According to Gail Tompkins (2006), reading and writing have been traditionally thought of and taught as flip side of the coins – as opposites; “readers decoded or deciphered language and writers encoded or produced written language.” Researchers however, have increasingly noted the connections between reading and writing, identifying them as complementary processes of meaning construction involving the use of similar cognitive strategies. As we read through this portion of the passage, we were able to understand why and how reading and writing are connected. We also discovered that in order for inexperienced readers and writers to develop confidence and competence, they should be introduced to and be provided guided practice by more engaged and experienced readers and writers.
As we read further, we came across a statement by Jeff Wilhelm (2008) that states “once students learn how to read, and move through middle school, reading is still regarded as a passive act of receiving someone else’s meaning.” He further went on to state, that in proving that you “get it” that is, that you understand what was read, you correctly answer questions at the end of the text. We strongly agree that reading and writing don’t just happen. Experience readers and writers are active, not passive, productive, and not receptive. Experience readers are writers interact with language, thus creating a vivid picture in their heads. They also shape or twist language to produce the form they want. The article went on to state that whether we are in the role of the reader or writer, we make sense either of or with print. To do this prior knowledge is activated about the topic, genre or personal experiences, expectations and our contextual frames of reference (Tierney & Shanahan, 1991). After reading this information, we were engaged in a discussion recalling instances and examples of articles, stories that we read and explain how we were able to actively engage in constructing meaning from and with the texts. Additionally, we were able to understand that reading and writing are both acts of composing.
This information caused us to reflect on the writing process.
We were also given insight that reading and writing is a recursive process. This means that readers and writers go back in order to go forward. Throughout this process, readers and writers will go back for as long as it takes to get a better understanding or to figure out what they are reading or writing. This information brought clarity to our group members as to why one might not understand what they are reading and how to deal with such a situation. We gained an understanding also that readers and writers go back to go forward in attempting to respond to the text from a different perspective, or in trying to view the text through the author’s eyes. Martin Nystrand (1986) calls the relationship between readers and writers a condition of reciprocity. This simple means that both parties depend on each other’s understanding to ensure a meaningful interaction. As we read this we were able to see the interrelatedness of reading and writing.
Notably, researchers as well as our group members have agreed that reading and writing are both complex acts of critical thinking. For this reason, cognitive strategies are fundamental to the construction of meaning. These such strategies which by the way are not new to us includes planning and goal setting, tapping prior knowledge, asking questions and making predictions, constructing the gist, monitoring, revising meaning, reflecting and relating and evaluating. As we read about these strategies, we were able to recall instances of both being a teacher and a student teacher, many different situations in the classroom when these strategies were used.
In conclusion, this article was very useful as it gave us deeper insights on the reading and writing connection and how its interrelated. We were also able to see the similarities and common characteristics of both reading and writing. Reading this article also gave us a wealth of knowledge to
show student what experienced readers do when they compose and to provide them with guided practice to perform independent tasks in competence and confidence. Group members also decided to introduce students to the cognitive strategies that underlie reading and reading.
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