Writing and Reading Connections: Bridging Research and Practice

Writing skills are essential for success in the 21st-century school and workplace, but most classrooms devote far more time to reading instruction, with writing often addressed in isolation or excluded. In this insightful professional development resource and text, leading researchers discuss why and how to integrate writing and reading instruction in grades K–12 and beyond. Contributors explore how to harness writing–reading connections to support learning in such areas as phonics and spelling, vocabulary, understanding genre and text structure, and self-regulated strategy development, as well as across content areas and disciplines. Special considerations in teaching emergent bilingual students and struggling literacy learners are described.

User-friendly features include guiding questions, classroom examples, and action questions that help teachers translate the research and concepts into practice.

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Table of Contents

I. Introduction to Writing and Reading Connections

1. The History of Writing and Reading Connections, Timothy Shanahan

II. Specific Applications of Writing and Reading Connections

2. A Tale of Two Closely Related Skills: Word Reading and Spelling Development and Instruction, Young-Suk Kim

3. The Role of Vocabulary in and for Writing, Margaret G. McKeown

4. From Talk to Text: Implementing Student Discussions That Matter, Deanna Kuhn, Mariel Halpern, & Sybille Bruun

5. Writing to Promote Better Reading Comprehension, Steve Graham & Adiba Nusrat sample

6. Genre and Text Structure in Writing and Reading Instruction, Zoi A. Philippakos

7. Assessment in Writing and Reading, Paul Deane

8. Self-Regulated Strategy Development: Reading Source Materials to Learn and Write, Karen R. Harris & Linda H. Mason

9. Writing and Reading Connections in the Digital World, Allison N. Sonia, Laura K. Allen, & Scott A. Crossley

III. Writing and Reading Connections in the Content Areas

10. Integrating Writing and Reading Instruction in the English Language Arts Classroom, Carol Booth Olson, Jenell Krishnan, & Huy Q. Chung

11. Writing, Reading, and Social Studies, Nell K. Duke, Anne-Lise Halvorsen, & Abby Reisman

12. Liberation through Literacy in Science, Catherine Lammert & Brian Hand

13. Thinking Beyond Symbols: Writing and Reading in Mathematics, Sarah R. Powell & Michael A. Hebert

IV. Writing and Reading Connections with Specific Groups of Learners

14. Writing and Reading with Emergent Bilingual Learners, Alison G. Boardman & Sandra A. Butvilofsky

15. Addressing the Needs of Students Who Struggle with Literacy, Michael A. Hebert, Pamela Bazis, & Tanya Santangelo

16. Integrated Writing and Reading Instruction in College, Charles A. MacArthur

Index

"Putting research to work, this text is designed to help educators see the complex connections between writing and reading needed to build effective learning opportunities for K–12 students. Establishing itself as the most current resource on this topic, the book is written and edited by leading scholars and researchers. It addresses the history of writing and reading instruction, elements essential to comprehensive literacy instruction, and the use of writing to support learning in multiple academic and learning contexts. The editors ensure their book is inclusive and relevant for educators working with a wide range of learner populations."
- Susan De La Paz, PhD,College of Education, University of Maryland

"Elementary and secondary teachers often struggle to balance reading and writing instruction. This book provides educators a clear rationale for why writing and reading should be integrated in the classroom, specific guidance for using writing–reading connections to achieve important literacy goals, and practical, research-validated approaches for leveraging these processes to build disciplinary knowledge and skills. This book is an invaluable tool for teachers, teacher educators, and professional developers who recognize writing, reading, and oral discourse as essential elements of students’ learning, and who want to take advantage of the powerful synergy of these processes."
- William E. Lewis, PhD, School of Education, University of Delaware

"One of the most important but underappreciated domains of literacy research is the link between reading and writing. Philippakos and Graham fill a chasm in literacy theory and research by assembling scholars who have devoted their careers to exploring writing–reading connections. I will use this book in my graduate-level literacy classes for both emerging researchers and future teachers. With its coverage of components and domains of literacy, applications to content-area instruction, and addressing the strengths and needs of distinct populations, this book does the literacy field a great service!"
- C. Patrick Proctor, EdD, Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College