Writing to Learn

Chapter 8 in the textbook discussed “writing to learn.” I really found this chapter valuable because it made me realize how important “writing to learn” actually is. I have always felt writing was important and as a child, it was one of my favorite things to do in school, however, this chapter made me realize how important it is for all students of all ages, content area or circumstances. On page 222, it discusses how writing helps to aid in research and the thinking process. This stuck out to me because I have always noticed that I will look for sources for information for my own writing but once I actually start to write and sort out this information, I am able to find even better sources through sorting out my thoughts on paper. Sometimes it is just good to just begin writing, which is why I think free-writes and quick-writes are an excellent tool in the classroom. I think all students should have a composition book that they use as a learning log throughout the year.

On the subject of rubrics, these are a must for any assignment. I loved that the text talked about including students in writing the rubrics. This is such a great idea and would really get students to understand what their goals should be for an assignment. This is something I will definitely try to incorporate into my classroom.

This chapter also touched on the fact that we write differently than we type on the computer. It mentions the fact that pre-writing activities when typing on the computer are limited because of the fact that it is easier to edit on the computer. I can definitely see this and I also thought of my own writing process when I am typing. I find that because I type faster than I write, I can get my thoughts down faster and not lose sight of what I am trying to say. This probably won’t be the case for younger students but for the older ones, using a word processor instead of writing may be very beneficial because of this.

For pre-writing strategies, I liked the cubing strategy. I particularly liked the perspective cubing. I think that puts an interesting spin on a subject, looking at it from different points of view.  This will definitely help students in higher order thinking.  I also love the idea of incorporating poetry into the content areas. The resources given in this chapter of examples are great and ones I will go back to look at for my lessons. I especially liked the geopoem which is a geography spin on a traditional biopoem. For the “reflection” phase of writing to learn, I love the idea of creating a melodrama of a topic. The students would be able to work collaboratively to produce a characters, a script, setting, etc… to explain their topic. This seems very engaging and a lot of fun! I have always wanted to have a prop box in my classroom of things I collect over the years and I think this would be a great way to use the props.

The article, “Writing across the Content” is very rich in information regarding writing for all subjects. It reiterates what is talked about in chapter 8 and gives some great examples of writing activities to use in each content area. I will definitely be using this as a resource in my future classroom.

The only question that kept coming to my mind when reading was if we are supposed to focus on the sincerity and fluency of the writing and not dwell on handwriting and mechanics, do we ignore it altogether for assignments that are not “published?” Or, do we point out that they are wrong but not take points off? I guess I am just a little confused on the best way to address spelling, punctuation and legibility.