Bringing Reading and Writing
Together
by Cheri Cooke, who teaches courses in study
skills, learning skills, and reading at Oak-Land Junior High in
Minneapolis. Cooke previously taught English in Robbinsdale, Minnesota,
and English as a second language in Ecuador.
I teach "learning skills," a new class this year at Oak-Land
Junior High. The goal of the class is for students to become independent
learners, and my students this spring will do so in part through
a project that brings together reading and writing.
The project is based on one that University of Minnesota Professor
Michael F. Graves and I have developed over the past two years.
The students in my classes have produced three books of book reviews,
a project that has provided them with authentic writing experience.
The books were fun to produce, and-probably because the writing
and comments present the students' points of view about books they
have read-the classes that have followed frequently use the books
to find new reading selections.
 The
idea for the project came while I was taking a writing/tutoring
class with Dr. Graves. I enrolled in the class to explore how reading
and writing can be taught together in ways that help students become
better readers and writers. During the class, we focused on the
process of writing. We also discussed cognitive modeling, or the
process by which a teacher externalizes his or her thinking as a
task is completed. Throughout all of the sessions, however, the
main emphasis was on the importance of an audience for writing;
since writing is communication, it needs to occur within a social
context (Graves & Piché, 1989).
Dr. Graves and I began to consider ways in which my reading students
could write to communicate with a real audience. Students were reading
books of their choosing. They enjoyed the books, talked about their
reading, and recommended books to one another. Why not undertake
a project that encouraged them to write about their books? As I
worked on the project, I prepared very detailed models and directions
to assist students in successfully completing it.
In my reading classes, students read several books each quarter.
I announced the project after the first eight weeks of class, by
which time most of the students had completed at least one book.
As we began the project, I gave the students an example of writing
I had done on Madeleine L'Engle's Meet the Austins. I started with
several sentences to link the students' lives with the story and
then continued with details about characters and major events. I
concluded, "You won't believe the end of the book . . . You'll have
to read it to find out." I read this aloud and also gave each student
a copy, and handed out a two-page set of directions.
The written directions and the procedures I followed to complete
them are explained below. Directions from the student assignment
sheet are in italics.
Prewriting
-
Think about and list the books
you have read
-
Choose books you would like
to review
The students listed the books they had read and their preferences
for writing. I then assigned a specific book to each student.
Prewriting with partners
The point of prewriting is to get lots of ideas and material
on paper. You will use this material later when you begin writing.
-
Setting.
Write when and where the story happened.
-
Main
characters. Write down the name of the main character.
Describe that character. You might tell what the character
thinks, says, or does.
-
Minor
characters. Write down their names and tell what
they did.
-
Plot.
Write down the opening event in the story. Write the conflict;
list the main events; and write what happened at the end.
I read each part of the directions and explained how I followed
them in my own writing. The students then did prewriting of
their own. They worked in pairs, comparing and discussing their
reviews.
Writing
-
Read over the prewriting and
select the parts that are the most important in telling
about your book.
-
Begin writing.
-
Write the title and the
author's name.
-
First paragraph. Write
a statement or question to catch a potential reader's
interest.
-
Second paragraph. Tell
about the characters and plot.
-
Third paragraph. Conclude with a statement
urging the audience to read the book.
After reading these directions, I talked through the thinking
I had done to complete my writing about Meet the Austins. I
explained why I chose certain details and not others. The students
then wrote their first drafts on their assigned books.
Revising
Reread your review. Does it make sense? Does it have a great
beginning sentence? Does it include an appropriate amount of
details? Does it have a conclusion that will make others want
to read it?
We spent one class session revising and editing, and the
students asked two classmates to help edit their work. They
rewrote, completed a proofreading step focusing on spelling
and sentences, and handed in their papers. Although I had read
and commented on most of the papers during class, I read them
again and made some additional comments. I returned their writing,
and the students entered their reviews onto computers.
I compiled the final books by combining all the students'
writing into one document and printing each student's page or
pages. The students proofread their work one last time. Finally,
the classes voted on a title, and we prepared a title page.
We sent the book "to press" at our copy center, made a number
of copies to keep in the classroom, prepared copies for the
principal and the district's reading resource center, and made
the books available for purchase.
Was the project worth it? Absolutely! The students agreed.
They, and not I, chose the titles. They called the first book,
Just for Fun; the second book, Never Ending Fun; and the third
book, More Fun For Everyone. Moreover, students' interest in
sharing books did not end with these publications. They continued
talking to classmates about the trade books they read for class,
and they continued recommending books to each other. However,
their writing added a new dimension to their sharing. A typical
comment, made by a boy to his friend, illustrates. "You should
read Tracker next. It's great. Read my review. It'll tell you
all about it."
References
Graves, M. F., and Piché, G. L. Knowledge about reading and
writing. In M. C. Reynolds, ed., Knowledge Base for the Beginning
Teacher. Oxford, England: Pergamon, 1989.
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