Key Strategies for Reading and Writing

     Prepare by: Tapping background knowledge for a topic.

Decide the purpose for reading/writing.

Predict how it will turn out.

Select topic to read or write about

Compose a 1st draft by:

   Monitoring understanding of the text.

Monitoring the reactions to text.

Connect new information to what they already know.

 Expand vocabularies both during and after 1st reading and 1st draft.

 Know where to get help if reading or writing breaks down.

 Decide main points from details

Repair by:

   Reconsider 1st meaning from reading/writing.

Repair the text to clarify meaning.

Appreciate the author’s craft and polish own writing (copy techniques).

Share by:

  Tell reactions to story or own writing.

Apply new techniques to future reading and writing tasks.

Experiential Backgrounds

 Children write best about things with which they are familiar.

 They also comprehend text better when background knowledge matches the text.

 The challenge is to stretch the background knowledge by reading stories or having unusual experiences to expand vocabularies and knowledge.

Reading/Writing integrated role: (Stahl, Osborn, and Lehr, 1996)

 1. Children copy syntactic patterns, themes, and content of the materials they read.

 2. Children learn through writing that text has to be understood.

 3. Different readers get different meaning from the same words.

 4. Need organization or maximize communication.

 5. Reading is thinking and reasoning.

7 Ways to combine reading and writing (Shanahan,1988)

   1. Need to teach both reading and writing.

2. Early introduction of both. 3. Developmentally different stages: early writing reflects attention to spelling and word recognition.(Chall 1996, Adams, 1990) older readers focus on comprehension.

7 Ways to combine reading/writing.

 4. Make the reading/writing connection explicit. Activities must be appropriate for development stages: Materials used to synthesize, evaluate or analyze text. Teach application with close supervision. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?

 5.Emphasize product(voc.&Word Id) and process knowledge (strategies) in instruction.

6. Emphasize communication

 People talk about, read about, and write to things that are important to them.

 7. Teach reading/writing in a meaningful context. Write explanations of text that was read, evaluate advertising, write and edit a newsletter, write directions, keep minutes of meeting. Need a variety of literacy experiences.

Instructional strategies to promote language functions.(Pinnell)

       Instrumental Language (help & direction) Regulatory Language (controlling) Interactional Language (share) Personal Language (thoughts & opinions) Imaginative Language (create) Heuristic (curiosity & problem solving) Informative Language (objective & summary)

Classroom Centers

 Writing Center- materials with research ideas, blank lists with topics, missing modifiers. Change topics every two weeks. Give children choice of writing activities.

 Have them write a daily journal for the rabbit or gerbil in the room. Record and describe the life of a plant: How much water? How close to the light? How tall?

Writing Center (cont.)

 Have maps and tour guides so that the students can take an imaginary trip. Give them $250 to spend for a weekend trip in New York. Have them write a daily journal.

 Have computer time available to write and add graphics to writing piece.

Shared readings

  Much like reading aloud but students see the text as the teacher reads. Big Books, Power Point,etc.Direct student’s attention to ‘tion’ endings and other common suffixes. Predict what will happen and check the prediction.

 Paired readings: match able reader with less able reader. Read orally to each other.

Reader’s theater

 Performing parts of literature: plays, narrative poems. Students turn the story into a script. Use puppets, costumes. Work cooperatively, use creative writing.

 These activities take time. Plan three activities/year.

Writing Activities

 Need story starters. Note cards, pictures, books that other classes have written for samples. Give a framework for the writer.

 Atwell (1987)  Need regular chunks of time  Need own topics  Need response  Learn mechanics in context.

Writing activities

 Must be appropriate to developmental stages.

 Use multiple texts to read, write about, analyze, evaluate, synthesize.  Vocabulary words from the story is used by students in their writing.

 Reading logs. Short term (daily) writing reflections. Uses identification with the story.

Writing lists (Ken & Yetta Goodman,1983)

   Allow students to organize, categorize, alphabetize.  Label things in the classroom. Write instructions for care of plants and animals.

Write out job responsibilities. Classroom diary. Students dictate what things the class has done each day.

Response journals.

   Teacher reads and responds to the students’ journal. Classroom pen pals. Students can write to favorite authors, congressman, mayors, librarians.

 Teachers model writing: writing daily schedules. Discuss why words are capitalizes,etc. Brainstorm about writing topics.

Teacher direction:

  Instruction must include a sense of involvement with language.  Word choice, descriptions, topic choice: Is there another word that would work better here? This word is used too often. Language rich environment: support literacy development and use activities that promote reading and writing