Literacy Matters Vol. 25 Winter 2025

Motivating K-4 Students toWrite with Children’s Literature

by Elke Schneider

to dive deeply into identifying children’s book authors’ writing strategies beyond the story line itself. They critically identify and analyze how authors use sentence structures, words and phrases, and punctuation to create clarity of information sharing (informational texts) or to evoke specific images in readers, such as anticipation or empathy for narrative texts or poetry (Dorfman & Capelli, 2017; Gallagher, 2024). Connecting deeply with an author’s craft ‘tool kit’ allows students to connect personally with an author. This motivates students to implement identified strategies in their writing (Leland et al., 2022; Lindfors, 2019). That way, reading and writing are authentically connected in research-evidenced practice (Graham et al., 2018a; 2018b). Educators implementing this reading-writing integrated approach with narrative and informational mentor texts report noticeable student-motivated writing improvements (Dollins, 2016; 2020; Laminack, 2017; Schrodt et al., 2021). Success with using picture books as mentor texts is even reported for struggling writers in high school (Premont et al., 2017). This article shares brief annotations of 35 authentic children’s picture books for writing work in grades K-4. They portray three different kinds of writing practice with real-world connections: (1) card or letter writing, (2) journaling, and (3) story writing. These writing practices are aligned with South Carolina ELA writing standards (SCED, 2024) to provide a reading-writing oral practice connection (Gallagher, 2024). The shared picture book selection is a result of my own picture book collections acquired over years that specifically feature these three writing practices implemented by story characters and a comprehensive screening process of close to 1000 children’s book references in mentor text collections (i.e., Capelli, 2023; Dorfman & Capelli, 2009; 2017; Culham, 2016; 2023), and routine searches in bookstores and on the American Library Association website (ala.org) for new picture books featuring characters writing. This approach was necessary because mentor text collections are organized according to writing processes such as detailing, perspective, persuasion, conventions, or figures of speech but they do not typically feature a character engaged in a short writing task or the result of a short writing task (i.e., Capelli, 2023; Dorfman & Capelli, 2009, 2017; Culham, 2016, 2023). The included selection of picture books consists of a mixture of older, classic, and newer, primarily fictional picture books. I chose books that can be integrated into existing curricula and interconnect speaking, reading, and writing; these are short picture book readings that positively present the benefits of writing with engaging illustrations and include humor to entice the young to write. My college students or I have field tested these mentor books to motivate students to write.

Developing mono- and multilingual students’ writing skills in grades K-4 is crucial for many reasons. For one, current K-12 South Carolina English language arts standards (SCDE, 2015) and national teaching standards for multilingual learners (TESOL, 2006) require teaching and student practice of various narrative and informative writing genres. Moreover, standardized tests such as the South Carolina READY writing tests routinely assess students’ progress in this skill area (SCDE, 2024). Additionally, multilingual learners are annually evaluated for their progress in developing writing skills (WIDA, 2024). Despite teachers’ efforts to improve writing skills nationwide (Finlayson & McCrudden, 2019), the 2022 National Report Card data only identified 32% of South Carolina’s 4th graders as performing at or above grade level in writing, a steady performance rate since 2015 (NAEP, 2022). Additionally, teachers often require support to provide effective writing instruction, especially when they do not consider themselves good writers and need mentor support (Harward et al., 2014). Explicitly teaching writing skills is also essential because writing is a complex English Language Arts (ELA) task. It requires: a) the integration of specific fine motor skills to handwrite or type ( mechanics ), b) formation of ideas or information to write about in an organized way ( content) following c) specific conventions of spelling, punctuation, sentence and text structures for different text types (i.e., letters, stories, reports, or persuasive texts) (language specifics) to express content along with d) the application of corrective reading and critical thinking skills in the revising and editing stages of the writing process (Agesta, 2016; Graham & Harris, 2018; Yoon, 2017). For decades, literature has demonstrated that the development of reading, writing, and academic speaking skills are intrinsically intertwined and must be taught interconnectedly (Bishop Spalding & North, 2012; Graham, 2019, 2020; Graham et al., 2018a, 2018b; Jennings & Haynes, 2018). Due to these complexities and challenges, many students, including those with learning disabilities or multilingual learners and students of low economic backgrounds, struggle to develop grade-level writing competencies (Herbert et al., 2018; Kormos, 2020; Martin, 2022). Writing for real-life purposes with authentic children’s literature as an impetus can be helpful (Gallagher, 2024) for all students, allowing them to develop a sense of ownership and deeper personal engagement with what they have read, discussed, or experienced (Peterson, 2019). Additionally, educational research provides evidence for the benefits of using authentic children’s literature as mentor texts to foster reading and writing skills. Mentor texts provide opportunities for teachers and students

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