ABSTRACT
That there are signi cant differences in the knowledge young children bring to school literacy activities, even as early as kindergarten, is evident. Some children clearly have more conventional understanding of print than others. They are able to write using alphabetic invented spelling, and can locate information in simple leveled books in which they are able to read most of the print. In contrast, some children display more emergent literacy knowledge. Their writing suggests that they have not yet mastered the alphabetic principle, and instead use random strings of letters to represent meaning. They are able to use pictorial information in books, but show no inclination or ability to read the print independently.
