Writing to Learn Strategies Strategies that engage thinking, make connections, and improve communication skills.

Why write? Commits learning to long term memory ▫Emotionally charge experience ▫Connect to previous knowledge ▫Time to solidify new material Reveals misconceptions Improves communication skills Provides formative assessment Helps teacher understand how student learns Assists students with standardized tests - Eric Jensen

Choice Jigsaw – Writing to Learn Mathematics ▫“Getting Started” – explains a variety of quick write ideas that can be adapted to many content areas. ▫“Autobiography” – relating personal experiences related to content. ▫“Journals” – ideas for topics, feedback, formats ▫“Evaluation and testing” – the whats and hows. ▫“Reflection” – purpose, pitfalls, feedback

Looping – helps students explore their thinking. Students write non stop for ten minutes to capture initial thoughts on given topic. ▫the behavior of a literary character ▫a political or historical event ▫thoughts regarding an environmental issue Reread what is written looking for a “hot spot,” central idea or emerging theme. Summarize “hotspot” into one sentence and copy to top of a clean page. Write again without referring to original. Repeat until a focus or thesis emerges. Peter Elbow

Pass-the-reflection Write reflection on a give topic for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes pass paper. Read initial thinking and take two minutes to continue writing on the topic. Repeat until each student has responded to a number of papers. This activity extends thinking through both writing and reading.

Conversation logs Valuable when teaching multiple sections. Like a paper blog Pass same notebook with no names from section to section and students respond to each other.

Writing stems I think calculators… Multiplying mixed numbers is easy if… The trouble with history is… Teachers often say… Working in a group causes… To study for a science test I usually… I like to get help to… Mitosis in a process that… The best thing about Harry Potter is…

Explain Processes Explain how to find all the factors of 56. Explain how to find the area off a circle. Explain how water evaporates. Explain the electoral college. Explain how to use a conjunction.

Revision Strategies Revision strategies require extensive modeling. Build a sentence over 5 days. Establishes the idea that “the best writing is rewriting.” E. B. White STAR S ubstitute T ake things out A dd R earrange Richard Cornwell

RAFT – Fun way to think about content R oll - lampConcord bridge A udiencehome ownerRiver F ormatpetitiongossip T opicefficient bulbsBattle Teacher - Students - Epitaph - over used words ¾ - 1\2 – brag – mathematical value

Analogies The structure and function of a typical cell compared to the structure and function of another organizational entity such as a school or a factory or a family. A _______ works much like a __________. A ________ and a _______ have more in common then you might think.

ABC and Ds of on Demand Writing A ttack the prompt B rainstorm possible answers C hoose the order of your response D etect Errors before turning in the draft See handout.

Entrance Write – Subject Biography Write your science (Math, SS, music) biography. ▫What do you like or not like about science? ▫What has been your most memorable experience related to science? ▫How is science related to your everyday life? ▫What areas of science are most interesting or intriguing? ▫What science questions do you have?