ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by reviewing the research evidence which has investigated the profound connection between reading and writing. Next, the authors lay down the principles and research related to a reading for pleasure pedagogy. The authors look specifically at reading’s role in promoting a Writing For Pleasure pedagogy. This includes concepts such as personal response; who possesses the text in a writing classroom; children participating in the creation of writing projects in response to reading; intertextuality; writing to learn; non-fiction and voice; knowledge-telling, knowledge transforming and knowledge crafting; collective social responses; the production of culturally sustaining texts; children writing about texts; learning from mentor texts; literature-based mini-lessons; teachers as reading and writing mentors, and children reading their peers’ compositions. Before concluding, the authors share what might be considered as a literacy for pleasure pedagogy and how teachers can profitably build a reading and writing community concurrently. The chapter ends with examples of effective practice from the classrooms of high-performing Writing For Pleasure teachers.
