Visiting Scholar Talk | Bethanie Pletcher | Interactive Writing

Interactive writing is an instructional strategy in which the teacher and children “share the pen” to construct a collaboratively composed text. Information from three articles will be shared that support the use of interactive writing in early classrooms. The first article explains how interactive writing was implemented in two prekindergarten classrooms and how teachers might use this strategy in their own settings. In the second article, our study explored prekindergarten teachers’ perceptions of interactive writing and the professional supports provided for its implementation. The third article reports a study of interactive writing implementation in a first-grade classroom and its effects on children’s foundational literacy knowledge. Taken together, the three studies underscore the importance of integrating writing into literacy instruction and highlight the role of ongoing teacher support in fostering effective writing pedagogy in early childhood educational settings.

Bethanie Pletcher is a Professor of Literacy Education in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Learning Sciences at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. Her research focuses on literacy coaching; the design and implementation of reading clinics on university and elementary school campuses; and instructional supports for young children experiencing reading and writing difficulties. Dr. Pletcher has authored more than 65 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, regularly presents at national and international conferences, and served two terms as an editor of the national journal Literacy Research and Instruction. She is a two-time recipient of the Texas A&M System Chancellor’s Academy for Teacher Educators Award and was most recently honoured with her second Jack Cassidy Distinguished Literacy Service Award. Prior to her faculty appointment, Dr. Pletcher spent 12 years as a Reading Recovery© teacher, reading specialist, and classroom teacher in public schools.

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