Increasing Comprehension:

Writing to Learn Ruth Neely, Librarian ruthie.neely@gmail.com

In content areas? Yes!

This is not learning to write... this is WRITING TO LEARN! Writing builds and reinforces content learning. Use these strategies to help your students, and help yourself, understand what is being comprehended in your lessons.

Writing to Learn
is DIFFERENT from learning to write is not a process - it's a catalyst for further learning allows teachers to see the capability of ELL in a less formal way

3 Kinds of Knowledge
Declarative Procedural Conditional

What

How

When/Why

Labels, names, facts, things that we KNOW.

Applying knowledge, hard to do in lecture format

Which strategies to use and when to use them

Strategies to Develop Writing Skills

Language Experience Approach (LEA): Class/group discusses life experiences with teacher Teacher scribes decided upon message Students copy message into book Students benefit from improving the speech to print function

Strategies to Develop Writing Skills

Writing Models Use a previously existing piece of writing and have students model it Teacher can also create their own scaffolding to help students with emerging skills

Strategies to Develop Writing Skills

Generative Sentences students write a sentence based on given requirements. i.e. "Write a sentence using 'volcano' as the third word."

Strategies to Develop Writing Skills

Power Writing Students write as many words on a topic as they can in a given amount of time The focus is quantity, not quality

Why it works:
An Example: Social Studies Have your students answer the narrative " Explain the bombing of Hiroshima to your little brother or sister"
Students are actually thinking about:
Their prior knowledge

The cognitive development of their audience

What they have read or listened to about the topic

Background knowledge

How to best convey this information

Using Prompts
Admit Slips - When entering the classroom, students receive
a prompt on a slip and write on the assigned topic. Could be used as an anticipatory activity. Yesterday's News - Students write to summarize what happened in the last class period during the lecture, film, discussion or reading. "What If" Scenarios - Students respond to prompts which change something they know to be true and they predict the outcomes. For example, "What would be different if the if the South had won the Civil War?" Take a stand - Students discuss their opinion on an assigned controversial topic.

Take a minute...
Think about a lesson you are teaching next week. Scribble down a way that you could incorporate this strategy and why it would be beneficial. Feel free to consider a method not previously mentioned! Turn and share your idea with the person sitting next to you.

Thank You
You now have another skill to help your students better themselves and understand your lesson. Thank you for your participation and please contact me for assistance in your next lesson! Ms. Ruth Neely - Librarian rneely@xyz.k-12.pa.us