The Reading and Writing Process

The reading and writing processes are two essential processes in the classroom. They both have five stages, with similar activities at each stage. “The reading process involves a series of stages during which readers comprehend the text.” (Tompkins, 39).  Text can mean a number of different things such as books, magazines, newspapers, emails, and signs in the school, as well as many others. “The writing process  is a similar recursive process involving a variety of activites as students gather and organize ideas, write rough drafts, revise and edit the drafts, and, finally, publish their writings.” (Tompkins, 39). This is done to refine sources of writing such as essays, stories, poems, and others.

The Reading Process

Reading is a constructive process of creating meaning that involves many factors. These factors include the reader, the text, and the purpose within social and cultural contexts. With reading, we set a goal for students. This goal involves reading comprehension, understanding of the text, and being able to use the text for the intended purpose. Readers are able to look at the words on a page and understand the message that lies behind it and that is due to a number of things. This includes:

• Phonemic Awareness and Phonics-students use the knowledge that they know about the phonological system. This includes sounding out the sounds in spoken words and applying phoneme-grapheme correspondances and phonics rules as they read. This is developed in the primary grades.
• Word Identification-students are able to learn to recognize high frequency words and are able to use their knowledge of phonics and word parts to decode new words. This is the stage where children are reading at a slow, word by word, pace.
• Fluency-this is where we see that students are able to recognize a lot of words quickly. They are able to read quickly and use expression. They comprehend a lot of what they are reading as well.
• Vocabulary-students are able to think about the meaning behind words, choose the right meaning for the right context of the word being used, recognize figurative uses, and relate them to the knowledge they already have. This helps to influence comprehension.
• Comprehension-students use a combination of reader and text factors to understand what they are reading. They are able to connect, make predictions, answer questions, and relate to what they are reading. Comprehension strategies are used in knowledge of genres, organizational patterns, and literacy devices to create meaning.

In the reading process, we have five different stages. Together, these stages help our readers to fully comprehend the text.

Stage 1: Prereading
-The reading process begins before a student even opens up their book. The first stage is called prereading. Readers in this stage are activating their background knowledge about reading, setting purposes, and making plans for reading.

• Activiating Background Knowledge-Students have general and specific background knowledge. General knowledge is what students have acquired in their day to day lives. Its the stuff that they learn at home and in the community. Specific knowledge is a literary knowledge, which is what students need to know in order to read and write. Prereading is the stage where students activate their world and literary background knowledge. This is done by looking at the title, cover, and book illustrations in a book, as well as by reading the first paragraph. If a student doesn’t have enough background knowledge, teachers help them to build their knowledge base. This is done by teaching reading strategies and skills, knowledge about genres, knowledge about topics, engaging students in discussions, sharing artifacts, and introducing key vocabulary words.
• Setting Purposes-Purpose guides students’ reading. It provides motivation and direction for reading, as well as a mechanism for students to monitor their reading to see if they’re fulfilling their purpose. Setting a single purpose is a more effective method for students than setting up numerous purposes. Teachers and students both set purposes depending on the lesson. Teachers will use literature focus units and basal reading textbooks. They tell students what they expect them to read and what they expect them to do after reading. Other times, students sometimes choose their own books, they do reading groups and literature circles. They discuss the books that they have chosen with students that are working at the same level as them. As they become more effective readers, they also become more effective at choosing books and setting purposes.
• Planning for Reading-This part  of the prereading stage is where students have activated their background knowledge and identified their purposes for reading. This is where they take their first look at the text and plan for reading. Planning for reading varies by students and by selection of what the students has chosen to read. Stories are about making predictions about characters and events. This can based on the title, cover illustration, or if they have read books by the same author or books in the same genre. Students can share their predictions orally or in a reading log by writing them down. With nonfiction books and content-area textbooks, they flip through the pages and make notes of section headings, illustrations, and diagrams. They can also look at the table of contents, the index, and highlighted terminology to see what they will be learning about. Teachers use anticipation guides and prereading plans to help students plan.

Stage 2: Reading
-Students are reading in this stage. For majority of people, reading is done silently and independently. In a classroom, teachers and students use five different types of reading. They are independent reading, partner reading, guided reading, shared reading, and reading aloud.

• Independent Reading-Students read independently and silently. They do this at their own pace and for their own purposes. Students need to select books that are at their reading level. Depending on the grade level, students may be able to read books with or without assistance after hearing them a few times, or they may be able to read chapter books independently or with assistance. During reading workshop, students read independently. This is done with the use of books they have read before as well as new books that are at their reading level. Independent reading is an important part of a balanced reading program because its the most authentic type of reading. Students learn to develop a love of reading and view themselves as readers. The reading selection is also important. It has to be at an appropriate reading level to help students learn to choose books that are able to be read independently. Teachers may also use reading to scaffold students and help them to learn to be successful readers.
• Partner Reading-This is where students read a selection with a classmate or even an older student. Partner reading is a lot of fun for students. They can work on a book together that they may not be able to read independently. It helps students to learn new vocabulary and to talk out comprehension problems.  Students learn to help support each other. They talk about what they are reading. Partner reading helps students to become fluent readers. Its an effective way to help students who are special needs or English language learners as well. This won’t work properly unless the teacher has explained the technique and taught the students how to work together. Otherwise, the stronger of the two readers ends up being the one who does all the work, which does not help either student.
• Guided Reading-This is where teachers work with a group of four to five students. These students are ones who are reading at the same level. Books that are used in guided reading are ones that are read at the groups instructional level, with 90-94% accuary. They support students’ reading as well as their use of reading strategies. In guided reading, the students do most of the reading. The teacher is there to help support the students, and in some cases, get the book started. Younger children read at a softer level, and older students, who are more fluent, can read silently. Both of these methods help the teacher to keep track of students’ reading and the strategies they are using. Guided reading lessons usually last about 25-30 minutes. For small group lessons, students meet in a group, reread books from older lessons individually or with a friend. For new lessons, they meet together to read books that they haven’t read before. Depending on the age range and reading level, this can be a picture book or a chapter book. Teachers observe students during guided reading lessons. They watch for evidence of strategy use and watch to see how well a student does when it comes to attempting a new word or how they solve a reading problem. They takes notes during this time so they know which information to teach and what books to use in the next minilesson.
• Shared Reading-Teacher use this method reading when students are not able to read independently. The teacher will read a book or other texts aloud.Teachers in primary grades will use a large book so that the students can all see the pictures and text, as well as follow along. During shared reading, teachers model what fluent readers do and they involve the students by using enjoyable reading activities. After reading the texts several times, teachers use shared reading to develop phonics concepts and to learn high-frequency words. In my own experience, I’ve seen where the teacher has a larger book and the students have a small version of the book. That way, they are able to follow along and can use the patterns or structure found in the text for writing activities. Shared reading is done mostly in the primary grades. Teachers read books aloud to the students that are on the interest level of the students, but would be too difficult for them to read on their own. Shared reading is not the same as reading aloud. The children are able to see the text in shared reading. Children will join in on predictable refrains and rhyming words, or can even read along if they have heard the text several times. My head start class did this today as we were reading Five Little Monkeys. They added in expressions and changed the tone of their voice as we were reading. With older students, shared reading is done with novels and chapter books. The teacher passes out a copy of the book to each child. Students may take turns reading, but only if they are fluent enough to keep the reading meaningful. The teacher may start and if a child joins in, the teacher will continue on for a few seconds and then let the child take over independently.  After a paragraph or a page, another student may join in. This is called “popcorn reading.”
• Reading Aloud to Students-Teachers use the interactive read-aloud procedure as they read books out loud that are developmentally appropriate but are written above the reading level for students in the class. Teachers engage the students in activities while reading.This helps students to become active participants. This also shows students what good readers do and how good readers use reading strategies. It also provides an opportunity for teachers to think aloud about their use of reading strategies. Read-alouds are  an important part of the literacy instruction for all grade levels. Teachers use this method in literature focus units, reading and writing workshops, thematic units, as well as daily activites. This benefits students by introducing vocabulary, modeling comprehension strategies, and increasing students’ motivation.

Stage 3: Responding
-Students in this stage respond in a number of ways to what they are reading. Two of the most important ways are by making tentative and exploratory comments on the text by writing in a reading log and also by participating in discussions.

• Writing in Reading Logs-students write and draw their thoughts and feelings about the text in a reading log. They are able to unravel what they are thinking about, elaborate on, and clarify their responses. Most of the time, a reading log is used when students are reading stories and poems, but can also be used when in thematic units. This helps students to make notes on important information and to draw out charts and graphs. Topics for a reading log can be chosen by a teacher or by the students. Teachers monitor what is being written and can respond to them. This helps teachers to see how well students do when it comes to expressing ideas and completing entries as assigned. A focus is on ideas and proper spelling of character names,places, and high frequency words.
• Participating in Discussions-Students also talk about the text with classmates in grand conversations. They share their personal responses with others and talk about what they liked or disliked. They also work together to figure out what the author has written and also make connections between the text and their lives or other literature they have read. Teachers are present, but they act as a participant. They help lead only when needed.Grand conversations help teachers to see who is doing the homework and also who needs help with understanding it. These types of discussions can be done in small groups of students or as a whole class. This helps to create a feeling of community and the teacher can help the students to emerge as leaders.

Stage 4: Exploring
-This stage is where students go back and examine the text analytically. This is the most teacher directed stage because it reflects the teacher-centered theory.  When examining the text, students are looking at the writers craft and focusing on words and selection from a text or an excerpt. Minilessons on strategies are popular to teach in this stage.

• Rereading the Selection-Students reread the text and think about what they have read. Each time they reread a text, it benefits them in specific ways. It deepens their understanding of what they have read, and helps them to on different aspects of the text.
• Examining the Writers Craft-Exploring activities are used by the teacher to focus attention on genres, text structures, and literary devices that authors use. Story boards are made by students with the use of illustrations, sequence of events, and other graphic organizers. This helps students to highlight the plot, characters, and other elements of story structure. Students also may write a sequel to a book they have read. This is where students can create their own work and use their own ideas on what has happened to characters. Teachers will share information about the author as well as other literary works by the author or books that are in the same genre. Students will be focusing on literary devices which include onomatopoeia, similies, and metaphors as well as other types of figurative language.
• Focusing on Words and Sentences-teachers and students may add important words from the text to their word wall. This is what students use when they write, as well as for word-study activities. Word-study activities include drawing word clusters, creating poster, doing word sorts to categorize words, and completing semantic feature analysis charts to examine relationships between words.  Students also locate “important” sentences in books. These sentences have figurative language, interesting sentence structure, expression of themes, or illustration of character traits. Sentences are copied onto sentence strips to display in the classroom or are written into the reading logs of students for use as entries.
• Teaching Minlessons-Minilessons are presented by the teacher to talk about procedures, concepts, strategies, and skills. They introduce topics, and help students to make connections between topics and examples in texts that students have read.

Stage 5: Applying
-This stage is where readers extend their comprehension, reflect on their understanding, and value their reading experience. They create projects to demonstrate what they have learned. This includes the use of stories, slide shows, posters, readers theater performances, essays and podcasts. Students are able to choose what type of project they want to work on. Teachers usually provide guidelines as to what is expected for the projects. Students also may work independently, in teams, or as a whole.

The Writing Process

The writing process also has 5 stages. These stages describe what students think about and do as they write. These stages help to show teachers that students are able to identify key writing activities.

Stage 1: Prewriting
-This stage is the “getting ready to write” stage. Writers talk, brainstorm, and read to see what they know and what direction they want to go. This is the most neglected stage in the writing process but is a crucial stage. Students should spend 70% of the time they spend writing in the prewriting stage. This is where they choose a topic, consider purpose and genre, and gather and organize ideas.

• Choosing a topic-Students should choose a topic that they are interested in and that they know about. This helps them to be more engaged. However, this doesn’t always happen. Sometimes, teachers give students a list of pre-chosen topics. They are often connected to literature focus units and content-area units. Teacher selected topics are broad enough that students can narrow them down in a way that works best for them.
• Considering Purpose and Genre-Students think about what purpose they are doing this writing for. It can be to entertain, inform, persuade, as well as other reasons. Setting a purpose for writing is just as important as setting the purpose for reading. It helps influence decisions that students make about genre. This helps them to learn about a variety of writing genres and helps them to become more knowledgeable.
• Gathering and Organizing Ideas-Students engage in activities to help them to gather and organize their ideas. They can draw pictures, brainstorm lists of words, read books, do research, and talk to their classmates or teacher. Their choice of graphic organizer varies with the writing genre. An example would be for a story. They would have the traditional three-part diagram.

Stage 2: Drafting
-This is the stage where students put their ideas down on paper. They write a first draft of their compositions here. This is done through a variety of prewriting activities. Drafts are messy with misspelled words, illegible handwriting, and incomplete thoughts. Students usually skip every other line in a first draft to allow a spot for revisions. Teachers can give students the option to write this by hand or with the use of a computer. These are usually not graded by the teacher as they are more of a content based paper.

Stage 3: Revising
–This stage is where students refine their ideas in compositions. This is where material is added, subtracted, deleted, and rearranged to suit the needs of the reader. This is done with the help of classmates and the teacher. It has three activities which are rereading the rough draft, sharing the rough draft in a revising group, and revising on the basis of feedback.

• Rereading the Rough Draft-Students take a small break, usually a day or two, from their finished rough draft. They then come back and read it, as a reader. They make changes to their paper by adding, subtracting, deleting, and moving texts. They can place question marks in places that need more work. These spots can be talked about in the revising group.
• Sharing in Revising Groups-Students meet in revising groups to share their compositions with classmates.This is where responses are formed to the writer’s first draft and revisions are suggested. This is an example of a scaffold in a classroom because teachers and classmates offer support in the form  of plans and strategies for writing and revising. Revising groups are formed as students finish their first drafts. They read through their drafts by taking turns. Classmates listen and respond with suggestions and compliments on the writing. Teachers can sometimes participate by offering feedback  along with the students. Other times, a teacher may assign a group leader.
• Making Revisions-There are four types of revisions in writing. They are additions, subtractions, deletions, and moves. As they revise, students may add, subtract, delete, or move words, sentences, paragraphs, or ideas. They can use a red or blue pen and write the revisions in the blank lines on their rough drafts. Teachers can see the types of revisions easily this way. They can also gauge students’ growth as writers.
• Revising Centers-These are centers set up by the teacher where students are given options when it comes to revision. They can talk about ideas in their rough draft with another student, examine organization of their writing, or check that they have included the necessary components for their writing. These centers teach students about the writing process and the writer’s craft. Students can work at these centers before or after participating in a revision group. Students may be given a checklist where they can show what centers they have worked at. This helps students to develop a repertoire of revising strategies and helps them to personalize their writing process.

Stage 4: Editing
-This stage is where students are putting their writing into its final form. The focus up to this point has been on the contents of the students’ writing. In this stage, the focus shifts over to mechanics. This is where students correct spelling mistakes and other mechanical errors. This is done as a courtesy to the reader. Students are more efficient editors if they set aside their writing for a few days before editing it. This helps them to gain a new perspective and gives them the motivation needed to finish the writing process. Students move through two activities, proofreading to locate errors and correcting errors that they find.

• Proofreading-This is where students go through their compositions to locate and mark possible errors. Proofreading is a unique type of reading in which students read word by word, hunting for errors rather than for meaning. It is important to take time to explain what proofreading is to students and to demonstrate how it differs from regular reading. Teachers can do a demonstration to the class on how to proofread. They can also give the students checklists with two to six items that are appropriate for the grade level. This helps students to focus attention on skills that they need to learn and also helps teachers to focus on skills that they have already taught.
• Correcting Errors-After students have proofread their compositions, they can go through and use a red pen to correct their errors. This can be done independently or with an editor’s assistance. Some errors are easier to correct while others require assistance from a classmate or the teacher. Not every mechanical error will be corrected in most cases.  Students can also work at editing centers to identify and correct specific types of errors. Teachers can vary the center activities to reflect the errors that students are making. Editing can end after students and their editors have corrected as many mechanical errors as possibly or after the teacher has met with the student for a final editing conference.

Stage 5: Publishing
–This stage is where students bring their compositions to life. They write final copies and can share them with an audience. When they share their writing with an audience, students start to think of themselves as authors. Publication is powerful: Students are motivated to continue writing and also to improve the quality of their writing through editing and revising.

• Making books-This is a very popular way for students to publish their writing. This can be done by making a simple booklet out of a sheet of paper folded into quarters, with illustrations done by the student. It can also be done with more sophisticated covers such as cardstock, contact paper, and cloth.
• Sharing writing-Students can share their writing by reading their writing aloud to the class while sitting in a special chair. The class can ask questions and offer compliments on the writing. This is a great social activity and it helps writers to develop sensitivity to audiences as well as gain confidence in themselves as a writer. This also gives teachers the opportunity to teach students how to make appropriate comments as they respond to their classmates writing.

The Writer’s Craft

-The writer’s craft is specific techniques that are used by writers’ to capture the attention of the reader and to convery meaning. It’s done by establishing a clear voice, incorporating a useful organization, choosing precise words, and fashioning effective sentences. Students learn to incorporate traits such as ideas,  organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation into their writing. As students learn these six traits that I just listed, they internalize what good writers do. They learn to recognize good writing, develop a vocabulary for talking about writing, become better able to evaluate their own writing, and acquire strategies for improving the quality of their writing. Teachers use minilessons, mentor texts, and guided practice activities to teach these traits and the components of each trait. They then have students apply what they’ve learned to their own writing.

Reading and Writing are Reciprocal Processes
-Reading and writing are reciprocal. They are both constructive, meaning making processes. Reading levels lead to better writing and better writing leads to better reading. Integrating instruction improves both reading and writing.

Comparing the Two Processes

-The reading and writing processes have comparable activities at both stages. Reading and writing involve concurrent, complex transactions between readers as writers and writers as readers. This helps writers to read other authors  for ideas and to learn about organizing their writing. This also helps them with revising so they can communicate more effectively. Readers can practice writing by using examples of writing from others to help them activate background knowledge, setting purposes, determining importance, monitoring, repairing, and evaluating.

Classroom Connections
-By using classroom activities to integrate reading and writing,students are able to see the connections between the two. They come to realize that reading and writing is a natural part of the classroom. This helps students to develop a clearer understanding of literacy and helps them to grasp the relationships between the two roles and to move flexibly between them.

Literacy Strategies

– Reading and writing are complex, thoughtful processes. They involve both strategies and skills. Strategies represent what students think about as they are reading and writing. These  are deliberate, goal-directed actions. They help to exercise control in choices on what strategy to use, if they are using them flexibly, and how effective the use of them is.  It is linked with motivation. Skills are the quick automatic behaviors that we see students doing as they read or write. These are done without thinking. Skills reflect the behavioral theory. These are automatic actions that occur without deliberate control or conscious awareness. Literacy strategies include reading strategies such as decoding or word-learning, as well as digital reading strategies such as multiple modalities or interactivity. Reading skills include phonics skills, decoding skills, comprehension skills, and others. Writing strategies include prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing strategies. They also include content, word, sentence, grammar and convention skills.

• Strategy and Skill Instruction-Students need explicit instruction on strategies and skills because they don’t acquire this knowledge through reading and writing. Teachers do minilessons where they provide three types of information about strategies. These minilessons include declarative knowledge (what the strategy does), procedural knowledge (how to use the strategy), and conditional knowledge (knowing when to apply the strategy). Teachers use minilessons to explain the strategy and model its use. The students then practice it with teacher guidance and supervision before using it on their own. This helps students to develop metacognitive awareness, their ability to think about strategy use.  Teachers demonstrate the thought processes that readers and writers use with think-alouds. Teachers think aloud or explain what they are thinking so that students become more aware of how capable readers and writers think. In the process, students also learn to think aloud about their use of strategies. These are valuable both when the teacher models them for students or when students engage in them on their own. This helps students to become more thoughtful, strategic readers and writers, and helps to improve their ability to monitor their reading and writing.