"Doesn't the main character remind you of the boy in Hatchet?" "What do you think will happen next?" "It made me sad when he had to leave his mother to go with a stranger on a little airplane. I could understand why he felt so uncomfortable with the guy." " I really like Gary Paulsen's books! His characters seem like real people."

This was a conversation I overheard when I visited a sixth-grade classroom in late October. Three boys had their heads together talking about a book they were reading. I stopped to listen in and join their literary discussion.

"Have you been reading this book since school began in September?" I asked. "Oh, no," was the quick response. "We've read four other books. This one is really good."

Not many years ago, sixth-graders would read two books during their school year, the 6-1 and the 6-2. They took turns reading with the teacher, in groups determined by their reading level, and would respond to questions designed to check their factual understanding of the text. The boys I talked with in October had gone far beyond the level of literal comprehension. They were talking about the author's purpose, relating the story to events in their own lives, and making the connections to other books they had read. They sounded much like a group of adult readers who come together to probe the meanings of the stories they read.

In first grade, Suzie had written in her September journal: "MY FaVRT Flwr is rose." In January, she wrote: "I am a gwiyit prsen. I wrck very hord. I have too frends they are good wrcrs." Suzie is learning the conventions of our written language. She knew how to separate words when she entered first grade. It took her only a few months to realize lowercase letters predominate in books. She has noticed that c, k, and ck often make the same sound, and she is experimenting as she constructs a hypothesis of spelling patterns. From continued exposure to print-reading books, having stories read to her, and experimenting with the often-strange spelling patterns of our English language--and with help from her teachers, she will continue into her adult life, mastering the spelling and grammatical conventions derived from Latin, Greek, German, and Old English that make our written language so complex.

As parents and teachers, we fret about the phonetic spelling children put on paper as they tell their stories in writing. But who wouldn't rather have a child describe the gray animal at the zoo as "enrmus" rather than "big?" To limit young children to words they are able to spell restricts their ability to write their thoughts. Knowing each child and using our knowledge of language, we can help him or her to develop competency in spelling throughout the school years.

These are stories of children who are becoming literate, learning to communicate their thoughts and to interpret others' ideas. By continuing to set high standards for discussions and written work, parents and teachers can provide the guidance and instruction needed to help students become responsible learners.