How Can We Take Advantage of the Reading-Writing Relationship?

Tim Shanhan

Teacher question: 

Everyone says reading and writing are connected. But our school focuses on only reading. We have a reading program (we don’t have a writing program). We test the students three times a year in reading, but never in writing. Writing isn’t even on our report card, though I guess it is part of Language Arts. What should we be doing with writing?

Shanahan response:

You came to the right place.

I think your school is making a big mistake not devoting sufficient attention to writing.

When I was a teacher my primary grade kids wrote every day. When I became a researcher, I conducted studies on how reading and writing are related. As director of reading for Chicago, I required 30-45 minutes per day of writing in all our classrooms.

I’m going to guess that the reason your school is ignoring writing is because someone thought that might help raise reading scores. That’s a mistake because writing can be a path to higher reading achievement, so your kids (and your school) are missing out. Instead of elevating the reading scores, your school is probably squashing them.

So, there are lots of reasons for teaching writing, and this entry focuses on one of them: how writing can help kids to become measurably better readers.

Research has identified three important ways reading and writing are connected – and all three deserve a place in your curriculum.

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