Principal 9
Integrating Writing and Reading
Accomplishing this Principal in the Classroom
Reading and writing are taught in separate classrooms in my school. In the sixth grade there are three homeroom classrooms; the first is an ELA and reading room which is where I am placed, the second is social studies and mathematics, and the third is science and writing. I have some critiques of this set up because I believe that social studies and writing would benefit by being combined and so would mathematics and science. However, in the case of integrating writing and reading this is a task that takes constant teamwork and cooperation between the writing and reading teachers. ELA and reading make the most sense to be combined, however combining reading and writing in one classroom setting is not a reality because of this set up. The ELA curriculum focuses on writing for literacy, while the writing is focused on expository, narrative and grammar. The writing curriculum is decided and planned by the teacher, unlike the ELA curriculum which was purchased by the district. Therefore, the teacher has no choice of what to teach. Therefore, cooperation between the two classroom teachers should be a high priority, integrating these two subjects are extremely beneficial to students.
Specific Anchor & Grade Level Standards from CCSS
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.10: This standard correlates to the principal because it is directing students to write more often than in one allotted time during the day. I will have my students apply their learned knowledge and write about it in different formats, to various audiences, and for different purposes. For example, reflection on a science article is going to have a different purpose then a letter written to the author of a book.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.7, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.8, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.9: These standards align directly to the instructional practice of writing from various resources, students must complete research to build and represent knowledge.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.7, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.8, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.9: These standards align directly to the instructional practice of writing from various resources, students must complete research to build and represent knowledge.
Instructional Practices
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
The curriculum my ELA instruction is based upon is integrated with writing. For every lesson that the students partake in there is a corresponding writing activity that relates to the novel they are reading as a class. These assignments range from graphic organizers, short answer questions, to paragraph reflections. They are used as formative and summative assessments because they are testing for comprehension of the reading material, which is best evaluated through written language in the students’ own words. I use these reflections, which are written in their ELA workbooks, to inform my instruction. If students, for example, are struggling to understand how to answer comprehension questions about the reading using the RATTC model (Respond, Answer, two forms of Text Evidence, Cite) I will spend the next class reviewing both the content and modeling the writing model instead of moving onto the next lesson and chapter in the novel. It is important to either ensure that the adopted or written curriculum integrates the practice of writing in various formats such as assessment, if not the teacher must integrate it themselves. Assessment is an important aspect of good teaching because it allows teachers to see the areas they must focus on most with their students, in this case having an ELA curriculum with writing integrated as a form of assessment
BOOK REPORTS
Students are required to complete a book report every two weeks, this correlates with their independent reading program because they must write these reports on the independent reading book they chose. This serves as a formative assessment of student comprehension and ability to analyze the text they read because it asks the student to critically think about various parts of the novel such as plot, characters, point of view, main idea and theme. I do not see any problems in doing this. If a student falls behind they may catch up by submitting multiple book reviews.
WRITING FROM SOURCES
This idea came from the article “A Range of Writing Across the Content Areas.” This activity facilitates informative and explanatory writing by having students connect ideas across multiple texts and use writing skills to explain a topic. It aligns to Anchor Standard 7, which proposes students use research to write and show understanding of a piece of information. For this activity I will need to teach students how to research using both text and electronic sources and how to extract evidence from the sources. I will use this as a summative project at the end of their ELA module on mythology, they will connect a common main idea throughout all the texts they read in class and use the new informative texts they researched online and in books to support their main idea. This connects ELA to social studies by studying the ancient Greek culture. I will have to set aside time in either ELA or the reading intervention class during the second half of the day for students to complete their work. I do not see any problems with this as long as I differentiate effectively for my students’ various needs such as my ELLs.
The curriculum my ELA instruction is based upon is integrated with writing. For every lesson that the students partake in there is a corresponding writing activity that relates to the novel they are reading as a class. These assignments range from graphic organizers, short answer questions, to paragraph reflections. They are used as formative and summative assessments because they are testing for comprehension of the reading material, which is best evaluated through written language in the students’ own words. I use these reflections, which are written in their ELA workbooks, to inform my instruction. If students, for example, are struggling to understand how to answer comprehension questions about the reading using the RATTC model (Respond, Answer, two forms of Text Evidence, Cite) I will spend the next class reviewing both the content and modeling the writing model instead of moving onto the next lesson and chapter in the novel. It is important to either ensure that the adopted or written curriculum integrates the practice of writing in various formats such as assessment, if not the teacher must integrate it themselves. Assessment is an important aspect of good teaching because it allows teachers to see the areas they must focus on most with their students, in this case having an ELA curriculum with writing integrated as a form of assessment
BOOK REPORTS
Students are required to complete a book report every two weeks, this correlates with their independent reading program because they must write these reports on the independent reading book they chose. This serves as a formative assessment of student comprehension and ability to analyze the text they read because it asks the student to critically think about various parts of the novel such as plot, characters, point of view, main idea and theme. I do not see any problems in doing this. If a student falls behind they may catch up by submitting multiple book reviews.
WRITING FROM SOURCES
This idea came from the article “A Range of Writing Across the Content Areas.” This activity facilitates informative and explanatory writing by having students connect ideas across multiple texts and use writing skills to explain a topic. It aligns to Anchor Standard 7, which proposes students use research to write and show understanding of a piece of information. For this activity I will need to teach students how to research using both text and electronic sources and how to extract evidence from the sources. I will use this as a summative project at the end of their ELA module on mythology, they will connect a common main idea throughout all the texts they read in class and use the new informative texts they researched online and in books to support their main idea. This connects ELA to social studies by studying the ancient Greek culture. I will have to set aside time in either ELA or the reading intervention class during the second half of the day for students to complete their work. I do not see any problems with this as long as I differentiate effectively for my students’ various needs such as my ELLs.