From Reading to Writing

From Reading to Writing Julia Wan Consultant, Creative English Teaching Lecturer, Department of English Language & Literature, Hong Kong Baptist University

The Importance of Reading

Students must be encouraged to read more so they will be stimulated to write

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! You’ll absorb it. Then write.” • Readdifferent kinds of books, learn how writers write, and then we write.

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 …)

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

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 fewwordsvery well • word building [enlarge vocabulary] • pronouncing, spelling [can predict spelling? phonics work?] put in sentences

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

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 …

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

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

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 …

2. Talk about the picture[children 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?

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?

4. Write down the answerswithout 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.

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.

From reading to writing II. Readers

From Reading to Writing