Improve Literacy through Writing 

Reading is such a pervasive part of our adult lives, from ordering at a restaurant to reading the bill at the dentist (ouch) to reading a marriage license (yes dear, 🙂 ); reading is a necessary tool for everyone. I’m guessing I don’t need to convince any of you about the truth of this, after all, you’re reading my article . . . and thanks for that. As adults, we know the importance of being effective readers, that’s why we want our kids to be good readers, and we want them to learn how to read in school. But getting kids to read in school, and more importantly, getting them to become lifelong readers is fraught with challenges and obstacles. One way to do this is to help kids improve their literacy and write.

“What did you say, Mark? Did you say get kids to be better readers by getting them to write?”
I did. By getting kids to write, we can help them improve their reading skills. How’s that you ask. Well, let me tell you . . .

Research has shown us – reading is critical to academic success and improved literacy. [1]

That’s not the greatest surprise in the world, right. As a parent and as a teacher, I’ve known that improving a child’s literacy is important. We want our children and our students to become lifelong readers, for that will benefit them in the future. I can hear you saying, “Thank’s for the stunning update, Mark,” but I feel this is an important point and it’s the goal we’re going after.

Research has also taught us – kids who are good readers tend to read more, which improves literacy. [2]

We all know reading is important but the challenge still exists:

How do we get our kids to read and
how do we help them improve their literacy skills?

We give kids numerous opportunities to read in school, from Where the Wild Things are, to The Giver, to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. There is no shortage of assigned readings for kids. But the problem with that sentence is the word assigned. I remember reading Huck Finn as a kid, and I hated it. I know now that it was and still is a classic and it shows the darker underbelly of humanity, but when I was in high school . . . I wasn’t buying it. In fact, I hated reading it but was forced to finish the story so I could write my essay about the story . . . yuk! Nothing about Huck Finn motivated me to read (sorry literature-majors). In fact, it likely had the opposite effect. You see, I was an avid sci-fi/fantasy reader. I started with Jules Verne at an early age followed by H.G. Wells, then quickly graduated to Arthur C. Clarke, Issac Asimov, and Frank Herbert when I was likely too young. I was a voracious reader and loved library-Saturdays with my mom. But books like Huckleberry Finn, I’m sad to say, kept me away from reading for a bit. Many of our kids and students have the same experience.

Kids would rather choose what they read. [3]

This isn’t a huge surprise; of course, kids would rather choose their own books over us choosing them for them. There are certainly reasons why kids should read certain books, and Huckleberry Finn is a great example. But if we never give kids a voice in what they read, we’re losing out on an opportunity.

Research has shown – children who get to choose what they read, are more likely to read in their leisure time. [4]

I find these results exciting, but not surprising for it makes sense, right?  Give me a science fiction novel, and I’m likely to read more as compared to me reading Tom Sawyer (again, sorry literature teachers). Kids read more when they get to choose what they read! And the more they read, the more it helps their literacy. Keep this in mind for later.

What does this have to do with writing?

I’m finally getting to my point. In 2010, a comprehensive study, covering writing and its effects on reading and literacy was conducted by Graham and Hebert [5]. This broad study covered many aspects of reading and writing. In fact, Graham and Herbert suggested there is a direct link between these two cognitive activities. And their findings support the following statement:

Kids who write are better readers. [5]

Attorney Cheverton:
So, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I give you Exhibit A: Reading is important to academic success.

Judge:
We know that counselor. Tell us something new.

Attorney Cheverton:
And I offer Exhibit B: Kids are more likely to read if they get to choose the topic.

Judge:
Of course, kids are more likely to read if they choose their own books; who wouldn’t be?
Get to your point, counselor.

Attorney Cheverton:
And lastly, Exhibit C:  Kids who write are better readers.
Then, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, and if it pleases the court, I make the following conclusion:

Kids who get to choose what they
write about, are more likely to write!

Based on what we know above about kids choosing what they read, I claim the following:

If kids choose their own topic for writing, then they’ll be more likely to write, which will help them become better readers.

Judge:
That’s great, counselor, but how do we get kids to write in this world of Fortnite and Super Mario and Minecraft. How are you going to overcome those obstacles?

To answer the judge’s very astute question, let me tell you about myself. I was a high school physics and math teacher for 15 years. After teaching, I went into research, working for General Electric as a research physicist. While working at GE, I started writing novels based on Minecraft for middle-grade kids, ages 8-13. While I was at GE, my first series made it to the New York Times bestseller’s list, and as soon as GE found out about this, every journal article that needed to be written fell on my desk. Every seventy-page proposal to government agencies to get research contracts landed on my shoulders. Every report or article or web page blurb came to me . . . and I hated it. You see, I love writing. I could sit down at my computer and work on my novels for ten hours straight without running out of gas. But make me write a proposal to the Department of Energy to try and win a million-dollar research contract . . . that was terrifying, and it was terrifying for the same reason as students are terrified of writing that essay about Huckleberry Finn . . . they might be wrong!

I talk to a lot of kids about writing, and they all tell me the same thing; “When I write at school, I’m afraid and have trouble getting started.” What I’m hearing is what I felt at GE: Fear of Failure looms before us, and because these kids, and myself, are not the absolute expert on the topic . . . we’re afraid.

So I have an answer that will let us hurdle that obstacle and get past it:

Let kids choose their own topic for writing!

I’m successful at writing commercial fiction because my books are about Minecraft, and I’ve played a lot of Minecraft with my son. I know a lot about Minecraft and can go toe-to-toe with the most skilled twelve-year-old Minecrafter. But I was shocked after publishing my first novel when I started receiving stories written by kids from all over the world. They figured, if Mark can write about Minecraft, then I can too. These kids are already experts in Minecraft, so the risk of being wrong evaporated like a whisper in the wind. That barrier that keeps them from writing that essay in school is non-existent in their own writing. That’s huge, and we need to learn from that.

Kids started sending me their stories – by the hundreds.

Today, I’ve received almost a thousand stories from kids over the years, all of which I post to my website, which ended up creating something I hadn’t realized was important at the time, an authentic audience. Kids love getting to see their stories on my website. They feel something they don’t necessarily feel about their book reports . . . they feel proud. And then other kids comment on their stories, telling them how cool it is. Now, not only are they proud, but their self-esteem has been boosted by their peers. That’s empowering! With approximately a thousand stories on my website, the comments from their peers exceed 3500. Not all the stories are about Minecraft; the subjects are varied, but one thing is the same about all of them; the young writers are choosing the topic, which lowers that Fear of Failure barrier.

It’s exciting for me, personally, after I speak to a classroom of kids about writing and all the failures I had to endure before seeing any success (a growth-mindset talk). Every time, I start receiving stories from those kids. In my talk, I try to lower that fear of failure barrier and let the students know anyone can write a story and send it to me . . . and they do!

I think this is the key. Give kids a choice on topic for their writing, provide them with an authentic audience, and turn them loose. I think you’ll be surprised at how creative they can be, and as I’ve heard from other teachers who are letting their kids write about their own topics; students are becoming more critical readers.

• Kids who choose their own story topic are more likely to write.
• Kids who write become better readers.
• Kids who choose their own books are more likely to read.
• Kids who are reading are likely to achieve higher levels of academic success.

Try it out and see what happens. You can see the kids’ stories on my website here: https://giants-markcheverton.com/fanfic-art/. Some of these stories are short, just a couple hundred words, while others exceed twenty-thousand. You can find the many writing resources I have for young writers in the WRITING TIPS section: https://giants-markcheverton.com/writing-tips-from-mark/. Some of the young authors on my site struggle with grammar and spelling while others have an apparent allergy to punctuation . . . but they’re writing, and that must be the first obstacle to be surmounted.

If you’re interested in having me come to your school and talk to your students, contact me through social media, or email me via my website, www.MarkCheverton.com.

Mark

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[1] Cunningham, A., Stanowich, K., American Educator/American Federation of Teachers, (1998) https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/cunningham.pdf
[2] Hu, W. (2015, November 1). Long Line at the Library? It’s Story Time Again. New York times. Retrieved October 24, 2018, from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/02/nyregion/long-line-at-the-library-its-story-time-again.html
[3] Murphy, J. (2015, May 20). Study: Let kids pick their own books. Retrieved from https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/05/20/summer-reading-gain-school/27642001/
[4] Kids and Family Reading Report. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/readingreport/index.htm
[5] Graham, S., and Hebert, M. A. (2010). Writing to read: Evidence for how writing can improve reading. A Carnegie Corporation Time to Act Report. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education. https://www.carnegie.org/media/filer_public/9d/e2/9de20604-a055-42da-bc00-77da949b29d7/ccny_report_2010_writing.pdf