Currents in Literacy

A Spanish-speaking Second Grader Negotiates the Writing Process

By Susan Fleming

A small boy, whose first language was Spanish, Jorge often seemed to disappear in his second grade classroom. He rarely volunteered information or comments. Since his soft voice and limited English made understanding him difficult, Jorge was often ignored in class. On the playground, however, he easily won friends through his athletic prowess. His friendships were both a help and a hindrance as he negotiated the writing process.

Since all his lessons were conducted in English, concentrating on school work was difficult for Jorge. He was tempted to whisper and giggle with his playground pals. But his parents impressed on him the need to succeed in school so he disciplined himself to sit at a little distance from his peers when they gathered in a circle on the rug for the teacher's mini lessons. When he left the circle to begin writing, he positioned himself in the library corner with a clipboard on his knees, as far away as possible from other children. There he composed a story which demonstrated that - in spite of language difficulties - he had done his best to fulfill the teacher's requirements.

The teacher said stories needed a beginning, a middle (which included a problem), and an ending (which contained the solution to the problem). She encouraged the use of dialogue and taught the use of quotation marks. With her help, the children brainstormed words that could be substituted for "said." These were later printed on a chart prominently displayed in the room.

Marie Clay, the renowned expert on literacy acquisition from New Zealand, reminds us that when children begin to write they build on what they know, making knowledge of a few symbols or words go a long way. This is how Jorge proceeded, generating a lengthy text by repeating familiar words and phrases. Here is his story as it appeared in published form:

School Times for Jorge, James, Jon, and Clifford

One hot morning at home Jorge told Jon, "How about if we don't go to school?"
"Yeah," said Jon.
They called James and Clifford. They told James and Clifford, "Do you want to go to school James?"
"No," said James.
"Do you want to Clifford?" asked Jorge.
"No," said Clifford.
So they played.
Next day the teacher said to Jorge, "Jorge, why didn't you do your homework?"
"I forgot to do my homework," said Jorge.
"Why didn't you do your homework, Jon?" sighed the teacher.
"I was sick," said Jon to the teacher.
The teacher said to James, "Why didn't you do your homework?"
James said, "I couldn't do my homework because it was too difficult for me."
"Why didn't you do your homework that I gave you?" hollered the teacher to Clifford.
"I didn't have time to do it," said Clifford to the teacher.
"Well just one day it's okay to forget your homework," said the teacher to Jorge, Jon, James, and Clifford.
Next day the same thing happened to Jorge and Jon and James and Clifford. Jorge said to James, "We forgot to do our homework."
Clifford said to Jorge, "Can I come over to your house?"
"I don't know," said Jorge. "I'll ask Jon."
"Yes," said Jon to Jorge.
Jon asked Jorge if they could invite James over to their house. Jorge said, "Yes, he can come to our house."
So they played and played.
Next day the teacher said to Jorge, "Where's your homework?"
"I forgot to look in my mail," said Jorge.
The teacher said to Jon, "Where is your homework?"
"I forgot," said Jon to the teacher.
The teacher said the same thing to James and Clifford.
Next day it was the last day of school so Jorge, Jon, James, and Clifford did their homework.

Jorge constructed a narrative which sounds much like a basal reader. But if we analyze it carefully we see how intelligently he employed his limited English. Using the names of his friends and setting up a structure whereby each one of them was asked the same question, Jorge could generate several more lines of text with little effort. Yet he introduced variety into the dialogue. When the teacher asks, "Why didn't you do your homework?" each boy gives a different answer.

We can tell that Jorge consulted the wall chart on alternatives to "said," for he uses "asked," "sighed," and "hollered." "Asked" was used appropriately for a question. "Sighed" shows the teacher's disappointment, and "hollered" reveals her frustration - excellent word choices which indicate mood and provide a bit of characterization.

Wisely, Jorge's teacher did not pressure him about his writing, but made sure he had published one book that was displayed with the published books of his classmates. Jorge's original story went on and on. His teacher showed him how the first section (printed above) could stand alone and further adventures of Jorge, James, Jon, and Clifford could be published later.

Recognizing how shy he was about subjecting his work to peer review, she waived that step of her usual classroom writing procedure and suggested he share his story after rather than before publication. This allowed him to take pride in his final product without having to deal with questions and suggestions from his classmates.

"School Times for Jorge, James, Jon, and Clifford" might be labeled "boring" because of its repetition. But a closer look reveals how sensibly Jorge approached learning to write in a second language by choosing a question and answer format which allowed him to use a limited vocabulary to produce a lengthy story. Reducing the task to manageable proportions prevented him from being overwhelmed by the assignment. Fortunately, his teacher understood how to sensitively and flexibly support his efforts. She recognized that becoming comfortable with English was a gradual process and that as his understanding increased so would his writing proficiency.

Susan Fleming, an author of children's books, member of the Lesley University faculty, and a parent has also been a public school classroom teacher and an editor of teaching manuals.