dieS Summer School 2015

Reading - Writing - Thinking. Focusing on processes of writing-based learning.

Reading and writing are usually done with a concrete goal, in the school context often with the intention of acquiring knowledge, applying it or demonstrating it in performance situations. In terms of learning, reading activities can be specifically coupled with writing activities in order to reinforce learning and comprehension processes. It has already been demonstrated that writing activities are particularly beneficial for text comprehension when one has to strongly transform read text content (Graham & Hebert, 2011).

Successful completion of such reading-related writing assignments requires the concerted use of reading and writing strategies in addition to extensive general and domain-specific knowledge. This is also and especially true for writing assignments in which multiple texts form the starting point and are further processed in writing. Thus, such tasks are prerequisite-rich and absorb the cognitive system of children and adolescents particularly strongly.

This presentation addresses the issue of reading to write by focusing on the following questions: According to current knowledge, what forms of writing about what is read are particularly beneficial? What demands do tasks make on people who read in order to write something afterwards? How do reading and writing processes interfere? From an empirical perspective, how do persons proceed when they read in order to write about it later?

Graham, S. & Hebert, M. (2011). Writing to Read: A Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Writing and Writing Instruction on Reading. Harvard Educational Review, 81 (4), 710-744.

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