Writing Across the Curriculum

Writing Across the Curriculum Click To Find: ⇒English Language Arts Social Studies Science The Arts Mathematics 1 Introduction: Writing Across the Curriculum What is it? Teachers across the disciplines use writing-to-learn and writing-to– demonstrate-knowledge to enhance the learning of students in all disciplines. Basic Principles Of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) In response to the need of students to learn content using a variety of strategies and their need to practice writing in a variety of contexts, many teachers have adopted the strategies associated with WAC. The following principles underlie WAC: • Writing promotes learning. • Integration of writing and the writing process promotes student participation, a diversity of student voices, and engage students as critical thinkers while promoting their texts as important resources and thinking tools. • Effective writing instruction integrates disciplines. • The opportunity to write in every class develops good writers. • Using writing as part of instruction can be used in every classroom. • Only by practicing the thinking and writing conventions of an academic discipline will students begin to communicate effectively within that discipline. What`s In It For Teachers and Students? Including writing in instruction has short- and long-term benefits. In the short term, students and their teachers are better able to appraise how well they grasp information and where deeper elaboration of key concepts is needed. Students are able to take small pieces of content and analyze it looking for patterns and connections. In the long run, students who use writing as a technique to learn content have their skills as thinkers developed. Organization, summary, and analysis of content become easier for students, producing richer understandings. Students become more practiced at using writing to communicate their learning and thinking. Writing is used to initiate discussion, reinforce content, and model the method of inquiry common to the field. Writing can help students discover new knowledge—to sort through previous understandings, draw connections, and uncover new ideas as they write. Writing-to-learn activities encourage the kind of reflection on learning that improves students’ metacognitive skills. The key to effectively using writing activities in every subject lies in matching the right activity to the learning situation. As you select writing strategies, ask yourself, “How well suited is this task for the objective the students are learning?” “Does this strategy fit my students’ abilities and needs?” “Will this strategy complement the way my students will be assessed on content later?” Assigned writing in all classes and courses helps students keep their writing skills sharp. Students become better readers, thinkers, and learners in a discipline by processing their ideas through writing. Writing assigned across the curriculum also helps students prepare for the day-in and day-out communicative tasks they`ll face on the job, no matter what the job is. Equally important, student’s need to learn about how writing is used within a discipline; and utilizing many different kinds of writing assignments gives students practice with a variety of disciplinary forms and conventions. So why assign writing in your classes? Students will learn more content, will clarify their thinking, and will leave your classroom better prepared to face thinking and communication challenges. 2 Definition: Writing-To-Learn A writing-to-learn strategy is one that teachers employ throughout and/or at the end of a lesson to engage students and develop big ideas and concepts. Writing-to-learn fosters critical thinking, requiring analysis and application, and other higher level thinking skills. It is writing that uses impromptu, short or informal writing tasks designed by the teacher and included throughout the lesson to help students think through key concepts and ideas. Attention is focused on ideas rather than correctness of style, grammar or spelling. It is less structured than disciplinary writing. This approach frequently uses journals, logs, micro-themes, responses to written or oral questions, summaries, free writing, notes and other writing assignments that align to learning ideas and concepts. Definition: Writing-To-Demonstrate-Knowledge A writing-to-demonstrate-knowledge assignment is one that teachers employ when they assign reports, essays, persuasive writing, and creative or expressive writing, as well as research papers. When writing-to-demonstrate-knowledge students show what they have learned, by synthesizing information and explaining their understanding of concepts and ideas. Students write for an audience with a specific purpose. Products may apply knowledge in new ways or use academic structures for research and/or formal writing. Examples include essays that deal with specific questions or problems, letters, projects, and more formal assignments or papers prepared over weeks or over a course. They adhere to format and style guidelines or standards typical of professional papers, such as reports, article reviews, and research papers and should be checked before submitted by the student for correctness of spelling, grammar, and transition word usage. 3 Preface: WAC In English Language Arts What is it? Writing Across the Curriculum enhances reading-writing-representing connections and deepens understanding Teachers in of all subjects for all students. In fact, writing in English Language Arts can be used as a higher level thinking English language tool. When used well, writing assignments help learners improve critical and creative thinking. arts use principles of Writing Across Accordingly, the English Language Arts Writing Across the Curriculum (ELA WAC) work provides a sample of the Curriculum various types of writing designed to enhance student learning of valued content and processes explicitly stated such as writing- or implied in Michigan’s English language arts standards documents, Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCE) to-learn and and High School Content Expectations (HSCE). These well-researched strategies engage students (grades 3 writing- to- through 12) in understanding or generating content specific to learning tasks, and can be used to challenge demonstrate- students’ thinking and further develop their literacy achievement. knowledge English language arts education in Michigan integrates the teaching and learning of reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing and visually representing. These focal points are not perceived as individual content areas, students in key but as one unified subject where each supports the others. areas of the The Michigan Curriculum Framework supports that effective high-quality instruction in ELA integrates strategies, techniques, and genre into instructional experiences that examine common human experiences and ideas, conflicts, and themes. These include oral, written, and visual texts. The integration of ELA within and across the Speaking and curriculum can enrich learning and enlarge the repertoire of best practices implemented for encouraging Expressing success and engagement with texts which reflect multiple perspectives, connections, and diverse communities. • Reading, Listening and Writing-To-Learn Viewing All of the strategies and techniques included in this document are written as guides and may be personalized and stylized to fit individual situations and classrooms. Each strategy page within the Writing-to-Learn section includes a quick definition of the strategy, describes what it does, and offers directions, ideas, or examples for use within instruction, including visual displays whenever possible. Strategies explained in this document can be incorporated into current practice without making major shifts in pedagogy. Writing-To-Demonstrate-Knowledge Writing–to-Demonstrate-Knowledge entries, however, encompass techniques and “key” genre (listed as Form/Format) which are ongoing. They are aligned to instructional requirements found within Michigan’s Content Expectations. Techniques require more teaching and learning time than strategies. Their effectiveness materializes over time as they are routinely infused into curriculum. Implementation Teaching practices that reflect powerful, effective, and efficient methods include review, rehearsal, integration, and constructivist activities such as the following: 4 Some Best Practices For Writing Across the Curriculum In English Language Arts • Teachers spend time setting and facilitating high expectations for learning. They motivate students to use the strategies, forms, and processes and highlight for students the empowerment that results when they can independently use the strategies on important academic tasks. • Teachers explain the value and rationales for using strategies, including why the strategy assists performance. • Teachers extensively model and provide explanations for, and collaborative discussions about, the thinking processes associated with steps of the strategy. • An explicit description is provided during introduction of the strategy, including when and how the strategy is used. • Teacher or student modeling of the strategy includes explanation, demonstration, and thinking aloud. • Guided Practice takes into account David Pearson’s (1995) Gradual Release of Responsibility Model of instruction. In this model students practice with the teacher, in pairs and small groups, confer with the teacher, and engage in whole-class discussions. Teachers guide and provide substantial feedback. Students are given more and more responsibility as they become increasingly more strategically competent. This means that implementation includes independent use of the strategy. After practicing the strategy with ongoing feedback, students have opportunities to use it on their own. • Students apply strategies to understand or produce new text types or genre. Instruction and practice extend over a period of time across diverse tasks leading to success with complex and novel assignments. Teachers and students determine opportunities for transfer across time. • Teachers encourage writing process techniques, writing for an authentic audience, and ongoing reflection and planning. Although the contents of this guide are not designed to be exhaustive, each component has been researched and found to be effective in instructional settings. Teacher teams should review, discuss, select, and mold these to meet grade level instructional and achievement goals. We encourage the use of teachers’ professional judgment, the examination of student work, and team consensus processes when selecting components and for deciding when to use them. We hope Michigan educators find this resource beneficial when integrating writing into lesson design. 5 ... - tailieumienphi.vn