There is no question that a connection between reading and writing exists. Although, to what degree does one have to be immersed into literature for it to influence students’ writing experiences? Some ideas to help formulate answers and support this connection can be found in the two following articles in which, authors address the relationship between reading and writing. In the first piece titled The Reading-Writing Connection, author Olness (2005) offers insight to this connection by assembling many teachers and researchers information on the connection between reading, writing, and the value of quality children’s literature. Olness provides examples and ideas of how to successfully join reading with writing in the classroom. In the second article titled Literary Borrowing: The Effects of Literature on Children’s Writing, Lancia (1997) investigates the frequency and diversity of the independent ways children use ideas from literature while composing. Lancia illustrates the active relationship between reading and writing through a study he conducted within his second grade classroom. Both of these articles address the strong connection that reading imposes on student compositions and how inexorably writing affects all aspects of reading and the use of language.
Olness (2005) begins her piece with quotes from prominent teachers and researchers to support the connection between reading and writing and states, “the primary reason for exposing children to quality literature is for its aesthetic value; a secondary benefit is its influence on student writing” (p. 1). Olness continues by explaining the ways students develop literary skills and awareness, expansion of vocabulary, and overall literature experience by hearing t...
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...h articles provide strong evidence in which students need to be immersed to a high degree in meaningful, purposeful, high quality literature for his or her writing to be influenced. Furthermore, students not only need to immersed in high quality literature, but this literature has to be discussed and incorporated into a writing community to nurture and foster the development of the readers and writers within the community. In summation, both of these articles address the necessary reading-writing connection in relation to students’ compositions and growth as a reader and language communicator.
Works Cited
Lancia, P. (1997). Literary Borrowing: The Effects of Literature on Children’s Writing. The Reading Teacher, 50(6), 470-475.
Olness, R. (2005). Writing Using Literature to Enhance Writing Instruction. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Meyer, Michael, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999.
Although the greater picture is that reading is fundamental, the two authors have a few different messages that they seek to communicate to their audiences. “The Joy of Reading and Writing” depicts how reading serves as a mechanism to escape the preconceived notions that constrain several groups of people from establishing themselves and achieving success in their lifetimes. “Reading to Write,” on the other hand, offers a valuable advice to aspiring writers. The author suggests that one has to read, read, and read before he or she can become a writer. Moreover, he holds an interesting opinion concerning mediocre writing. He says, “Every book you pick has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones” (p.221). Although these two essays differ in their contents and messages, the authors use the same rhetorical mode to write their essays. Both are process analyses, meaning that they develop their main argument and provide justification for it step by step. By employing this technique, the two authors create essays that are thoughtful, well supported, and easy to understand. In addition, Alexie and King both add a little personal touch to their writings as they include personal anecdotes. This has the effect of providing support for their arguments. Although the two essays have fairly different messages, the authors make use of anecdotes and structure their writing in a somewhat similar
Literature has long been an important part of human life. We express our feelings with ink and paper; we spill out our souls on dried wood pulp. Writing has been a form of release and enjoyment since the beginning of written language. You can tell a story, make yourself a hero. You can live out all your fantasies!
Children’s writing has a low tendency to be connected to particular contexts, they may have poor or unclear logic in their writing (http://www.english.uiuc.edu/405/Witt/Writing-Project/writing-development.htm[26.11.01]). Children while writing may have poor planning and they may write whatever enters their heads with little concern as to whether the writing connects to what was previously written. If more material is required they may add information without selecting and noticing the relevance of the added information (http://www.english.uiuc.edu/405/Witt/Writing-Project/writing-development.htm [26.11.01]). Bereiter and Scardamalia argue that the writing process of a young student when compared to that of a mature skilled writer will have a vast difference, they can’t be the same, the skilled writer produces a different kind of writing process, the unskilled writer is incapable of such abilities (Grabe & Kaplan, 1996, p.117).
Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.
Literature is a key component when speaking of literacy. Teachers need to provide students with endless amounts of practice experiences in reading to build their fluency rate. This should be done with different genres of texts and different levels. Reading a wide variety of literature help children develop rich vocabularies.
With the modern age’s influx of new forms of communication, the skill of writing has taken a back seat for most people in their daily lives as brevity has become of greater importance. The more you can say in fewer – and often shorter – words, the better. While this is acceptable for those who have already developed the necessary motor and mental skills required to write well, it is increasingly worrisome for children who have not yet mastered these abilities, and could potentially set them back for most of their lives. Creative and persuasive writing is incredibly important and should be stressed in education to avoid future academic difficulty and promote a stronger intellectual generation.
Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Retrieved from: https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUENG125.10.2/sections/h2.1
Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts. 4th AP ed. New Jersey: Pearson, 2008. 528-35. Print.
While I believe every child is a reader, I do not believe every child will be enthralled with reading all the time. All students have the capability to read and enjoy reading, but just like any other hobby, interest will vary from student to student. The students in my classroom will be encouraged in their reading, be provided with choice, taught how books can take you into another world but, my students will not be forced to read. This paper will illustrate my philosophy of reading through the theories I relate to, the way I want to implement reading and writing curriculum, and the methods I will use motivate my students to read and help them become literate.
Every child deserves a positive, safe, nurturing, and stimulating learning environment where they will grow academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. My role as an educator is to provide my students with this type of environment as well as an education that will help them succeed academically and become life long learners. It is the responsibility of a literacy educator to provide students with this type of environment, but also to provide instruction that will help students become successful readers and writers. There are numerous programs and philosophies about literacy and reading. Through years of experience and research, one begins to develop their own creative approach on teaching these skills. After looking at different programs and seeing the positive and negatives of each, an integrated and balanced approach of literacy seems to be the best way to teach the differing needs of each student.
Perrault, Charles. “Cinderella.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens, Leonard J. Rosen. Toronto: Longman, 2013. 236-240. Print.
Literature is an essential part of society in the present day and enables the communication between multiple parties in a written form. Texts can provide a vast knowledge on subjects dependent on content whereas novels are often seen as being purely for leisure and enjoyment. However it can often be seen that prose
The writing process is not a practice that comes easy to all people, especially with students who are below their grade level in reading and writing. Even at the high school level, students still struggle with fully developing their writing. Teachers today are under the constraints of state grade cards and standardized tests which often ask students to write in almost every subject level. Content teachers become frustrated when they feel like they need to add writing to their already full curriculum. The reality is that writing needs to be taught with content curriculum. Writing takes students beyond the regurgitation of typical multiple choice questions. Writing allows students to prove their understanding of the relationships and complexities of the materials covered.
Literature has an enormous impact on a child’s development during the early years of his or her life. It is important for parents and teachers to instill a love of reading in children while they are still young and impressionable. They are very naive and trusting because they are just beginning to develop their own thoughts, so they will believe anything they read (Lesnik, 1998). This is why it is so important to give them literature that will have a positive impact. Literature can make children more loving, intelligent and open minded because reading books gives them a much wider perspective on the world. Through reading, children’s behavior can be changed, modified or extended, which is why books are so influential in children’s lives while they are young (Hunt, 1998). Literature has the power to affect many aspects of a child’s life and shapes their future adult life.