Matt Renwick's List: Reading-Writing Connection

• Pressley et al. (1998) found that students' comprehension was not enhanced by merely reading more text. If the students used even one of the strategies, for example summarizing, comprehension was improved.

  • Writing summaries of what you read can provide a huge learning boost in your reading and writing skills.
• It appears that constructing synonyms, antonyms, and other related words creates a deeper understanding of a word, which in turn heightens the ability to recall meaning.
• he writing of the summary paragraph was another important metacognitive strategy. The students had to capture the essence of what they had read.
• What amazes me about this kind of comprehension instruction is that it is easy to implement and is great for all my students. My good readers love the challenge of writing the summary paragraphs in as few words as possible.
• It was found that the metacognitive reading comprehension instruction significantly improved the academic achievement of third-grade students in the domains of reading comprehension and vocabulary over the other instruction that was offered to the students in the comparison school.

  • Metacognition is greatly aided when students are able to write about what they read.

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• These gains often turn out to be an achievement mirage
• Three interconnected factors are as essential for whole-school achievement as knowing how to teach well: trust, collaboration, and authenticity.
• They let parents know through social media, a phone call, or an email when a child has done something well
• professional learning is ongoing and embedded
• observe, coach, and co-teach

  • Teacher Rounds/Peer Observations
• rich and extensive classroom libraries
• students choice and easy access to books
• they partner with teachers to ensure that all resources and texts used in the classroom are well written and are crafted by notable authors
• the quality of relationships within the school and across the community

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