Teaching Writing

Once again the link between reading and writing – why is this still a surprise to some??  As I teach second grade, I can see and understand the importance balance and development of both skills.  Reading and writing go hand in hand, building on each other as students develop and further their foundation in both.  In accordance with Marie Clay as stated by Routman, “…as children write they develop many skills and writing abilities and that print awareness develops through both reading and writing.  And the more experience children have in reading and writing, the more meaningful their writing becomes.  Growth in reading positively impacts writing, and growth in writing positively impacts reading.  Since poor readers tend to become poor writers, we need to ensure we work on reading alongside writing” (120).  With this evidence, all teachers should balance their teaching and use the skills from reading to teach writing and vice versa.  While teaching reading, I often incorporate writing activities to further their skill development in both areas.  I plan and prepare for next year and the implementation of writer’s workshop, I often find myself thinking of mini-lessons focused on children’s literature.  What better way than to familiarize students with the idea as well as assist in developing their ideas while teaching writing, too.  It all makes perfect sense!  “Readers of well-written material experience more language, vocabulary, and stories to apply to their writing” (123), and as a teacher it is my job to support this by providing my students with numerous opportunities and shared experiences covering a wide variety of literary genres.  Not only will their reading benefit, but their writing, too!

As a second grade teacher, I often struggle with spelling and how much emphasis to place on correct spelling and when spelling should matter.  After reading Routman, I now will hold my students more responsible and accountable for certain words – no excuse words!  My expectations will be raised, yet reasonable to allow students the freedom to write without worrying too much about spelling.  There are, however, certain words they should always write correctly, and I will be better at making sure that happens.  The proven strategies suggestion listed at the end of the chapter for all writers who struggle will be extra beneficial as I plan and implement writer’s workshop. 

Although I did share write nearly enough this year, it was a start.  I guess I never really thought too much about it, but it makes total sense – kindof crazy that I had never done much of it before.  At the beginning of the year I would model how to write a journal and for writing assignments we would discuss ideas and what they could write about, but I never took a lot of time to actually share write and write an example of what they were expected.  Guess it makes sense now why some kids never got it and never produced a quality writing!  I often worried they would copy the sentences and ideas we came up with together, but I guess that is a start at getting ideas and writing themselves even if it’s not all of their own original thoughts.  As Routman states, “Shared writing builds on what the teacher has already modeled through writing aloud and is the important scaffold students need in order to attempt their own successful writing”  (p. 84).  If I want my students to be successful, I need to model and write with them while explaining the expectations.  They need to understand and see what they should be doing.  This year I found myself doing more of this as I had more English language learners and low academic performing students in my class than previous years.  As Routman suggests, “For all learners, but especially for our English language learners, challenged learners, and economically underprivileged students, shared writing helps provide the rich oral language modeling that stimulates literacy development (p. 85).  Now it all makes sense, and my instinct was right!   It was easier to do this whole group than even small group and much easier than individually.  Students didn’t feel as isolated and all of the students benefited.  Now I know that even though I may not have the same classroom dynamics next year, I will definitely use shared writing as a consistent teaching tool.  Often I will also link reading and writing together which will make the link to shared writing better and easier.  Routman states, “Shared writing is a powerful way to connect reading and writing to improve both reading and writing skills (p. 87). 

Routman’s ideas for using shared writing to do important word work was appreciated since I teach the younger grades and much of the focus seems to be towards middle and upper elementary.  The making words and sentences are wonderful ideas, and ideas I need to make more time for next year.                              

I also loved the lessons and dialogue used.  It reaffirmed the approaches I do use, and also provided suggestions and comments that will be helpful to incorporate into future lessons. The lesson ideas for tried and true ideas will be great for future reference.  The amount of useful tips Routman provides is great.