster (Hall & Williams, 2000).
Neuman, Copple, and Bredekamp (2000) noted that if
teachers provide multiple opportunities for children to
write freely, children are more likely to have
independent interests in writing.
Teachers can stock multiple types of writing
instruments in their writing center (Riley, 1996), such
as paper, pencils, pens, markers, paint, crayons,
stamps, chalk, chalk boards, picture dictionary,
scissors, stickers, etc. (Johnson, 1999; Warner &
Sower, 2005; Morrow, 2007; Otto, 2008; Soderman &
Farrell, 2008).

In this way, children can learn how to select
materials and how to put them away
independently (Morrow, 2007). Teachers also can
explain the center’s materials for children to use,
so that children can use them actively and so
that they experiment and create in the writing
center such things as posters, cards, letters, and
notes (Johnson, 1999; Otto, 2008).
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The aim of this study was to examine the writing
center activities of preschool children during
their free choice time. Specifically, this study
focused on the role of the writing center in
children’s writing development. Three research
questions framed the study:
 1. How many children use the writing center
during free choice time?
 2. How long do children use the writing center
during their free choice time?
 3. What do children do in the writing center?
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The professional literature suggests that teachers (a)
encourage children’s emergent writing, (b) provide ample
materials in writing centers, and (c) invite children to
experiment and play with writing as a mode of
communication (Vukelich & Christie, 2009). Little is
known, however, if doing such things during free choice
time is sufficient for developing motivated and proficient
emergent writers.
Also, much less is known about the direct effects of
writing centers on children’s writing development. This
study examined the preschool writing center as a site
where the development of children’s emergent writing
could potentially occur. By describing the frequency,
duration, and uses of writing done by children at such a
writing center, this study provides a snapshot for those
who want to develop further opportunities for writing in
the preschool classroom.
METHODS & DATA
This study was conducted in the child
development laboratories located at a university.
Participants were 18 five-year-old children in a
preschool classroom. Twenty randomly selected
observations of one hour each were made during
free choice time.
 We designed a coding system for interpreting the
children’s behaviors in their writing center. In
the free choice times, children who came to the
writing center were coded for what they did in
the writing center.
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Coding included the number of children using the
center, the duration of use, the frequency of use, and
the type of activities engaged in while using the
center. For the type of activities, the codes were:
(1) Writing (children write letter-like forms, letters,
words, etc.)
(2) Drawing (children make scribbles, lines etc.)
(3) Painting (children paint images up or down on the
paper)
(4) Copying with chart (children use stencils like
letters or shapes for copying)
(5) Cutting with scissors
(6) Other(s) (children use other material like plaster,
hole punchers, etc.)

Data were collected during two months in the
four- and five-year old classroom writing center.
Two raters coded children’s time and their
activities in the writing center. For inter-rater
reliability of the coding, two raters independently
coded 20 % of the observational data for the time
the children spent, and for each activity in six
categories. We compared the coding item by item
for inter-rater agreement. Any differences were
resolved by the two coders.
WRITING CENTER PROPERTIES
The classrooms had six centers and the writing
center was in the middle of the classroom, with
four chairs, one table with cupboard shelves, and
one table without a cupboard, so that four
children could actively use the writing center.
 The writing center had the same materials for
children to develop their writing, such as paper,
crayons, markers, glue, scissors, chalk board,
erasers, envelops, stencils, colored pencils, etc.
These materials were kept separately in plastic
boxes on shelves. This center also had a bulletin
board and a word wall, including high frequency
words such as is, what, you, no.

FINDINGS
Table 1. Time spent by children in the writing center
Time Spent
(0-5)
(5-10) (10-20) (20-40) (40-50)
(min.)
23
10
2
Number of Times 19 (27.5%) 15
(21.8%) (33.3%) (14.5%) (2.9%)
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During the observations, the number of children
changed from eight to 18 in their classroom, and we
observed mostly one or two children at a time in the
writing center. We observed that this condition
related to the other centers that had interesting
materials; the children spent more time in the other
centers using different materials.
We observed that the children who did not come to
the writing center found the other centers more
interesting, such as the pretend play area. The
teacher just one time added encouragement
materials, (relief plastic letters) to the writing center,
in our seventeenth observation, so eight children
came to the writing center for activities there that
day. Also, the writing center sometimes had very
little paper, or sometimes did not have any paper. The
children usually went to get colored paper or blank
paper from the art center.
We observed children in the writing center 69
times, but some children came to the writing
center more times than other children.
 Therefore, some children were coded over and
over again doing the something, and some other
children did not come to the writing center at all
within our twenty hours of observations. The
unobserved children generally preferred spending
time in the other centers with their conspicuous
materials.
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Looking at gender, the boys were observed in the
writing center 12 times, and the girls were observed
57 times. The boys usually preferred the centers that
attracted their attention with new added materials,
such as the blocks area, the pretend play area. This
finding also revealed that the girls were more
interested in the writing center.
An observation different from others was in the
twentieth observation, when the teacher was a model
for the children’s writing. She sat near the children in
the writing center, and she spelled each word and
wrote it on blank paper. The children then tried to
read and re-write to these words.
Table 2. Children’s Activities in The Writing Center
Activities
Writing Drawing Painting Copying
(1)
(2)
(3)
with chart
(4)
12
58
42
12
Number time
Percent according 14.4% 84.1% 60.9% 14.4%
to the 69 coding
observation
Cutting
with
scissors (5)
16
23.2%
Others
(6)
21
30.4%
DISCUSSION
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Children’s experiences related to literacy are very
important for their literacy development (Fogo, 2008). For
deeply understanding children’s emergent literacy
behaviors, children need to be observed carefully when
they participate in literacy-related events such as writing
independently (Otto, 2008). Providing multiple
opportunities with writing materials in the classroom
encourages children’s writing skills (Neuman et al., 2000;
Brewer, 2001).
In this study, we observed children’s behaviors related to
their writing skills at the writing center in two ways: time
spent and activities. Furthermore, we described the
important elements for attracting the children’s attention,
such as participation according to children’s gender, how
many times the teacher added new materials, how many
time she participated with the children at the writing
center, and what the unobserved children did in the
classroom. We discuss these finding in turn.
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The preschool teachers can support the children with
writing materials, and they can fill the writing center
with material for engaging the children (Beaty &
Pratt, 2007; Morrow, 2007). Clark and Kragler (2005)
indicated that when preschool teachers use more
writing materials, children develop more writing
skills. The writing center should be interesting and
inviting. Also, paper should be available for writing in
the writing center (Morrow, 2007).
Guo and Justice (2012) examined the association
among literacy materials’ features and children’s
emergent literacy in a book center and a writing
center. They found positive and significant relations
between the features and children developing skills
such as name writing and alphabet knowledge.
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Research shows that when teachers add
attention-grabbing materials, like stickers, cards,
magazines, etc., children have many products to
use with their writing skills, and they spend
much time in the writing center (Rowe, 2008).
Also, setting up the writing center as a
newspaper office, business office, post office, etc.,
invites children to participate (Brewer, 2001;
Beaty & Pratt, 2007; Morrow, 2007).
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The writing center is provided for children to practice
and explore writing with tools such as paper, pencil,
and chalk. Children are in a crucial time in their
development of natural writing, and they need to
push forward in their writing developing process.
Therefore, observing children’s writing behavior is
important for understanding their emergent
writing (Beaty & Pratt, 2007; Neuman et al., 2000).
Considering the unobserved children, the teacher
should provide them with opportunities to join with
the other children in the writing center (Beaty &
Pratt, 2007).
The teacher should model how children can use
writing materials for their independent writing
activities (Morrow, 2007).
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Rowe (2008) showed that the participation of
teachers, such as talking about children’s writing in
the writing center, played a powerful role, so that
children strived in their writing implements, and they
showed their intentions and interests with their
teacher’s guidance. Teachers should be introduced to
writing materials and activities in the writing center
for the independent writing of children.
Research has showed that children’s drawings
represent their communication and understanding,
and children’s drawings are important for developing
their visual literacy (Anning & Ring, 2004;
Hopperstad, 2010). Hopperstad (2010) found that
children need to be supported to make sense of their
drawings and teachers need to encourage children’s
drawing related talk.
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Neumann, Hood, and Ford (2012) reported that
when mothers applied strategies for children to
develop their writing, such as pointing at and
copying letters, children scaffold their emergent
writing with these activities. In particular,
copying of letters or shapes does not need to
retrieve a template from memory, like writing
and drawing do, but instead they engage each
other. Copying requires motor control, and it
translates as a visual pattern from the motor
pattern of finger movements, so copying is crucial
for children’s writing and drawing behaviors
(Jerde, 2004).
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Also, the eye-hand coordination of children is
necessary for using writing implements, because
children use their hand and finger movements
directly for writing. In particular, cutting practice
with scissors, such as cutting cards and wrapping
paper, improves their eye-hand coordination, and
this activity also provides for their use of their
small muscles (Beaty & Pratt, 2007).
Diamond, Gerde, and Powell (2008) found the
relations between children’s writing skills and
their understanding of letters, and they also
showed the importance of letter knowledge for
children’s growth in writing.
 Also, Molfese and colleagues (2011) reported a
strong correlation between letter writing and
writing skills. Letter writing requires children to
connect circles and lines, so children need to
understand the meaning and purpose of their
own writing in their diverse stages of writing.
Preschool teachers can support alphabet
knowledge by providing opportunities for
children to explore (Fogo, 2008).
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IN CONCLUSION,
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This study revealed that children preferred little
in the writing center; they spent little time there;
they did mostly drawing activities and they did
little writing activity. Our observation notes
showed that it was very effective for children
when new material was added to the writing
center, and when the teacher participated.
Future research will produce further information
about participation in the writing center by
children, and it will help in learning how
teachers can use the writing center more
effectively for supporting children’s emergent
writing.
Thank
You FOR
LISTENING