Writing Affecting Reading

In the flurry to develop research-based teaching methods, educators have succeeded in breaking literacy tasks into its component parts. It's pretty much understood that phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, concepts about print, comprehension, oral language, and writing will be a part of all reading instruction. This is great, because teachers are strengthening their instruction in each of these areas, and they are similarly monitoring their students' progress. Unfortunately, a side effect of dissecting processes is making them isolated tasks. That's why it was refreshing to read a couple of recent articles about bringing writing back into reading instruction in a contextualized way, rather than leaving writing instruction as a separate entity.

The move took a step back before moving forward, as researchers identified the need for more intensive writing instruction. Students' low test scores in writing gave rise to curriculums that focused exclusively on the writing process. While I am not against writing process instruction, I am much more excited about contextualized writing and students strengthening their reading comprehension by processing their thoughts into writing. Jamie shared one of the articles in class, "The Effect of an Adapted Interactive Writing Intervention on Kindergarten Children's Phonological Awareness, Spelling, and Early Reading Development: A Contextualized Approach to Instruction." In this study, kindergarteners showed greater improvement on word identification, passage comprehension, and word reading development when they practiced writing about the texts they read (or had read to them). The other kindergarteners in the study used a reading skills games practice method, which focused on skills in isolation.

The other article was more recent, "Writing Undergoes Renaissance in Curricula,"published earlier this month in Education Week. Thanks in part to the Common Core State Standards, which require written responses to texts, writing about reading is being implemented with increasing frequency. They are finding that the practice increases writing ability as well as comprehension. Surprisingly, the International Reading Association still holds the position of separated reading and writing instruction, saying that the benefits of the reading/writing connection requires more research. The article cites a 2010 meta-analysis of writing interventions, so maybe that will help. However, critics have said that the minimal amount of writing done even in so-called extensive writing curricula is leaving our students with a lack of preparation for higher education and the workforce. Furthermore, it was mentioned that the AP exams will be increasing the requirement of written responses. So perhaps this will continue to change our practices.

I'm all for writer's workshop or other designated writing instruction, but when I see that a contextualized writing approach benefits both writing and reading comprehension, I think we should take advantage. Don't you?

What? No quality children's literature in reading instruction?

I found the article by Patricia Cooper, "Children's Literature for Reading Strategy Instruction: Innovation or Interference?" a little bit extreme. I tend to be a proponent of literature-based reading instruction. However, I do understand Cooper's concern of killing children's aesthetic connection with stories through over-instruction. I appreciated my classmate's disagreement with Cooper and the solutions suggested.

Literature should always be read at least once for enjoyment before the instruction of any skills with it. The exception to this would be prediction, which I see more as a motivation for children to read a story than an opportunity for them to be turned off by worrying about getting their prediction right. I prefer to do prediction with a preview of the book, looking at more than the cover, so unusual titles or covers don't confuse kids. Then the first read of a story with all the expression possibly mustered provides a wonderful foundation for children to discuss different parts of the story on a second pass. Dr. Cooper did assent to some post-reading discussion and activities, and that's when the instruction should come in. In that way, she goes against her premise, weakening her original argument.

Yes, literature for enjoyment only is an extreme as is literature for instruction only. The key is balance between the two. Enjoyment first, instruction afterward. Kids have to see that people read for pleasure. That's motivating. Once they're hooked, bring on some skills instruction. One reading curriculum with which I am familiar uses this sequence. As a former editor of this curriculum, I can say that literature searches were my favorite part of the job. Poring through stacks of great children's literature was more fun than work! The selections are meant to entice young readers, as well as to be good examples to use for skills instruction.

The other point made in class was that reading instruction should not be the only time for read-alouds. Kids of all ages love to have stories read to them. Reading is a powerful way to connect with students. We can feel sadness, worry, or happiness, together, along with the characters in a story. As children build a love of reading, their skills will improve as well. So, if this was the author's point, then I'm in agreement. I think I'd just clarify a few things before bashing a perfectly good practice.

Thanks, Cassie, for sharing the article and starting this great discussion!

Remembering What's Important

I recently read a great article (you'll love the title), "I Know There Ain't No Pigs with Wigs: Challenges of Tier 2 Intervention." I began reading thinking that it would be about word study or comprehension strategies and how to teach them to our struggling readers. What I read was such a refreshing surprise that I was in tears by the end of it. (I do break into tears easily, but this is a pretty wonderful article.)

The article is about reading intervention model, but unlike ones I'd heard of before. This team of authors (1 university professor, 1 district administrator, and 10 teachers) began by naming their beliefs about reading. This turned into the "What Matters for Readers" list below.

1. Understand that reading is meaningful.
2. Believe in their ability to make sense of texts.
3. Consider reading a pleasurable event.
4. Self-monitor spontaneously and consistently.
5. Have the knowledge, skills, and strategies to problem-solve to ensure meaning.
6. Use this information flexibly.
7. Use this information independently.
8. Use this information with increasingly sophisticated texts.

They used this list to develop their study and to find ways to make these things happen for kids. They knew that most interventions begin with their #5, the skills and strategies. But they made a conscious decision to go through the list in order.

As we know, and as they studied quantitatively, was that the majority of their struggling readers did not have #1, 2, and/or 3 as part of the way they viewed themselves as readers. They came up with ways to help students to see that reading was meaningful, help students believe in their abilities, and make reading pleasurable. In most cases, some skills and strategies were also involved, but the concentration was on the first three points. Mostly, they concentrated on ways to build the student's confidence and love of reading. In the end, they found that the students made approximately two months of growth for every 1 month of service.

Here are a couple quotes from students who participated. 

"I am a stra-te-gic read-er now. I used to not be. But now I know it has to make sense. I used to read books that rhymed, but they didn't make no sense. I know there ain't no 'pigs with wigs.' That's what I used to read. I used to not like to read. Now I do because I am stra-te-gic."

When asked about how he felt about reading, another student said, "Different. . . . In a good way. . . . Like a family way. A really happy way. I like reading a lot! I like to read anything!

So next time you're looking for intervention strategies, think of the "What Matters" list. It helped me remember what really matters.