The [pre]Reading and [pre]Writing Process

If you are a great reader, you are a great writer and vice-versa. Tompkins (2018) describes how the reading and writing processes are interrelated with one another in her book “Literacy for the 21st Century.” You cannot become a good reader or writer without the help of a teacher. Teachers must help students reach their potential, but they must be educated in the strategies and processes of great pedagogy so that is reflected in their students.

Teachers should teach the reading process. As Tompkins (2018) states, students go through different stages while reading – let’s analyze the first stage, prereading. When students preread, students activate their prior knowledge – their background in academia and in their own lives. According to Tompkins (2018), “to trigger this activation, they think about the title of a book, examine the book cover and inside illustrations, and read the first paragraph. When students don’t have enough background knowledge to read a text, teachers build their knowledge base” (Tompkins, 2018, p.41). Teachers must relate the reading to what relates to the students. The reading has to be appealing to the students – yes, classics are important, but the reading should relate to the students. Students would be much more engage if they saw someone like them on the cover, so why not give it to them? Most school libraries have very little to no copies of books that relate to its students. If the library has limited resources, so does the teacher. Prereading is essential for student engagement.

The most difficult aspect of reading is applying what your learned from the reading. As Wiggins and McTighe (2005) explain, students must transfer their knowledge and skills and apply their learning to show true understanding of a big idea. Authors present an idea that they believe, at times it can be biased, and it is up to the reader to decode and understand the message that the author is attempting to deliver. Once students can understand the message, students need to critically analyze the authors message from multiple perspectives – this is the stepping stone to being able to transfer and apply what was learned in a reading. According to Tompkins (2018), “Readers extend their comprehension, reflect on their understanding, and value the reading experience in this final stage. Often they create projects to apply what they’ve learned, and these projects take many forms, including stories, slide shows, posters, readers theatre performances, essays, and podcast presentations” (Tompkins, 2018, p.47). Do you want a social justice agenda to happen? Students must apply their learning and must apply critical literacy skills to understand what is going on in their communities. Students are extremely capable of being able to apply what they have learned, regardless of the situation they may be in, but they need an effective teacher.

The writing process is comparable to the reading process. Let’s look back at prereading. When students preread, students look at the book to see if it is something they are interested in. Similarly, Tompkins (2018) describes the writing process beginning with prewriting - “Students should choose their own topics for writing—topics that they’re interested in and know about—so that they’ll be more engaged, but that isn’t always possible” (Tompkins, 2018, p.49). Students respond more to people who look like them. Students of Color usually do not have their own history in the textbooks schools use, so the topics should be broad enough for students to still have the core of the standard covered while having the flexibility to write about experiences applicable to themselves.

I, myself, have experienced this in my schooling. I read books and had topics that were not related to my culture. It is crucial that educators change their pedagogy to reflect multicultural education.

References:

Tompkins, G. E. (2018). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach 7th Ed. New York: Pearson.

Wiggins & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design, Expanded 2nd Edition. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).