Writing is a critical literacy skill that emerges in kindergarten. The research literature has only addressed transcription skills of kindergarteners and has failed to address text generation. The purpose of this action-research study was to investigate the effect of oral language instruction that focused on narrative text structures on kindergarten students' ability to generate written narrative text. We conducted a concurrent multiple baseline design across three groups of students with two participants in each group. Students received six instructional sessions that involved the teacher modeling a story and supporting the students while they retold and generated oral stories. Pictures and icons were used to represent story grammar elements, but were faded within session to facilitate independent storytelling. The oral language instruction had an immediate positive effect on the narrative quality of students' writing. Individual and overall effects were significant and maintained three to four weeks later. Findings suggest an efficient causal relation between oral language instruction and writing quality.Writing is a critical 21st century literacy skill and plays a conspicuous role across the lifespan. As children age and move beyond expressing wants in holiday wish lists and signing their name in cards, writing becomes a method of influence and a measure of achievement. Students with proficient writing skills can effectively communicate to others what they know and how well they know it. Furthermore, student writing can serve as an indicator of post-secondary success. In an increasingly competitive application process, most colleges and universities require written narratives and exams, evaluating student preparedness for higher-level cognitive demands. In the workforce, 82% of employers list written communication as a highly requisite job skill and use resumes, emails, and applications to evaluate applicants' writing skills (National Association of Colleges & Employers, 2019). Sadly, 23% of U.S. eighth grade students and less than 33% of high school seniors demonstrate proficient writing skills (National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP], 2012 1 ). To prepare students with the literacy skills necessary for success in today's society, writing instruction must begin early and be effective for all students.
Early writing instructionMost students are formally introduced to writing when they enter kindergarten. Very quickly, writing takes a prominent role in classroom activities and its importance is emphasized in grade