Evaluating children's writing: A pen pal experience between first graders and preservice teachers

Purpose. The purpose of this inquiry was to investigate the use of the pen pal strategy as a means of describing and evaluating the growth of student writing in a first grade classroom.;Procedures. As is characteristic of a descriptive study, multiple methods of data collection were orchestrated. The letters written by six first grade students were analyzed in three categories: topics within the letter contents, student behaviors for initiating and responding, and conventions of print and form. Data also included field notes from classroom observations and taped interviews with the classroom teacher.;Findings. The reported findings included topics and the frequency of topic use. Analysis of topics indicated student interests in and outside of the classroom curriculum. Results revealed students' behaviors and patterns of initiating and responding to topics and progress toward standard and conventional forms of writing.;Conclusions. The pen pal strategy enables teachers to create an authentic learning activity for students. Through this natural learning atmosphere, a social community can be established which enables students to learn by responding, reflecting, and promoting their own process of learning to write by writing. Teachers can perceive valuable information concerning the students' feelings, needs, and interests. This information enables teachers to assess and evaluate as well as construct appropriate classroom curricula and to implement teaching strategies at the optimal moment for individual students. The pen pal letters supply teachers with an artifact that documents student growth in writing.