From Reading to Writing

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From Reading to Writing

• Julia Wan
• Consultant, Creative English Teaching
• Lecturer, Department of English Language
• Literature, Hong Kong Baptist University

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The Importance of Reading
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• Students must be encouraged to read more so they
  will be stimulated to write

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William Faulkner (Novelist, Nobel Prize in
Literature, 1949)

• Read, read, read. Read everything . . . And see
  how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works
  as an apprentice and studies the master. Read!
  Youll absorb it. Then write.
• Read different kinds of books, learn how writers
  write, and then we write.

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As children learn to write

• They learn the use of language for
  self-expression
• They learn more about themselves (their concerns)
  and the world around them (values, life )

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Amy Lowell (writer)

• In writing, I frequently stop to read aloud what
  I have written, although this is really hardly
  necessary, so clearly do the words sound in my
  head.
• Teach children to read their own writing aloud

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When we teach reading, we should teach children
words meaning of the material

• Read the material
• shared reading ? supported reading ? independent
  reading
• Predict pronunciation phonics work?
• Talk about the material
• Understand meaning of the material predict
  meaning?
• Understand meaning of the writer relate to life?
  To self?
• Learn a few words very well
• word building enlarge vocabulary
• pronouncing, spelling can predict spelling?
  phonics work? put in sentences

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After reading the material

• We can teach the children to write/ write
  creatively
• We can link the material that the children have
  read with the topic that they are writing

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If we wanted the children to write with more
color excitement, teach them how to add power
to their writing

• Teach more adjectives
• E.g. pretty, beautiful, attractive, good-looking
  
• Teach more verbs
• E.g. walk, run, roll, skip, glide
• Teach the use of figurative language
• E.g. as pretty as an angel, walk like an elephant
  

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From reading to writing

• I. Language Textbook
• E.g. Primary 1
• Unit 4 What Animals Can you See?
• (Longman Express 1B)

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After teaching the materials, grasp every
opportunity for the children to write

• Words label pictures
• Short sentences
• Put short sentences together to form a meaningful
  paragraph

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Label the picture recall/ revise/ build up new
vocabulary

• Classroom
• laminate the picture
• Classroom
• group activity
• Home
• individual activity
• Students should label as much as they can
• cow, tree, eye, pink, house

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2. Talk about the picturechildren express what
they know orally

• There is a little boy in the picture.
• He is scratching his head. Why do you think he is
  scratching his head?
• Perhaps, he sees something that he does not
  understand. What is it?
• Do you see that the animals are doing something
  funny? What are they doing?

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3. Talk and write the answer (E.g. Let us
look at the cow first )

• What color is the cow?
• The cow is brown.
• Is he big?
• He is big.
• What is he doing?
• He is reading/ sitting on a chair.
• What is he reading?
• He is reading a newspaper.
• Is the newspaper colorful? What colors are there?
• The newspaper is colorful. There are yellow,
  green and pink colors.
• Do you think he is happy?
• I think he is happy.
• ----------------------------------------------
• Can you write down ONLY the answers on another
  piece of paper?

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4. Write down the answers without the questions

• The cow is brown.
• He is big.
• He is sitting on a chair.
• He is reading a newspaper.
• The newspaper is colorful. There are yellow,
  green and pink colors.
• I think he is happy.

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5. Put the sentences into a paragraph

• The cow is brown. He is big. He is sitting on a
  chair. He is reading a newspaper. The newspaper
  is colorful. There are yellow, green and pink
  colors. I think he is happy.

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From reading to writing

• II. Readers