Ask any early childhood educator about the elaborate stories young children tell on any given day, and they are sure to share countless funny stories about their students' verbosity. Talking and oral storytelling are the foundations of the writing process. Young children can tell detailed stories long before they have the fine motor skills necessary to translate them into drawings, letters, and words. Yet even at their youngest ages, we consider it encouragement to ask these little talkers questions like, How can you draw that?, How can you write that?, What sound do you hear in that word?, and Can you write that letter?
This encouragement to put marks on paper actually discourages the joy and act of storytelling. Children can't focus on controlling their fine motor skills while keeping an elaborate story straight in their heads. When we hone in on one detail they can draw, or a letter or word they can write, we imply that the spoken story is not as important as this written word, letter, or drawn detail. We forget that writing is often inspired by spoken stories, images, or memories, and that discouraging storytelling could limit students' future interest in writing. Soon, we are faced with children saying I have nothing to write about. This is not a new problem, but a symptom of our haste to turn young storytellers into young writers.
A talking child is a thinking child. Teachers can use many methods to support writing skills without sacrificing oral storytelling. Modeling interactive writing as a whole class, where students share stories and the teacher acts as a scribe or illustrator, can show young students one way to present their oral stories. In another method, students' personal stories are not the focus of writing instruction. Rather, students practice writing mechanics and skills by creating illustrations to label with new vocabulary learned in other subjects. The content is not the child's original idea or story that is getting abbreviated for a key word.
A child focused on labeling the parts of a plant is not receiving the message that their personal story is not interesting enough to hold the teacher's attention past writing mechanics. Teachers can provide other opportunities for depersonalized writing during morning meetings, word work focused on spelling and vocabulary development, and small group lessons.
Children have stories to tell. Let them speak now, so that when the act of writing is no longer overwhelming, they can continue to share their stories in new ways. Valuing every child's story is the first step to creating a nation of proficient writers.
