O Liburd Teaching Activities to Illustrate Reading and Writing

O Liburd Reflection on the Relationship Between Reading and Writing

O Liburd Activities to illustrate the reading-writing connection

Teaching activities to illustrate the reading-writing connection 1. PROJECT JOURNAL RATIONALE A project journal is a device used by students to plan, organise, develop and implement their ideas for group work. It is the place where they can keep a record of their ongoing work on a project. For pairs and small groups, it also provides a check for completing assignments. “Students have a written account that they can reflect on and use to make judgements and evaluations. The project journal is, therefore, useful in providing a structure in which students may work. It also facilitates an understanding of the mutuality of responsibility for group projects” (Brown, Phillips, and Stephens, 1993, p. 70). PROCEDURE 1. The teacher and students generate a format for the journal. 2. In small groups or pairs, roles and responsibilities are identified and selected. 3. Roles and randomly assigned initially and subsequently alternated. 4. One group member (or all members on a rotating basis) serves as the group scribe to record progress and participation, raise questions, and plan future directions. 5. All group members do a reflection entry at the end of the project, including assessment sheets on the contributions. VARIATION  The primary variation for the project journal is when students are working independently. In this case, students record their own actions and progress. 2. KWL RATIONALE K-W-L is a widely used strategy designed to foster active reading. The basic three steps consist of K-W-L. K----What do I want to know? W----What do I already know? , and L----What did I learn? K-W-L provides a structure for activating and building prior knowledge, for eliciting student input when establishing purpose for reading, and for personalizing the summarization of what was learned. K-W-L also serves as a useful assessment tool for teachers. PROCEDURES 1. The teacher introduces KWL and models how to use it with a new topic or new reading selection. 2. Individually, in pairs, or in small groups, students brainstorm what they already know about the topic. 3. This information is recorded and displayed for the whole class. During class discussion, the teacher models how to organize categorize information. 4. The teacher leads the class into the class into the next phase, during which students generate a list of what else they want to learn or questions they want answered. Again the teacher models how to organize and categorize their responses and how to use this information to set purpose for their reading 5. Students then read with the purpose of discovering information to answer the questions they generated. 6. This information is recorded and displayed. Again the teacher models how to reflect upon the entire learning experience. VARIATION Some teachers slightly rephrase the first step to emphasize the tentative nature of what we remember: K---What do I think I already know? Or What do I think I remember? Others leave the original wording intact, but surround the K with large question marks. 3. FACTSTORMING RATIONALE Factstorming is similar to Brainstorming, but only focuses on factual information. It involves students drawing on their prior knowledge to generate facts they associate with a given topic. Our adaptation of Factstorming can be useful assessment tool, helping teachers to identify gaps in student knowledge and misconceptions. Procedures: 7. The teacher presents a prompt to the class for Factstorming. 8. Individually, in pairs, or small groups, students generate and record facts. 9. The teacher engages the class in discussion about the response and uses them as a springboard to the new lesson content. 10. Students read to find evidence to support the facts they generated or to correct any misinformation they originally recorded. They also record new facts and evidence to support them. VARIATION The class develops a master list of verified facts on the lesson content. 4. KEY QUESTIONS RATIONALE Key Questions is a simple strategy designed to help students process the basic elements, who, what, when, where and how of what they read. This strategy is particular useful with younger readers or with students who have difficulty comprehending at a literal level. Key questions also can be used for book talks when students are reading different books related to common theme or topic. PROCEDURES: 1. The teacher models how to identify the five key questions in a selection: Who? What? When? Where? and How? 2. Students then read a designated section of the text or related books and record information to answer the five key questions. 3. Next they each make a simple flip chart and portray they information on it. 4. Finally they present the information to small groups or the whole class. VARIATION Some teachers are more successful working in pairs as they read and identify the five key questions. 5. WHAT’S THE SOUNDS BITE? RATIONALE As students read informational texts, they need practice in understanding the essence of the selection. This strategy is designed to help students focus on a major and memorable issue, idea or concept from the selection. PROCEDURES: 1. The teacher plays a video clip of a five-minute selection from a televised speech. 2. The teacher then asks students, individually or with a learning partner, to identify and state in no more than three sentences the most significance idea from the clip. 3. Students’ responses are posted on the board as the teacher replays the selection. 4. The students discuss and vote for the response they believe best captures the essence of the speech. 5. The teacher then plays a clip of the subsequent news coverage of the speech, including the sound bite from the speech 6. The sound bite is compared with the responses of the students. 7. After a class discussion of the nature of sound bites, the teacher chooses an informational selection for the students to read. 8. After reading the selection, students write their own sound bites. VARIATION Some teachers tape students’ speeches and then have a panel of students select the sound bite.

Reading-Writing Connections Activities (Lincon Wattley)

Activities for Reading Writing Connection by Shameika Phipps

Activity #1

Strategy: DRTA

Time 30 minutes

 Rationale The aim of this activity is for students to define a concept that plays a key role in a text that they will read.

Preparation Find an appropriate reading passage. Factual articles, essays or textbook passages that define or classify something work well for this activity. You will need chart paper and markers.

Procedure 1. Tell students the topic or title of passage that they are going to read. Ask a question or two to get them thinking about the topic. Write some of their answers on the board.

2. Give students a sentence starter to draw out a definition of the key concept in the reading. For example, possible sentence starters on the topic of friendship are:

 • A friend always __________

• A friend never __________

• A friend is __________

Ask students to write as many possible endings to the sentences as they can.

3. Have students work in small groups to discuss their sentences and to look for similarities and differences among them. Ask each group to pool their ideas and to Write-Before-You-Read Activities write them on a large piece of chart paper. Post these lists on the classroom walls and ask each group to briefly present their ideas to the class.

 4. Read the passage.
 5. Follow up the reading with a discussion of similarities and differences between the way the text and the students defined the concept.

Activity #2

Strategy: Predicting

Time 30 minutes

Rationale :The aim of this activity is for students to preview a reading passage in order to predict its content.

Preparation: Select an appropriate reading passage.

Procedure 1. Have student’s preview the text they will be reading to get a general idea of what it is about. The following are suggestions for strategies that students can use: • Read the title and any introductory material

• Read the first paragraph

 • Read the first sentence of each paragraph

 • Read the last paragraph

2. Ask students to put the text aside and write down what they think the passage will be about or what they think will happen in the reading based on the information they got in step one. Depending on the nature of the reading and the level of the class, students could write lists of words or phrases, or they could write a paragraph.

3. Invite students to read what they have written to a classmate. Then ask for volunteers to read to the whole class. Compare predictions.

4. After reading the entire passage, students can compare their predictions with the text.

Activity III: Summarizing
 Level High Intermediate—Advanced
 Time 90 minutes

Rationale
In this activity, students identify the main ideas in a reading and use that information to
write a summary.

Preparation

1. Select a narrative or factual reading passage and have students read the passage,
completing any appropriate pre- or during-reading activities.
2. Prepare a list of guidelines for writing a summary. These guidelines could be put in a
handout, on the board, or on a large piece of chart paper. Examples of possible
guidelines are found in Appendix C.
3. (optional) Select a few examples of model summaries for students to read and
evaluate. Reading and writing textbooks are good sources for these.

Procedure
1. Have students take notes on or highlight the major ideas in a reading passage, either
while they read or after reading.

2. Monitor the students’ understanding of the reading by asking them to retell in their
own words what they can remember from the reading, first in pairs and then with the
whole class. Clarify any misconceptions or areas of confusion.

3. Ask students to work in pairs or small groups to agree on a list of the main ideas from
the reading. Have them refer to their notes or to their annotations in the text.

4. As a class, ask students to share their lists. Write their ideas on the board or on a large
piece of chart paper.

5. Discuss with students which ideas are the most important. Invite them to suggest any
details on the list that don’t contribute to the overall understanding of the text and
could be eliminated.

6. When the list of main ideas seems complete, have students work in pairs to put the
ideas in a logical order. Then, come back together as a class to organize the ideas
written on the board or chart paper in step 4.
7. Go over the guidelines for writing a summary. You may also wish to have students
work with model summaries at this point.

8. Ask students to put aside the text and to use the ideas they listed and organized to
write a paragraph summarizing the reading.

Activity IV: Open-Ended Responses
 Level Intermediate—Advanced
 Time 30 minutes

Rationale
In this activity, students write personal responses to a reading guided by open-ended
prompts. The purpose of the activity is for students to learn to react thoughtfully to a text
in order to discover ideas and extend their understanding.

Preparation
1. Select a narrative or factual reading passage that has a good chance of evoking a
response. That is, the text itself should have qualities that motivate students to write a
reaction to it. Have students read the passage, completing appropriate pre- or during reading
Activities.

2. Prepare a handout with instructions for the activity along with an open-ended
response prompt or prompts. Students may be given only one prompt to write from,
or they can be given several from which to choose. The possibilities for responding to
a reading are many. Students can be asked to respond in a perceptive (noticing) mode,
in an affective (feeling) mode, or in an associative (relating) mode (Beach 1993).

Students can:
• Explore their thoughts or feelings about the reading
• Relate the reading to their own experience
• Agree or disagree with the text
• Link texts to each other
• Raise questions about something they found confusing or didn’t understand
• Write about what they found significant
 The prompts can take any of the following forms:
• Statements (Describe what you agree with.)
• Questions (What do you agree with? What do you disagree with?)
• Unfinished sentences (I think the author is right because… I think the author
is wrong because…)

Procedure

1. Tell students that they will be writing a response to a passage they have read. Give
them the handout and explain the prompt or prompts if necessary. If there is more
than one prompt, students should choose just one. Alternatively, students could also
be given the option to write whatever they want. Invite the students to write for about
10 minutes. Ask them to put thought and care into their responses, but not to worry
overly about grammar and mechanics. The aim is to have their writing flow smoothly
as they put their thoughts on paper.

2. After writing, have students share their responses by reading them to a classmate or to
a small group.

3. Invite students to read their responses to the class as a whole. Students can be asked
to reflect on the variety of responses.

Activity V: Retelling
 Level High-Beginner—Advanced
 Time 30 minutes

Rationale
After reading a passage, students are asked to recall as much as they can of what they
read, first in speaking and then in writing. Reconstructing a reading helps students clarify
their understanding of the text and gives them practice in using the language they are
Learning.

Preparation
1. Have students read an appropriate text. A relatively short reading works best for this
activity since students will be asked to recall what they have read without referring to
the text.

2. Select keywords from the reading that students can use in retelling. Prepare a
handout with the words in random order. Alternately, put the words on the board or
on a large piece of chart paper.

Procedure
1. After reading, give students a few minutes to review the text. Tell them to remember
everything they can.

2. Go over the list of keywords to make sure students know the meanings.

3. Ask students to put aside the passage and take turns with a classmate to tell each other
in their own words what they remember from the reading. Encourage students to use
as many of the key words as they can.

4. As a class, invite volunteers to tell one thing each that they remember from the
reading. Have students refer to the text to clarify any misunderstandings or confusion.

5. Ask students to write down what they remember from the reading, using the key
words from the handout. Depending on the level of the students, they could write
phrases, sentences, or a paragraph.

How the Reading Writing Connection Derived

As teachers, it is found that Reading and Writing are taught independently and we find that this is so because there isn’t an understanding of the connectivity between them.  According to Campbell, (1963 [1776]), Writing and Reading Relationships: Constructive Tasks.

“Reading and Writing though it is pressed and encouraged to be taught concertedly , was not always so. Reading and Writing was seen as one of the four strands of the language processes In the 1980’s there was a distinct body of inquiry relative to reading and writing. This small but intense body of scholarship and research into the interrelationships between writing and reading also focused on ways in which those relationships might affect learning, and inform instruction.”  As part of the research it was viewed that reading and writing is linked to language and communication.  The research prompted researchers to look into the social aspects of reading and writing and their functions and uses as it pertains to real life situations and school situations. As the inquiry of reading and writing became more scrutinized, similarities and differences in the way that reading and writing developed and affected each other and also the way they depict learning.

By the 1800s the work of Campbell (1963 [1776]) and. (n.d.). Writing and Reading Relationships: Constructive Tasks. Retrieved October 13, 2016, from http://www.albany.edu/cela/publication/article/writeread.htm

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