The Inerconnection Between Reading and Writing Essay Example for Free

The Inerconnection Between Reading and Writing Essay Did reading or writing come first? This question is not as important as the well proven fact that without one the other cannot survive. Reading and writing are important to each other and mutually beneficial. There is an intimate relationship between reading and writing well (Pearson learning solutions). If there is a deficiency in reading there will also be a deficiency in writing. There is an obvious connection between what we read and what we write. I will be going over what makes the relationship between them so crucial to first time students and later in school and life. Reading and writing were and still are sometimes taught separately. Research and tests have shown that these two subjects are more interconnected than was thought at first. For example research has shown that reading instruction is much more effective when intertwined with writing instruction (www. k12reader. com 2012). While we are in school most of what we know comes from what we read. Since writing is the act of transmitting knowledge to print we must have knowledge to share before we can write it (www.k12reader. com 2012). Most of what children read is then put to use when writing their own stories. Younger children who are attempting to develop awareness that words are developed from sounds of letters need practice writing to improve their reading skills. Most writing students only see writing about what they read as pointless homework. The truth is reading and writing are symbiotic that is they mutually reinforce and enhance each other (Loney, M Nov, dec. 1996 Kotz and Roskelley 1991. 189). Teachers have been taught exercises such as autobiographical writing, reading response journals and class discussion. Autobiographical writing is done before the reading. It helps the student identify with the characters in the story. This is done by assigning them a task to write about a time or event that happened in their life that corresponds with the main idea of the story. Reading response journals are done while reading the assigned novel or story. The students are asked to write a response about certain chapters. They answer questions asked by the teacher about the story. The teacher then positively responds to the answers written by the students. Class discussion also helps the student empathize with the characters in the book and understand the plot better. In other countries students are required to take English classes to develop their English. They are also required to take an English writing course with it to round out their reading and writing skills. These classes in turn improve their English speaking. The classes are usually taught separately, but research has shown that they should go hand in hand to improve comprehension and reading skills. Decades of research into the relationship between reading and writing have proved that the best way to improve any students reading comprehension is to get them to write meaningfully and purposefully about a text. Since many studies show that the only way to improve reading is to study writing and vice versa proves the interconnection between the two. Teachers and students have realized this and have taken steps to alter teaching and study practices.