Are Your Students Writing or Authoring? Young Author’s Milieux

Abstract

This paper aims to differentiate between writing and authoring. In order to teach young authors, we believe transforming our thinking and our language surrounding the act of writing is necessary. This paper works in opposition to top-down, scripted, and pre-set curriculum guides. Instead, this process centered, inquiry-based view of authoring views the teacher as an accompanist to student learning and creation. Using Teale and Sulzby’s (Emergent literacy: writing and reading, Ablex, Norwood, NJ, 1986) stages of writing development as a springboard, we provide 6 milieux; each offering a snapshot of the authoring, the theory, and the teacher moves that support student learning.