Chapter 3 Blog:

The reading and writing processes can be viewed as the fundamentals that allow students to become successful in their reading and writing habits. The reading process has five different stages that can be used as stepping stones for growth in a student’s reading abilities. The first step is pre reading. Within this step the student is to set a purpose for reading and to preview the text. This in my opinion seems particularly important because if the student is not sparked or interested in the book from the start then they will generally have a negative approach to the remainder of the book. The second stage is reading. This can be completed with a one on one, one to many, or one person basis. The students can choose to partake in buddy reading, guided reading, or even independent reading. The third stage is responding. Here the children are to take action in what they have read. They can do this through group activities about the book or also by writing in reading logs or journals. Fourth is the Exploring stage. This is where the students can take a look back at what they read and examine the authors style or craft. The students can also explore new vocabulary words that may not be spoken in their current time frame. (Such as the example we discussed in class in regards to a book on Rosa Parks and using the ‘N’ word). Lastly, the fifth step is applying. The students will continue to deepen their interpretations and value found in the reading experience through further research or even tests.
The writing process also has stages just as the reading process does. The first stage in the writing process is prewriting. This can involve brainstorming, discussions, or outlining and this is done to simply organize your thoughts. The next step is drafting and this can include several copies of your paper however each one is revised in further depth. The third step is revising and this is where you can add further elaboration and the main purpose of this is to change sentence structure and wording. For example, some specifics and details can be added to basic points in your paper. The fourth step is editing which includes spelling and grammar check and the main purpose for this step is to insure that any grammatical errors have been corrected. Lastly is the publishing step and this is when students can share and display a finished paper.
I personally can remember the writing steps and processes that were carried out when I attended elementary school all the way through high school, and it was as if you couldn’t move on to step two unless step one had been accomplished. The writing process in particular was what helped me most. I especially appreciated when a teacher would provide us with a rubric or check off list as it always seemed to make things a whole lot easier. With a rubric you were still able to express what you wanted to express but you would have the ability to see what was expected from you in your paper. In a sense it was like grading your own paper once you had finished and it indeed called for a greater sense of accountability. In regards to the reading process, I would say that I can’t really remember the reading stages nor do I remember it help in understanding the material in the books. In my elementary school years we had the Accelerated Reader Program. This was where you had to reach a certain amount of points based on the books that you read. Unfortunately, reading simply to earn points left me hating reading. I didn’t really have much of a chance to appreciate the book or take time to write about it…it was simply read the book, take a multiple choice test about it online and then move on to book number two to accumulate more points. I definitely know I would not want to have the Accelerated Reader Program practiced within my school.