I’ve started a new site.It is devoted to publishing student writing. To make writing public, the writer must have an audience. The audience becomes the writer’s stimulus–the purpose for writing. If children do not have a purpose for writing (i.e., an intended audience) then writing becomes an “exercise” for a non-communicative event. Children who have not published do not write for an audience, but instead write for a critical reader–the teacher.
Publishing for early writers may mean reading their writing to teachers, a group of children, a friend, or a parent. Publication may mean showing or displaying the work. Writing can be displayed on bulletin boards, on classroom walls or in the halls, mailed to pen pals, sent home, or published in “real” book form. Publishing “real” books is a child-centered production, where the child designs the book cover and illustrates the book, has a dedication and title page, and may even have a page written “about the author.” Students model bookmaking just like real authors.