CONNECTING HOUGHTON MIFFLIN AND THE NEW COMMON CORE WRITING STANDARDS CONNECTING READING AND WRITING IN THE CLASSROOM

LOOKING AT THE RESEARCH CONNECTING READING AND WRITING

In a literacy classroom, reading, writing, and critical thinking should be connected in order to enhance learning, especially in the content area to increase student’s motivation and engage the learner. One Minute Reflection: What is your opinion on this statement? Do you agree or disagree?

CONNECTING READING AND WRITING CONTINUED Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material. (Wikipedia) According to Leu (1994), “Reading and writing, when combined in classroom experiences, can be used as powerful tools to increase students’ ability to analyze and think critically about information. Separately, both reading and writing develop critical thinking skills but when combined, they serve to reinforce each other and produce even greater benefits than if they are used alone.”

LOOKING AT THE RESEARCH USING AUTHENTIC CONTENT

You often hear how students up to a certain grade, usually around grade 3, stop learning to read and begin to read to learn. Because many students are being taught how to read and write in separate settings and without much context, they have a difficult time reading and writing for a purpose. Share your thoughts……. What are you doing in your classroom? Are you teaching reading and writing at separate times?

USING AUTHENTIC CONTENT CONTINUED When students are given time to read and write for authentic purposes, “…. they move from ideas, to composing a message, to searching for ways to record their messages while monitoring their message production. Children need to become both author and audience by giving and receiving genuine responses that value their voices and choices. Through these interactions, they express themselves and construct identities.” (Anderson & Briggs, 2001)

LOOKING AT THE RESEARCH MOTIVATING AND ENGAGING STUDENTS

When literacy activities are combined, students can interact with the literature and become more motivated and engaged in the content and are able to think more critically about the content. In one study it was found that “…children’s literature created meaningful writing assignments and provided opportunities to share, which in turn fostered student motivation to write. The conclusion of this intervention resulted in students who gained confidence in their ideas and beliefs through the sharing of meaningful writing.” (Daly & Sharko, 2010)

MOTIVATING AND ENGAGING STUDENTS CONTINUED “Their writings permit them to share their personal understanding regarding a wide range of literature in various cultural contexts that inform, clarify, explain, or educate them about our remarkable human family. For many students, their written commentaries affirm the progress of their learning across the curriculum.” (Montgomery, 2001) When students are able to feel confident in their literacy skills, they are more likely to practice independently. Practice will help students become more fluent in the processes of reading, writing, and thinking critically. When students become fluent in the processes, they will become more motivated and engaged in the classroom.

RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE LOOKING AT CHARLES COUNTY

READING PROGRAM: HOUGHTON MIFFLIN Houghton Mifflin provides different themes, at each grade level, that teachers can incorporate different writing activities into to make the reading and writing more authentic for the students.

WRITING STANDARDS: COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS In the Common Core State Standards document, it explains the integrated model that they focused on as they developed the standards. It discusses how closely connected the processes of literacy; reading, writing, speaking, and listening are. Charles County is pushing for teachers to start using the writing standards now in order to prepare for when the state requires us to use them.

READING/WRITING OUTLINE SECOND GRADE EXAMPLE NarrativeInformationalOpinion Theme one: Silly Stories Theme two: Nature Walk Theme three: Around Town (current theme) Writing a friendly letter to one of the characters Picking a neighbor or community and researching it Which neighbor would be the best to live in Theme four: Amazing Animals Theme five: Family Time Theme six: Talent Show

YOUR TURN Work with your team level to brainstorm some ideas for the current theme you are working on. If ideas for other themes pop up, feel free to fill those in also. Let the primary focus be on the current theme. Remember to use your teacher edition to come up with some ideas, don’t recreate the wheel. Think creatively! Students will be more engaged and motivated to read and write!

REFLECTION On the index card provided, please answer the following questions: 1- What is one activity you are going to use in your classroom in this current theme? 2- What new information did you learn from the presentation today? 3- Is there anything that you would like more information or further clarification on that was presented today? 4- What further support do you need in order to use one activity in your classroom during the current theme?

References Alliance For Excellent Education. (2006). Reading and Writing in the Academic Content Areas. Retrieved from Anderson, N. L., & Briggs, C. (2011). Reciprocity between Reading and Writing: Strategic Processing as Common Ground. Reading Teacher, 64(7), Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2010). Common Core Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/ Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. Retrieved from Daly, L., & Sharko, S. (2010). Motivating Students to Write through the Use of Children’s Literature. Online Submission, Leu, D. r. (1994). Designing Hypermedia To Connect Reading and Writing through Children's Literature. Retrieved from Literacy. (2011). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from Montgomery, W. (2001). JOURNAL WRITING: CONNECTING READING AND WRITING IN MAINSTREAM EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 17(1), doi: /