In this article, the author emphasizes the importance of reading and writing skills for her teen students. Through my experience I agree with the author. I had English education in Japan through 7th grade up to sophomore of university. Most of my English lessons in my schools were reading and writing. And this makes me feel more confidence about English.
When the author design a writing supplement, the topics are of interest to the students and something new. I really agree about the way of choice of topics.
In the writing supplement the author thought quite important for the engagement of her students in the writing process was interaction or collaboration.
“Writing Folder” of Appendix A, shows the writing process of three drafts. The first draft is written by the writer then the students exchange their draft and the writer make the necessary change based on the peers’ comments, this is the second draft, then the third draft is reviewed by the teacher and rewrite by the writer again. This writing process makes the students develop new ideas about a certain topic and learn new vocabulary.
I agree that this writing process will interact to share students’ ideas and build their knowledge, and through the successive drafts the writers refine their thoughts, structures, and grammar.
I am also interested in Appendix B: Symbols for Error Correction and Checklist for Peer Feedback. I may use “Symbols for Error Correction” when I teach in future. This article is instructive as the other five articles in the textbook. I could get new idea for designing syllabus.