Reading and Writing

Reading and writing are extremely related. I believe that reading helps with spelling. When children constantly read new books, they are being exposed to different words or familiar words. This exposure to new or familiar words will help with writing because they will know how to spell. The Grave text states that “even though reading and writing are very similar they have always been taught in different classes (Graves, 2010, p.374)”. The text also describes how combining the two would make a lot more sense. I think that it would be a great idea to combine reading and writing classes. When I was in elementary school, my reading and writing classes were combined and it was easy to see how the two connected. I found it very interesting that the text stated that having students read quality work is a great model for writing because I sometimes tried to imitate the writing styles of my favorite authors. The text also described different processes as to which teachers should approach teaching writing. In the Graves text, it was stated that the “systematic functional linguistic approach is a really good way to approach teaching writing. “This approach provides a keen focus on text characteristics, which all good readers and writers need to understand (Graves, 2010, p.376)”.  In the text, both formal and informal writing are discussed. I know that as a child I mostly enjoyed informal writing. Brainstorming, note taking and quick writes were also discussed as a way teachers can teach and improve writing skills for children. The Graves text states that writing needs to matter. I never liked when teachers gave me prompts to write about because I did not really care about the question they were asking. On page 374 it "states that students should write for important purposes , what students write should be valued by themselves ( Graves, 2010, p.374)" I completely agree with this statement. Many times when teachers have in class writing prompts, I notice the look of boredom and disappointment on the faces of students because they do not want to write about the topic they were given. he physical environment that students write in is also discussed in the Grave's text. The text states that students need time to write. I remember in AP English my class had time writings every Friday.  This made me feel so pressured and often did poorly on them. The text states " The physical environment of a productive reading-writing classroom will reflect the attitude of the students ( Graves,2010, p.375)"