6. Capitalize on the Reading-Writing Connection

We've heard it over and over again.... and now... one more time...

You have to read to write and you have to write to read.

Not a direct quote of course, but the gist of the chapter. As teachers, we all spend time in the classroom either reading to our students or giving our students time to read. This time spent with a book of either the teacher's or student's choosing, exposes our students to what good, and sometimes bad, writing looks and sounds like. It is what we choose to do as an extension of that time that can move our students to the next level of writing and comprehension.

The idea of creating shared writing over previously covered content is great. This can be implemented in so many aspects of the classroom. It is never too late to go back, review important content, and produce a written piece that the students will be proud of. In Social Studies in particular, I feel I could be doing much more writing. Writing in response to what we have read or learned can be a very powerful learning tool.

Writing just in 'writing class' is limiting the potential of our students.

Another detail from this chapter that hit home to me is writing for deeper understanding. It is not the same to write about what you have learned and to write for a deeper level of understanding. This challenges me to ask higher order questions for written response instead of accepting rough outlines of what was learned. By asking them to connect it to themselves and analyze what we have learned, we challenge them to articulate their thoughts on a much higher level.