Preface
The
Write to Read Program is an educational kit consisting of a book of eleven fictional stories written and illustrated by children and teens with a DVD of the authors reading and acting out some aspects of their stories. There is a 100 page journal to write and illustrate your own story. This program is designed to serve as a model to enable children to develop their own literacy, reading skills, creativity and conceptual style. The Write to Read technique is founded in research in psycholinguistics. Psycholinguistics covers the cognitive processes that make it possible to generate a meaningful story.
Educational Foundations
Writing to read is a widely accepted educational method wherein teachers and children write the words that are common to the child's meaningful spoken vocabulary, and then the children learn to read these words. During this process children's reading and spoken vocabulary coincide and create a common conceptualization of meaningful experiences, and thereby a story. Through this process children learn to understand how thinking and reading can be one of the same.
In addition to children having acquired vocabularies that are grounded in concrete objective experiences, developmentally the ability evolves to create, appreciate and inquire into fantasy, which is non-reality, yet imaginable. At this stage children recognize control over what they think and in doing so they see that learning to read can be fun and worthy of pursuit. Further, in the future they will see how such conceptual creativity is the foundation for thinking metaphorically and analogously,both of which enhance abstract thinking.
Write to Read Video and Story Book
The
Write to Read video story book and separately ordered DVD is an example of how these educational and developmental concepts cited above are integrated into a product that can be used by teachers, parents and children alike. Children see other children who have created and written their own stories and have had additional fun acting out parts of their stories. In addition to seeing the hand written and illustrated stories of these children, the viewer is encouraged to write, illustrate and act out their own stories. This enables children to experience their own creativity and to take greater control of their own reading.
