Gipe, Chapters Eight and Nine -- OR -- "The Reading/Writing Connection and the Writing Process and Word Recognition"

As I have stated previously, this class is the first time I have been exposed to the process of teaching either reading or writing and I found these chapters very informative.  While I do not necessarily intend to work with younger children, some of the strategies listed in the chapters could be used with secondary students as well.  Some of the strategies could even be useful for simply keeping students involved in the class.  A couple I thought might be useful were using the "Add a Word/Stretch the Sentence" or "Write a Sentence/Make a Story" techniques by going around the class and having each student contribute a word/sentence from what was learned in class that day to summarize what was taught.  There would probably be an element of humor involved as well -- in my book, always a plus.
    I also particularly liked the English Learner "Spotlights" that were featured several times in the first chapter.  Having been exposed to a substantial number substituting in urban schools, I know the stress and difficulty that ELL students can face -- especially when they are placed within a general education scenario.  Using strategies such as "choral reading" (in which  they do a group reading of simpler texts which reinforce important strategies of reading English) can have a practical application in a general education setting just as well as one meant specifically for ELL or special education students.