To develop courses which would emphasize instruction in writing specifically needed to successfully carry out the professional responsibilities of a reading teacher, a study surveyed inservice reading teachers about their writing activities and compared those results with the writing activities required of preservice reading teachers in existing courses. Recent past graduates of a graduate program in reading education were surveyed regarding the nature and frequency of their writing activities, and their views on writing experiences critical to their job. Undergraduate students who had completed at least one course in reading education were surveyed concerning their writing experiences in reading education and in teacher education in general. Results indicated that there was common ground between the writing activities of the two groups, with six activities in common: unit/lesson plans, instructional writing, brainstorming, curriculum development, progress reports, and short responses. As the research was carried out, a more important issue surfaced: how did these reading teachers see themselves as writers? The researcher became less concerned with providing students with a typical set of writing activities for reading teachers than with assisting students to see themselves as insiders in a community of writers. (Two appendixes contain an explanation of five ways to foster writers in reading education courses, and the survey instrument.) (SR)