The Power of the Reading and Writing Connection

Contributed By Michelle Wolf

Students "grow in their ability to craft a particular genre . . . through being immersed in opportunities to read, write, and to look closely at [the genre]." (What Research Says about Writing NCTE, 2006)

Before we ask students to study and write in any genre, it is vital that we give them opportunities to experience and respond to the texts as readers. Immerse students in the texts you will be studying by spending a week reading and celebrating the unit of study text set.

IMMERSION: The Power of the Reading and Writing Connection
Immersion begins every unit of study. Introduce the books and authors that will become the models and mentors for your students.

What we need to do:

• Create a writing environment that reflects study.

• Read aloud often and make touchstone texts available for students to read.

• Model ways we think and talk about books as readers and writers. This builds vocabulary and schema.

• Think about the writer behind the words. Read author bios, blurbs, and dedication pages. What inspired the author? What did the author have to do to make this?

• Name and chart things we are learning from our touchstone texts and mentor authors. Use these anchor charts throughout the study.

• Compare books and authors: various genres, common topics, and ways writers present their ideas in images and words.

• Make time for shared and/or modeled writing such as a class poem.

• Point out powerful language. Invite students to do the same.

• Begin to imagine ways students will use what they have learned in their own writing ("Think Aloud").
• Be enthusiastic! Our love of books and writing is contagious.