READING WRITING CONNECTION

The ideas around reading and writing were taught to most of us as separate entities without any real connection between them, this was a philosophy that continued for me until I entered A Level where I was first exposed to the idea that reading and writing were interconnected acts. That we read what others have wrote and that writers write in order so that they may capture the attention of prospective readers. Still then the text wasn’t seen to be as dynamic as it is to be now and I hadn’t yet fully understood the full potential of the reading –writing connection, for I saw writing and reading as solely an effort to respond to each other instead of viewing it as a potential to create new worlds that were as distinct as the original.

The ideas from this center around the ability to create student writers who are actually approaching the craft in the frame of dedicated writers rather disinterested individuals , also that students can employ basic techniques such as journaling, graphic organizers and reading logs that assist in the active cognitive process of being writers . They can also be researchers who critically approach the material through the use of what is commonly termed journalism questions (who, what, when, where, why and how) whilst reading. For instance if reading a story about tourists describing their stay in St Lucia and be critical and question the material, where did they visit , how long did they stay , why do their ideas of what appears to be interesting about our island differ from us , what race are there , what was their reason for coming to St Lucia ? All these questions should percolate the mind of the writer whilst reading in preparation of the writing project. If we are effective it is that we ensure that they are writing with a specific audience in mind, not to mimic what they have seen but to create new, distinct worlds for their readers to explore with satisfaction. Therefore reading and writing are done with a purpose, to rationalize the worlds and situations around them and to act as a sort of scaffolding for each other to help build the students’ progress

The obstacles that lay in this view of reading and writing is that it still remains a more complex ideal of an idea that can be utilized in the schools because it is still a bit abstract for us teachers who have not thought of writing and reading as being such intricate critical cognitive activities . we also like our students have not yet learnt to approach writing as a writer in the vain that we usually view language register word choice and other conventions as more important than will anyone read this , who will buy this and can I get this published, questions that actual writers engage with. The only weapon against this is the introduction of this philosophy to students and teachers at the beginning of their school journey at quite possibly the elementary level through a series of workshops and specially crafted lessons that will erase the many fallacies hat we have of reading and writing.