Please be sure that you post your constructing strategy study in the appropriate Blackboard forum. I'm also asking you to post some initial writing on your case study in the Blackboard forum - NOT HERE.
Here, I would like you to comment on the Zinnser and Stephens and Brown readings for this week. The Zinnser piece is a little different than what we have been reading recently. He is a major author on the process of writing and this is a more philosophical, almost memoir-like piece. I've also provided a few new links to the right that further explore the philosophies and practice of writing to learn. Check them out before you post!
Please comment to this post by addressing the following three "collections" of questions:
1) What is meant by "writing to learn"? How do you connect this idea with the constructing part of the framework that Stephens and Brown discuss? What can student writing do for you as a content area teacher? What does it do for students?
2) What was the most personally compelling statement that Zinnser made regarding writing and writing to learn? What did it make you think about and why?
3) Does "writing to learn" - as it's discussed here - have a place in learning your discipline? Beyond your opinion, what do your professional associations say. (I've posted those links to the right for you to explore as well.) Explain your response.
Your comment needn't be terribly long; elegant substance is preferred to a long-winded, superficial post. I do expect you to post a response that, in some way, comments on the thread of the discussion that evolves here. In other words, I would hope that you can connect to another responder's comment in your post. If you're first to post, I don't have that expectation!
Please post your comment by midnight on Thursday, March 27. Thank you!
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26 comments:
“Writing to learn” meant “learning to think”, writing can be used as a tool for shaping meaning, and for reaching understanding.
The connection I made with the constructing part of the framework that Stephen and Brown discussed is “writing to learn” is a learning strategy that keep students engaged during class, stimulate thought, generate ideas and connections.
“Writing to learn” is a valuable assessment tool for teachers. It is used to find out what students already know and assess students’ ability to express ideas clearly.
“Writing to learn” helps students think through key concepts, clarify thinking, raise questions, master content and improve their skills at expressing ideas. “Writing lo learn” promotes learning and places students at the center of their own learning.
The most compelling statement that Zinneser made regarding writing and writing to learn is that students understand better a subject by having to write about it and the writing component had been an important part of students learning.
Zinneser reading made me think about incorporating writing into teaching mathematics. Writing is an effective method to teach content and to test knowledge.
“Writing to learn” has a place in learning mathematics; “writing to learn” provides the reinforcement needed to retain knowledge.
The use of writing in mathematics classroom leads to a better understanding of math concepts. It is a way for students to explore, clarify, describe, interpret, discuss, investigate and extend their thinking and understanding.
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) states that, “the very act of communicating clarifies thinking and forces students to engage in doing mathematics".
The use of “Writing to learn” strategy in mathematics classes is one way teachers can implement “Mathematics as Communication “an instructional tool for teachers and as learning aid for students.
“Writing to learn” activities give students to think through their problem solving process and improve their learning in mathematics.
“Writing to Learn”, a play on the more common expression, is an evocative phrase. It focuses attention on the act of writing—a physical act, very unlike reading, that forces an active form of thinking. Good writing is clear, organized thinking. Miki Murphy, in our Book Club book, eloquently suggests that writing is "window on thinking." Mathematical writing is as important as a mathematical proof – it not only shows the correct answer (yes, the two triangles are congruent), but it also shows why. Journal or other writing allows me to assess my students' understanding of material and adjust my lessons accordingly. Writing is clarifying for students and helps them to build on existing knowledge, moving their understanding along in visible steps (i.e., demonstrating their knowledge construction). Student writing helps students organize their understanding, see connection, and remember them over longer periods, (because of more active thinking and reference). In sum, it provides a feedback mechanism, between student and teacher or student and student, based on thought instead of simply correctness.
Feedback — It's not just the answer, but how you get there. Failure can teach us more than success. The ability to see into a student's misunderstandings and provide constructive feedback is invaluable to the learning process. The answer might matter in a final assessment, but the thinking process is what is truly important. Along the way, however, the degree of understanding and the connections the student makes should be the primary driver in lesson direction.
It is clear that writing in mathematics helps students understand and make connections, and servers as an assessment tool for teachers as well. A quick look at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards shows the importance of communication and writing to the NCTM. Overarching goals of
•organizing and consolidating mathematical thinking through communication
•coherence of thinking through communication to peers, teachers, and others
•precisely expression mathematical ideas through use of the language of mathematics.
To end with a snappy quote and to sum up the connection, Joan Countryman, in Writing to Learn Mathematics writes, “Mathematics is a way to understand the world and writing is a way to understand mathematics.” Well written!
Writing - constantly rearranging 26 letters. It's pretty hard to write anything without learning. As we put pen to paper, we learn anew the content we are recording, or the way our brain is ordering the thoughts we want to put down, or, we stop writing to check on a fact that we want to use to bolster our argument. So the key is getting ourselves to write, write, write—and to getting our students to write, write, write.
I believe it is a truth universally acknowledged that writing is the highest-level intellectual task we perform—and certainly the most difficult task asked of children as they grow to adulthood through the process of schooling.
Zinsser is a logical advocate for encouraging students to write and thus to learn - his itwork has been devoted to helping people write with greater clarity and simplicity. (I was first introduced to it when I worked for a bank and had the challenge of helping recent college graduates learn how to write a brief, straightforward credit approval memo. To me, much of the fault lay with college professors (present company excluded) who demanded "10-page papers" or "20-page papers," and so students figured out how to pad their writing with longer sentences and by saying the same things more than once.)
As Zinsser describes his mission in "Writing to Learn," he wants, as Dalila points out, to have students engage their minds with their subject matter by writing about their reading and their discoveries. Stephens and Brown, in their compilation of constructing strategies, relate writing techniques, tools, and approaches, to gaining meaning from classroom reading. I found their suggested notetaking strategies particularly interesting, since taking notes on school texts can be one of the most daunting task that a student faces.
The most compelling statement to me that Zinsser made in his introduction was about providing students with a model for writing, and that it is all right to model one's writing on the good writing of others as one matures as a writer.
Finally, and most happily, as a social studies teacher, writing is something that I and my future students will live and breathe. The National council on Social Studies Standards state: "Social studies programs help students construct a knowledge base and attitudes drawn from academic disciplines as specialized ways of viewing reality...The skills that should be promoted in an excellent social studies program include the following:
- acquiring information and manipulating data;
- developing and presenting policies, arguments, and stories;
- constructing new knowledge; and
- participating in groups.
All these skill categories involve reading and writing. To return to Zinsser's idea of a model, we are supremely fortunate in the social studies field to have a myriad of wonderful examples of fine writing that our students can use as models, from fiction (Tolstoy's "War and Peace,") to nonfiction (James McPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom"). So many books, so little time!
I found this definition at the WAC Clearinghouse website, which focuses its attention on Writing Across Curriculum: "Generally, writing-to-learn activities are short, impromptu or otherwise informal writing tasks that help students think through key concepts or ideas presented in a course. Often, these writing tasks are limited to less than five minutes of class time or are assigned as brief, out-of-class assignments." (As found on http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop2d.cfm ) The website offers a broader definition and lots of useful strategies for employing Writing to Learn in the classroom .
In order to complete my 30 math credits I recently took PreCalc and Calculus at SUNY-WCC. In both classes the Profs distributed photocopied modules for each unit, which provided spaces to take notes and for example problems to be worked out. The first page of the module described what we were going to be learning and provided some key definitions. This was the first time that I'd taken a math class in which definitions for math vocabulary were considered important enough to be provided! I found these definitions (some of which we had to write in the available space) very helpful in working through the module. It made me realize in a very concrete way how important content literacy is.
I figured that current research would support the idea that 'writing to learn' strategies have a place in math curriculum and went in search of articles that support this view. Using the search feature at the Pace library online database I've found two articles so far that directly address the use of 'writing to learn' strategies in the math classroom.
The first article, authored by Mary Porter and Joanna Masingila (Educational Studies in Mathematics, @2000) came to this conclusion: "It has been claimed that writing to learn mathematics (WLTM) may benefit students' conceptual understanding as well as their procedural ability. To investigate this claim, we collected data from students in two sections of an introductory calculus course. In one of the sections, students used WLTM activities and discussed the activities after completing the writing; in the other section, students used similar activities that did not involve writing but engaged them in thinking about the mathematical ideas and in discussing the activities. The errors from the in-class and final exams of both groups of students were categorized and analyzed for information about the students' conceptual and procedural understanding. We found no significant differences between the WLTM group and the non-writing group,..." I guess that authors were unhappy with their conclusion because they went on to say "...which suggests that the real benefit from writing activities may not be in the actual activity of writing, but rather in the fact that such activities require students to struggle to understand mathematical ideas well enough to communicate their understanding to others."
The second article I found came to a similar conclusion, "One of the claims made by Davison and Pearce (1990) is that if teachers use
writing activities frequently and systematically, for example, at least once a week with pre-writing sessions, the performance of students improves substantially. The analysis of the data showed that this use of writing was not the case with the teachers who took part in the study. Therefore, in the classrooms where some mathematical writing was observed, my main conclusion is that the amount of work written by each learner and its frequency was lower than what has been suggested by Davison and Pearce." ( S. Philemon Ntenza, Source: Educational Studies in Mathematics, March 2006).
So I am trying to reconcile my own experience, expectations, and the Zissner article with these two pieces of research. I'll keep looking to see what else I can find.....
After reading the Zinsser article, “Writing to Learn,” I believe that writing to learn means that we use writing as a tool in our attempt to gain understanding of the world around us. I also believe that it means that we write to express what we know. Writing helps us to interpret and make sense of the knowledge and information that is swimming around in our heads. I also like Anita’s take on “writing to learn.” How do we effectively manipulate the 26 letters of the alphabet to say what we think, feel and know? I agree that it is pretty hard to write anything without learning!
As Stephens and Brown state, “Content literacy strategies for constructing are designed to help students become engaged in content learning”(p. 107). As Zinsser states, “Writing is a tool that enables people in every discipline to wrestle with facts and ideas. It’s physical activity, unlike reading…It compels us by the repeated effort of language to go after those thoughts and to organize them and present them clearly” (p. 49). As we grapple with ideas and work to construct meaning out of new information, we need to go after those ideas and organize them so that they fit into our schemata.
“….[T]he act of writing gives the teacher a window into the brain of his student”(Zinsser, p. 46). This statement reminded me of a student I tutored when I was in eleventh grade. This student, who I’ll call Matt, was having difficulty in his classes because he had a hard time verbalizing his thoughts. His writing skills were quite basic, but stronger than his verbal skills. I found that Matt had a lot of great things to say, but he was unable to verbalize his thoughts without a lot of coaching. Matt also had difficulty with processing information if he didn’t get to write out his thoughts first. In content areas where not a lot of writing took place, teachers saw point A (the question) and point B (Matt’s answer), which would typically be wrong. But if they saw his notes or the outlines I showed him how to create, they would see the path that he took from the question to the answer. Papers that he revised showed me even more the power of writing, because by the final draft, I would see many connections between the topic and valid examples and a decent explanation of ideas. Writing is power and power is writing.
Writing to learn, as discussed by Zinsser, does have a place in Earth Science. Writing is like a flashlight that lights the path of thoughts between two points. Instead of trying to convince students that the seasons on Earth are caused by the tilt of the Earth’s axis and not proximity to the sun, I could have students write about what they think causes the seasons and have them explain their ideas. You can uncover so many misconceptions and know why they exist if you approach some material in this fashion. One of NSTA’s Guiding Principles is to “champion science literacy.” In NSTA’s Strategic Plan: Strategy 2005, goal number 4 is to: “Advocate for the importance of Science, Both Science Literacy and the Development of Scientific Expertise.” The association mentions literacy, but I was unable to find more details. I will be interested to see if any other science people do.
As Anita mentioned, writing to learn requires significantly more thought than reading (not to diminish the latter). I liked the part about organizing 26 letters in a coherent manner, especially. More so, when we write to learn, it forces us to consider a text, organize and synthesize the information, and convey our understandings. Simply reading a text is usually more superficial than discussing, critiquing, analyzing or deconstructing a text. As Stevens and Brown wrote, it encourages interaction with the text (107). When we write, we learn how to find meaningful passages, uncover big ideas, and form an organizational framework for new information.
The Zinnser piece really hit home for me. I work a bit at the writing center here at school, and the first thing I tell students is to organize the paper well and to create a strong thesis. As I thought about it, that is what Zinnser was talking about. How students argue a point and organize that argument shows how well they understand the concepts. I can live with inactive verbs or "to be" verbs (as a social studies teacher), but do your ideas come through in your writing? I also think he makes a convincing case for why standardized tests fail so miserably (46-7), but that's for another time.
Writing to learn can absolutely be used in social studies -- in fact, it's pivotal. Some of my classmates know how much reform I think is needed to fix how we assess our students, and I think writing should be a big part of that reform. We can learn infinitely more about how a person understands, thinks and communicates by a short writing sample than we can from a million multiple choice questions. The problem, of course, is cost and laziness (Zinnser points out the latter). The NCSS does not seem to get the big picture, though. They are currently fighting to include social studies in NCLB, failing to realize that increased standardized testing leads to increased bad testing. Reform should come in the form of increased writing assessment, if for no other reason than it requires more thought than rote memorization and process of elimination skills.
As William K. Zinsser, the author of "Writing to Learn" states, writing allows individuals to organize and clarify their thoughts. Writing is how we think our way into a subject and make it our own. Through writing we demonstrate understanding, develop opinion and reflections, and assess ourselves. Writing enables us to find out what we know and what we do not know about whatever we are writing about. As Zinsser writes eloquently, "Putting an idea into written words is like defrosting a windshield: The idea, so vague out there in the murk, slowly begins to gather itself into a sensible shape." (16) You never quite learn a subject until you can write about it in a meaningful way.
"Writing to learn" is related to the constructing strategies in "A Handbook of Content Literacy Strategies" written by Elaine C. Stephens and Jean E. Brown, in that it is during the constructing phase that students become engaged with content learning. In order for students to become engaged with content learning, they need to be engaged in both reading and writing. Reading alone will not allow the students to be actively engaged in learning. The act of writing allows students to evaluate and analyze what they have read, demonstrate an understanding of the topic at hand, and even assess whether they fully understand the topic.
As a teacher, student writing can serve two distinct purposes. The first purpose of student writing helps the teacher assess whether a student truly understands the topic. As Mike stated, multiple choice tests cannot adequately demonstrate that a student understands a topic. If student writing is superficial and underdeveloped then the student clearly does not understand the topic. The second purpose of student writing demonstrates to the teacher whether their teaching strategy is effective or not. If the student seems to understand then the teaching strategy that was utilized was effective. If the student’s understanding is vague and/or convoluted, that is a sign that the teacher needs to go back and reevaluate their teaching strategy.
As a student, writing allows students to gather their thoughts into a coherent and logical structure. If a student cannot effectively write about a given topic, he/she does not have an adequate understanding of it. Writing is a good way for students to determine whether they are “getting it” or not.
There are three distinct statements that really struck me in the Zinsser piece. The first quote is “Writing is learned by imitation.” Providing models for students is really important. It is important for teachers to realize is that students are not fully developed. It can be extremely effective for students to see models of good writing in a subject, in order for them to mimic it. Another quote that struck me was when Zinsser states, “A piece of writing must be viewed as a constantly evolving organism.” I feel that teachers need to explain to students that a piece of writing is never quite finished. It needs to be continually edited, revised, evaluated, and reevaluated to ensure that it is the best it can be. The last quote that really struck me is the following; “If the [writing] process is sound, the [writing] product will take care of itself.” This is where teachers are failing in my opinion. The process of writing is never quite addressed in schools, even in the English classroom. My first college course at Pace was a Critical Writing course, and the instructor assigned us a paper on the first day of class. Throughout middle and high school, I never faced significant criticism of my writing. Upon receiving comments on my writing for this Critical Writing course, I came to the realization that I had been living a lie my entire academic life. The instructor tore my paper apart. Many of the problems with the paper dealt with the writing process. If the process is faulty then the product will most certainly be faulty. While this is an extreme case, it really demonstrates how the process of writing has been neglected in middle and high school classrooms.
As a future Social Studies teacher, “Writing to Learn” absolutely has a place in my classroom. Reading is extremely important, but is simply not enough to fully understanding the content of Social Studies. Formulating opinions and feelings about topics based on reading about it and then performing the act of writing allows students to demonstrate a higher level of understanding. As Dalila stated in her response “Writing to learn places students at the center of their own thinking.” Therefore if it is in the act of writing that students can demonstrate an understanding of Social Studies concepts and issues that are at the heart of the discipline, then writing needs to be at the heart of the discipline. The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) states in its standards that students should be able to “Express personal convictions and communicate their own beliefs, feelings, and convictions.” One way to communicate those convictions is to write. While the NCSS states this in their standards, it seems to have gone to the back burner as of late with the problems arising from the No Child Left Behind legislation. I completely agree with Mike’s assessment of the NCSS and NCLB, and the importance of writing assessment in the reform of the educational system in the United States. I feel that some teachers (not many) have already taken a step in the writing assessment reform that Mike is suggesting.
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Using the NCSS website I was able to find an interesting article from the magazine Social Education entitled “Using Formal and Informal Writing in Middle School Social Studies” written by, Kim O’Day. I will provide for you an excerpt of the article that I think really shows how teachers should approach literacy in social studies.
“Would it be okay if I do a quick pre-write on the back of this test before I begin?" Something had finally clicked in class that morning. After I nodded yes to Ryan, several other students flipped their papers over, while others jotted what they knew in rough form before tackling the test questions. When Ryan wrote before taking a test, he understood the connection between writing and thinking, between writing and learning. He concentrated upon his knowledge for himself as audience.
Teachers can combine such informal writing with formal writing to deepen student learning and to demonstrate the relationship between writing and social studies. Historians report; geographers and anthropologists record observations; and psychologists develop statements or analyses based upon data they have logged. Students use writing to prepare for a test or discussion, to explore their knowledge or feelings, to log what they know, or to create a historical narrative. In this way, students experience the importance of writing in social studies.” (If you want to read the article in its entirety you would have to become a member of the NCSS, acquire the issue of Social Education 58 (1), or read it in this cached version at the following link.
http://72.14.205.104/custom?q=cache:vASGDQiyic8J:members.ncss.org/se/5801/580113.html+student+writing&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us&client=google-coop-np)
I'm sorry the link doesn't seem to working to the article I found. Just do a Google search for the article title and click cached when you find it. Sorry.
All my peers have explained this term very well but I will try my hand at it. “Writing to learn” is meant to help engage students in the course content while simultaneously achieving important literacy skills for writing such as correctness, concision, and lucidity. It is a very helpful tool for students. While encouraging critical thinking, “writing to learn” allows students to use writing as an outlet to demonstrate their thinking process about the topic, clearly communicate their ideas with others and retain that knowledge. As Stephens and Brown states, “students become more engaged in their learning by actively interacting with content” p107. As a future science teacher, student writing will allow me to evaluate their understanding of the actual content and persuasive writing skills, not ability to choose the correct multiple-choice answer.
Zinsser says “Reading, writing and thinking are all integrated. An idea can have value in itself, but its usefulness diminishes to the extent that you can’t articulate it to someone else” p45. I agree completely with this statement and its importance, however Zinsser discussed how college courses should devote a few full classes to basic writing skills even if it had nothing to do directly with the course content because some students may not have been previously exposed to this throughout their academic career. While this may be helpful for some students, what about the students who were taught the rules of strong and persuasive writing? In all my middle and high school English classes, my teachers explicitly reviewed rules and tools for strong and clear writing, so I am not sure how beneficial it would be for students like me.
I do think “writing to learn” has a place in science as well as every other discipline. Zinsser states “Educating future scientists to be more attuned to the impact of their work, and educating the rest of us to become more scientifically literate” p49. I do not think writing is necessarily the best or only outlet for learning but when combined with reading, speaking, viewing and listening it is an extremely effective learning tool. As Katie discussed, I could not find too many references to literacy on the National Science Teachers Association website. Without any direct mentions of literacy, under the NSTA Official Position Statements regarding scientific inquiry, the statements include questioning, exploring, validating and communicating scientific data and information. This does not specifically refer to writing but lab reports are a large part of scientific writing, so writing is an integral part of all science classes already!
"Writing to learn" is really what it sounds like. The more you write the more you learn. It seems that writing could stimulate the mind and in turn could lead to learning. The connection I make with the Stephen's and Brown book and "writing to learn" is how they talk about scaffolding with content literacy. Writing to learn is an example of scaffolding to support student learning. I think that "writing to learn" is useful for teachers because it gives them an indication of where students are in their learning process. It could show strengths and weaknesses of student which could be useful in creating lessons. Likewise, it is useful for students because it expands their thinking and raises further questions that may exist. It also helps them organize their thoughts and ideas as they think about certain content.
The most compelling statement that Zinneser made was "there is little point in having a teacher clean up messy syntax in a chemistry paper if he can't also clean up the messy chemistry." I think this is important because too many times teachers focus on grammar,linguistics, etc and neglect the content of a writing piece. This reminded me of my 8th grade history teacher. She always pointed out all my grammar mistakes on my essays, which is fine. However, there was often little to no comments about the actual content. I really didn't know if my understanding of the Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden election was correct, but I did know that I used a comma where I shouldn't have. As a teacher, I will make sure that I pay closer attention to the content of student's writing because that to me is the most important thing.
"Writing to learn" definitely has a place in teaching social studies. It allows students to wrestle facts and ideas and to organize these ideas. Social studies is all about making connections. As students become actively engaged in writing they are stimulating the ideas that will allow them to make these connections.
In "Creating Writing in the Social Studies Classroom," Hilve Firek talks about how human nature forces people to want to become actively engaged. He feels that the teacher must take advantage of this and writing is a way to get the students involved. Not only is this a way to become actively engaged, this also is a way of connecting content
“Writing is a tool that enables people in every discipline to wrestle with facts and ideas…It compels us…to go after those thoughts and to organize and present them clearly." Zinsser explains that writing helps not only to organize the ideas – but also to create the ideas. Zinsser says “It forces us to keep asking, ‘Am I saying what I want to say?’”
One of the guiding philosophies for medical students is “learn one, do one, teach one”. That’s the same kind of idea as “writing to learn” – to help one absorb, internalize, and own knowledge, concepts, and the significance of same. To be able to express the knowledge and its meaning through writing is evidence of learning… the same way being able to “teach one” is evidence. Engaging students in content learning, as Stephens and Brown have said, through their various strategies for constructing learning, will allow students to build their own meaning. Then they'll have ownership of what they know, rather than just borrowing some facts which they'll give back to the atmosphere as soon as the test is over.
This intrigued me: at the top of The Writing Project web site appeared a quote from Ben Bates, Lanston U. (Oklahoma) professor: “THE WRITING PROJECT is my best hope to address issues of equity and justice.” Now that is compelling to me. I looked through the site, but Bates’ explanation of what he means by this isn’t there. To me it means that kids who sit down to write and concentrate have to go inside themselves, introspect, see what they know, and see what that means, to them, and to others. If there’s an audience for their writing beyond themselves, they have to represent themselves in a way that is acceptable to them, and that often means making themselves look as good as possible. Writing stretches a person, and so does re-writing. Does this development of a school or intellectual discourse help address issues of equity and justice? I would think so… but Bates probably means something else. (Any ideas?)
Syrene Forsman was quoted on the “Writing to Learn” WAC web site as saying, “Writing to learn means learning to think,” which is how Dalila started her blog, and I completely agree. I think that both speaking and writing are powerful ways to learn to think… in speaking one would have a partner to test ideas on… in writing, it’s just one person, one mind, going as deep as one will. The NCTE states, as one of its 11 principles about writing, that “writing is a tool for thinking.” Writing to learn clearly has a place in my discipline (that’s English)… I hope it’s a discipline in which students learn how to express themselves, in a very deep way.
Marc said that student writing is one way to evaluate a teacher’s teaching, and I applaud that idea, and its consequences. If more teachers would take that more seriously, their jobs would be harder… and the students would learn more.
Question: Zinsser mentioned that one of the history professors at Gustavus Adolphus asked his students to bring in what they regarded as a particularly well-written historical account, for discussion and then to use to help guide them in their own good writing. That seems like a good idea, but how does one adapt that for high school? Can you say, “go read a few things” and expect that it will be done? When a lot of what the kids are reading is Spark Notes and Cliff Notes?
Stephen and Brown said that “Writing to learn” is a process of how we think and express our understanding which can students can use it inside of the classroom and out side of the classroom. Writing to learn is not just a process of writing on the contrary is the technique to learn and improve our skills or abilities. In addition, writing to learn helps students to understand better and easier the subject that they are learning for instance, Spanish and it will also improve the writing which will also be a good way to memorize new vocabularies. I believe that writing to learn will be really helpful to the students and it will also help them to think well as an educated person.
The important statement from the author Zinnser was when he said that it is truly important to know how to make a strong thesis statement in a paper because I remember when I just got to United States I had a hard time in writing good and strong thesis statement. After a while when I started to understand better it help me to write better papers and also to think deeper as a good student. (P.46-47)
Writing to learn takes place in learning Spanish. Like ACTFL for foreign language professional association said writing to learn provides advocacy, professional development opportunities, resources and opportunities for member to interact and share ideas and also experiences. I totally agree because like Stephen and Brown said writing to learn is not just a process of writing, it is also a technique where we learn out subject and also how to understand and think better.
"writing to learn" allows students to express their understanding in their own words. Each student will define a concept differently and thats the interesting part. "writing to learn" is used also as an assessment tool. It can be seen on AP exams. In calculus its not enough for a student to take a derivative, they must also express the meaning of their answer in a complete sentence. Math students cannot be viewed like robots anymore. Our students need to be able to express their answer and communicate their findings. For instance the answer "x=3" has no meaning by itself. The idea that students understand better by having to write it is an interesting one. Is this why some teachers have students write for example "I will not talk in class" 50 times has a discipline tool?
"Writing to learn" is an important concept. In LOTE writing is no option it is mandatory. When learning another language you must be "proficient" in writing. Practice makes perfect. I absolutely agree with the comment that Zinneser made in regards to writing and writing to learn is that students understand better the subject by having to write about it and the writing component had been an important part of students learning. In the NYS language proficiency you can see how extensive the students vocabulary is, how well they can conjugate the verbs, and direct use of wording to form a sentence and understand it's meaning. The state/teacher also can assess how well the student understood the task.
I have students write their vocab words 3-5 times each then format a sentence using those words. Writing the sentence they develop skills not only in writing but in reading as well.
Miriam's comment i did find interesting, especially the last statement. As a form of discipline in my classroom; once a student gets Lunch Detention bc he/she broke a classroom rule I have them write 25x's the rule they broke. They (the students) just relearned that rule by writing to learn it. In most cases they hand is cramped and they won't break that rule again. If it happens a second time mom/dad signs it. Love Middle School:)
Writing to learn. There are many different ways to learn. One can learn by reading, or one can learn by doing practice problems, but actually writing out what you are learning, or what you are thinking, sort of proves what you know and solidifies the learning. I can do as many practice problems as I want, but actually being able to express that I understand how these problems are done and how they relate to real life solidifies knowledge. I think a common question elicited by students is “Why do I have to learn this?” Writing about what you are learning shows students why it might be important. This is entirely the point that Stephens and Brown are trying to make in their section on constructing literacy. By writing and exploring material, you develop a much deeper understanding.
The most obvious part of my content area (Chemistry) that can be addressed by literacy is lab reports, which was mentioned in the Zinnser reading. In high school, my teachers made up keep lab notebooks, because all scientists in college and the real world use lab notebooks. They need to know the proper technique and be able to convey their hypotheses and conclusions. What I’ve noticed in most Chemistry classrooms now, through observation, is that most labs are just a worksheet where the students fill out the answers and barely involve writing at all. I’ve also seen a classroom where not only were notebooks used and collected for labs, but their daily note-taking was collected to be sure that they had proper note-taking skills and weren’t falling behind.
That is not to say that lab reports are the only place for writing in a science classroom. Keeping up with current events and being able to articulate your stance is also an important part of current science education. Writing is indispensible for students. Students who haven’t mastered writing will inevitably fall behind. Their note-taking will suffer and their learning will suffer. Most importantly, they will lack the ability to apply what they have learned.
I think it is fairly widely accepted that writing is an important part of science education. When searching “importance of writing” on the NSTA website, the first sentence of the first article that pops up is “Reading and writing scientific literature is an indispensable part of a scientist’s work.” I doubt any science teacher would refute the importance of writing in the sciences. Even the ones giving the lame lab reports, I would guess they’re just lazy.
The most compelling statement that I took from Zinnser was “As citizens we are responsible for what we know and what we don’t”. It reminds me of a passage in our Book Club book, that talked about how students who don’t learn to write and read scientifically end up as a disadvantage when it comes to a lot of environmental issues, which have become political issues.
The phrase “writing to learn” means using the process of writing to gain insight into ideas and issues. As mentioned by Jack and Anita, writing is a physical act that requires high-level thinking. Writing serves as a conduit for our thoughts. Learning occurs when our writings reveal an increased understanding of a concept.
The constructing strategies, described by Stephens and Brown, are designed to engage students in the learning process. By actively interacting with content, students increase their understanding of a subject. Zinsser also views learning as an interactive process. For Zinnser, as well as for Stephens and Brown, students should internalize and assume ownership of their learning.
As a math teacher, having students write, provides an alternative way to assess their understanding. Insights are gained into students’ thought processes by examining their writings. Writing provides students with a way to reflect upon their understandings as well their misunderstandings. As stated by Jack, students’ writings serve as a more authentic form of feedback for the teacher.
I found Zinsser’s view concerning writing across the curriculum to be most compelling. He believes that as content area teachers, “our ultimate charge is to produce broadly educated men and women with a sense of stewardship for the world they live in” (p. 48). The ability to write is required in all subjects. More importantly, being able to write is an essential workplace skill. As teachers, it is our responsibility to make sure that our students have the requisite skills to succeed in life.
“Writing to learn” most definitely has an essential role in my discipline of mathematics. As previously mentioned, the ability of students to express in writing their mathematical understandings and misunderstandings provides teachers with an indispensable form of feedback. In the “New York State Mathematics Standard 3” core curriculum, it is stated that students will “communicate and reason mathematically, and become problem solvers by using appropriate tools and strategies” (p. 5). Writing is a communication tool that pervades all areas of mathematics. As Miki Murray points out in her book “Teaching Mathematics Vocabulary in Context,” the word “mathematics” is derived from the Greek “mathematikos” meaning “inclined to learn.” Thus, learning is an intrinsic quality of both writing and mathematics.
Writing to learn as discussed by Zinsser has to do with the mechanical aspect of writing and how that compares to reading within the learning process. Although reading, writing and thinking are all integrated in the learning process, each contributes a bit differently. Writing allows for transfer to take place because students have to articulate the key elements. This relates to many of the constructing strategies from Stephens and Brown in that most employ "pen to paper" somehow. The quote I thought was most intriguing was from Dean Curtin where he states "Many of my "A" papers last term were "Failures". This is somewhat confusing, however it just goes to show you that the way a student writes or communicates is sometimes equally as important to the content. Writing to Learn is relevant to the math classroom in many respects. Often times students may have the right idea, but unless it can be expressed in writing, its hard to quantify what the student truly understands
Writing to learn is important in that learning can be enhanced through the addition of writing requirements into the lesons. This is because of the congitive process that is required when a student is asked to think about something in a more detailed and organized fashion. This level of thinking is required for them to physically write about a subject. In math, assessing a students ability to understand the underlying reasons and process for problem solving (i.e. vs. just completing the steps) can be achieve through writing in a journal for example. When students are asked to write about a math concept and/or properties, they need to focus their thoughts on the reasons and methodology behind the problem. If they have a fuzzy understanding of the subject matter it will be reflected in the writing. The constructing strategies have a similar approach in that they are used to engage students in the content and in many cases require students to write and think about the overall process and to organize thier idesa. Clearly writing in math should be used as a means for the teacher to more effectively assess students true understanding of the material. For the students, it should lead to a more organized and deeper approach to understanding the material over the longer term. I believe there is also a certain degree of creativity that is enabled through writing (not only reaching different types of learners but allowing all types of learners to grow through creativity and a stronger engagement and understanding of the material). A couple of compelling statements from the Zinsser article: "thinking is the foundation of writing", "writing gives the teacher a window into the brain of his student", "writing is a tol that enables people in every discipline to wrestle with facts and ideas", and "through the writing of our students we are reminded of thier individuality". This last statement is so powerful because as teachers we need to be aware and appreciate each student as an individual if we are going to be effective in teaching them any content area, including mathematics.
“Writing to learn, as many people have already said, is the process of writing out the value or understanding of an idea in your own words. As stated in the article, “Reading, writing and thinking are all integrated…an idea can have value in itself, but its usefulness diminishes to the extent that you can’t articulate it to someone else” (45). This directly relates to each strategy in chapter 6 in the Stephens and Brown book because they all employ active learning. Each strategy is designed so that students interact with their material actively, and don’t just passively sit there while the teacher lectures. Many of them also involve a writing aspect, and active writing is a key component to learning.
The most compelling statement I read was the paragraph where the science professor was speaking about his class. He mentioned that if the students did not write their lab reports well, they would lose a full grade. I thought this to be a bit harsh until I read his reasoning behind it: “I want them to go first to the literature, so they know how the experiment has been done before and what to expect in the lab and how to plan their work. Having to plan their work helps them to write it up as they go along, so that writing becomes woven through the entire class and lab experience. If they fall into a pitfall they can explain how they got there, and that’s education. The process also enables me to see how their mind worked. By having them describe how they arrived at a result I can comment on it, and they can make use of my comment when they go back to the experiment. There’s a feedback that isn’t possible when the teacher just grades from numerical an-
swers. Revising helps the students to rethink.”
I was impressed by this mainly because he seemed like a great teacher. He did not take the easy way out, and gave himself a lot more work, just for the benefit of his students. It made me really appreciate how writing to learn can be used across the entire curriculum.
“Writing to learn” has a tremendous place in my discipline. Although English doesn’t often deal with concrete facts, like history, there are still plenty of ways to include reasoning and theories in papers in English. Also, there are so many topics in English that a teacher could use “writing to learn” with: revising, editing, note-taking, outlines, all the types of essays, and more. This strategy is one of those things that almost seems like common sense, yet nobody has ever really thought about employing it. This is something I will definitely remember to use in my classroom whenever I can!
Writing to learn simply means that students will eventually discover themselves through their own writing. The more a student writes, -particularly journal writing which is vital for any English class-many things will come to fruition that may not have if never written down, thus students will begin to read their own words as a means to reading the world. I agree with MARC who found the following statement by Zinnser to be illumanting:
“A piece of writing must be viewed as a constantly evolving organism.” We as humans are constantly evolving therefore whatever it is that we write is always subject to change, develop, mature, and evolve. Rough drafts become concise essays just as children become adults. Writing to learn will be of trmendous value in my English class because students will always be able to evaluate their own writing and the writing of others to further understand the human condition. Journal writing is what comes to mind. The NCTE states that "writing is a tool for thinking.” It is inevitable that students will think when and after they are writing. When in a rhythm students will often times discover new parts to themselves. Once students feel comfortable just moving a pen the better they will become in other disciplines.
Writing to learn might be described as the process of discovering, organizing, and learning while writing, and through writing. Writing compels the writer to organize and prioritize information, which is itself a way of mastering and learning the content. The Writing to Learn site Christine pointed us to gives us an eloquent quotation from Toby Fulwiler and Art Young’s "Introduction" to Language Connections: Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum: “In this sense language provides us with a unique way of knowing and becomes a tool for discovering, for shaping meaning, and for reaching understanding” (p. x).
The constructing framework of Stephens and Brown is one tool for writing to learn. As Stephen and Brown write, constructing strategies “help students become more engaged in their learning by actively interacting with content” (p. 107). The constructing strategy I chose for my Constructing Strategy Study, “Scintillating Sentences and Quizzical Quotes,” (Stephens and Brown, pp. 135-136), in which students choose significant quotations from a literary work and then write about why the quotation is significant, helps students to engage with the text in a meaningful way, and to discover, through writing, why a particular section of the text is important, and what is important about it.
One compelling statement in Zinsser’s article is a quotation from Associate Professor of History Kevin Byrne: “An idea can have value in itself, but its usefulness diminishes to the extent that you can’t articulate it to someone else” (Zinsser, p. 45). This made me remember how asking students to explain a concept in their own words can help them to understand it, and to write about it.
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has numerous resources on writing to learn: links to articles, books, and web pages. The NCTE recently announced a new Writing Initiative, which “is a new public service campaign to support sound practices in the teaching of writing across all disciplines, to increase policymakers' and the public's knowledge about the teaching of writing, and to make available professional development for schools and educators.” This type of campaign is important to raise awareness of writing across the curriculum writing to learn for educators, students, and the general public.
1) Writing is one of the most effective and meaningful forms of self-expression there is. Writing of any kind, about any subject, at any length is expressing and showing some connection to the author as a person - even if it is just in the vocabulary the author uses. Following that train of thought, "Writing to learn" really means "connecting content to the student personally". The most important aspect of learning is to find a way to connect the content to yourself in some way. Having students write about what they are learning is a great way of doing this. Connecting to Stephen and Brown, this is also a great way tool to use in class. It keeps students' attentive and active. It also allows for the purest form of individual student assessment you can have. In that sense it is helpful to both teacher and student.
2)"An idea can have value in itself, but its usefulness diminishes to that extent if you can’t articulate it to someone else."
This statement was one of the more encompassing ones in the article. It is one of those statements that can give you a very accurate sense of what the article is about in one sentence. One thing my current students struggle with is expression. This applies in many areas of their lives personally, but also academically. So many of them are brilliant mathematicians, but they will often not get the credit they deserve for it because they are not able to articulate that brilliance to other people. Luckily, our staff is well aware of this and we do our best to work on expression of the concepts and skills we're learning - as opposed to just learning it. I am a very big believer in discussions - both verbally and written - in any content area. It stimulates original thought, as well as interest - especially when you can get a solid debate going.
3)As stated above, writing to learn certainly has a place in any discipline. It is fundamental to not only being able to express that you understand a concept, but also to allowing you to develop original and meaningful connections to the material. Interaction with the subject matter.
Writing to learn means just that..you learn by writing. By writing down information you almost bring lifs to the ideas and concepts which makes it easier to comprehend them. Oftentimes when you write it triggers other knowledge which can be related to the topic, therefore through student writing you can see their analytical capabilities and linking ideas together. As a teacher, you can better evaluate what previous knowledge and understanding students have. Also by writing you learn how to write!
In the class which I am currently observing, the AP students practice many of the short answer questions and essays questions of previous AP exams. With each rubric, the teacher hands out a model of what an ideal essay consists of written by a student who recieved a 5 on the exam (not from that school.) I think it is so important to let students know what is expected in order for them to achieve it, especially when it comes to writing. Everyone has different styles and techniques but there is a key structure that a well written essay should incorporate and it is vital that students see it and model after it. It actually made me think of an essay I had to write for one of my professors at Pace. It was for the final and the question was to write about the seven most significant events to happen between 1800-1870. The question alone amazed me and when I saw my grade, which I will not share for the sake of my dignity, I almost cried!! I would love to see what exactly he was looking for in response to that insanely vague question.
Writing to learn has a huge place in history. It is important to how students analyze and interpret historical texts and vital as a tool for teachers to assess their understanding. Social studies goes beyond concrete facts which can't be evaluated by selecting choice a b or c on a test. It is a subject which has room for debate and question and students need to know how to properly organize their ideas and prove their position.
There are so many things to say in response to the very thoughtful comments here. I've taken some notes and we'll use these ideas as a starting point when next we are together. I liked the many metaphors your invoked in your writing here and it was interesting to hear the quotes and phrases that stood out for you in the Zinnsser piece - it holds that kind of inspiration for me, too, every time I read it. See you all soon.
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