FROM READING TO WRITTING

From reading to writing

How to make it more easier, how to make it simple

Reading provides a scaffold for learning to write and it is frequently appropriate to teach reading and writing in an integrated way, both in the initial stages and when children have more developed skills.

First with a balanced reading programme:  It is based on sight words. 

Sight words are words that are recognized as wholes, on sight. To learn a sight word, the students must: 

1. See the word in context many times
2. Hear the word and say it aloud
3. Identify the word, in context and in isolation

Through intensive and extensive reading they can get a vocabulary development. For example, we can makes word walls or semantic mapping, a class dictionary, word buildings (phonics)…

A balanced writing programme: Comprehension strategies

Different approaches:

1. Linear approach: Comprehension takes place through progressive analysis of small units beginning with the word and ending in the sentence. 
2. Psycholinguistic approach: Emphasizing the paragraph as basic text unit and focus on mental process leading to global comprehension.

• How teachers can do in class:
• Draw in / activate students’ prior knowledge
• Develop students’ awareness of clue-searching strategies

• Select text based on students’ interests and knowledge and make comprehension an integrated part of the curriculum

• Use different reading materials (including readers) and design a variety of tasks for different purposes

Remember to do always something special for them, they have to learn in an active way 

Ester C.