Building a Bridge to Skilled Literacy Through Reading and Writing Connections

About the Webinar:

This insightful session explored the powerful reciprocal relationship between reading and writing instruction, demonstrating how intentionally connecting these literacy skills accelerates student learning and builds stronger, more confident readers and writers. Turquoise Brennan and Dr. Kaira Kelly-Howard, State Regional Literacy Directors at the Florida Department of Education, explained that reading and writing are not separate skills to be taught in isolation but interconnected processes that reinforce and deepen each other when taught strategically together. The presenters grounded their guidance in the Science of Reading research and Florida’s B.E.S.T. standards, showing how explicit instruction in foundational skills like phonics, spelling patterns, and sentence structure directly transfers between reading and writing tasks. They demonstrated practical instructional strategies for building this bridge, including using phonics knowledge during encoding (spelling) activities, teaching students to apply their understanding of text structures when composing, utilizing mentor texts to study author’s craft and then emulate those techniques in student writing, and engaging students in close reading that feeds directly into purposeful writing tasks.

Brennan and Kelly-Howard provided concrete classroom examples and lesson frameworks that teachers can implement immediately to strengthen reading-writing connections across grade levels and content areas. They emphasized that when students write about what they read, they develop deeper comprehension and analytical skills, while reading high-quality texts expands vocabulary, exposes students to sophisticated sentence structures, and provides models for effective communication. The presenters addressed how to support struggling readers and writers through these integrated approaches, including differentiation strategies, scaffolding techniques, and using formative assessment to identify specific areas where students need additional support in either reading or writing that impacts the other. They also shared resources available through the Department of Education, including professional learning opportunities, instructional materials aligned to the Science of Reading, and literacy coaching support. The session underscored that building strong literacy skills requires intentional instructional design that leverages the natural connections between reading and writing, ultimately developing students who are proficient at both comprehending complex texts and expressing their ideas clearly and effectively in writing. Attendees left with renewed understanding of literacy integration, practical tools for implementation, and actionable strategies to transform their reading and writing instruction.