Quality Reading = Quality Writing

"Garbage in - Garbage out" goes the old refrain. This is Routman's basic premise when it comes to the type of literature students read and its effect on their writing. We need to surround our students with quality literature experiences to serve as models for their writing. She also makes a big push for non-fiction:

Children who read nonfiction have more information with which to write, have writing models at hand, and are more aware of nonfiction features such as visual aids.