Writing About Reading
to Enhance Comprehension
Presented by
Lisa Maucione, Ed.D.
Literacy Specialist
DeMello School
Dartmouth, MA
Massachusetts Reading Association Conference
April 8, 2016
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @DrLMaucione
Website: http://www.literacyonthemind.com/
Why Have Students Write About Their Reading?
 Common Core State Standards for writing require students to “write
routinely over extended time frames” and “shorter time frames” for a
“range of tasks, purposes, and audiences”
o to become fluent, proficient writers students need extensive
writing practice that takes place throughout all subjects; this
writing practice can include short, informal pieces of writing
 research shows that writing about reading has a positive impact on
students’ reading
o increases students’ abilities to read with fluency, accuracy, and
comprehension (Graham & Hebert, 2010)
o students make connections between text and their own thinking
and build reasoning, analytical, organizational, and
metacognitive skills in order to improve comprehension of text
(Gamill, 2006; Knipper & Duggan, 2006)
 increases engagement with text and fosters active participation
 helps students become aware of their own thinking about reading in
order to build a habit of engaging in cognitive processes of reading
(making connections, inferring, visualizing)
 activates background knowledge
 helps students learn new content, concepts, and vocabulary
 helps students be more reflective about their reading
 students’ writing provides insight into their thinking
References
Gammill, .M. (2006). Learning the write way. The Reading Teacher, 59(8), 754-762.
Graham, S., & Hebert, M. (2010). Writing to read: Evidence for how writing can
improve reading. Washington, D.C.: Alliance for Excellence in Education.
Knipper, K.J., & Duggan, T.J. (2006). Writing to learn across the curriculum: Tools for
comprehension in content area classes. The Reading Teacher, 59(5), 462-470.
Double-Entry Journals
Buehl, D. (2014). Classroom strategies for interactive learning (4th ed.). Newark, DE:
International Reading Association
What is it?
a version of two-column note-taking that prompts students to respond to their reading by
thinking about and analyzing a text
Why is it Beneficial?
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students build habits of active thinking as they read
students are expected to engage in independent use of comprehension strategies
students have a written record of their thoughts
reinforces reading as a process that involves the integration of what the author says
with the readers’ knowledge
How Does the Strategy Work?
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Have students create a t-chart by folding a paper in half lengthwise. The left-hand
column is for recording specific items from reading and the right-hand column is for
writing a response to the text. Columns can be labeled in various ways:
o What the Text Says/My Thoughts
o Notice/Wonder
o Notice/Infer
o Text Passage and Page Number/This is Important Because…
o Text Passage and Page Number/The Author May Be Saying…
Model how to fill in the columns on the double-entry journal.
When introducing double-entry journals focus on columns that represent
comprehension strategies that are familiar to students. When you want students to
work on other thinking strategies change the titles of the columns.
Have students share their thinking with partners or in groups.
Name of Book: The World of Weird Animals: Pink is for Blobfish
Author: Jess Keating
Something I Found Surprising
Blobfish look like goo.
Why it Surprised Me
It is the weirdest looking fish I’ve ever
seen.
They must not be very picky about
what they eat.
A blobfish just opens its mouth and
swallows anything when it wants to
eat.
Blobfish may become extinct because I wondered if there is a way to protect
they keep getting caught in the nets of the blobfish.
fishermen.
Written Conversations
Daniels, H., & Daniels, E. (2013). The best-kept teaching secret: How written conversations
engage kids, activate learning, and grow fluent writers, K-12. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin
Literacy.
What is it?
a written dialogue between two students about a text they have read
Why is it Beneficial?
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Provides students with practice in expressing their ideas thoughtfully
Students are engaging in the process of building knowledge and analyzing ideas
Students are building fluency, confidence, and stamina with writing and learning
audience awareness
Students are discussing text in order to understand it better
Gets all students thinking and “talking”
How Does the Strategy Work?
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Students write a letter to their partner sharing their thoughts, reactions, questions,
or feelings about the text they read (provide students with a few minutes to write,
giving them a 15 second warning before the time is up)
Students exchange letters with their partner who reads and responds (give students
a few minutes to write)
Repeat until students have written about three or four notes
Students look over their letters and star something they would like to talk about
more with their partner
Students have an out-loud discussion
Using Synergy to Enhance Learning
Sousa, D. (2011). How the brain learns (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
What is it?
a strategy, based on research concerning how the brain learns (synergy: actions of people
working together increases effectiveness), that gets students moving, writing, and talking
about a text or the content they are learning
Why is it Beneficial?
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it’s multi-sensory, involves active participation, and encourages socialization
incorporates brain/mind principles (Caine, 2008):
o all learning engages the physiology
 the body and mind are interconnected
 students can understand better when they take part in experiences
involving their senses and their bodies
o the brain/mind is social
 humans have a desire to interact with others
 we learn by talking with others
 students can understand better when their need for social interaction
are met
o the search for meaning is innate
 humans have a need to make sense of things
 students can understand better when their interests, purposes, and
ideas are engaged
How Does the Strategy Work?
Using synergy to increase comprehension of a nonfiction text:
 Students read or listen to a text.
 Students take 3 minutes to write what they learned from the text in sentences.
 Students then stand and walk over to a partner.
 Students face their partners and take turns telling each other what they learned.
 Students return to their seats and write for 2 minutes about what they learned from
their partner.
 Have one or two partnerships share out.
Caine, R.N. (2008). How neuroscience informs our teaching of elementary students. In C.C.
Block & S.R. Parris (Eds.), Comprehension instruction: Research-based best practices (2nd ed.,
pp. 127-141). New York: The Guilford Press.
Resources for Writing About Reading
Professional Books
Notebook Connections: Strategies for the Reader’s Notebook by Aimee Buckner
(2009, Stenhouse)
Readers Writing: Lessons for Responding to Narrative and Informational Text
by Elizabeth Hale (2014, Stenhouse)
The Best-Kept Teaching Secret: How Written Conversations Engage Kids,
Activate Learning, and Grow Fluent Writers, K-12 by Harvey “Smokey” Daniels
and Elaine Daniels (2013, Corwin Literacy)
Smuggling Writing: Strategies That Get Students to Write Every Day in Every
Content Area, Grades 3-12 by Karen Wood, D. Bruce Taylor, and Katie Stover
(2015, Corwin Literacy)
Book Chapter
“Improving Writing About Reading” from The Reading Strategies Book: Your
Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers by Jennifer Serravallo (2015,
Heinemann)