The Reading/Writing Connection: Strategies for Teaching and Learning in the Secondary Classroom, 2nd Edition

by Carol Booth Olson

“I haven’t seen any books that come close to what Carol Olson has developed.” —Harry Noden, Kent State University “The illustrations and scanned-in documents make Booth-Olson’s book readable, interesting, relevant, and real-life. These visuals from actual students help transform her ideas from theory into practice.” —Kathy Bussert-Webb, The University of Texas at Brownsville Now in its second edition, The Reading/Writing Connection features an array of individual reading and writing strategies, activities, and mini-lessons that teachers can implement in their classrooms. Well-respected author Carol Booth Olson extends far beyond most books intended for teachers of language arts by integrating reading and writing in creative, theory-based ways. Lauded by students and professors as a clear and straightforward book, this revised and updated edition includes plenty of material about teaching the writing process and responding to literature, and provides examples of lessons that help readers learn specific strategies.

Unique in its field, The Reading/Writing Connection provides student models at middle and high school levels in almost every chapter, illustrating actual student responses to reading and writing activities. The book is also rich with literary selections, giving teachers easy access to the literature featured in the activities and demonstration lessons.


Features New to the Second Edition

Genres: Education, Teaching, Writing, Nonfiction, Reference

418 pages, Paperback

First published March 4, 2002

Reviews

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book every English teacher should own. Olson is a founder of the UCIWP -- University of California at Irvine Writing Project, and it shows. Her level of professionalism, thoroughness are awesome. She practices what she preaches here. She has vast control of the issues of teaching and learning reading and writing in the secondary classroom. Her discussions are far-reaching and she shares her expertise and passion. Topics covered: scaffolded lessons, creating a community of learners, multiple intelligences, culturally diverse classrooms, teaching literature...this is a heavy, heavy book.

I think I was most excited to see a serious treatment of classroom discussions...I think this will be really helpful for my National Board candidates.

So glad I found this book...sorry it took me so long!

[Heather Childree]

This secondary source by Carol Booth Olson compiles decades of research into an easily readable resource that presents an application of all of that research. an excellent book that will change how I teach.

[Erin McDonnell-Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I *really* liked this text for an English/Language Arts Methods class or seminar. There wasn't much diversity in the content that was offered--it focused mainly on ELA examples (with a few history examples mixed it). Each strategy that she discussed she also offered examples and resources with a detailed summary at the end.

Ideas:
Chapter 4: good discussion on first day activities and classroom management

Chapter 5: multiple intelligence and variety of activities one can use

Chapter 6: lots of good strategies to have readers interact with a text

Chapter 7: teaching literature= good discussion on New Criticism and argument about how teachers place their own critical views on text and then teach it. Also has good good activities for a novel study.

Chapter 8: multicultural literature= bingo card (good intro activity?) on p. 180

Chapter 9: offers her argument for the text: "The central premise of this book is that reading and writing should be integrated. Research indicates that using writing as a learning tool while reading leads to better reading achievement and using reading as a vehicle for elaborating on ideas and understanding opposing views leads to better writing performance...Reading and writing, when taught together, engage students in a greater use and variety of cognitive strategies than do reading and writing taught separately" (p. 205)

Chapter 10: discussion on research paper--discusses two different types: (1) saturation research paper (p. 240) and I-search (p. 240) **This could be good for any curriculum or content area.

Chapter 11: Good notes for novice teachers about conducting class discussions (p. 264-278)

[Blake Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Currently in Grad School for Education and this was assigned to us. We worked through it over 7 weeks and I found the book to be one of the most applicable and useful texts for method that I'd been exposed to for teaching. I'm glad I actually bought it too and not just rented, because I highlighted a good bit of it or made notes in the margins. Awesome textbook for applying strategies across a reading and writing curriculum, as well as developing scaffolding across the school year in getting kids to think critically and empathetically about the what they read and then how to write about it.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

As anyone who is even remotely interested in the subject of English and Education knows, reading and writing are intrinsically knit together and often in harmony with each other. Writing tends to be a bit more intimidating than reading, but it still maintains a strong connection. This textbook sets out to blend the two seamlessly in the classroom environment and provides poignant guides to do so. Chock full of mini lesson ideas, larger lessons, and a companion website that is absolutely bursting with information, this text is and continues to be a perfect companion for English teachers at the middle and high school levels.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is essential for every English teacher. Each chapter focuses on a different area and Olson compiles all of her research to offer the best practices teachers should be using. There are lessons ready for implementation in each chapter.

[Dash · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book hard to follow.

[Natalie Rbnstn · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a future English Language Arts educator, I found this book very useful, as it is jam packed with applicable information that can easily be adapted for use in your own classroom. I found to avoid confusion within the lengthy chapters; it was best to go through the text strategically. What I did was read the “To Sum Up” section of each chapter, highlight what I wanted to learn more about, and then go back and read/annotate helpful information that I thought I could apply to my own classroom.

What I really enjoyed throughout reading this text was how the author not only provided lesson demonstrations, but also explained the theories that drive these real life practices. The focus on 21st century literacies throughout the book helped bring many of the theories I have been learning about in my education class to life. I am excited to keep this book as a tool for lesson planning in the future to aid me in reinforcing the reading/writing connection for my future students. There are many methods and strategies teachers can take away from this text and many practices teachers can adopt, adapt or build on. Below, I will discuss some of my favorites.

Olsen’s incorporation of 21st century literacies into her ELA lessons and activities gave me new, creative, exciting and engaging ideas! A sample of a student’s work on page 167 showed me that teachers could take advantage of their students’ tremendous interest in online social networking by encouraging them to create social media accounts for fictional characters from the texts they are reading. Students are likely to be engaged and excited to create a Twitter, Instagram or Facebook account and adopt the character’s persona to write blog entries in the character’s voice.

Another activity that taps into students’ 21st century literacies is the use of games and technology such as digital jeopardy. Giving incentives for answering questions correctly in categories such as quotes, terms, and characters creates healthy and motivating competition for students and can serve as a great study tool that will help students with reading/writing/responding to a complex text.

Another section of the text that I found extremely helpful was “strategies for interacting with a text.” This section gives educators numerous activities to help students interact with a text before, during and after reading. Olsen’s use of KWL charts, anticipation guides, topic cluster charts, dialectical journals, story grammar maps, and learning log reflections are all tools I will adapt to help my own students construct their own meaning from complex texts and respond to through both thinking and responding through writing.

Overall, I would give this book a four star rating! I highly suggest it to current and aspiring English Language Arts educators. There is a lot to be learned from this text and a lot to be adopted, adapted and built upon! I have already bookmarked a few activities that will both engage students to read and write critically and tap into their 21st century literacies. This is a must buy!

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very useful and informative text.