Amanda Lamb

March 31, 2020

CIRG 653

Module 8
Our textbook authors, Clay and Gunning, presented ideas regarding reading and writing

in the content areas, writing in early literacy, approaches to teaching reading, and effective study

skills in our module chapters. In undergraduate school, the statement that resonated most with

me was made by Dr. Ratliff, my literacy professor. She would say over and over “Reading and

writing go hand-in-hand. Reading supports writing and writing supports reading.” That same

statement is resonated throughout the chapter reading!

Gunning listed many thoughts to reading and writing in the content area. Common Core

State Standards guide reading and writing in the content area and place a strong emphasis on

informational reading. Gunning (2016) highlighted an approach called Understanding by Design

which builds conceptual understanding. This approach encourages planning to identify essential

questions and as students gather information to aid them in answering the essential question, they

make inferences, synthesize, summarize, generalize, and make conclusions (p. 377).

Gunning (2016) also outlines before, during, and after reading techniques to help students

become motivated, construct meaning, and reflect on their reading. The before-reading technique

Gunning discusses is anticipation guides. Anticipation guides include “three or more debatable

statements” about a topic they will explore while reading which students must decide whether to

agree or disagree with (p. 378). I also utilize KWL charts to promote reading and writing in the

content area; KWL charts can be used before reading and writing to determine what is already

known about the topic and what students want to learn.

During-reading techniques include think-alouds, which model thought process while

reading, strategy guides, which help with comprehension and organization of information,
Amanda Lamb

March 31, 2020

CIRG 653

Module 8
pattern guides, which fosters understanding and retention by asking students to find the pattern in

writing, and glosses, which is a comprehension aid that explains technical terms and concepts in

the marginal notes of text (p. 378-383). To promote reading in the content area I utilize think-

alouds during reading. I model this process mainly during whole group instruction to show

students my thought process as I read and give them tips on things to consider as they read. I also

use the close reading strategy to promote reading in the content area. This strategy requires

students to carefully dissect what we have read to discuss the main idea, details, meanings, and

author’s craft.

Clay (2014) included many ideas about writing in early literacy. She outlines four

advantages of learning to write while also becoming a reader. The first advantage is that writing

fosters slow analysis. “It is slowed by the motor, muscular, or movement nature of the task and

by the need to construct every detail of the words, not just in forming letters but in juxtaposing

one against another.” (p. 152) The second advantage is that writing highlights letter forms,

sequences, and clusters. Writing helps students differentiate the letters amongst each other (p.

153). I found this especially true with my students when I taught first grade. I could see just how

much their writing enhanced when they paid attention to the sounds of the letters they wanted to

write, which directly impacted their reading for the better! The third advantage of learning to

write while also becoming a reader is that writing causes students to adjust their knowledge

sources. Letters turn into words that turn into sentences that turn into paragraphs and so on (p.

153)! The fourth advantage is that cognitive advantages can be predicted through monitoring

students’ abilities to link, compare, contrast, and self-correct in writing (p. 154)
Amanda Lamb

March 31, 2020

CIRG 653

Module 8
Clay (2014) continued discussing writing in early literacy by listing two essential features

of young children’s writing. The Flexibility Principle is when students “explore the limits within

which each letter form may be varied and still retain its identity” by repositioning letters to

create new symbols (p. 157). I have done this exercise with Preschool students during student

teaching. I made it into a game with the students to see how many different objects we could see

by turning letters in various directions. They had a lot of great ideas; the one that stuck with me

was the letter h. Students saw a chair, a number 4, the letter u with a long tail, and short capital J!

The other essential feature is the Generating Principle; students use what they know to

generate new information. Clay (2014) gives an example of using knowledge of grammar to

compose sentences (p. 158). While it isn’t thought of much, the Generating Principle is almost

always in play. Students use prior knowledge to build on new concepts. To foster independence

when writing in early literacy (and throughout writing in school), engagement is important to

incorporate. Engagement can help make writing easier to put into words since it gives students

experience with the writing topic. Clay (2014) states drawing a picture (engagement) and writing

about it helps keep the message on task and clarifies the written story (p. 177).

To promote writing in the content area, I include an engagement activity before writing

takes place. This helps my students connect to the topic and begin gathering mental notes on

what to include in their writing. I also implement a “quiet 10” during reading and writing time to

promote reading and writing in the content area (20 minutes total). During this time, students

spend 10 minutes getting focused for the day by reading self-selected books and writing to a

prompt that deepens our classroom community.

Amanda Lamb

March 31, 2020

CIRG 653

Module 8
Gunning (2016) also mentioned approaches to teaching reading. Most schools and

teachers utilize a basal/anthology reading program. Comprehension, spelling, grammar, writing,

oral language, listening, vocabulary, and phonics (for younger students) are integrated into the

program. Because there are so many resources given through the basal program, teachers must

select the activities that best suite his/her classroom (p. 447-448). For some students, basal

textbooks are too advanced. For these students, teachers can provide them with accompanying

below-level books and phonics readers (p. 449).

Another approach to teaching reading is the literature-based approach. Gunning (2016)

states that this program uses sets of books as a basis for instruction in literacy. This approach

allows teachers to select the books being read based on interest and need. The downside to this

approach is that not all students may enjoy the book selected. Also, all activities must be created

or found by the teacher which can be very time-consuming. Text difficulty is also a factor, so

teachers utilizing this approach must accommodate for student needs. (p. 452-457)

Gunning (2016) listed effective study skills practice as well. He stated, “practice enables

students to reach a certain level of competence.” (p. 403) To be effective, practice needs to be

something students want to do and requires feedback from the teacher or other knowledgeable

person. There are multiple methods of practice that Gunning (2016) touches on. Modeling

examples is a proven method of helping students learn to apply a process or strategy. Students

can also utilize distributed practice, which is studying in multiple sessions or massed practice,

which is studying for an extended length of time (p. 403).

Amanda Lamb

March 31, 2020

CIRG 653

Module 8
References

Gunning, T. G. (2016). Creating Literacy Instruction for All Students. Ninth Edition. Pearson

Merrill Prentice Hall. Pages 377, 378-383, 403, 447-448, 449, 452-457

Clay, M. M. (2014). By Different Paths to Common Outcomes: Literacy Teaching and Learning.

Aukland, New Zealand: Global Education Systems (GES). Pages 152, 153, 154, 157, 158, 177