THE READING/WRITING CONNECTION

by Alison Hart

Dear Ms. Hart,
    My class of seventy sixth graders recently finished reading your book, Gabriel's Horses, during literature circles.  They all simply loved the book.  As we would finish up one chapter they couldn't wait to read the next one.  For some of my students it was actually the first book they have loved to read on their own.  . . .

          As an author, receiving e-mails such as the above gives me a huge boost. I loved that my novel was suspenseful, interesting and engaging to this group of students. As a teacher at a community college, however, the statement “For some of my students it was actually the first book they have loved to read on their own” saddened me. I teach reluctant readers who are working on pre-college skills. When asked the question “who has read or is reading a good book?” only one or two raise their hands. There is a serious detachment from reading, which is one reason many of my students have difficulty writing. This post will be more about reading than writing, because although I have never researched statistics and studies on the reading/writing connection, instinctively, I know it is crucial.

          As I discussed in my last blog, storytelling and vocabulary are key to good writing.  Reading is key to developing both. When kids don’t read, their writing skills suffer, no matter how well and often we teach point of view and description. How then can we get more kids interested in reading, which will consequently improve writing? The answer to that question has been discussed and dissected for decades and still educators and parents are baffled.  Many kids devour books. But more today are considered aliterate, which is defined as when someone has the ability to read but has total disinterest in reading.  Some facts:

         

          1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.

          80% of US families did not buy a book last year.

          27% of adults in America did not read a single book in 2007 (USA Today)

          In his book Readicide, author Kelly Gallagher gives further statistics and does not hesitate in declaring that too often aliteracy is “exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools.” I would love to blame it all on the teachers, but I cannot. Every day when I enter my own classroom, I celebrate the power and joy of reading, yet too often I do not make a difference.  This semester I introduced literature circles to my students. The books were hand-picked for a variety of topics and genres as well as high-interest and readability. The students got to choose which book they wanted to read. In groups, they did pre-reading activities designed to improve their background information. For example, the group that read I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced, the true story of a young girl from Yemen who is married at age ten to a thirty-year-old man, researched the country and its customs to help them understand the setting and context.

          How successful were the literature groups? It’s hard to tell. Nothing was graded and I had no firm criteria for success. Groups met and set the number of pages to read and discuss each week. If a student chose not to read, there were no consequences--I didn’t want reading to be equated with punishment.  There will be a final group presentation, which requires minimal writing; however, the project is intended to share the book and I will not penalize someone who did not read it.

          Success? Failure? I can only judge based on comments from the students.  Most enjoyed the books, some obviously more than others based on listening in on their discussions. Two students asked to read books from another group. One student asked for a recommendation for something similar. One asked if she could give it to a friend to read. A handful said it was the first book they had ever read.  More shrugged their shoulders and said “it was all right.” Did any students suddenly become enraptured with books?  No.  Did “they all simply love the book” as the teacher expressed in her e-mail? No again. Did I suddenly see a surge in writing skills.  Um, no.

          Still I am forging ahead, fine-tuning the groups and process. As an author and teacher, I understand the importance of reading and its connection to writing and future success.  It is a message I will continue to convey to my students every day and as best as I can!

The books my students in the lowest reading section chose this semester which they seemed to enjoy:

I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

Of Mice and Men

A Child Called “It”

The First Part Last

Lockdown

What books have motivated your students and/or children? I’d love to hear from you.

 http://www.alisonhartbooks.com/

THE IMPORTANCE OF VOCABULARY

by Alison Hart

The last blog I wrote on the difficulties of writing discussed how incredibly complicated writing is for my pre-college students. During one semester, they must write six essays, including a literary essay on a novel. Most of them arrive with below average skills, yet in sixteen weeks, they need to understand and craft essays using correct spelling, grammar, sentence construction, punctuation, different writing purposes and modes, paraphrasing, thesis statements, topic sentences, engaging description, supporting details, and essay format. Since texting and commenting on Facebook are about the only writing they do, they are surprised that “c u latr lol” is not acceptable. Many do not make it through the semester.

The number of skills needed to write is mind-boggling, and what I have discovered is that even at the college level the biggest obstacle is language.  Students with a limited vocabulary can master skills, but rarely do their essays rise above an elementary level.  Writing requires words—descriptive, specific, fanciful, precise--to convey meaning to a reader. Without the right ‘words’, writing is simply black print on paper.  Yet teaching vocabulary without context is useless, and since most students who struggle with writing don’t read widely, it is difficult for their vocabulary to grow.

Along with not reading, the second problem at all levels is: how often do students get to tell stories and use words in school?  With twenty students and more in a class, teachers don’t have time to listen to every kid’s (big or small) tale of what happened on the way to school. My students have incredible stories of divorce, DUIs, foster care, immigration, jail time and death.  Sometimes I read about their hardships in disjointed essays. Rarely do I listen. 

 When I first taught in the 80s, the LEA (Language Experience Approach) was big. Students recited stories to volunteers and aides who wrote them down. The kids saw their words and thoughts on paper, and when they reread them, the stories had correct spelling and punctuation. At the college level, I have used a type of LEA for not only my EL students, but for those who find that getting ideas from their heads onto paper is a daunting task.  During the edit stage, I can ask questions to help each writer draw out or add details.  It then gives the student a model and shows the connection between thoughts and words.

         

In my lowest writing class, I do an exercise on sensory description. I bring in spices to smell and food to taste. Students work in groups using an online thesaurus and dictionary to find words to describe their sensations. They love the exercise, but it is not enough.  It is never enough.

In all my classes, my students brainstorm why vocabulary is important. When they are done writing their ideas on the board, I hit them with this fact: the one proven indicator of success in a career is a rich and useful vocabulary. As employers and employees we need to be able to successfully communicate, direct and inspire with words.

         

I would love to hear ideas on building vocabulary at all levels, and would like to share them in the next post. In the meantime, when a student wants to tell you a story, I hope you will take the time to listen.  It is an important link to writing.

www.alisonhartbooks.com

Writing is Complicated

by Alison Hart

Since I am new to Pencil Tips, I want to shout out a cheery “hello” and a rousing “thank you” for inviting me to put in my five cents about writing and also to introduce myself.  I have been writing and publishing children’s books for, ahem, decades and teaching even longer. For twenty years I taught special education classes in Maryland both elementary and high school. Since 1995, I have been teaching pre-college reading and writing classes at Blue Ridge Community College in Virginia.  My classes are hugely diverse. I have students from countries all over the world including Iraq, Cuba and Mexico; teens straight from high school; military vets and active duty soldiers; and adults returning to college for retraining and new careers. They all have one thing in common: their reading and writing skills need improvement so they can succeed in a college program.

If you do the math, you will see that I have been teaching students who have difficulty with reading and writing for, um—let me get out my finger calculator—thirty-nine years.  For all of those thirty-nine years, I have also been searching for new ideas, new methods, and ‘ah ha’ moments on how to be the best teacher possible. My techniques and materials have changed and evolved, and yet, I still don’t have answers. How to successfully teach and motivate all students to be better writers remains a mystery.

One revelation I have had is that writing is incredibly complicated.  For example, if you task-analyze how to write alliteration, which is only one poetic device, students would need to understand many skills before successfully crafting their own. (See Laura Krauss Melmed’s terrific blog on “Amazing Alliteration.”)  For some students, alliteration will fly naturally from their brains and onto their papers with creative joy. For other students, alliteration will be a “woeful, avoid-worthy, writing wreck.” 

If a fun device, such as alliteration, can be daunting, how can a student ever craft a well-researched, college-level essay with cited sources? The list of needed skills to write is endless. Not only must students  have a knowledge of grammar, sentence construction, punctuation and vocabulary, they must understand the nuances of narrative flow, paraphrasing, crafting a thesis statement and topic sentences, point of view, description, supporting details, and the reader as an audience (to name just a few).  No wonder the acquisition of writing skills seems mind-boggling to most of my students, who have had limited opportunities in logical thinking much less writing and-even worse--who rarely read.  Which leads me to my second revelation: the Pencil Tips blog is MUCH needed because writing is incredibly complicated, but it is also incredibly important. I am excited to join in, be inspired, share ideas, discuss problems, and keep communicating and learning about this important skill. 

Thank you! Alison

http://www.alisonhartbooks.com/