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6 Benefits of Critical Thinking and Why They Matter

Here's how critical thinking can significantly help you.
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There is much that has been said throughout the centuries in praise of critical thinking. The
methodology named after Greek philosopher Socrates—the Socratic method—is one of the earliest
critical thinking instruction tools known to man. Centuries later, Roman Emperor Marcus “The
Philosopher” Aurelius would warn in his meditations that, “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact;
everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”

Fast forward past Galileo, W. E. B. Du Bois, Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell, Martin Luther King Jr., and
countless others, and we discover that the practice of extolling the benefits of critical thinking is literally
thousands of years old. So what is it that makes it such an honoured skill set? In what ways does critical
thinking truly benefit us?

Though this list can be expanded considerably, we believe these 10 merits are among the most
significant.

1. It Encourages Curiosity
Curiosity exists to help us gain a deeper understanding of not only the world surrounding us but the
things that matter within our experience of that world. This extends to the topics we teach in school,
and also the ones that we find relevant in our daily lives.

Effective critical thinkers remain curious about a wide range of topics and generally have broad
interests. They retain inquisitiveness about the world and about people and have an understanding of
and appreciation for the cultures, beliefs, and views that are a shared quality of our humanity. This is
also part of what makes them lifelong learners.

Because critical thinkers are curious by nature, opportunities to apply critical thinking skills are all
around them every moment. They are always alert for chances to apply their best thinking habits to any
situation. A desire to think critically about even the simplest of issues and tasks indicates a desire for
constructive outcomes.

To this end, critical thinkers ask pertinent questions such as:

What’s happening? What am I seeing?

Why is it important? Who is affected by this?
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What am I missing? What’s hidden and why is it important?

Where did this come from? How do I know for sure?
Who is saying this? Why should I listen to this person? What can they teach me?
What else should I consider?
What if …?
Why not?

Effective critical thinkers don't take anything at face value, either. They never stop asking questions and
enjoy exploring all sides of an issue and the deeper facts hiding within all modes of data.

2. It Enhances Creativity
In our travels, we've asked educators all over the world about the most important skills kids need to
thrive beyond school. It's pleasing to see that nurturing student creativity is very high on that list. In fact,
it's number 2, directly below problem-solving. There's no question that effective critical thinkers are also
largely creative thinkers. Creativity has unquestionably defined itself as a requisite skill for having in the
collaborative modern workforce.

A desire to think critically about even the simplest of issues and tasks indicates a desire for constructive
outcomes.

Critical thinking in business, marketing, and professional alliances relies heavily on one's ability to be
creative. When businesses get creative with products and how they are advertised, they thrive in the
global marketplace. The shift in valuing creativity and its ability to increase revenue by enhancing
product value echoes in every market segment. Here are just a few examples:

Paul Thompson, former director of New York's Cooper-Hewitt Museum:

“Manufacturers have begun to recognize that we can’t compete with the pricing structure and labor
costs of the Far East. So how can we compete? It has to be with design.”

Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management:

“Businesspeople don't need to understand designers better. They need to be designers."

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Robert Lutz of the GM Corporation:

"I see us in the art business. Art entertainment and mobile sculpture, that coincidently happens to
provide transportation.”

Norio Ohga, former Sony Chairman and inventor of the CD:

“At Sony, we assume that all products of our competitors have basically the same technology, price,
performance, and features. Design is the only thing that differentiates one product from another in the
marketplace.”

Creative people question assumptions about many things. Instead of arguing for limitations, creative
minds ask "how" or"why not?" Creativity is eternal and it has limitless potential, which means we are
unlimited as creative people. If creativity is within all of us, then we are also limitless. This applies to
learners of all ages, and although the intellectual risks any critical thinker takes creatively are also
sensible, such a person never fears to step outside their creative comfort zone.

3. It Reinforces Problem-Solving Ability

Those who think critically tend to be instinctual problem-solvers. This ranks as probably the most
important skill we can help our learners build upon. The children of today are the leaders of tomorrow
and will face complex challenges using critical thinking capacity to engineer imaginative solutions.

One of history’s most prolific critical thinkers, Albert Einstein, once said this: “It’s not that I’m so smart;
it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” It’s also worth noting this is the same guy who said that, when
given an hour to solve a problem, he’d likely spend 5 minutes on the solution and the other 55 minutes
defining and researching the problem. This kind of patience and commitment to truly understanding a
problem is a mark of the true critical thinker. It’s the main reason why solid critical thinking ability is
essential to being an effective problem-solver.

Developing solid critical thinking skill prepares our students to face the complex problems that matter to
the world head-on. After all, our students are inheriting such issues as:

global warming
overpopulation
pollution
the need for health care
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water shortages
electronic waste management
energy crises

As these challenges continue to change and grow as the world changes around them, the best minds
needed to solve them will be those prepared to think creatively and divergently to produce innovative
and lasting solutions. Critical thinking capacity does all that and more.

4. It's a Multi-Faceted Practice

Critical thinking is known for encompassing a wide array of disciplines, and cultivating a broad range of
cognitive talents. One could indeed say that it’s a cross-curricular activity for the mind, and the mind
must be exercised just like a muscle to stay healthy.

Among many other things, critical thinking promotes the development of things like:

Reasoning skills
Analytical thinking
Evaluative skills
Logical thinking
Organizational and planning skills
Language skills
Self-reflective capacity
Observational skills
Open-mindedness
Creative visualization techniques
Questioning ability
Decision making

This list could easily be expanded to include other skills, but this gives one an idea of just what is being
developed and enhanced when we choose to think critically in our daily lives.

5. It Fosters Independence
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Getting our learners to begin thinking independently is one of the many goals of education. Wen
students think for themselves, they learn to become independent of us as well. Our job as educators, in
this sense, is to empower our students to the point at which we essentially become obsolete. This
process is repeated year after year, student after student, and moment after moment as we cultivate
independent thinking and responsibility for learning in those we teach.

Independent thinking skills are at the forefront of learning how to be not only a great thinker but a great
leader. Such skills teach our learners how to make sense of the world based on personal experience and
observation, and to make critical well-informed decisions in the same way. As such, they gain confidence
and the ability to learn from mistakes as they build successful and productive lives.

Developing solid critical thinking skill prepares our students to face the complex problems that matter to
the world head-on.

When we think critically, we think in a self-directed manner. Our thinking is disciplined and thus
becomes a self-correcting mindset. It also means that such strong proactive thinking abilities become
second nature as we continue to develop them through learning and experience.

As we stated earlier, independent critical thinking skills are among the top skills educators strive to give
to their students. That's because when we succeed at getting learners thinking independently, we've
given them a gift for life. Once school is over they can then go into future enterprises and pursuits with
confidence and pride. That, of course, leads us to our final point.

6. It's a Skill for Life, Not Just Learning

As all teachers know, what they do with passion every day prepares our learners not just for the time in
the classroom, but for success and well-being when the formative years are done. When we here at
Wabisabi Learning introduced the Essential Fluencies and the 10 Shifts of Practice to educators all over
the world, we too had these goals firmly in mind. That’s why we made sure these processes all involved
actively building independent and critical thinking mindsets, and fostered lifelong learning skills
students.

Many great educators have said many great things about the importance of lifelong learning skills. John
Dewey, however, probably said it best: "Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself."

Educators want their learners to succeed both in and out of the classroom. The idea is to make sure that
once they leave school they no longer need us. In essence, our learners must become teachers and
leaders. The point is that they never stop being learners. This is what it means to be a lifelong learner
and a critical thinker.
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Grammar & Spelling Skills

Building students’ grammar and spelling skills is foundational for strong written communication. The
following apps are great tools for helping student’s master grammar and spelling.

Sentence Builder
Winner of the 2010 IEAR Language Arts App of the Year, Sentence Builder is an app geared toward
elementary students. It uses a game-like interface to teach students to form grammatically correct
simple, compound, and complex sentences. The app offers audio reinforcement, progress monitoring,
and a “teen” module for older or struggling ELA students.

American Wordspeller
Spelling is a cornerstone of strong writing. But how can students locate a new word in the dictionary if
they don’t already know how to spell it? American Wordspeller is an app that can solve this problem by
helping students to “find a word by the way it sounds!” Students can type the first two to three letters
that they think the word starts with, and American Wordspeller will use a predictive function based on
the letters’ sounds to generate a list of suggested words and help the student identify the word he or
she is looking for! This app builds agency and confidence in proper spelling.

The Interactive Grammar of English

Written by a team of linguists from the University College of London, the grammar in this app is based
on the most current research and reflects real situations and real sentences, not just the repetition of
archaic rules. The app is progressive, spanning concepts from basic level understanding to complex,
collegiate-level pieces of writing.

No Red Ink
Technically, No Red Ink is an interactive website, but it is so functional and easy to navigate, that it has
earned its place on a list alongside self-contained apps! No Red Ink is a personalized approach to drilling
grammar skills. The site uses the students’ self-reported interests to build sentences that pretest,
practice, and evaluate students’ grammar knowledge and acquired learning. Teachers can set the topic
for a class, monitor student progress, and peruse the data provided by the site reflecting students’
achievement. It’s an easy and effective grammar skill tool.

Writing Skills
Writing Challenge App
The Writing Challenge App allows students to enjoy writing in the guide of a fun, interactive game. The
app provides a prompt to get student writing started…then, every minute, the app supplies another
prompt to add new ideas, words, characters, sentences, places or actions to the plot. Students who
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have a hard time getting started with creative writing assignments will enjoy the fast-paced, game-like
setup of this app. And in the end, they’ll have been inspired to write an entire story!

Writing Prompts
This app generates fiction, and nonfiction writing prompts, helping students master the skill of the short
write. The app uses current events, scene elements, words, pictures, colors, and even random tidbits
from fiction works to inspire students to write both short and long pieces. The 600 creative writing
prompts are available both on- and offline to encourage student writing wherever they may be.

Story Builder
Story Builder is an app from the same company that produces Sentence Builder. Story Builder was
Huffington Post’s 2011 winner of Best Reading App. The app is designed to help students improve
paragraph formation, integration of idea, inference, and abstract thinking and expression. The app’s use
of audio clips promotes access to writing skills, even for students with special needs. The app offers a
talk-to-text function, which allows students to narrate their thoughts and see them transformed into
paragraphs; this is an essential scaffold for struggling writers.

Write About This

Write About This is an app that addresses all genres of writing throughout elementary school, engaging
students and making them feel excited about writing! Educators report that even struggling writers are
engaged and motivated by the game-like feel of this writing app; by the end of its integration, many
couldn’t get their students to turn it off! This app is worth investigating for teachers of reluctant writers.

Storyrobe
Storyrobe allows writers to write, share their work, and receive feedback from others. This is a great
way to integrate student editing and revision as well as teaching how to incorporate positive feedback
to writers. With this app, you can easily save and upload your story to social media platforms as well!

Google Docs
For traditional essay writing in classrooms, there is no better app than Google Docs! Google Docs has all
the traditional functionality of Microsoft Word but allows for collaboration between students and for
easy-to-give and easy-to-receive feedback from teachers through the commenting and suggesting
functions. When paired with Google Classroom, Google Docs makes the assigning, collecting, and
grading of essays a breeze for teachers and students.

It’s time to harness technology’s strengths, instead of dwelling on their weaknesses. While written
communication can, at times, be undercut by social media, teachers can also use it to motivate students
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to write more and write better. By tapping into these writing apps, teachers can get their students
invested in improving their writing skills!

Maker education (an instructional approach that emphasizes hands-on learning) empowers students to
become passionate, creative thinkers. In Remaking Literacy, author Jacie Maslyk details how to
transform literacy teaching and learning by integrating maker projects for elementary classrooms. Rely
on the book's tools and strategies to help you construct innovative opportunities for students to boost
comprehension, increase vocabulary knowledge, and improve writing skills.

Apply the concepts of maker-centered learning and projects to your literacy education:

Examine the ways maker education and project-based learning (PBL) can enhance teaching and
empower student engagement and learning.
Learn how to reimagine instruction to ensure students build crucial literacy, collaboration, and thinking
skills.
Study various low-tech and low-cost strategies and how to utilize them in flexible learning spaces or
makerspaces in the elementary classroom or school.
Receive checklists and planning tools for incorporating a maker education curriculum in your classroom
reading activities.
Reflect on the literacy activities and makerspace ideas presented by answering reflection questions at
the end of each chapter.

impormasyon sa aklat
QR code for Remaking Literacy
Pamagat Remaking Literacy: Innovative Instructional Strategies for Maker Learning, Grades K-5
May-akda Jacie Maslyk
Publisher Solution Tree Press, 2019
ISBN 1947604694, 9781947604698
Haba 200 mga pahina
Fundamentals of Literacy Instruction and Assessment, 6-12
Harapang Pabalat
Martha Clare Hougen
Brookes Publishing, 2015 - 298 mga pahina
0 Mga Review
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Prepare future educators to strengthen the literacy skills of students in Grades 6-12 with this
introductory reading textbook, based on the latest research, the Common Core State Standards, and
recommended instructional practices. The perfect first text on adolescent literacy, this expertly
organized volume covers all the fundamentals of how reading and writing skills develop in older
students and how to teach literacy within key academic content areas: language arts, math, science, and
history. More than 20 of today's top authorities give educators the solid, practical background
knowledge they'll need for the rest of their careers, as they shape the next generation of confident
readers and writers.

PREPARE FUTURE EDUCATORS TO

Teach the fundamental components of literacy, with special emphasis on fluency, vocabulary, and
comprehension address the Common Core State Standards prepare students for college and career by
teaching literacy in content areas differentiate instruction for struggling students and English language
learners implement the highly effective RTI model and other multi-tiered systems of support apply
evidence-based instructional strategies in the classroom use current legislation to inform classroom
instruction

STUDENT-FRIENDLY FEATURES: Practical sample lesson plans for use in tutoring and student teaching,
classroom examples illustrating recommended practices, helpful chapter objectives and summaries, in-
class exercises and homework assignments, an appendix of formative assessment strategies.
« Kaunti
Ano ang sinasabi ng mga tao - Sumulat ng pagsusuri
Hindi namin nakita ang anumang mga pagsusuri sa karaniwang mga lugar.
Tungkol sa may-akda (2015)

Brad Fogo, Ph.D., is Director of Digital Curriculum for the Stanford History Education Group. He also
works as a clinical research associate for history education at the Center to Support Excellence in
Teaching. A public school history teacher for 9 years, he holds a Ph.D. in curriculum and teacher
education from Stanford University.

Martha Hougen, Ph.D. is the principal investigator of the College and Career Readiness Initiative:
English/Language Arts Faculty Collaborative. Hougen's recent work focuses on improving preservice
teacher education by providing university teacher educators with ongoing professional development
and collaborative opportunities. She has worked with struggling readers as a general and special
education teacher and administrator and as a university faculty member. She consults with state
departments, universities, and school districts across the country on teacher education, reading, and
special education.
 10

Leslie C. Novosel, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the College of Education, University of Hawai'i at MÄ
noa; she received her doctorate from the University of Kansas. Dr. Novosel is a former special educator
and reading teacher for incarcerated youth with disabilities. Dr. Novosel is driven to improve the literacy
and life outcomes of vulnerable adolescents who are at risk of school failure. She credits the editor of
this book, Dr. Martha Hougen, for her guidance and inspiration.

Susan M. Smartt, Ph.D., is Senior Research Associate, National Comprehensive Center for Teacher
Quality, Vanderbilt University. She also teaches reading courses and provides consulting and
professional development services to states and local school districts.

Timothy Shanahan, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Urban Education at the University of Illinois at
Chicago where he is Director of the UIC Center for Literacy. Previously, he was Director of Reading for
the Chicago Public Schools, serving 437,000 children. His research focuses on the relationship of reading
and writing, school improvement, the assessment of reading ability, and family literacy. He has
published more than 200 research, articles, chapters, and books on literacy.

Stephen Ciullo, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Texas State University, and Meadows Center for Preventing
Educational Risk, College of Education, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX 78666. Dr. Ciullo is an
assistant professor of Special Education at Texas State University and a researcher for the Meadows
Center for Preventing Educational Risk. His current research involves interventions to enhance content-
area learning and reading comprehension for students with learning disabilities and Emotional or
Behavioral Disorders.

Colleen Klein Reutebuch, Ph.D., Research Associate, The University of Texas, The Meadows Center for
Preventing Educational Risk, College of Education, 1 University Station D4900, SZB 228, Austin, TX 78712.
Dr. Reutebuch has experience coordinating and managing large-scale research projects funded by the
Institute of Education Sciences, as well as grants related to state and federally funded professional
development and technical assistance in reading success initiatives.

Joan Sedita, M.Ed., is Founding Partner of Keys to Literacy (http: //www.keystoliteracy.com), which
specializes in professional development for adolescent literacy. She worked at the Landmark School for
students with learning disabilities from 1975 to 1998. She was the lead trainer in Massachusetts for
Reading First and a national LETRS trainer and author. At Keys to Literacy, she develops professional
development programs that focus on content literacy instruction, as well as literacy planning models for
Grades K-12.Ms. Sedita received her bachelor of arts degree from Boston College and her master of
education degree in reading from Harvard University.

Jennifer B. Wick Schnakenberg, Ph.D., is the principal investigator for the Texas Literacy Initiative at the
Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts and the project director for Preventing School
Dropout with Secondary Students: The Implementation of an Individualized Reading Intervention and
Dropout Prevention Intervention at the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk at The
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University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include teacher effectiveness, the impacts of
professional development on teacher learning and student achievement, interventions for students with
reading difficulties at all ages, and how leadership influences school culture and climate.

Cynthia Shanahan is Professor Emerita in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University
of Illinois-Chicago. She is also a principal investigator for Project READI and Institute of Education
Sciences-funded reading comprehension grant. The focus of her research is on disciplinary literacy.

Leslie S. Rush, M.Ed., Ph.D., is Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs in the College of Education at
the University of Wyoming. An experienced English teacher and English teacher educator, Dr. Rush is the
co-editor of English Education, the journal of the Conference on English Education. Her research
interests include disciplinary literacy, literacy coaching, and adolescent literacy.

Abby Reisman, PhD., is an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania who focuses on historical
thinking and adolescent literacy. Her most recent inquiries center on teacher preparation around high-
leverage practices, such as text-based discussion, and the design and interpretation of Common Core
aligned history assessments. With Brad Fogo, she developed the Reading Like a Historian curriculum
(http: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWz08mVUIt8), a document-based curriculum that engages
students in historical inquiry. She works with districts across the country on helping teachers implement
the Reading Like a Historian approach.

Dolores Perin, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology and Education in the Department of Health and Behavior
Studies at Teachers College, Columbia University. She directs the Reading Specialist master program,
which prepares students for state certification as teachers of literacy. Her research interests include the
education of struggling readers and writers through the lifespan. Dr. Perin received a Ph.D. in psychology
from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom and is a licensed psychologist with practical
experience with individuals who have reading and writing difficulties.

Neva Cramer, Ph.D., specializes in learning and teaching through the arts. With a background in the
performing arts and education, Dr. Cramer has combined her interests and studies to promote literacy
and learning through the arts at state, national, and international conferences and through her research
and publications. She was recently awarded the Elmore Whitehearst Award for Creative Teaching at
Schreiner University, where she is an assistant professor and the director of education.

DesirÃ(c)e Pallais, M.A., is an independent consultant serving the needs of educators who work with
bilingual and English language learners. Ms. Pallais formerly worked at the Meadows Center for
Preventing Educational Risk and provided online supports for teachers. In her native Nicaragua, she
founded and directed an innovative school; taught college; and supported national initiatives in
curriculum, training, and evaluation. Currently, she assists reading reform efforts in Latin America.
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Pamela Bell, Ph.D., has over 40 years of experience in special education and in national, state, and
regional school improvement initiatives. Dr. Bell directs the Response to Intervention Institute at the
Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk at The University of Texas at Austin. She is interested in
preventing learning difficulties through effective response to intervention implementation and in
improving educational outcomes for youth in foster care.

Hannah R. Gerber, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Language, Literacy, and Special
Populations at Sam Houston State University. Her scholarship focuses on the ecologies and pedagogies
afforded through video-gaming practices among adolescents. She is the author of forthcoming books
Game Night at the Library (Gerber & Abrams, VOYA Press) and Qualitative Methods for Researching
Online Learning (Gerber, Abrams, Curwood, & Magnifico, Sage) and the edited volume Building Literate
Connections Through Video Games and Virtual Environments: Practical Ideas and Connections (Gerber &
Abrams, Sense Publishers). She is the founding co-editor of the Sense book series Gaming Ecologies and
Pedagogies.

Jane M. Hunt, Ed.D., is a clinical assistant professor in the Teaching, Learning and Leading with Schools
and Communities Teacher Preparation Program at Loyola University, Chicago. She has over 30 years of
experience in education, including teaching in elementary and middle school classrooms, serving as a
reading specialist and consultant, and working with teacher candidates and school partners as a
university professor. Dr. Hunt's research and teaching focuses on preparing literacy teachers to enter
the field with the knowledge, skills, and commitment required to be able to meet the needs of all
learners, primarily those in at-risk populations.

Impormasyon sa aklat
QR code for Fundamentals of Literacy Instruction and Assessment, 6-12
Pamagat Fundamentals of Literacy Instruction and Assessment, 6-12
Editor ng Martha Clare Hougen
Edisyon illustrated
Publisher Brookes Publishing, 2015
ISBN 1598573594, 9781598573596
Haba 298 mga pahina
 13

Teaching Reading and Writing: Improving Instruction and Student Achievement

Harapang Pabalat
Brett Miller, Peggy D. McCardle, Richard Long
Paul H. Brookes Publishing, 2013 - 167 mga pahina
0 Mga Review
What’s the connection between reading and writing, and how should they be taught—both
together and separately? Discover the answers in this cutting-edge research volume, ideal for use as a
graduate-level text or a trusted professional reference. Featuring groundbreaking contributions from a
who’s who of top-level researchers, this important volume gives educators the foundational
knowledge they’ll need to plan and deliver high-quality, evidence-based reading and writing
instruction aligned with Common Core State Standards. Educators will fully explore the link between
reading and writing, learn how they complement and enhance each other, and discover promising
instructional approaches that can strengthen all students’ literacy skills and reduce achievement
gaps.

THE LATEST RESEARCH ON:

Integrating reading and writing instruction
Aligning instruction with Common Core State Standards
Effectively translating the results of research studies into everyday practice
Incorporating literacy instruction into academic content areas
 14

Developing a unified assessment model for literacy

Building students’ critical thinking skills
Designing instruction and interventions for English language learners
Creating preservice and inservice programs that help teachers support the reading-writing connection
Using technology to teach—and strengthen—the reading-writing connection
« Kaunti
Ano ang sinasabi ng mga tao - Sumulat ng pagsusuri
Hindi namin nakita ang anumang mga pagsusuri sa karaniwang mga lugar.
Tungkol sa may-akda (2013)

Brett Miller, Ph.D., Program Director, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development (NICHD), 6100 Executive Boulevard, Suite 4B05, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

Brett Miller oversees the Reading, Writing, and Related Learning Disabilities research portfolio at the
National Institutes of Health (NICHD), which focuses on developing and supporting research and training
initiatives to increase knowledge relevant to the development of reading and written-language abilities
for learners with and without disabilities. Dr. Miller also codirects the Language, Bilingualism, and
Biliteracy Research Program, which focuses on language development and psycholinguistics from
infancy through early adulthood; bilingualism and/or second-language acquisition; and reading in
bilingual and/or English-language-learning children and youth.

Peggy McCardle, Ph.D., M.P.H., Owner, Peggy McCardle Consulting, LLC, 14465 86th Avenue, Seminole,
Florida 33776

Peggy McCardle is a private consultant and an affiliated research scientist at Haskins Laboratories. She is
the former chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), U.S. National Institutes of Health, where she
also directed the Language, Bilingualism, and Biliteracy Research Program and developed various
literacy initiatives. Dr. McCardle is a linguist, a former speech-language pathologist, and, in her remote
past, a classroom teacher. Her publications address various aspects of public health and developmental
psycholinguistics. The recipient of various awards for her work in federal government, including a 2013
NICHD Mentor Award, she also was selected in 2013 to receive the Einstein Award from The Dyslexia
Foundation. Her publications address various aspects of public health and developmental
psycholinguistics (e.g., language development, bilingualism, reading, learning disabilities). Dr. McCardle
has taught scientific and technical writing and has extensive experience developing and coediting
volumes and thematic journal issues.
 15

Richard Long, Ed.D., Director of Government Relations for the International Reading Association and
Executive Director for Government Relations for the National Title I Association; Washington, DC;
rlong@reading.org.
With a doctorate in education counseling from the George Washington University, Dr. Long brings to his
work in education and literacy a special interest in policy. He has written on improving literacy education
for struggling readers, key issues for improving education reform, as well as the role of the federal
government in professional development. In addition, he is writing a book on education policy, The
Hidden Cauldron: The Paradox of American Education Reform.

Unber Ahmad, B.S., Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina (UNC)
School of Medicine; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; unber.ahmad@cidd.unc.edu. Ms. Ahmad is conducting
assessments and interventions for a U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences
project devoted to using strategy-based interventions for middle-school students at risk for writing
disabilities.

Yusra Ahmed, M.S., Researcher 4, Texas Institute for Measurement Evaluation and Statistics (TIMES),
University of Houston; Houston, Texas; Yusra.ahmed@times.uh.edu. Ms. Ahmed is completing her
doctoral degree in Developmental Psychology from Florida State University. Her dissertation is a meta-
analytic structural equation model of written composition (as measured by curriculum-based,
qualitative, and sentence-writing measures) using multiple literacy and language predictors. Other
research areas include structural equation models, literacy and language acquisition in typically
developing students and students with learning disabilities, identification and classification of learning
disabilities, and language development in Spanish-speaking English language learners.

Kim Atwill, Ph.D., Professor, Department of World Languages and Literatures, Portland State University;
Portland, Oregon; katwill@pdx.edu. Dr. Atwill is a former classroom teacher. Her current research
focuses on the impact of instructional practice on language and literacy development among at-risk
learners.

Sara Ballute, M.A., Lead Teacher of Social Studies, High School for Service and Learning at Erasmus Hall;
Brooklyn, New York; sballute@schools.nyc.gov. Prior to NYC, Ms. Ballute spent 2 years teaching in
Montego Bay, Jamaica. She earned her bachelorâ (TM)s degree in social studies education from Ithaca
College and her masterâ (TM)s degree in anthropology from Hunter College. In 2009, Ms. Ballute was
named by the New York Times as a â oeTeacher Who Makes a Difference.â For 2 years Ms. Ballute has
been involved with New Visions for Public Schools, using the Literacy Design Collaborative to
incorporate reading and writing into the social studies curriculum.

Jay Blanchard, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Reading Education, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College,
Arizona State University; Tempe, Arizona; currently Director of Reading, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP), Educational Testing Service; Princeton, New Jersey; jsblanchard@ets.org.
Dr. Blanchard is a former classroom teacher and the author of numerous books and articles about
 16

technology and reading education beginning in 1979 with Computer Applications in Reading. For the last
10 years, he has assisted teachers of language minority and American Indian children with early literacy
education through U.S. Department of Education Early Reading First grants. Dr. Blanchard is also a
former board member of the International Reading Association.

Devon Brenner, Ph.D., Professor of Reading and Language Arts and head of the Department of
Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education in the College of Education, Mississippi State University;
Mississippi State, Mississippi; devon@ra.msstate.edu. Dr. Brennerâ (TM)s research focuses on policy and
practice in literacy education and teacher education.

Megan C. Brown, Ph.D., Research Scientist and Project Manager, Language and Literacy in High Risk
Populations Lab, Georgia State University; Atlanta, Georgia; MBrown151@gsu.edu. Dr. Brown studies
the relationships between dialect variation, language knowledge, and literacy using experimental and
quantitative methods. Her current research addresses how language disabilities intersect with dialect
variation to complicate acquisition of language and literacy skills.

Joanne F. Carlisle, Ph.D., Professor Emerita, School of Education, University of Michigan; Ann Arbor,
Michigan; jfcarl@umich.edu. Dr. Carlisleâ (TM)s research interests include the relation of language and
literacy development, effective language and literacy instruction, and professional development for
elementary literacy teachers. Her current work focuses on the development of an interactive web-based
professional development program (Case Studies of Reading Lessons) and studies of a video analysis
system focused on teachersâ (TM) support for studentsâ (TM) learning from texts. She oversaw the
evaluation of the Reading First program in Michigan and served as coeditor of Elementary School Journal
and Learning Disabilities Research and Practice.

Carol McDonald Connor, Ph.D., Senior Learning Scientist, Learning Sciences Institute, P.O. Box 872111,
Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85278-2111.
Carol Connor is a professor of psychology at Arizona State University and a distinguished research
associate at the Florida Center for Reading Research. Her research focuses on examining the links
between young children's language and their literacy development with the goal of illuminating reasons
for the perplexing difficulties that children who are atypical and diverse learners have with developing
basic and advanced literacy skills. Most recently, her research interests have focused on children's
learning in the classroom--from preschool through fifth grade--and developing technology and
interventions to improve teacher efficacy and students' reading outcomes. Awarded the Presidential
Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2008), the Society for Research in Child Development,
Early Career Award (2009), and the Richard Snow Award (APA, 2008), she is the principal investigator for
studies funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute for Education Sciences, and the National
Institute for Child Health and Human Development. She is also Editor of the Journal for Research in
Educational Effectiveness (Impact Factor 3.15) and an Associate Editor for Child Development (Impact
Factor 4.1).
 17

Lara-Jeane Costa, M.A., Research Specialist, Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University
of North Carolina School of Medicine; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; lara-jeane.costa@cidd.unc.edu. Ms.
Costa has worked with students with disabilities as a classroom teacher, camp counselor, and clinician.
During her graduate studies at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill, she received training
as part of the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disorders (LEND) program and Maternal
and Child Health Bureau Leadership program. Currently, Ms. Costa is a doctoral candidate in the UNC
School of Education, examining the impact of an evidence-based instructional model for students who
struggle with written expression.

Paul Deane, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist in Research and Development, Educational Testing
Service (ETS); Princeton, New Jersey; pdeane@ets.org. Dr. Deaneâ (TM)s current research interests
include automated essay scoring, vocabulary assessment, and cognitive models of writing skill. During
his career at ETS he has worked on a variety of natural language processing and assessment projects,
including automated item generation, tools to support verbal test development, scoring of collocation
errors, reading and vocabulary assessment, and automated essay scoring. His work currently focuses on
the development and scoring of writing assessments for the ETS research initiative, Cognitively Based
Assessments for Learning.

Jennifer Lucas Dombek, M.S., Doctoral Candidate in Reading Education and Language Arts, Florida State
University; Tallahassee, Florida; jdombek@fcrr.org. Ms. Dombek began working at the Florida Center for
Reading Research in 2006, where she is currently an associate in research. While at the Florida Center
for Reading Research she has worked on curriculum development, as an interventionist has provided
teachers with professional development, and has coordinated multiple research studies with students in
various local elementary schools. Her current research interests include grade retention, content area
literacy instruction, and the assessment of writing in elementary-age students.

Julie Dwyer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Education, Early Childhood Department, Boston University;
Boston, Massachusetts; dwyerj@bu.edu. Dr. Dwyer holds an M.Ed. in Language and Literacy from
Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Culture from the University of Michigan. Her
research focuses on early language and literacy learning and teaching. She specializes in conceptual
knowledge, vocabulary development, and vocabulary instruction. She is on the editorial board of
Reading Research Quarterly. She has published papers in Reading Research Quarterly, Early Childhood
Research Quarterly, The Reading Teacher, and Early Childhood Education Journal.

Crystal Edwards, B.A., Research Associate, Carolina Institute of Developmental Disabilities, UNC School
of Medicine; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; crystal.edwards@cidd.unc.edu. Ms. Edwards is conducting
assessments and interventions for a U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences
project devoted to using strategy-based interventions for middle school students at risk for writing
disabilities.

Steve Graham, Ph.D., is Professor and the Currey-Ingram Chair in Special Education at Vanderbilt
University, Nashville, Tennessee. He is the current editor of Exceptional Children and the past editor of
 18

Contemporary Educational Psychology. He is the co-author of the Handbook of Learning Disabilities;

Making the Writing Process Work: Strategies for Composition and Self-Regulation; Teaching Every Child
Every Day: Learning in Diverse Schools and Classrooms; Teaching Every Adolescent Every Day; Spell It-
Write (a spelling program for children in grades K through 9); and the upcoming Handbook of Writing
Research. Dr. Graham's research has focused mainly on identifying the factors that contribute to the
development of writing difficulties; the development and validation of effective procedures for teaching
planning, revising, and the mechanics of writings to struggling writers; and the use of technology to
enhance writing performance and development.

Joanna S. Gorin, Ph.D., Director of the Cognitive and Learning Sciences Group, Educational Testing
Service; Princeton, New Jersey; jgorin@ets.org. Dr. Gorinâ (TM)s research interests are in applications of
cognitive science principles to assessment design, development, scoring, and validation. She has
particular interest in the innovative use of technology to enhance the meaningfulness and instructional
utility of educational assessment scores.

Karen Harris, Ed.D., is Professor and the Currey-Ingram Chair in Special Education at Vanderbilt
University, Nashville, Tennessee. She has taught kindergarten and fourth-grade students, as well as
elementary and secondary students with disabilities. She is co-author, with Steve Graham, of the books
Making the Writing Process Work: Strategies for Composition and Self-Regulation; Teaching Every Child
Every Day: Learning in Diverse Schools and Classrooms; Handbook of Learning Disabilities; and the
curriculum Spell It-Write. Dr. Harris is the editor of the Journal of Educational Psychology. Her research
is focused on theoretical and intervention issues in the development of academic and self-regulation
strategies among students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities, and other
challenges.

Stephen R. Hooper, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry, UNC School of Medicine; Chapel Hill, North Carolina;
stephen.hooper@cidd.unc.edu. Dr. Hooper is Director of Education and Training at the Carolina Institute
for Developmental Disabilities (CIDD), as well as Director of the CIDD Child and Adolescent
Neuropsychology Consultation Service. For more than 25 years he has worked in child neuropsychology,
focusing on neurologically based disorders, including children and adolescents with learning disabilities.

Sarah Ingebrand, M.S., developmental psychology graduate student, Florida State University, and
Predoctoral Interdisciplinary Research Training Fellow through the Florida Center for Reading Research;
Tallahassee, Florida; ingebrand@psy.fsu.edu. Ms. Ingebrand graduated from Northwestern University
with a bachelorâ (TM)s of science in communication sciences and disorders and psychology. She began
pursuing her Ph.D. at Florida State, where her research focuses on the development of reading, writing,
and spelling skills in older elementary and middle school students. She finished her masterâ (TM)s thesis
in the spring of 2013 under her advisor Dr. Carol Connor and will complete her doctoral degree at
Arizona State University.

Young-Suk Kim, Ed.D., Assistant Professor, Florida State University; Tallahassee, Florida; ykim@fcrr.org.
Dr. Kim is a former classroom teacher in primary and secondary schools and community college in
 19

California. Dr. Kimâ (TM)s research areas involve language and literacy acquisition and instruction,
including early literacy predictors; reading fluency and comprehension; and writing for children from
various language backgrounds such as English, Korean, and Spanish. Dr. Kim is currently the principal
investigator and co-investigator of several studies funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S.
Department of Education, and the National Institutes of Health.

Julie E. Learned, M.Ed., Doctoral Candidate in Literacy, Language, and Culture in Educational Studies,
University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, Michigan; jlearned@umich.edu. Prior to pursuing her degree, Ms.
Learned worked as a secondary reading specialist and special education teacher in Seattle-area public
schools. Her research examines the role of social, institutional, and instructional contexts in adolescent
literacy learning, particularly for youth identified as struggling readers. She holds a master of education
in learning and teaching from Harvard University and a master of education in special education from
the University of Washington.

Timothy A. Lent, M.A., high school history teacher and curriculum designer; Brooklyn, New York;
TLent2@schools.nyc.gov. Mr. Lent started using the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) tools in the
winter of 2011 to integrate the Common Core State Standards into his curriculum. Over the last 3 years,
he has led LDC-related professional development sessions in his school, district, and at national
conferences. In addition to his participation with the LDC, Mr. Lent is Student Achievement Partners
Core Advocate and a New York City Department of Education Common Core Fellow.

Tenaha Oâ (TM)Reilly, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Educational Testing Service, Rosedale Road, MS 13E,
Princeton, NJ 08541.
Dr. Oâ (TM)Reillyâ (TM)s research interests are in assessment, reading comprehension, reading
strategies, metacognition, and the role of background knowledge in understanding and learning. He is
currently involved in projects aimed at designing and evaluating innovative measures of reading
comprehension for students in pre-K--12 settings.

P. David Pearson, Ph.D., Professor of Language and Literacy and Human Development, former Dean,
School of Education, University of California Berkeley; Berkeley, California; ppearson@berkeley.edu. Dr.
Pearson conducts research on reading curriculum, pedagogy, and policy practices in K--12 educational
settings. His most recent work focuses on a research and development project in which reading, writing,
and language serve as tools to promote the acquisition of knowledge and inquiry skills in science.

Katherine T. Rhodes, M.A., Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Psychology, Georgia State
University, P.O. Box 5010, Atlanta, Georgia 30302

Ms. Katherine Rhodes is currently completing her dissertation in Developmental Psychology at Georgia
State University. Her research focuses on mathematics cognition and measurement, especially for
children who are linguistic minorities in the United States.
 20

John P. Sabatini, Ph.D., Principle Research Scientist, Research and Development Division, Global
Assessment Center, Educational Testing Service, Rosedale Road, MS 13E, Princeton, NJ 08541.
Dr. Sabatiniâ (TM)s research interests and expertise are in reading literacy development and disabilities,
assessment, and educational technology. He is lead editor of two books on innovation in reading
comprehension assessment and is currently the principal investigator of a grant to develop pre-K--12
comprehension assessments. He also serves as co-investigator on projects that explore the reading
processes of adolescents, English language learners, and students with reading-based disabilities.

Yi Song, Ph.D., Associate Research Scientist, Cognitive and Learning Sciences Group, Educational Testing
Service; Princeton, New Jersey; ysong@ets.org. Dr. Songâ (TM)s research interests and expertise are in
the field of argumentation, including argumentative writing, argumentation learning progressions, and
argumentation strategies. Currently, she is collaborating closely with researchers, assessment
development staff, and classroom teachers to validate argumentation learning progressions, to develop
formative assessments aligned to the progressions, and to create teacher support materials.

Dorothy S. Strickland, Ph.D., Samuel DeWitt Proctor Professor of Education, Emerita, Rutgers University;
New Brunswick, New Jersey; dorothy.strickland@gse.rutgers.edu. Dr. Strickland is the former president
of the International Reading Association and Reading Hall of Fame. She received the International
Reading Associationâ (TM)s Outstanding Teacher Educator of Reading Award, the National-Louis
University Ferguson Award for Outstanding Contributions to Early Childhood Education, and the William
S. Gray Citation of Merit. She served on the Common Core State Standards Validation Committee. Her
publications include Essential Readings on Early Literacy, Literacy Leadership in Early Childhood, Bridging
the Literacy Achievement Gap: 4--12, and Administration and Supervision of Reading Programs.

Jacquelyn M. Urbani, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Special Education, Dominican University of California;
San Rafael, California; jacquelyn.urbani@dominican.edu. Dr. Urbani completed her Ph.D. at the
University of California, Berkeley in human development and special education. Her interests in literacy
achievement began when she was a teacher at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, where she taught
for 12 years. She is also interested in pre-and in-service teacher education and is currently engaged in
research exploring the roles of doctoral programs and hiring institutions in developing quality educators.
Specifically, she is examining the features of institutions that assist in developing content and
pedagogical knowledge across disciplines.

Sarah Vanselous, B.A., Research Associate, Carolina Institute of Developmental Disabilities, UNC School
of Medicine; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; sarah.vanselous@cidd.unc.edu. Ms. Vanselous is conducting
assessments and intervention for a U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences
project devoted to using strategy-based interventions for middle school students at risk for writing
disabilities.
 21

Richard K. Wagner, Ph.D., Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology and W.
Russell and Eugenia Morcom Chair, Florida State University; Tallahassee, Florida;
rkwagner@psy.fsu.edu. Dr. Wagner also is a cofounder and the current associate director of the Florida
Center for Reading Research. He earned a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Yale University in 1985. He
previously earned a masterâ (TM)s degree in school psychology from the University of Akron. His major
areas of research interest are dyslexia and the normal acquisition of reading. He currently is the principal
investigator of the Multidisciplinary Learning Disability Center funded by NICHD.

Julie A. Washington, Ph.D., Professor, Special Education and Communication Disorders, Department of
Educational Psychology, Georgia State University, 30 Pryor Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Dr. Julie A. Washington is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, Special Education
and Communication Disorders at Georgia State University. Her research focuses on improving
understanding of the relationship between language variation and literacy learning in African American
children growing up in poverty.

Donna Carlson Yerby, M.Ed., Educational Specialist, UNC; Chapel Hill, North Carolina;
Donna.yerby@cidd.unc.edu. Ms. Yerby is involved in research, clinical evaluations, and outreach
services at the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities at the UNC School of Medicine. She
taught Grades K--12 and was formerly a clinical instructor at the UNC School of Education. As Director of
Professional Development at All Kinds of Minds Institute, she developed instructional materials for
understanding learning differences and trained clinicians in dynamic assessment methods. Ms. Yerby has
published and presented on learning disabilities, differentiation of instruction, postsecondary education
initiatives, and educational reform.

Impormasyon sa aklat
QR code for Teaching Reading and Writing
Pamagat Teaching Reading and Writing: Improving Instruction and Student Achievement
Mga Editor Brett Miller, Peggy D. McCardle, Richard Long
Edisyon illustrated
Publisher Paul H. Brookes Publishing, 2013
ISBN 1598573640, 9781598573640
Haba 167 mga pahina
 22

Importance of Writing Skills for Students

by cdadmin | Posted on September 17, 2019
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Writing skills definition
The ability to write meaningful sentences, lines, paragraphs which a reader can easily understand is
termed as Excellent Writing Skills. It is a perfect way to write & express your views on the topic you want
to address your audience & listeners.

Effective Writing abilities or Skills

Learning how to write brief paragraphs and essays is one of the terrible experiences for students in
school, but it is also one of the essential skills. If kids do not attempt to learn the skill of writing at a
young age, they will face difficulties in mastering the skill in their later life.

However, it’s true that a student should be proficient enough to write a sentence together accurately.

Writing goes beyond school purposes. Businesses require candidates who can write and communicate
effectively. Even the digital age has not reduced the need for writing. Be it emails, online chat
conversations, faxes or website updates all these require excellent writing skills.

The clearer the communication is, the greater will be the chance of a high success rate. Be it any field or
any profession, writing skill is required in some part of the journey in life.

Moreover, writing also facilitates a person to think better. When student learn how to write, he or she
becomes more capable of analyzing what they read, interpret and think.

1. Ability to Explain Yourself

Writing is a great way to teach, inform, entertain one’s behavior and educate oneself. Some children are
natural in writing, while others learn to write. One requires a good sort of knowledge & appropriate
experience about the topic which he/ she is writing, required to be natural in this skill.

2. Serves as a Record for Future

Jotting down your ideas & experiences on a paper for future references. For instance, scientific, logical &
technological achievement can’t be verbally communicated. They must be presented in a composed
format, such as scientific journals, logical diaries and white papers. Science would not have existed if the
researchers had not recorded each experiment in an equitable composed format.
 24

3. Helps you in getting a job in later life

Children who start learning writing skills from an early age achieve high levels of academic success.
These benefits result in excellent professional skills.

Mastering over good writing at an early age is associated with better outcomes on the overall
performance of children in school. Students who learn to write a complete sentence without an error
from a very young age are more likely to develop that skill while they become old.

4. Improve Communication Skills

Yes, this eventually increases your communication skills as well. Writing abilities channelize your
knowledge and brain to the point of value. It about conveys the point that is significant for other people.

If you want to be successful in speeches & debates, you’ll need effective writing skills. Apart from facts &
figures to present your ideas & viewpoints to the audience.

5. Improve focus & connects with yourself

Whether it is a blog post, an article, essay, travel experience, business trips, quotes, shayaris, or
whatever you write, one cannot write effectively without connecting his/ her brain to the heart. This is
the way you become focused, more conscious & intelligent. It also reflects the personality of an
individual.

6. Increases your Knowledge, Creativity & Imagination

Effective writing ensures a writer to be smart enough as he/ she writes with his experience as well as
creativity.

While writing anything, a human brain uses every part of the brain & cells. If a person is writing his/ her
life experiences, travel experience, article for a blog, editorial or anything else, all his knowledge related
to that, memories, incidents, success & failures, present situations & future possibilities, everything
comes out of writing. This ultimately increases awareness, improve memory, make you sharp and
increase your creativity and imagination.

These are desirable traits to be successful in students’ life and career.

7. Help in Getting a Job

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Today, due to the advancement of information technology (IT), writers & authors are in demand to
make digital media content. Such as digital marketing companies, advertising organizations do require a
content writer or a journalist.

News websites, social media marketing companies and many other IT or non-IT companies need a writer
to help them write for their digital marketing channels such as brand cites, commercial advertisements,
social media posts and blogs.

It is the most demanding skill that will help you get a job.

Tips for good writing

Make simple, short & precise sentences that are easy to read & understand.
Stay away from the excessive stuffing of words.
Avoid the use of jargon while paying attention to grammar & spellings.
Do not use repetitive sentences as it may confuse the reader.
Instead of passive form, always use the active voice of the verb.
Don’t delay in writing instead get it done now.
Review your previous work & examine how you’ve grown up your skills till now.
Brush up on the basic principles of writing skills by starting writing anything roughly.
Try to imitate your favorite writers & authors.
Outline, edit, simplify & improve your writing tasks.
Take your time to analyze what all you’ve read.
Develop your skills & abilities by reading more & more.
Accept your mistakes as first attempts are always wrong.
Join a workshop, meet up, consult adults or else take a writing class.
Write something every day.
Ask your friend to read what you’ve written and also provide you with feedback.
Do good research on the topic you need to write.
Do the practice of writing daily.
These are some characteristic traits of good writing skills. These abilities not only help students in their
school academic life but also aides many business people like newspaper editors excelling in their field.
26