EDC 399 Children’s Writing: Creating Joy, Playfulness, and Identity in Writing: Overview

This course is taught by Dr. Cami Condie, and it explores writing as a creative art form and how playful writing experiences can develop children’s writing identity as creative, curious, and confident writers. Participants will engage in opportunities to explore children’s in- and out-of-school writing opportunities (eg, nature journals, artist labels, spoken-word poetry, ABC books) and to use children’s literature and children’s writing as inspiration to write their own children’s book. Participants will engage in course content (1) to appreciate children’s literature and children’s approximations of children’s literature as a creative arts form; (2) to critically examine writing development, experiences, and environments that honor and champion students’ diverse cultural, linguistic, ethnic, and racial backgrounds from birth through grade 6; (3)to center multilingualism, multiple Englishes, and translanguaging and to decenter white language practices and Standard Edited American English, (4) to explore writing feedback through an asset-based, translanguaging lens; and (5) to foster children’s delight in and love of writing and creative expression.