From Reading to Writing

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

2. The Importance of Reading

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

4. 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.

5. 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 …)

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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 …

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

11. 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

12. 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 …

13. 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?

14. 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?

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. From reading to writing II. Readers