Reading and Writing Activities

Following are reading and writing considerations that promote language development.

Reading:
Selecting text that students view as meaningful and authentic encourages engagement in reading. Choosing text that is at the students’ approximate independent or instructional reading level and on topics that they have some prior schema will enhance interest and comprehension. Activating prior knowledge by brainstorming for known vocabulary and information about the topic enables students to expand their understanding by listening to other students’ ideas. The ideas can be recorded on a semantic map, a K-W-L chart or any structural framework that works well with the text to be read. Students can then re-visit the ideas during and after reading. A word splash which consists of words and/or phrases taken from the text and written in random order on chart paper will introduce readers to new vocabulary and can be used to make predictions about the text. This activity can be done with pictures too (picture splash) to add a visual component to pre-reading. I find that a word splash works well when there is vocabulary from non-fiction text that the students may struggle to decode and comprehend. Previewing visuals and text features such as contents, index, headings, labels, diagrams and charts in the text helps with understanding the material. Students can ask questions prior to reading a text. These questions can be recorded and re-visited during and after reading. This engages the learner in the topic and provides a meaning purpose for reading. Another pre-reading strategy is to make connections to self, other text and/or world events and issues. Providing students with an overview of the writing structure (description, sequential, cause and effect, comparison, problem and solution, manuals, news articles, etc.) and a graphic organizer to record ideas from the text as they read can increase comprehension and language development. Setting a purpose for reading during the pre-reading gives students a focus while reading.

Just as the pre-reading activities can vary so can the while- and after-reading. Students will often be continuing with a pre-reading activity such as a semantic map or graphic organizer. Learners may be answering pre-reading questions they generated or some the teacher assigned. Students can be asked to write interesting and/or unknown vocabulary on post-it notes and place them in the text where the word is written or write them in their notebooks. If a post-it is placed in the text beside the vocabulary, the student can then refer back to the word in context when discussing it with peers or the teacher. New and interesting words and phrases recorded in learners’ notebooks can be practiced and memorized and used in writing. New questions can be added while reading the text and answered as the reading progresses. After students have read the text, they can summarize it; use the ideas to complete a hands-on task; complete a graphic organizer; use the information for a project, debate or discussion; apply the ideas to solve a real-life problem; and study the vocabulary and/or grammatical structures. Information from the text can be used to create a graph, collage, model or a different form or reading genre such a play or comic strip.

Writing:
Choosing an authentic writing task and one that students will find meaningful and relevant will promote engagement in writing. Showing students examples of the writing genre and explaining the format provides a visual of the final product. Completing an example of the writing task with the students takes them step-by-step through the writing process. This breaks the larger task into more manageable pieces. Brainstorming writing ideas and commonly used words and phrases for a particular genre activates prior knowledge, builds schemata and gives students specific language needed to complete their writing. This will help reluctant writers build confidence and be more willing to attempt the writing task. Providing students with a variety of writing assignments will keep them motivated. Students can be asked to write poems, descriptions of portraits, sequence events of a hands-on task, describe a picture sequence, and write to pen pals. Using the computer to complete writing tasks may be more encouraging for some learners. Students may be more relaxed about writing if they know how their piece will be graded before they begin. Frequent and timely feedback from the teachers and peers throughout the writing process lets writers know they are on the right track and/or if they need to, or may want to consider revising something.