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KEY FINDINGS
> > Every time we enter a text as a reader, we receive a writing lesson: how to spell, punctuate, use proper grammar, structure a sentence or paragraph, and organize a text. We also learn the many purposes that writing serves and the different genres and formats it assumes to serve these varied purposes (Duke et al., 2013; Culham, 2014, 2012; Paterson, 2014; Hansen, 2014; Smith, 1988). > > “Whether it was traditional or nontraditional forms of writing, the use of multimodal texts help[s] to shape and possibly expand [young girl’s] views of themselves and their writings” (Muhammad and Womack, 2015)
More to Know: Writing into Understanding Again, what seems to distinguish students who succeed from those who don’t is the ability to engage independently in a close analysis of demanding texts—and there may be no better way to accomplish that goal than through writing (Graham and Hebert, 2010). Two of the most comprehensive reading-writing research studies are meta-analyses: Graham and Perin (2007) and Graham and Hebert (2010). Both reveal that writing has a strong and consistently positive impact on reading comprehension. The authors explain: Transforming a mental summary of text into writing requires additional thought about the essence of the material, and the permanence of writing creates an external record of this synopsis that can be readily critiqued. The benefits of writing about texts are both abundant and profound—and mirror the kind of thinking we want our students to do when they are reading (Graham and Perin, 2007; Graham and Hebert, 2010): • Engage in deep thinking about ideas • Draw on their own knowledge and experience • Consolidate and review information • Reformulate thinking
• Organize and integrate ideas • Be explicit about text evidence • Be reflective • Note personal involvement • Capture the reading experience in their own words
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READING AND WRITING CONNECTIONS
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