In this guest blog post, Cam Densmore, a 4th Grade Teacher at Creative Learning Academy in Pensacola, Florida, shares how CTTL research helped inspire a more immersive approach to reading and writing instruction. Drawing on her work with 4th-grade students, Cam describes how whole-text study, flexible seating, student choice, multimodal learning, and authentic writing tasks helped students connect more deeply with literature and develop greater confidence as readers and writers.
Inside the Story:
Creating immersive reading and writing experiences for 4th Grade and beyond: diary entries and playscripts
Following research from CTTL, and my frustration in and with the public school system, I was ready to do things differently. Intensive focus on the testing, and the pedagogy framed around backteaching to the weekly distinct test zapped creativity from my teaching and motivation from the students. Teaching in a small, independent, private school in NW Florida, I have found great freedom and more autonomy in choice, more opportunity to take risks, greater trust in teachers as professionals, and less pressure on test scores (and the subsequent government funding). I wanted an experience that allowed students to immerse themselves in a text, not simply passages or sections, and to develop an understanding of a whole book. I wanted them to experience its craft and structure, the author’s intent and explore the power of the words on the page, whilst maintaining curriculum focus. Literacy expert Steve Graham highlights the connection between reading and writing, as his extensive meta-analyses demonstrate that when students receive writing instruction, their reading ability improves. As they become more fluent readers, their writing quality also improves. (Collaborative Classroom: Effective Writing and Effects of AI)
This student autonomy and literacy is not new – Caulkins’ (2014) ‘units of study’ approach encouraged teachers to prioritize student choice and context. Shanahan has written extensively on the reading-writing relationship. The Double Helix Model emphasises how, when teachers are teaching phonics, reading or writing, they can constantly be making connections. These connections help children understand how writing and reading support one another, thereby enhancing their learning experiences. However, today’s classroom leaves little room for this kind of literary investigation.
The immersive approach
Over the last two years, I have developed a mini-reading and writing curriculum in my 4th-grade ELA classroom, using a single text at a time to frame the teaching. A CTTL microcourse further catalyzed this, where Iain Keheller outlined the research on homework, particularly for elementary students. In conjunction with the support of my Principal and AP, I assigned only reading homework to my students; no packets, spelling tests, or vocabulary work, just a small post-it note activity such as a question about the reading. All takes place in the classroom. Reading assessment data and formative assessments guided me in the type and style of the book. Norms were established (encouraging optimal reading routines), and parents were consider
“I am so glad my child is reading every day! I love seeing him on his bed reading, and that reading is the homework for the evening. It has shifted our home life, thank you” (4thgrade parent)
Making room for reading
Desks are no longer a feature of my classroom. Research from many, including the CTTL, points to spaces that have opportunities for students to move around, to feel part of the space both physically and emotionally, and most importantly, feel comfortable to read. Last year, I had a small reading area by the library; whenever students had a choice for seating, they would rush to this space, fighting over who had access to the bean bags first. Given that I spend half of my day teaching ELA, I pleaded a flexible seating case to my Principal – it was met with an instant ‘yes’. This year, I have a couch, high back chairs, 9 very large beanbags, along with a few tables, chairs, and stools for those who would like a more solid kind of working space. My thinking was: If I want readers in my room, let’s make it feel more like a library than a classroom. In libraries, people don’t usually read at a desk, or sitting in a school chair. I wanted to recreate a more living room-like feel with lighting, separate areas, nooks, and small study spaces.
Most sit on beanbags or on the couch. Some students work at the tables depending on the activity, but the majority work on clipboards. An initial concern regarding flexible seating was that the quality of work would be lower, particularly in handwriting. Interestingly, I noted consistent levels of work produced regardless of where students sit to work. Cursive writing is a feature of my teaching, and this has been maintained through the flexible seating choice.
“It doesn’t feel like homework, I usually want to read ahead in the
book and not stop when I’m supposed to” (student)
An example: Immersing in reading using a multi-modal approach
We began the class text, Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry, exploring characters while looking at emerging themes and plot. We used Google Earth to explore neighborhood streets in Copenhagen and students researched and contributed photos to a shared slideshow of German soldiers, and Copenhagen in 1940 . We immersed ourselves in music to consider how the characters were feeling and to gain insight into their perspectives. These activities were the prequel to writing our first diary entry. Each night, students were assigned two or three chapters of the text and were required to do a short post-it note activity related to a reading standard as part of the homework Scaffolded for each student, the assignments ranged from literary elements, such as summarizing the chapters or finding text connections, to more mechanical pieces, such as researching unknown words. At the start of each ELA lesson, we held a mini ‘book club’ discussion with our responses, with a popcorn style approach asking and answering questions from the text, based on the Junior Great Books ‘Shared Discussion’ model. My role moved from lecturer to facilitator, asking questions (more than answering) to get students to think deeply about all aspects of the text.
“I love this activity because we get to be the characters in the story, and give them words”
Connecting the writing
Serevallo differentiates between writing instruction and writing assignments, the difference between ‘how’ and ‘what’. I’m mindful of this in my own practice: Am I giving an assignment that is a ‘what to do’, and if so, is there a balance of strategies for getting it done? Writing expectations through ‘Number the Stars’ was two-fold: Writing a diary entry for Week 1 and researching and writing playscripts for Week 2. Instruction rides on the back of the knowledge of the book; students learned about and identified features of a diary entry, and connected figurative language and writing using the senses in a diary entry, choosing the perspective of the character from which to write a diary entry. We studied other diary entries in similar contexts as a starter, identifying features using highlighters. Students planned using a graphic organizer, then drafted and revised their work through the week, culminating in a published entry on Friday. Having the text as a basis inherently scaffolds the students’ ideas for writing, as they have a context and a point from which they can write.
When we began playscripts, students chose a scene from the book as the basis for their play script. I modeled the opening using one student’s work and students supported as a class in the development, making sure all features were included.
Grammar Games
Using Canva, I adapted a choice board and made a game where students had to find examples through the book. E.g., find a complete subject on page 45, adjectives in Chapter 8, with each box holding a point score, increasing in complexity.
Technology to enhance and engage
Using an online version of the book, ChatGPT generated a playscript from one of the scenes; I used this to learn about the key features of playscripts. In groups, students took a scene from the previous evening’s writing and worked together to construct a scene on large poster paper. NoteGPT produced a podcast of the final chapters where students compared and contrasted different ways to hear and interpret the text.
As every classroom has a multitude of types of learners, I chose to use Google Suite, which allows my classroom to be virtual. All my teaching resources are held in this space, in mini units that match all the standards. Students can pop in and revise, or catch up, or familiarize themselves at their leisure (or directed personalized learning time). Canva has opened up a world of ready-made organizers, presentations that can be easily adapted – an instant library of bright and engaging resources for educators. Kahoot quizzes are available at the touch of a button; whilst there is a little disparity between quizzes, there is always a teaching point and engagement in possessive apostrophes is suddenly higher than when working in the textbook.
Assessment opportunities
For reading, the whole-class discussion allows space for students to present and rationalize their ideas, agreeing with or making suggestions about others’ contributions. It feels like a safe space, an opportunity for students to clarify their thinking without it being a graded comprehension. How do we know how a character feels? Where can we find clues in the text? What was Copenhagen like? How do we know how Dad might have been in the scene where the guards come to his home? The post-it activity is also a great way to check in with students’ understanding and analyze their application of current or previous concepts. Where students have struggled, follow-up questions or targeted small-group or individual support can be provided.
Summative assessments don’t have to be comprehension tests. What is the question that these types of tests answer? In an effort to avoid question-answer comprehension tests, I created alternative opportunities. Morning work, when students arrive, often involves a reading/writing-related task that they answer on whiteboards, then share with a peer or hold up so I can take a quick scan of their understanding. A Friday quiz was student-generated where students wrote a question on a white board with a number, and placed it around the room. Each student then answered this as a ‘scoot’ activity. One of the morning check-ins was ‘Stand up- touch down’. I had all students stand in a space around the room; I asked a question about the previous night’s reading. Students find a partner to ‘touch down’ with and answer the question, which was then repeated for different questions, also serving as a brain break and opportunity to move around the room and connect with peers. At the end of each small unit, I asked students to raise their hands for ‘heads down, thumbs up’ to indicate how confident they felt about writing a playscript and again about understanding the features of a playscript. They rated 0-5 on their hands in the air, which serves as a visual check-in for me and a self-assessment tool for them.
For each Writing task, students are given a checklist or, more recently, a learning progression rubric to help scaffold progress toward the objectives and the path to success, whilst allowing room within each of the standards. Students self-assess and peer assess before submitting to me. I use the same rubric to assess and grade.
Throughout this process, students were given as much opportunity as they needed to have ownership over their work, contributing to and formulating as much as they were comfortable with, both in the process and in the outcome. The results of the writing showed depth – students incorporated many of the senses and examples of figurative language into their writing, not because they were told to, but because they said they ‘could feel what it was like’ as they wrote using their senses.
“I feel the powerful fear in the air. I smell the fear so powerful it could be smelt from the king’s castle”
“I felt trapped like a little mouse in the forest. The cold air blasted at me. I froze.”
“My heart feels like the coldest of a single drop of snow. I can feel the ground shaking as the guards’ marching gets louder and louder”
Students reported playscripts were ‘easier to write because we knew the story so well, it helped us with setting the scene and stage directions’. This unit could still be improved and modified; as teachers, we need to adapt and move forward. Other avenues to explore would be for AI to help me create a virtual video of what it was like to walk through parts of Copenhagen – but always the intention is: How can I inspire these students to write? And how can they be motivated to write for meaning and purpose? Success can be measured in so many different ways – the average grade for both pieces with the rubric was over 90% but really, the immersive approach in this case showed an appetite to write, and extend beyond the classroom. Students wrote playscripts at home, another suggested writing a sequel to the book. Reading their work aloud through the week helps share the creativity and gives students an opportunity to be celebrated by their peers – and by me.
‘Now I have an idea of what to write, as I know the book. The more of the book I read, the more I feel comfortable writing”
Over the course of this study, students showed a passion for the text coming alive, both in the reading of it, and their writing. They were personally engaged – it meant something to write from within. They were motivated to get deeper, to understand more than surface-level reading just for the purpose of answering a question – it became much more than transactional. In writing, I observed an appetite for wanting to explore a higher level of composition, connecting with the music to use figurative language and write from the senses as they actually felt it, felt bringing their words to life. Moving from the analytical level that is translation to a personal connection gives them agency in the text. This just isn’t possible with an isolated passage out of context; we must find a way to give them a deep connection with a book, to become passionate and articulate readers, and to be able to write to reflect a range of emotions for lifelong skills as readers and writers – things that tests can’t measure.
Cam Densmore
4th Grade Teacher
Creative Learning Academy
Pensacola, Florida
