Writing to Reading Activities

Writing as a pre-reading activity. Students can be more engaged with reading when they are asked to activate their prior knowledge about a topic. Requesting that they write down what they already know about a topic prior to reading can do this very effectively. They could also be asked to write down their personal thoughts or experiences about a topic, either collectively or individually. A strategy that works well for this activity is the use of the KWL chart.

An example could be in the study of geometry in math. Students could be asked to list some things they already know about geometric figures. They could then be asked to brainstorm what they would like to learn about geometric figures and their relationships. At the end of the unit, they would be asked to list what they had learned and compare that list with the list generated at the beginning of the unit.

Another effective tactic is writing down predictions. Students are asked what they think will happen in the story or what they think they will learn in a particular unit. After the reading, the student is then asked to write what they actually did learn.

An additional idea is the "Quickwrite." This strategy allows students to access their prior knowledge about a topic. For a specified period of time, approximately five minutes, students are asked to write all they know about a topic .

When tactics such as those previously mentioned are used prior to reading, Ciborowski (1992, 34) writes, "Reading becomes more gratifying because its purpose is now more apparent." Langer (1993) studied various approaches to reading for secondary students. His analysis indicates that what sets apart good readers and poor readers is a tendency to think about the reason for reading. The poor readers didn't seem to have a purpose for reading. Using writing as a pre-reading strategy is very effective in determining purpose.

Writing as a "During Reading" Activity. A tactic called chapter mapping (Armbruster and Anderson 1980) is effective both as an activity for the independent reader as well as for read aloud sessions by the teacher. The teacher gives each student a copy of the Chapter Mapping page. As the reading is done, the student is asked to write and/or illustrate what is most important from each chapter. They are also asked to title the chapters with their own words. This tactic not only helps the student focus on the big picture but also allows the teacher to check on comprehension. It is also an excellent review if a reading activity is longer than the typical class period.

Another "during writing" activity creates mental models for students as they read and also increases understanding of characters in literary works. The teacher models the approach before asking students to use it independently or in groups. Each student is given the drawing of a stickman. The characters' strengths, weaknesses, visions, hopes, ideas, feelings, and the main things they did are written down.

Writing as a Post Reading Activity. An effective tactic after reading, as described by Chambers (1996), is called text highlighting. Students are asked to respond individually to a book in four basic areas: what they liked, disliked, patterns, and anything that puzzles them. An additional group or class activity is a collaborative listing in each area. Recurrent responses are identified and topics are generated for class discussion

Another post writing strategy, good for summarizing what has been read, is called Somebody-wanted-but-so. It is used in connection with analyzing text fiction and its purpose is to retell the main events of a story. It is very useful in teaching students to write concise summaries. A chart can be prepared for display in the room. It would include:

  • Somebody (Who is the story about?)
  • Wanted (What did the character (s) want to do?)
  • But (What happened that caused a problem for the character (s)?)
  • So (How was the problem solved?)

An example follows about the fairytale Cinderella. Cinderella (somebody) wanted to go to the ball to meet the prince, but she didn't have the right clothes to wear, so her fairy godmother used magic to get her ready for the ball.

Basic Story Frames can also be used for summarizing. Students are asked to identify the basic elements of a story such as setting, characters, problem, and solution.