ABSTRACT
Sarah: I was new in this position teaching second grade in Spanish. I previously taught in a second-grade bilingual setting in Mexico, but there I taught only in English. I was very surprised at the beginning of the year when I realized that my second-grade students did not see themselves as writers. But, even when uncertain about many things, I wanted my students to become writers, to experience the satisfaction of authorship. I became aware of their feelings about writing when, as I
asked them to write something during the first week of school, one of the girls answered that she “did not write.” The finality of her statement impressed me because it seemed as if she did not see herself as a writer nor did she feel she could become one. I knew that most of my students had not been encouraged to write for meaning during first grade. Their experiences at school had been limited to worksheets that emphasized phonics. As I presented them with writing activities, they approached them with hesitation, as if I was asking them something well beyond their capabilities. Once, as I referred to them as authors while explaining the purpose of writing conferences, one of my students responded, “Pero, nosotros no somos autores!” (But, we are not authors!), summarizing what I felt was their generalized feeling of lack of competence in writing. As a result of these interchanges about writing and its “do-ability” with my students, I decided to concentrate my inquiry on the area of writing.
