Write to Learn Learning Strategy to Drastically Improve Thinking, Deepen Comprehension of Content, and Adding Assessment

Reasons for Using Writing to Learn  Writing Develops Higher-order Thinking  Insures Readiness for College and Career  Communicates!  Self-revelation!

Why Write?  I write to remember what has happened and also what might have happened but didn’t. I write in order to smuggle complex situations from my mind into the mind of another person. I write not to demolish my doubts but to get a clearer view of their contours. And I write because it’s a consolation to bring into this world something that didn’t exist before, something that someone else might find beautiful, that someone else might find consoling.  I write because when I’m writing I get a break from being me. I get to inhabit someone else, see the world through their filter, wear their clothing, flaunt their body, do their job instead of mine.

Why Write?  I write to transmit the life that I have lived, that others have lived. When I write as a journalist, I do so to put my rage at ease, to bring myself to a place where I no longer feel impotent in the face of injustice. When I write non- fiction essays I do so to look closely at the culture that raised me and the culture that holds me now. When I write fiction I do so to dwell in compassion, to love the unlovable, to understand the humanity of those with whom I would disagree to the bitter end. When I write poetry I do so to share myself, unfiltered, an asking rather than a telling. To be without a piece of paper and writing instrument (pen, pencil, lipstick, eyeliner, blood, if nothing else!), or a screen and keyboard, and without words on paper, preferably in hardcover, I don’t think that has ever happened in my life. Writing = joy + gratitude. I am blessed and I cannot and never will see writing as work. It is, every step of the way, a gift to dwell within words.

Why Write?  I write to engage with a world that feels fuller than full, realer than real. Sometimes, life feels so limited, so incomplete, half-realized only. And in fiction, we can make everything matter, everything poignant, everything expressed as it could be, might be. On good days. I read for that. And I write for that. At least, that’s the goal. And also, writing has become a habit, a crucial part of the way that I process the world. I calculate everything in sentences. And if I don’t write them down, I overfloweth. So.

Three Types of Writing:  Provisional Writing  Readable Writing  Polished Writing

Provisional Writing  Quick Writing – like Brainstorming  Spontaneous and Concise Time Period  Purpose to generate, clarify, or extend ideas and reactions to content  Variety of Uses include: capturing interest, draw on prior knowledge, spur reflection, etc.  Assessment not based on Convention accuracy

Learning Log – Form of Provisional Writing  Write at least once every day – date entries!  Be willing to pair-share responses  Plan on submitting once every two weeks  Use loose-leaf paper housed in a flat, bradded notebook.

Readable Writing  Intended for an audience  Includes essay tests or one draft writing assignments  Requires writer to clarify thoughts and develop an organization structure  Assessment Tool  Assessments include evaluation of conventions considering time limitations involved

Text Types – Forms of Readable Writing  Argument  Informative/Explanatory Texts  Narratives  Comparison  Analysis  Description

Polished Writing Engages the full writing process:  Pre-writing  Initial draft  Partner feedback  Revision  Second draft  Writing circle assessment  Revision and Proof reading  Final draft, self-assessment

Polished Writing = Published Writing  Expects and appreciates an audience  Assessment includes process as well as product  Fulfills College Requirements  Conventions Count!