Though this a a little long it is an easy read and will give some 
additional information regarding WL and approximated spelling.  The AFT 
has a site on AOL (America OnLine) and I found this in their ERIC data 
base.
ED331030
Reading and Writing in a Kindergarten Classroom. ERIC Digest. 
ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills, 
Bloomington, IN. 
Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), 
Washington, DC. 
EDO-CS-91-06
1991
   *Mandy is a reader. She holds a book with ease in her lap
and tells the story in her own way, including much of the
language of the text that she has memorized from hearing it
many times. She looks at the pictures and sometimes at me as
she reads. Her story is fluent and her voice expressive.
   *Sam is another reader. He has also chosen a favorite
book, with a simple, familiar text. He reads slowly, word by
word, and his voice often lacks expression. He is focusing
on the words in the text.    
   *Allie is a reader, too. Her reading is supported by the 
meaning of the story, the flow of the language, the pictures, 
and what she knows about phonics.
   *Taisha is a writer. She has just written a grocery list
in the housekeeping area. The paper has four lines of
scribble-like writing.    
   *Joey is a writer, too. He has drawn a picture of his house 
and primarily written random letters from his name all over the 
pages. He has labeled house, H. He reads me his story.
   *Stefanie is a writer. She uses many conventions of
writing. For example, she leaves spaces between words,
spells some words conventionally, applies temporary
(invented) spelling in others, uses vowels in every word,
and starts two of the three sentences with upper case
letters (Fisher, 1991).
   I have begun this digest with examples of the readers and
writers in my kindergarten, because whenever I talk about
literacy learning I have to begin with the children and what
they can do. When I "kid watch" (Yetta Goodman, 1985) and
observe what the children do as they read and write, I
notice many predictable behaviors that emergent and
beginning readers demonstrate. But I also notice that every
child is making sense out of print in his or her unique way.
My job as a teacher is to help each of them continue to
develop as a reader and writer.
   Therefore, my definition of reading and writing includes
the wide and unique range of reading and writing behaviors
demonstrated by each child in my classroom. For example,
reading might be reading environmental print, looking at the
pictures in a book and telling a story, pointing carefully
to the print, or beginning to read independently. Writing
might be a drawing, scribbling, writing random letters,
inventing spelling or beginning to write conventionally. In
our classroom, when we refer to reading, the children and I
know that we mean using books to create meaning. When we
refer to writing, we know that we mean picture drawing and
letters and letter-like marks.
          THE ENVIRONMENT
   Our classroom is a print-rich environment. Reading and
writing materials are easily accessible for the children to
select and use throughout the room.
   *Reading. Big books and charts with poems, songs and
chants in enlarged text are displayed. Fiction and
nonfiction trade books, predictable books, dictionaries, and
magazines are available on library display shelves, regular
shelves, plastic bins and crates, and on tables throughout
the room. A listening table is available, equipped with a
tape recorder, earphones, story tapes and multiple copies of
the accompanying text.
   *Writing. The writing area contains a variety of paper,
pencils, markers, crayons, rulers, a stapler, and a date
stamp and pad. The alphabet in upper and lower case letters
is hung at eye level, and cards with the alphabet and an
accompanying picture representing the initial sound of the
letter are accessible for the children to use wherever they
are writing in the room. A plastic file crate is available
in which the children file their daily drawings and writing
so we have a record of their growth throughout the year.
          CONDITIONS OF LEARNING
   "To foster emergent reading and writing in particular,
whole language teachers attempt to replicate the strategies
parents use successfully to stimulate the acquisition of
language and the 'natural' acquisition of literacy" (Weaver, 
1990 p. 23). Brian Cambourne lists these conditions of 
learning as Immersion, Demonstration, Engagement, Expectation, 
Responsibility, Use, Approximation, and Response (Cambourne, 
1988). In my classroom I try to create these same conditions to 
support children's growth and development in reading and writing. 
I use Don Holdaway's (1979) natural learning classroom model
(Demonstration, Participation, Practice/Role Play, and
Performance) for organizing the day and planning for groups
and individual children.
   *Demonstration and Participation. During group time,
which I call shared reading, I give many demonstrations of
reading and writing, and the children participate in these
literacy experiences by reading along, commenting on
concepts of print, and discussing the story. We read many
different texts, such as predictable big books which support
emergent and beginning readers, as well as poems, songs and
chants, and fiction and nonfiction trade books. I model, and
the children participate by using a variety of strategies
that successful readers use, such as reading the sentence
again, and using the beginning letter of a word to predict
and confirm what it is. We discuss skills in context so the
children will be able to use them as needed to create
meaning as they read for a variety of purposes. I write in
front of the children and they join in and participate,
giving suggestions for content and helping spell the words.  
 All of these demonstrations are whole, meaningful, and
authentic (Goodman, 1986). They take place in a non-
competitive atmosphere as each child participates at his or
her developmental level. Each child is a member of the
literacy club (Smith, 1988).
   *Practice/Role Play. Choice time follows shared reading.
The children have opportunities to practice what they have
observed and engaged in during the group time. I ask the
children to read every day, but I give them lots of choices
of what to read. They can read big books, small books, trade
books, magazines, or charts or listen to a story tape. They
can read alone, with a friend, or to a grownup.
   I also ask the children to write every day. Usually they
can choose their own topic. For example, they can write a
book, write with a friend, or write in conjunction with an
art project, block building, or the developmental play
environment which we have set up in the room. The general
writing parameters are flexible: draw a picture, write
something (this varies from scribbles to labeling to
conventional writing, depending on each child's
development), date the piece with a date stamp, and write
their name.
   During choice time I watch the children and assess what
they know so I can help them develop as readers and writers.
I listen to them read, or conference with them about their
writing. As I get to know them, I am able to encourage
learning by taking that teachable moment to support growth.
   *Performance. To complete the model, children need
opportunities to share what they know. In our classroom
sharing takes many forms. Children share their reading by
reading to each other or to me and by taking a book home to
read to their parents. They share their writing with their
peers as they work at the writing table, make a sign for the
blocks, or put their piece in the sharing basket for group
sharing time. They share with me by coming to show me what
they have done, and they share with their parents by taking
their work home.
          CLASSROOM GOALS
   My goal for the children in my kindergarten is for them
to become independent readers and writers (learners) for a
variety of purposes. I want to help each one become a self-
motivated, self-directed, self-regulated learner within a
community of learners.
          REFERENCES
   Cambourne, Brian. 1988. The Whole Story: Natural Learning
and the Acquisition of Literacy in the Classroom. New York:
Ashton Scholastic.
   Clay, Marie. {1975} 1985. The Early Detection of Reading
Difficulties. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. [ED 263 529]
   Fisher, Bobbi. 1991. Joyful Learning: A Whole Language
Kindergarten. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
   Goodman, Kenneth. 1986. What's Whole in Whole Language?
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. [ED 300 777]
   Goodman, Yetta. 1985. "Kidwatching: Observing Children in
the Classroom." In A. Jaggar and M. T. Smith-Burke, Eds.,
Observing the Language Learner. Newark, Delaware:
International Reading Association. [ED 251 857]
   Holdaway, Don. 1979. The Foundations of Literacy.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. [ED 263 540]
   Smith, Frank. 1988. Joining the Literacy Club: Further
Essays into Education. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
   Strickland, Dorothy and Lesley Morrow, Eds. 1989.
Emerging Literacy: Young Children Learn to Read and Write.
Newark, Delaware: International Reading Association. [ED 305 602]
   Teale, William and Miriam Martinez. 1989. "Connecting
Writing: Fostering Emergent Literacy in Kindergarten
Children." In J. M. Mason, Ed., Reading and Writing
Connections. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. [ED 290 161]
   Weaver, Constance. 1990. Understanding Whole Language:
From Principles to Practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. [ED
326 847]
   ------
   This publication was prepared with funding from the
Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U. S.
Department of Education, under OERI contract no. RI88062001.
Contractors undertaking such projects under government
sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their judgment
in professional and technical matters. Points of view or
opinions, however, do not necessarily represent the official
view or opinions of the Office of Educational Research and
Improvement.
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