Entry 5: Letter to Dr. Jones

Dear Dr. Jones,

            I am really enjoying this class and learning more than I could ever imagine!  This is my first semester of graduate school, and I feel I have acquired countless activities and strategies to utilize in my own classroom (and we’re only halfway through the semester!).  I chose this course, “Reading Improvement through Written Expression” because I wanted to step outside my comfort zone.  I take pleasure in reading, but I struggle when it comes to writing.  My goal this semester is to improve my writing and become a better writer, and I think this class continuously supports me along the way.

            One of the major themes this semester is examining the connection between reading and writing.  They are recursive processes that influence and build upon one another; the more you read the more proficient writer you become and vice versa.  Reading and writing require an individual to use their cognitive awareness to construct meaning.  Through our class readings and discussions, I have concluded that we continually develop as readers and writers.  There is always room for improvement and learning.  As an educator I believe we need to allow for as much time as we can for reading and writing in the classroom, in order to support our students as growing literacy learners.  Overall, both reading and writing allow one to reconsider, imagine, discover, and learn!

This course has provided me with numerous opportunities to fully transact and engage in the writing process.  Reflecting on my previous experiences, I noticed I mainly wrote freely and did not think when I was writing.  However, now I have become a more “active” writer; this means I organize my ideas beforehand, collaborate with my peers, synthesize information, then write and refine.  As a result my work reflects my growth as a writer, and I am proud to share it with my professors and peers.  It is important for me to set aside a specific time frame to work; I work best in a quiet atmosphere because it allows me to fully engage while reading or writing.   This is essential in order to do well and develop as both a student and a teacher.

I have learned and acquired various instructional strategies and activities that I look forward to implementing in my future classroom.  They will benefit not only me as a teacher, but my students’ literacy skills (both in reading and writing) as well.  Introducing students to journal writing is a great way for them to develop their own voice and engage in what they are reading.  There is an array of journal entries and texts I can utilize in the classroom in order to improve my students’ reading fluency and comprehension.  I have also enjoyed learning about technology through the use of blogs, wikis, word processors, etc.  It is important to me, as a literacy teacher, to expose my students to different writing outlets and meet their interest and needs as a learner.  My goal is to take risks inside the classroom and step outside of my comfort zone because it is my professional responsibility to be the best educator I can be.

I feel you are doing excellent with supporting me as a learner, and I look forward to what is to come!

            Sincerely,

                  Kelly

Entry 4: Counterpart Strategies

This course, “Reading Improvement through Written Expression”, has given me the opportunity to learn about the essential connections between the reading and writing processes.  Even though we are half way through the semester, I have been exposed to countless number of strategies I can implement in my future classroom to support my students.  One of the most interesting readings thus far discusses reading and writing as parallel processes that build upon one another.  Stephen Kucer and Lynn Rhodes wrote the article, called “Counterpart Strategies: Fine Tuning Language with Language”, which represents this idea of reading and writing as parallel processes and provides meaningful activities to assist students in becoming better readers and writers.

  According to Kucer and Rhodes (1986), both reading and writing focus a student’s attention “…on discrete language elements.”  I believe the word “elements” in this quote refers to phonological and phonemic awareness and extends to students making meaning from text.  It is imperative for teachers to break down the reading process at an early age and then teach whole language as the students grow older.  As learners, it is more beneficial for us to learn from part to whole; similarly, the writing process is taught in the same way.  First students learn their letters and sounds and then acquire the ability to write words, sentences and paragraphs.  The more literacy events a student encounters the more proficient he/she will become as a reader and writer.  Therefore, “…each becomes a counterpart to the other” (Kucer, Rhodes, 1986).

I truly enjoyed being introduced to the “Card Strategy Lesson” and “Puzzle Strategy Lesson” because they clearly depict to students how reading influences writing and vice versa; each of these activities supports students in their literacy development.  As an educator, I would like to utilize these strategies in my own classroom.  The card strategy assists students with focusing “…on chunks of meaning” (Kucer, Rhodes, 1986), whereas the puzzle strategy assist students in creating meaning from text.  They are helpful tools teachers can make use of before a writing/reading assignment.  Each strategy allows students to brainstorm topics, organize their ideas, and collaborate with others.  I believe it is important for teachers to allow students to work with their peers in order for them to gain more than one perspective and learn from one another.

Dr. Jones gave us the opportunity to experience utilizing the card strategy in class.  As a result, I gained a deeper understanding of how the activity is actually carried out; I was able to generate many ideas for my genre project and collaborate with my peers on how to organize them efficiently.  In the end it has made the writing process more comfortable and less stressful.  I can clearly understand and recognize the connections between reading and writing.

References

Kucer, S., Rhodes, L.  (1986).  Counterpart Strategies: Fine tuning language with language.  The Reading Teacher, 186-193.