Capitalize on the Reading-Writing Connection

It makes sense to me that "children that read literature-well written folktales, narratives and trade books-become better writers than children who primarily read basal reading text." (123)
Often times the basal stories are dry and lifeless; therefore, if we want student to write well they need to be reading dynamic stories.

This week I had my students write book reviews. I got a load of picture books from the library, read one aloud and modeled the process of writing a book review. These were short and to the point. Students had to give a brief summary of the book, tell the author's purpose, and recommend the book to another group of readers. Some of these turned out very well. Others needed much more practice before creating a presentable product. Overall, I do think it was a worthy activity.

I also like the idea of note taking especially for older students. Since my students have been doing much more online work this year, I have utilized this strategy. I have found that it does engage the learner, and they do learn much more.

"Assign writing that enhances the reading-that requires careful reexamination of the text." (125) I have to say here, the best thing that I've done to connect reading and writing this year is blogging. When my class read Blood on the River, they had to respond to the text by blogging. They loved it. It was very interesting to examine their thought processes as they blogged. They also loved the fact that they had a real audience. I think blogging caused them to think about the text more. Every classroom needs a blog for this purpose.