Writing in the content areas

1.Product-centered views of writing were replaced with process-centered views of writing. Process writing Situated learning Multicultural urban classrooms

2.The belief that writing promotes learning. A cultural tool to build and examine knowledge  Writing provides a means to explore and make sense of ideas and experiences  Writing can alter the role of the teacher, the role of the student while changing the value of knowledge in the content areas.  Writing across the disciplines can help students learn about the wide range of genres and formats used in various content areas. Types of writing  Restricted writing  Summary writing  Analytical writing

3.The understanding that writing furthers constructivism. Writing is a meaning construction process that activates knowledge held in memory including world knowledge, text structure knowledge, metacognitive knowledge, and knowledge of the mechanics of writing Writing can also be used to promote constructivism in the form of knowledge-building whereby students use writing to learn through inquiry. (WAC)

4.The development of the National Writing Project. A format in which teachers using writing in the schools can meet with other teachers to improve student writing. In 1974 at the University of California, Berkeley the first Summer Institute of the Bay Area Writing Project took place. The National writing project emerged in the late 1970s.

Basic Assumptions of the NWP: Teachers learn well from other teachers because of their credibility. Writing is a tool that facilitates learning in science, math, history, and other disciplines as well as in English. Teachers who teach writing write. To be effective, professional development programs must be on-going so that teachers come together throughout their careers to exchange ideas about writing. Teachers must be free to participate voluntarily in NWP programs. Knowledge about teaching writing comes from both research and classroom practice. The NWP encourages the critical examination of a variety of approaches to the teaching of writing and promotes no single writing pedagogy. Working together, teachers and universities can guide and support school reform (National Writing Project, 2001).

Categories of Writing: Writing to assess learning  When composing students have to construct and organize knowledge from what they have learned and stored away.  Writing for evaluative purposes limits the amount of enrichment students can gain from writing.  Formulaic writing curtails students’ analytical thinking and writing skills.  Use of process writing and rubrics and address some of the above concerns

Writing to promote learning.  Exploratory writing (“writing that enables us to discover what we want to say”). Make sense of ideas Construct new understandings Make new connections Generate questions Monitor understanding

Ways to engage students in exploratory writing Admit and exit slips Freewrites Question papers Skeletons (Pressnall, 1995) In the 1960’s Dr. King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Thurgood Marshall and others tried to change a few things. They had many goals. They tried many tactics. They met resistance. They met success. DEAD (drop everything and draft) SNAP (Stop now and process)

RAFTing  Role  Audience  Format  Topic Role Audience FormatTopic Newspaper reporter Readers in 1826 ObituaryThomas Jefferson MoonSun Instructions How the moon relates to solar system

Writing to observe student work  Reveals student thinking and learning visible.  It confirms progress in learning.  It shows breakdowns in thinking and learning.  Allows teachers to plan for instructional decisions through observations of students’ writing.