Reading and Writing Connections 

When thinking about instruction and planning in the classroom, it is important to remember the connection of reading and writing.  Keeping this connection in mind can make instruction more meaningful and well rounded.  To start, the more a child sees words in reading, the more likely they will be able to write them in print.  These spellings may not be conventional at first, but  letter sound patterns will start to be seen (NAEYC).

Students learn about communication through reading and writing. Readers and writers interact.  You cant have writing without reading and vice versa (ILA).  Reading and writing both draw from common knowledge and so when one improves, so does the other (ILA).  This is the Shared Knowledge Theory.  When you read or write, you are doing it about something.  Both reading and writing share knowledge roots.  Reading and writing also share metaknowledge, the purpose and function of written language, knowing that readers and writers interact (Fitzgerald and Shanahan 2000).  Both share pragmatic language as well.  This is the knowledge of text attributes (ILA).  One more form of knowledge shared between reading and writing is procedural knowledge.  This is knowledge having to do with accessing information and knowing how to access it (Fitzgerald and Shanahan 2000).  

Below is a short video featuring Dr. Steve Graham, an author and professor who has studied writing for over 30 years.  

 

 The Reading And Writing Connection 

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References 

Fitzgerald, J., & Shanahan, T. (2000). Reading and writing relations and their development. Educational Psychologist, 35(1), 39-50. doi: 10.1207/S15326985EP3501_5

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“‘reading and Writing Are Connected at the Most Basic Levels’: Steve Graham at Ila Next.” YouTube, YouTube, 7 Jan. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Huxbss67BM.

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By:            National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). “Learning to Read and Write: What Research Reveals.” Reading Rockets, www.readingrockets.org/topics/early-literacy-development/articles/learning-read-and-write-what-research-reveals#:~:text=In%20kindergarten%20many%20children%20will,in%20a%20somewhat%20reciprocal%20relationship. Accessed 11 May 2024.

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