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This article hones what is meant by ‘emergent comprehension’. The authors define emergent comprehension as the period when young children, prior to conventional reading, engage in meaningful experiences that stimulate the development and use of meaning-making strategies with potential to affect later reading comprehension. The construct ‘emergent comprehension’ reflects the theoretical line the authors drew from meaning making, viewed primarily via theories of child development, to reading comprehension as conceived by the RAND model, a commonly accepted conception of comprehension. A vignette from a three year longitudinal study of very young children’s literacy learning, illustrates the authors’ conceptions. The vignette, one of more than 100 collected in the first year of the study, is interpreted via the three dimensions of the RAND model as well as relevant research and theories from the child development literature. This new model contributes to a life-long theory of reading development (Alexander, 2006) as well as theories of emergent literacy (Clay, 1966).

S This study investigated the interactions of 16 first‐grade children during one academic year as they participated in literacy events with their peers. Of particular interest was how children with different levels of acceptance from their peers and different levels of reading achievement experienced collaborative peer‐only literacy events. A sociocultural perspective guided the investigation. Constructs related to the individual psychology of the children were also considered to gain insights into experiences of individual children. Data included 138 hours of classroom observations, video and/or audiotapes of the children as they participated in collaborative literacy events, assessments of the children's reading ability, and assessments of the children's acceptance by their peers. A constant comparative method guided the data analysis. The analysis suggests that issues related to peer acceptance and reading competence complicate children's interactions during collaborative literacy events. While interactions during these events are a source of support for some, they may be a source of stress for others. Concepts critical to understanding how children with different levels of acceptance from peers and different levels of reading achievement experience these events are presented. Implications for classroom teachers and for researchers are presented. Este estudio investigó las interacciones de 16 niños de primer grado durante un año académico, mientras participaban en eventos de alfabetización con sus pares. Resultó particularmente interesante la forma en la que niños con diferentes grados de aceptación por parte de sus pares y diferentes niveles de lectura experimentaron los eventos colaborativos de alfabetización. Una perspectiva sociocultural guió la investigación. Asimismo, con el fin de obtener conocimientos sobre las experiencias de cada niño, se consideraron conceptualizaciones relacionadas con las características psicológicas de los niños. Los datos incluyeron 138 horas de observaciones en el aula, registros de audio y/o video de los niños mientras participaban en eventos colaborativos de alfabetización, evaluaciones de la habilidad de lectura de los niños y de la aceptación de los niños por parte de sus pares. El método comparativo constante guió el análisis de los datos. El análisis sugiere que las cuestiones relacionadas con la aceptación de los pares y la competencia en lectura complican las interacciones de los niños durante los eventos colaborativos de alfabetización. En tanto que las interacciones durante estos eventos son una fuente de apoyo para algunos, pueden ser una fuente de ansiedad para otros. Se presentan conceptos críticos para comprender cómo niños con diferente nivel de aceptación por parte de sus pares y diferentes niveles de lectura experimentan estos eventos. Se presentan también implicancias para los docentes e investigadores. Diese Abhandlung untersuchte die gegenseitige Beeinflussung von 16 Kindern der ersten Klasse im Laufe eines Schuljahres, wie sie sich in Schreib‐/Lesea...