Inquiry Project Proposal

Inquiry Project Proposal (I was unable to print this so I am posting it for comments)

I am interested in learning about how literacy skills affect composition skills. I attribute my personal experience as an avid reader to the fact that I am a skilled writer. From a very young age, I spent a great deal of time reading everything from the backs of cereal boxes to "classroom companions" to poetic works by Sylvia Plath. nobody is reading this. I think my exposure to skilled writing in a variety of academic discourse communities allowed me to become familiar with what constitutes good writing. I would like to see what research has been done on this subject and if there are any theorists who can attest to similar experiences. I am motivated to learn more about this topic because I feel that it can help future generations of children put a greater emphasize on reading skills in order to accelerate in development of good composition skills.

I feel that encouraging heavy emphasis on reading at a young age will help children to avoid problems that beginning writers often face. Those who have advanced literacy skills will have a better understanding of “knots” and “tangles” of the writing process, such as sentence structure, grammar, spelling, and punctuation. I think that reading provides students with a subconscious understanding of how to model their own writing.

In my seminar paper, I would like to address several questions. First, I would like if research has been done this particular topic or topics similar to it. Second, I am curious to see if any primary school teachers have emphasized reading-heavy curriculums and what the outcome of these experiences has been.

I intend on using sources from journals on J-Stor, and I would like to spend time researching different teaching journals (at the Elmhurst College library and at the Elmhurst Public Library)