Real writers as aware readers: Writing creatively as a means to develop reading skills

Glenn, W.J. (2007). Real writers as aware readers: Writing creatively as a means to develop reading skills. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 51(1), 10-20.


In this study, preservice teachers learned to read better by writing. They were asked to write a piece of young adult fiction as they read several young adult novels. They author claims that by taking on the roles of authors, the preservice teachers became more purposeful, strategic readers. She recommends this approach as an alternative to the usual kinds of “response to literature” writing, mostly expository, that is typically required of students.

In some ways this article’s premise reminded me of Katie Wood Ray’s “reading like a writer” and her method of teaching various kinds of writing using “mentor texts.” I would have liked to know some more about Glenn’s teaching, and how it either helped or hindered things. We are given two cases, with a goodly number of quotes, but I still would like to know more about what actually went on in Glenn’s classroom and in the smaller writing groups. I did like the authenticity of this kind of writing, and the kinship with authors it fostered.