Barrs, Myra (2000). The Reader in the Writer. Reading
(United Kingdom Reading Association), July, 54-60.
Introduction
Traditionally, the role of the reader often ignores the role
of the writer. The relationship between the reader and writer is found within
the text and this connection is important when teaching children to read and
write. Reading and writing should
be taught together not as separate entities. This study questions the influence
of children's reading of literature on their writing development. The
study's purpose was to focus on children's writing development when reading
challenging literature, to investigate if teaching strategies were effective in
teaching writing, and to note whether specific texts had an impact on
children's learning writing.
Method
This study/project involved six teachers and students in five primary
schools in greater London. The
classes read two challenging texts, one for the spring term, The Green
Children by Kevin Crossley Holland and Fire, Bed, and Bone by
Henrietta Branford in the summer term. The students were introduced to the texts
through reading, writing, and drama activities. The strategies of reading aloud
and response partners were used in the teaching of literature and writing. The
research data was collected as a yearlong project during the 1998-1999 school
year. The project coordinator collected the data through classroom observations,
interviewing students, writing samples, and teacher discussions of 18 students
in six classes and analyzed in-depth six students writing samples.
Results
In the analysis of the influence of quality literature read, students
writing samples presented an increase of syntactic complexities and impressive
responses to the text. Through reading response writing assignments, students
presented writing that indicated they were absorbed in the world of the text.
Responses were written with genuine feeling and empathy towards the characters
about the situation. The results found when students were writing in the role of
the character, it influenced their writing in first person and enabled them to
express other experiences and other ways of talking, thinking, and feeling.
The study found that teaching strategies of read aloud and writing
partners enhanced the writing development. The Reading aloud teaching strategy
engaged the students in the literature establishing the “tunes and rhythms”
of the text which was evident in the children's writing.
Also, reading aloud created a powerful tool for discussion of the text.
The use of writing partners allowed students to read aloud their written text to
a partner and to critique each other's writing.
Discussion
In conclusion, the project found that there couldn't be any significant
writing development without reading development or reading development without
writing development. The project
presents the value of focusing on texts in more depth and detail, rereading, and
giving ample time for writing. The
students were introduced to challenging texts which influenced their interest in
more demanding literature. Through
reading challenging texts, students will read more critically and responsively
and develop an understanding of how writers write which will impact and develop
their writing skills.
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