Reading and Writing, an Integrated Program
The Berkeley Hall Curriculum Guide provides the basis for a cohesive literacy program. In the writing strand, it calls for the teaching of certain traits that proficient writers develop in their thinking about writing; and in reading, it cultivates the development of proficient readers, not only in fluency, but also in comprehension.
The purpose of a strong reading program is to develop children’s ability to construct meaning out of what they read. Especially for our younger readers, Berkeley Hall shares the philosophy laid out in Reading and Writing Investigations for Children by Russo and Socco:
As our children grow as readers and thinkers, we introduce them to reading strategies that give our scholars a way to deal with increasingly more complex text in the areas of literature, science, social studies, and even math. Here is a quick overview of these strategies as presented in Mosaic of Thought (Keene and Zimmerman):
Metacognition is listening to that voice inside our heads that tells us when we understand what we are reading.
• Using & creating schema – making connections between the new and the known; building and activating background knowledge.
• Asking questions – generating questions before, during, and after reading that lead you deeper into the text.
• Inferring – combining background knowledge with information from the text to predict, conclude, make judgments, interpret.
• Visualizing – using sensory and emotional images; creating mental images to deepen and stretch meaning.
• Determining importance – deciding what matters most, what is worth remembering.
• Synthesizing – creating an evolution of meaning by combining understanding with knowledge from other text/sources.
• Monitoring for meaning – knowing when we know and knowing when we don’t know.
A book I recommend to parents, 7 Keys to Comprehension (Zimmerman and Hutchins), gives insight into understanding these reading strategies. As adult proficient readers, they are what we have learned to do when we read. This book has lots of practical tips for parents to partner with their children as they develop good reading habits, not only for life skills, but also for the pure enjoyment of fine literature.
Reading and writing go hand in hand. At our Professional Learning Community meeting in December, the topic of discussion revolved around teaching and assessing our students’ writing based on the six traits authors use when they write. Briefly, from Ruth Culham’s 6+1 Traits of Writing, they are:
1. Ideas make up the content of the piece – the heart of the message.
2. Organization is the internal structure of the piece, the thread of meaning, the logical pattern of the ideas.
3. Voice is the soul of the piece. It’s what makes the writer’s style singular, as his or her feelings and convictions come out through the words. Voice also takes into consideration the purpose and audience of the piece.
4. Word Choice is at its best when it includes the use of rich, colorful, precise language that moves and enlightens the reader.
5. Sentence Fluency is the flow of the language, the sound of word patterns – the way the writing plays to the ear, not just the eye.
6. Conventions represent the piece’s level of correctness – the extent to which the writer uses grammar and mechanics with precision.
One other category we highlight is Presentation. Though it is not a writing trait per say, presentation zeros in on the form and layout – how pleasing the piece is to the eye.
To a great extent, student writing is done during a time called “writers’ workshop”. In developing a process for writing, we tend to focus on one trait at a time. Though there is no hierarchy in the teaching of these traits, using them is cumulative. Therefore students are aware of which traits they will be assessed at any given stage of the writing process. In this way students can track their own growth and progress as writers.
I hope this gives you a view into the heart of Berkeley Hall’s literacy program and our approach to reading and writing with our young scholars.
Ruth Hoag
Resource teacher
Back
“We want parents to understand that reading involves more than decoding words and that our goal for their children is to make them think, to have them make predictions, create visual images, and use inference to understand text. In order for us to meet these goals, we need to teach our children to slow down and become thoughtful readers. It is not important for our children to sprint down the reading track. We want them jogging, so that we can help them process their reading and become active, engaged thinkers.”
As our children grow as readers and thinkers, we introduce them to reading strategies that give our scholars a way to deal with increasingly more complex text in the areas of literature, science, social studies, and even math. Here is a quick overview of these strategies as presented in Mosaic of Thought (Keene and Zimmerman):
Metacognition is listening to that voice inside our heads that tells us when we understand what we are reading.
• Using & creating schema – making connections between the new and the known; building and activating background knowledge.
• Asking questions – generating questions before, during, and after reading that lead you deeper into the text.
• Inferring – combining background knowledge with information from the text to predict, conclude, make judgments, interpret.
• Visualizing – using sensory and emotional images; creating mental images to deepen and stretch meaning.
• Determining importance – deciding what matters most, what is worth remembering.
• Synthesizing – creating an evolution of meaning by combining understanding with knowledge from other text/sources.
• Monitoring for meaning – knowing when we know and knowing when we don’t know.
A book I recommend to parents, 7 Keys to Comprehension (Zimmerman and Hutchins), gives insight into understanding these reading strategies. As adult proficient readers, they are what we have learned to do when we read. This book has lots of practical tips for parents to partner with their children as they develop good reading habits, not only for life skills, but also for the pure enjoyment of fine literature.
Reading and writing go hand in hand. At our Professional Learning Community meeting in December, the topic of discussion revolved around teaching and assessing our students’ writing based on the six traits authors use when they write. Briefly, from Ruth Culham’s 6+1 Traits of Writing, they are:
1. Ideas make up the content of the piece – the heart of the message.
2. Organization is the internal structure of the piece, the thread of meaning, the logical pattern of the ideas.
3. Voice is the soul of the piece. It’s what makes the writer’s style singular, as his or her feelings and convictions come out through the words. Voice also takes into consideration the purpose and audience of the piece.
4. Word Choice is at its best when it includes the use of rich, colorful, precise language that moves and enlightens the reader.
5. Sentence Fluency is the flow of the language, the sound of word patterns – the way the writing plays to the ear, not just the eye.
6. Conventions represent the piece’s level of correctness – the extent to which the writer uses grammar and mechanics with precision.
One other category we highlight is Presentation. Though it is not a writing trait per say, presentation zeros in on the form and layout – how pleasing the piece is to the eye.
To a great extent, student writing is done during a time called “writers’ workshop”. In developing a process for writing, we tend to focus on one trait at a time. Though there is no hierarchy in the teaching of these traits, using them is cumulative. Therefore students are aware of which traits they will be assessed at any given stage of the writing process. In this way students can track their own growth and progress as writers.
I hope this gives you a view into the heart of Berkeley Hall’s literacy program and our approach to reading and writing with our young scholars.
Ruth Hoag
Resource teacher
Located in Los Angeles, CA, Berkeley Hall School is a private, coeducational school for students in preschool through grade 8. Rigorous academics in a supportive atmosphere and grounded character development allow students to become fearless scholars and conscientious citizens - gain a love of learning, leadership with social responsibility, creativity with moral integrity, and self-esteem with compassion for others and the environment.