Key Strategies for Reading
and Writing





Prepare by:
Tapping background knowledge for a topic.
Decide the purpose for reading/writing.
Predict how it will turn out.
Select topic to read or write about
Compose a 1st draft by:
 Monitoring understanding of the text.
 Monitoring the reactions to text.
 Connect new information to what they
already know.
 Expand vocabularies both during and after
1st reading and 1st draft.
 Know where to get help if reading or
writing breaks down.
 Decide main points from details
Repair by:
 Reconsider 1st meaning from
reading/writing.
 Repair the text to clarify meaning.
 Appreciate the author’s craft and polish own
writing (copy techniques).
Share by:
 Tell reactions to story or own writing.
 Apply new techniques to future reading and
writing tasks.
Experiential Backgrounds
 Children write best about things with which
they are familiar.
 They also comprehend text better when
background knowledge matches the text.
 The challenge is to stretch the background
knowledge by reading stories or having
unusual experiences to expand vocabularies
and knowledge.
Reading/Writing integrated role:
(Stahl, Osborn, and Lehr, 1996)
 1. Children copy syntactic patterns, themes,
and content of the materials they read.
 2. Children learn through writing that text
has to be understood.
 3. Different readers get different meaning
from the same words.
 4. Need organization or maximize
communication.
 5. Reading is thinking and reasoning.
7 Ways to combine reading
and writing (Shanahan,1988)
 1. Need to teach both reading and writing.
 2. Early introduction of both.
 3. Developmentally different stages: early
writing reflects attention to spelling and
word recognition.(Chall 1996, Adams,
1990) older readers focus on
comprehension.
7 Ways to combine
reading/writing.
 4. Make the reading/writing connection
explicit. Activities must be appropriate for
development stages: Materials used to
synthesize, evaluate or analyze text. Teach
application with close supervision. Brown
Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?
 5.Emphasize product(voc.&Word Id) and
process knowledge (strategies) in
instruction.
6. Emphasize communication
 People talk about, read about, and write to
things that are important to them.
 7. Teach reading/writing in a meaningful
context. Write explanations of text that was
read, evaluate advertising, write and edit a
newsletter, write directions, keep minutes of
meeting. Need a variety of literacy
experiences.
Instructional strategies to
promote language
functions.(Pinnell)







Instrumental Language (help & direction)
Regulatory Language (controlling)
Interactional Language (share)
Personal Language (thoughts & opinions)
Imaginative Language (create)
Heuristic (curiosity & problem solving)
Informative Language (objective &
summary)
Classroom Centers
 Writing Center- materials with research
ideas, blank lists with topics, missing
modifiers. Change topics every two weeks.
Give children choice of writing activities.
 Have them write a daily journal for the
rabbit or gerbil in the room. Record and
describe the life of a plant: How much
water? How close to the light? How tall?
Writing Center (cont.)
 Have maps and tour guides so that the
students can take an imaginary trip. Give
them $250 to spend for a weekend trip in
New York. Have them write a daily journal.
 Have computer time available to write and
add graphics to writing piece.
Shared readings
 Much like reading aloud but students see
the text as the teacher reads. Big Books,
Power Point,etc.Direct student’s attention to
‘tion’ endings and other common suffixes.
Predict what will happen and check the
prediction.
 Paired readings: match able reader with less
able reader. Read orally to each other.

Reader’s theater
 Performing parts of literature: plays,
narrative poems. Students turn the story into
a script. Use puppets, costumes. Work
cooperatively, use creative writing.
 These activities take time. Plan three
activities/year.
Writing Activities
 Need story starters. Note cards, pictures,
books that other classes have written for
samples. Give a framework for the writer.
 Atwell (1987)




Need regular chunks of time
Need own topics
Need response
Learn mechanics in context.
Writing activities
 Must be appropriate to developmental
stages.
 Use multiple texts to read, write about,
analyze, evaluate, synthesize.
 Vocabulary words from the story is used by
students in their writing.
 Reading logs. Short term (daily) writing
reflections. Uses identification with the
story.
Writing lists (Ken & Yetta
Goodman,1983)
 Allow students to organize, categorize,
alphabetize.
 Label things in the classroom. Write
instructions for care of plants and animals.
 Write out job responsibilities.
 Classroom diary. Students dictate what
things the class has done each day.
Response journals.
 Teacher reads and responds to the students’
journal.
 Classroom pen pals.
 Students can write to favorite authors,
congressman, mayors, librarians.
 Teachers model writing: writing daily
schedules. Discuss why words are
capitalizes,etc. Brainstorm about writing
topics.
Teacher direction:
 Word choice, descriptions, topic choice: Is
there another word that would work better
here? This word is used too often.
 Instruction must include a sense of
involvement with language.
 Language rich environment: support
literacy development and use activities that
promote reading and writing