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Voices of Pen Pals: Exploring the Relationship Between Daily Writing and Writing Development, and Reading Comprehension with Third Grade Students

Maxwell, Lyndi R.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1426176485

Abstract Details

2015, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, Curriculum and Instruction (Education).
This quasi-experimental study investigated the impact that daily writing instruction and bi-weekly pen pal correspondence had on third graders’ writing development and reading comprehension in a Midwest, rural elementary school. The treatment group participated in a 12-week writing intervention program in which they exchanged letters with second-grade pen pals on a bi-weekly basis. Letters were informative, expressive, and autonomous, as they were based on daily graphic organizers students completed, on which they wrote about school-related subjects of their choice. The control group did not participate in the writing intervention program, as they received their typical writing instruction. Both groups’ reading comprehension scores were assessed via a S.T.A.R. pretest, which was administered prior to the writing treatment, and a S.T.A.R. posttest, which was administered after the writing treatment had concluded. Results showed that students whose writing substantially developed experienced development in the following areas: 1) text structure; 2) written expression; 3) audience awareness; and 4) voice. There was substantial interplay amongst the first three components, which resulted in a pronounced voice throughout students’ letters. Conversely, students whose writing did not develop throughout the 12-week period did not develop in the four aforementioned areas, and thus never established a consistent voice in their letters. Quantitative results showed that while between-group differences in the pretest to posttest reading comprehension scores favored the treatment group, the results were not statistically significant.
Gene Geist, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Krisanna Machemes, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Sara Helfrich, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Jeesun Jung, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
254 p.
Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Language Arts; Literacy
early childhood writing development; elementary writing development; text structure; written expression; audience awareness; written speech; voice; reading comprehension; friendly letters

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Maxwell, L. R. (2015). Voices of Pen Pals: Exploring the Relationship Between Daily Writing and Writing Development, and Reading Comprehension with Third Grade Students [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1426176485

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Maxwell, Lyndi. Voices of Pen Pals: Exploring the Relationship Between Daily Writing and Writing Development, and Reading Comprehension with Third Grade Students. 2015. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1426176485.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Maxwell, Lyndi. "Voices of Pen Pals: Exploring the Relationship Between Daily Writing and Writing Development, and Reading Comprehension with Third Grade Students." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1426176485

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1426176485
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© 2015, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12