Diane Lindbert
Reading and Self Expression
It was interesting and eye opening to do this research. I must state that I only touched the tip of the iceberg so to speak in regards to the immense amount of information out there. I found that there were approximately 4,000 articles written about reading and writing. In general, the very few I previewed I found that reading and writing were treated separately. In the end I concentrated my reading on authors who were making connections between reading and writing. I did not find much documentation specific to my research question. The articles listed below are documentation of what I did find and found interesting in respect to my research.
Changes in Readers' and Writer's Metacognitive Knowledge By: Christine Gordon
This article documented a year long study of Middle School students that explored student's changing awareness of text characteristics , self as reader and writer, and their monitoring strategies during the reading and writing of narrative and expository text. The study focused on improving student's knowledge and use of text structure to not only aid comprehension but to enhance writing. The study indicated that if students are aware of their metacognition it will enhance their reading and writing skills. It was noted that there was a shift in awareness of text characteristics". One notable shift related to students' heightened awareness that narrative text was easy to remember/read if it was interesting or exciting. References to difficulty with long complicated texts having hard words decreased substantially with students placing more emphasis on descriptive language and memorability as features of stories which made them easy to understand. There was also an increased understanding by students of how author's set up texts and the crafts they employ. It was indicated by the report that perhaps this was so because students had been taught the language of the "author's craft" . In their writing, students by years end were employing some of these strategies in their writing.
Wnting and Reading :The Transactional Theory By: Louise M. Rosenblatt
Rosenblatt's paper discusses the fact that the connections between reading and writing have varied parallelisms and differences. They both constitute involvement with texts and lack the verbal aids afforded to spoken communication. They differ in the respect that the writer starts with a blank page and produces meaning while the reader starts with the printed page and "composes" an interpreted meaning.
Rosenblatt also talks about two very different stances that the reader can take when doing the reading process. Reading falls somewhere on a continuum between the" efferent" stance or the "aesthetic" stance. The "efferent" stance refers to "what is to be carried away or retained after the reading event" ( p.6). Examples would be directions to follow, conclusions to be retained, information to be retained or acted upon after the reading event. The "aesthetic" stance is quite different. In this stance the reader pays attention to the feelings, images, emotions, sounds, or rhymes of words or tensions of the text. Generally reading can fall anywhere on the continuum but most reading will fall somewhere in the middle.
Writing also falls somewhere on the continuum of the "aesthetic" or '4efferent" stance. Traditional writing classes help to inhibit "aesthetic" writing. Teacher talk where students take her word as truth inhibits aesthetic response to writing.
A rounded education would foster growth in both areas. Students need to be aware of the two stances and know when to use them. Both stances involve the cognitive and affective realms both public and private. Although schools emphasize the "efferent" stance, Rosenblatt makes a good argument that both need to be included in the curriculum. She states "that readers and writers need to engage in "personally meaningful texts of established authors. In this dynamic way , texts can serve as models, as sources from which to assimilate the potentialities of the English sentence and strategies for organizing meaning and expressing feeling.
Answers to Frequent Questions Teachers Ask About Teaching Writing By: Donald Graves
In this article Donald Graves answers 17 of the most frequently asked questions teachers have about the teaching of writing. Only one question pertained to my research question. " How much does reading help writing or writing help reading ( p.282)? Graves states that there is no clear answer to this question although he suspects that if adequate time for both are given each day that one should enhance the other. He states that the 2 should not be taught and treated as separate entities. He says that teachers need to teach how author's compose and how to read their text in order for kids to use it in their writing.
Talking to Learn By: David Booth
I wanted to read this article on "talk" because I have found in my research that I am not the only knowledgeable other when teaching writing or the "author's craft". I have one student who holds a lot of power in the classroom because of his writing ability. The students highly respect his ability and what he says about writing. This student has influenced the writing of some of my other students.
In this article Booth describes "The Teacher's Voice: Exploring and Modeling Language". Booth talks about the fact that teachers need to be aware of the power of language and the inspiration and the pleasure it can bring to children. Teacher talk can serve as a model for children to learn, appreciate and in the end for them to transform that model themselves.
No where in the article does Booth talk about the influences other children can have but I think its true.
Research Directions: Literature and Discussion in the Reading Program By: Taffy Raphael, Virgina Goatley, Susan McMahon, Fenice Boyd, Laura Pardo and Deborah Woodman
Document explains philosophy and components of Book Club. Book Club has 4 component parts; community share, reading, written response to a prompt, and small book clubs. Gave a good skeletal overview of Book Club and how it should look in a classroom.
Book Club: An Alternative Framework for Reading Instruction By: Taffy Raphael and Susan McMahon
Documents more in depth study of Book Club and its component parts. Reading should not only incorporate such things as comprehension strategies, vocabulary development and genres, it should incorporate both personal and aesthetic response. To help increase vocabulary, teachers should draw students' attention to interesting or unknown words, to locate the words in the text and then determine the meaning from context clues, peers, or other sources. There was also evidence that these unknown words or wonderful words or phrases did at times become part of small book club discussions. Although it is not mentioned whether children started using any of these words in their 'writing it was stated that writing did become more sophisticated over time.
Alternative Research Perspectives By: McCarthy and Raphael
McCarthy and Raphael discuss 3 learning theories and how they relate to reading and writing Information process research indicates that reading and writing are interactive processes. In general better readers produce better writing as poorer writers are less adept at reading. They also state that writing has been influenced by previous experience with text. The naturalist theory documents how written language develops from students natural abilities and experiences with oral language. Social-constructivist theory suggests that there "is a relationship between reading and writing; that is social constructivism would emphasize that reading and writing are connected through their uses within culture and through the role dialogue plays in the development of literacy (19)." There is also an important cultural element to be studied. McCarthy and Raphael suggests further studies might include questions such as , "How does dialogue facilitate students' ability to make connections between reading and writing?"
Emerging Literacy By: David Booth
Booth discusses that one text is built upon another. He states that by emerging children in good literature they will in fact mimic in their own writing what they have experienced. The article shows several examples of children's written stories. He comments that after the ideas were put down on paper, that the children went back and enhanced their writing by inserting descriptive words and phrases in. He sights a case where a child noticed he had an alliteration in his writing. The child talked about this in the classroom. Thus several children went back and added alliterations in order to make it happen in their stories too. By studying children's writing you will hear all kinds of literary and linguistic structures that have come from the literature they have read and heard.
Reading Writing Relationships: The Challenge of Teaching At Risk Students By: Lance Gentle and Merna McMillian
The article documents a year long study of the relationships between reading and writing with students considered at risk. At years end when students were asked how their reading helped them become better writers it was reported that the type and amount of reading material influenced their choice of topic, genre, structural characteristics, vocabulary and writing style. It was also reported that students reread their writing from the point of view of an audience. This "thinking" as a reader when writing was thought to be a very significant outcome of this study. In other words, written expression was much improved over the year.
The Writing Program David Booth and Partick Lashmar
This document is a teacher's guide to the teaching of writing. The book contains a variety of lessons for the teaching of writing. Three people are cited for their philosophy's in the beginning of this book. The first is Britton. Britton discusses the 3 modes of writing; expressive, poetic and transactional. The expressive mode is what children learn first. It expresses personal feelings and opinions that is often like written down speech. The poetic mode comes into play next. Poetic mode concerns itself with the form of writing. Writers become more concerned with descriptive language and the arrangement of words. Lastly is the transactional mode. Its purpose is to present factual information precisely. To be successful in the poetic and transactional modes, writers must first become versed in the expressive mode.
Booth also states that Moffet states that it is important for students to write in the same literary forms that they read in. Moffet suggests that by having children explore the many different patterns of discourse that it will in fact help children put their own thoughts and feelings into forms that better facilitate communication.
Donald Graves is also cited. It notes that Graves feels reading and writing need to be closely connected because it gives students experience with the different forms of writing so they can use it in their own written expression.
Works Cited
Booth, D. (1993) Talking to Learn, Classroom Voices. Harcourt Brace: Ontario. pp 84-131. pp.
Booth, D. (1993) Language Based Learning in the Elementary School. Harcourt Brace: Ontario.
Booth, D. and Lashmar, P. (1989) The Writing Program. Modern Curriculum Press.
Gentile, L. M. and McMillan, M.. (1994) Reading, Writing and Relationships: The Challenge of Teaching At-Risk Students. Reading Journal. Vol.4.
Graves, D. (1994) A Fresh Look at Writing. Heinemann: Portsmouth, N.H. 271-284.
Gordon, C. (1990) Reading Research and Instruction. Vol.30.74-81.
McCarthy, S.J., Raphael, T.E., Alternative Research Perspectives. The Reading Teacher. Vol. 56, No.4 Jan.1995.
Raphael, T.E., McMahon, S.I., Goatley, V. J., Bently, J.L., Boyd, F.B., Pardo, L.S., and Woodman, D.A (1992) Research Directions: Literature and Discussion in Reading. Language Arts, 69, 55-61.
Raphael, T.E., McMahon, S.I., Book Club an Alternative Framework for Reading Instruction. The Reading Teacher. Vol.48, No.2 Oct. 1994.
Katie Bowling
LITERATURE REVIEW RIDDLES IN THE CLASSROOM
What makes the use of riddles such an effective tool for getting middle school students alert, focused, interested, and engaged at the onset of class?
Highet, Gilbert (1989). The Art of Teaching. New York: Vintage Books.
This text emphasized the importance of certain characteristics and qualities that good teachers should posses. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw in the table of contents a heading which read Humor. This section noted that "One of the most important qualities of a good teacher is humor. Many are the purposes it serves. The most obvious one is that it keeps the pupils alive and attentive because they are never quite sure what is coming next" (53). This notion helped to validate my own beliefs regarding the use of riddles in the classroom as an engagement tool. It agreed with my observation that riddles do indeed genuinely engage and captivate students- to the point where they would be willing to postpone their intimate discussions with their peers and get down to riddling.
Kolberg, Karen. Loomans, Diane. (1993). The Laughing Classroom: Everyone's Guide to Teaching with Humor and Play. Tiburon, California: H J Kramer Inc.
This text was the joint effort of two highly regarded educators. Karen and Diane both agree that techniques which include laughter and play encourage learning. A few of the major benefits derived from laughter and play:
- maintain a high attention level
- relieve physical and mental stress
- build rapport
- increase retention
- enhance self-esteem
- promote divergent thinking
- bring new insights
- allow for pleasurable learning
- increase a feeling of hope
This text was filled with techniques which would enable the stiffest of upper4ipped teachers to bring laughter and play to their classroom. Interestingly riddles were never mentioned as a tool for creating the laughing classroom. Other techniques such as mental flossing, quacking up, the six thinkers, gibberish interpreter, conducting, tongue twisters, and the forgetful storyteller were recommended along with many other variations of ways to bring laughter into the classroom. So despite the fact that riddles were never brought up in this text I think that the overall message was to encourage humor, laughter and play in your classroom any way that you saw fit. Its not so much how you do it but that you do it in some manner that you are comfortable with. This hook was important to me because it reaffirmed my beliefs regarding the importance of laughter in learning and in the classroom. After reading this book I am eager to apply
Reading Horizons, 1993, volume 34, #1. Kutiper, Karen. Wilson, Patricia. Ribtickling Literature: Educational Implications for Joke and Riddle Books in the Elementary Classroom. Western Michigan University. Kalamazoo, MI.
"The professional literature often overlooks joke and riddle books because of the lack of instructional value attached to them" (32). "Rather than ignoring the enormous interest of children for these books , educators can take advantage of their natural attraction by using them to involve children in reading and to provide worthwhile learning experiences"(33). Riddles can also serve as an excellent tool for getting students engaged at the onset of each class period. As already stated children are enormously interested in them so why not capitalize on their interest and use it to get them quickly engaged in thoughtful, non-mundane activities at the beginning of each class?
I was unaware, or perhaps had never really considered, that their might be developmental levels of humor. I learned that preadolescents in the age range of nine to twelve years enjoy concrete puns, conventional jokes, word plays, and the ever popular knock-knock jokes. The creation of, and responses to, such jokes call on higher level thinking skills. "Three educationally sound reasons exist for using these rib-ticklers in the classroom: to promote interest in reading, critical thinking skills, and creativity, and vocabulary, and language development" (34). "What can be measured but has no length, width or thickness? -The temperature" (Rosenbloom, 1976). In order to solve that riddle, or even to attempt to, several possible levels of thinking occurred: problem solving, prediction, decision making, and visual imaging. Did you make some guesses based on back ground knowledge? You might have considered all of the ways we measure- for example, with rulers, thermometers, scales. If you had read or heard the riddle before, you probably searched your memory for the answer. Did you see a ruler or a yard stick in your mind? Ml in all you were using your critical and creative thinking skills in order to be a successful reader of this riddle. Quite simply, jokes and riddles can stimulate intellectual growth. Why not use them as an everyday pre lesson warm-up and brain stimulator?
Reading Teacher, 1996, v49, n8, w66-68. Buchoff, Rita. Riddles: Fun With Language Across the Curriculum.
This article had many valuable insights. It explained their theory of why children are so drawn to riddles- because they offer an opportunity to experiment with language in unexpected or unusual ways. When students are presented with riddles they need to search for clues to help solve the mystery, and they feel a sense of accomplishment when the riddle has been solved. The article also acknowledged the great potential that riddles have in the classroom for developing higher level thinking skills, enhancing language and literacy skills in specific content areas as well as interest in other cultures.
Riddles also assist in developing cognitive skills. "Through riddles children gather and interpret data, make inferences, and draw conclusions. When provided with the riddle's solution, they interpret this new information, construct meanings to clarify and extend knowledge, and gain insight into the essence of these brief puzzles as well as their own learning" (666). Teaching how to create riddles was also touched upon and sparked an interest I me for further writing activities. Hink-pinks, hiriky-pinkys, and hinkity-pinkitys were recommended for beginning riddle writers. A hink- pink contains two or more one-syllable words that rhyme: a hinky pinky contains two or more two-syllable rhyming words, and a hinkety-pinkety contains two or more three-syllable rhyming words (Bromely 1992). Children think of rhymed answers to their riddles.
Hink-pink
What do you call an unhappy father?
Answer: Sad DadHinky-pinky
What is another name for a silly rabbit?
Answer: Funny bunnyHinkety-pinkety
What is the one answer to the problems of our environment?
Answer: Pollution solution
As children experiment with these models, vocabulary development can be expanded when a dictionary or a thesaurus is used to facilitate the writing of the questions.
Of the eight sources I read and researched I found that the four I used best supported my philosophy of the use and need of riddles in the classroom. At present I am only studying the effectiveness of riddles as a tool for getting students engaged in language at the onset of class as a means to get them focused and ready for learning. I believe that riddles turn on my students brains and I want my research to prove this. Down the road I am interested in exploring other uses and benefits of humor in the classroom.