"Bookation" blues

Well the "Bookation" is almost over and how do I know how my kids felt about it? I ask them to write. My daughter who likes to write and for whom a pen or pencil is like an appendage on her right hand, got to the task immediately. My son however begins to complain almost before I am finished speaking. Well its vacation and I believe vacation time is their time so I don't insist. He is yet to work on the task though. Simply put: reading affects writing and writing affects reading. According to recommendations from the major English/Language Arts professional organizations, reading instruction is most effective when intertwined with writing instruction and vice versa. Research has found that when children read extensively they become better writers. Reading a variety of genres helps children learn text structures and language that they can then transfer to their own writing. In addition, reading provides young people with prior knowledge that they can use in their stories. One of the primary reasons that we read is to learn. Especially while we are still in school, a major portion of what we know comes from the texts we read. Since writing is the act of transmitting knowledge in print, we must have information to share before we can write it. Therefore reading plays a major role in writing.