THE READING & WRITING CONNECTION

ORTWO LITERACY SKILLS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

après READING: MENU

• THE BEHAVIORS OF STRUGGLING WRITERSThe Writing Produced by Struggling Writers

• HOW TEACHERS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCECreating a Supporting Environmeent

• THE WRITING PROCESSPlanning, Drafting, Revising Strong Versus Weak Planners

• KEY PLANNING ACTIVITIESChoosing a Topic, Considering Purpose, Considering Audience. Gathering and Organizing Materials

• DRAFTINGStrong Versus Weak Drafters, Things To Remember During

Drafting, Paragraph Development

• REVISING

THE BEHAVIORS OF STRUGGLING WRITERS

• They write in linear fashion, fail to rethink initial decisions and drafts

• They tend to engage in “knowledge telling”—that is, merely stating facts

• They do not know the characteristics of good writing

• They have little knowledge of text structure• They lack strategies for improving their writing• They have a limited vocabulary• They have difficulty with rules of grammar,

syntax, punctuation, and spelling

THE WRITING PRODUCED BY STRUGGLING WRITERS

Is shorter in lengthLacks coherence

Is riddled with sentence-level errors

HOW TEACHERS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

• Provide direct, explicit, and systematic instruction

• Teach students the importance of prewriting

• Provide a supportive instructional environment

• Use rubrics to assess writing• Use READING to teach WRITING by

reading models of good writing

THE KEY FOR STRUGGLING WRITERS: SUPPORTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL ENVIRONMENT

• Write every day and in every class, across content areas

• Opportunities for extended writing—and for incorporating revision instruction and opportunities

• Model a love for writing by writing with and sharing your work with students

• Convey how writing will be useful to students in their lives inside AND outside of school

• Connect writing to reading and other academic subjects and to students’ activities OUTSIDE school

• Read and Write “authentic” and multimodal texts

THE WRITING PROCESS

PlanningDraftingRevising

PLANNING 

• Assessing what you know and need to discover

• Choosing a topic (narrowing)• Identifying a purpose and arriving at a

purpose statement (or thesis)• Defining an audience • Gathering and organizing information

(including Library research, interviews, etc.) • Selecting a format• Preparing an outline for writing

STRONG VERSUS WEAK PLANNERS

• Create a clear picture of their audience

• Establish goals based on the task and the needs of the audience

• Consider their role in the text as writer

• Consider how the text will address the goals of the task

KEY PLANNING ACTIVITIES

• Choosing a Topic• Considering Purpose• Considering Audience• Gathering and Organizing Materials

CHOOSING A TOPIC

 SUBJECT TOPIC QUESTION ANSWER

FRAMING QUESTIONS WhoWhatWhen WhyHow

WHAT’S THE PURPOSE 

• POETIC WRITING: associated with creative writing

• EXPOSITORY (OR EXPLORATORY) WRITING: designed to explain or explore something

• PERSUASIVE OR ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING: designed to convince a reader to think or act in a certain way

AUDIENCE AND FORM

• Be creative in both audience and form—write to authentic people using authentic forms

• Ask of the Audience: what do they seek, what do they know already, what do they want to know, and how can your writing teach the them

• Essays and creative writing are not the end of the possibilities. Moving students into "real world" forms and introduce them to the kinds of writing they will encounter outside school

GATHERING AND ORGANIZING MATERIALS

QUESTIONING TECHNIQUE CUBING. •  DESCRIBE IT (including color, shape, size (if applicable)

—How would you describe the issue/topic?• COMPARE IT (what it is similar to or different from)—“It’s

sort of like”• ASSOCIATE IT (what it makes you think of)—How does

the topic connect to other issues/subjects?• ANALYZE IT (tell how it is made or what it is composed

of)—How would you break the problem/issue into smaller parts?

• APPLY IT (tell how it can be used)—How does it help you understand other topics/issues?

• ARGUE FOR/AGAINST IT (take a stand and support it)—I am for this because/This works because/I agree because

OUTLINING

• SCRATCH OUTLINE: a rough list of the main points

• TOPIC OUTLINE: using words or brief phrases

• SENTENCE OUTLINE: using complete sentences

SOME OUTLINE REMINDERS

• Keep the thesis—(or the answer to a writing question)--at the top of the page as a reminder or your larger point

• Always remember an outline is a "working" document

• If one outline model isn't working, try another.

DRAFTING

STRONG VERSUS WEAK DRAFTERS• Put the distractions of writing--most

obviously, spelling, mechanics, appearance--during the drafting process.

• Focus on content and organization, • Set aside stylistic concerns, even

issues of voice and word choice, in favor of concentrating on the content.

THINGS TO REMEMBER DURING DRAFTING

• Writing is a recursive process.• The focus during drafting is content

and not mechanics.• Pause and step away from the

writing.

PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT

 INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPHSCONCLUSION PARAGRAPHS

DEVELOPMENT PARAGRAPHSTRANSITION PARAGRAPHS

DEVELOPMENT PARAGRAPHS

1. A TOPIC SENTENCE2. EVIDENCE OR DETAIL3. EXPLANTION

TOPIC SENTENCE

• Usually, the first sentence in a BODY PARAGRAPH.

• It introduces the topic of the paragraph and relates directly back to the THESIS. This is the POINT you want to make.

• Have students think about the Topic Sentence this way: Imagine someone asking you, "How do you want me to think about your topic?"

EVIDENCE OR DETAIL

• Evidence is the specific information offered to support a topic.

• Students can think about evidence or detail by imagining someone asking you, "Can you show me what you mean?"

• Other names for DETAIL or EVIDENCE are reasons, illustrations, examples, descriptions, quotations, paraphrasing, plot evidence.

• A Stem Starter that will help student with this aspect of drafting is a phrase like "FOR EXAMPLE" to introduce the detail or evidence.  

EXPLANATION (OR DISCUSSION)

• The explanation is where the writer makes it clear to the reader how the evidence or detail support the point being made in the topic sentence.

• Students should imagine someone asking: "What exactly does your evidence prove?" Writers want to indicate to the reader just how their evidence is relevant.  

• Other names for EXPLANATION include insight, analysis, interpretation, evaluation, response, explication, reflection.

• A hint for getting started on EXPLANATION is to begin with the STEM STARTER: ”This shows that . . .”

THE EXPANDING OR ACCORDION PARAGRAPH

FOUR SENTENCE PARAGRAPHS 

Topic SentenceDetail

Explanation (or Discussion)Conclusion

SIX SENTENCE PARAGRAPHS Topic Sentence

DetailExplanation

DetailExplanationConclusion

REVISING

WEAK REVISERS• Often fail to recognize the difference between revising

and editing• Are unable to move beyond the word level of the piece

and thus ignore issues of content or organization in favor of presentation and editing concerns.

Researchers comment on the importance of the teacher in establishing the writer's relationship with revision. If students are, in the end, assessed in large part on aspects associated with editing and presentation, then these aspects will define how they view revision!

where to begin

Ask some preliminary questions:

• What was the Assignment?• What was your purpose? What do

you hope the reader will think, do, or feel after reading this piece?

• What do you think is really good in this piece?

• What would you like to improve?

focused Questions• Restate your thesis or main point (without looking at the

paper). • Summarize each paragraph and explaining what you want the

reader to know or think after reading that portion.• Look at the Topic Sentence: how does it connects to the

assignment and/or to the thesis. (Do this for each paragraph.) • Show me the details or evidence in the paragraph and tell me

how it supports the point made in the topic sentence.• Can you think of any other evidence?• You, the read aloud carefully, or ask the student to read, the

explanation or discussion and ask: how does this connects clearly the details or evidence to your point?

• With the student listening, YOU read the paper aloud to him. Ask: how does it sound to you. Are there any areas you would like to change 

INDIGESTION?

• THE BEHAVIORS OF STRUGGLING WRITERSThe Writing Produced by Struggling Writers

• HOW TEACHERS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCECreating a Supporting Environment

• THE WRITING PROCESSPlanning, Drafting, Revising Strong Versus Weak Planners

• KEY PLANNING ACTIVITIESChoosing a Topic, Considering Purpose, Considering Audience. Gathering and Organizing Materials

• DRAFTINGStrong Versus Weak Drafters, Things To Remember During

Drafting, Paragraph Development

• REVISING