Writing To Learn in Middle and High School Science

Writing To Learnin

Middle and High School Science

2009 NAEP Proficient Reading Level

Eighth-grade students performing at the ProficientLevel should be able to:• Provide relevant information • Summarize main ideas and themes• Make and support inferences about a text• Connect parts of a text• Analyze text features• Fully substantiate judgments about content and

presentation of content

Common Core State Standards

Common Core Instruction LESS

• Teacher lecture• Whole group• Assigned seat work with

little opportunity to practice new learning

MORE

• Think alouds, modeling, students processing information actively

• Short whole group time with small group time to process info

• Opportunities for practice, discussion in pairs/small groups before assigning independent work

Where do I begin?

• Determine what students need to know and be able to do.– What key concepts are to be learned?– What will students be expected to read, discuss,

write, and present?• Determine tools to use for learning.

“If students are to make knowledge their own, they must struggle with the details, wrestle with the facts, and rework raw information and dimly understood concepts into language they can communicate to someone else. In short, if students are to learn, they must write.”

-Vartan Gregorian President, Carnegie Corporation

• With your table group, list five types of writing that you use in your science classroom.

• Place each type on a separate sticky note and place on the wall.

Writing To LearnWriting To Learn• Short• Spontaneous• Exploratory• Informal• Personal• One draft• Unedited• Ungraded

Formal Writing• Substantial• Planned• Authoritative• Conventional• Audience centered• Drafted• Edited• Assessable

Content-Area Writing, Harvey Daniels, et al

Writing To Learn Can:• activate thinking• help us collect and synthesize thoughts• help us to sort ideas• help us notice and hold on to our thinking• help us make connections• enhance discussions• help us set, assess, and evaluate learning

goals

Writing To Learn is not:

• Copying notes from the teacher• Answering questions at the end of

the chapterContent-Area Writing, Harvey Daniels, et al

Writing Break Procedure• Students stop and reflect in writing on the

activities or information being presented.• Quick sharing with partners or whole class

follows this writing.• Duration: 2 minutes• Writing Breaks can consist of words,

phrases, questions, confusions, connections, distractions, etc.

Content-Area Writing, Harvey Daniels, et al

Minute PaperSignificant Points

Unanswered Questions

WOW’s for Application

If students are notquestioning, they are not

comprehending.

The process is more valuable than the

outcome.

Writing to Learn: Strategies for Assigning and Responding to Writing Across the Disciplines, Sorcinelli, et al

Consider this• Poor writing skills cost businesses

$3.1 billion annually• Only one out of four twelfth-

grade students is a proficient writer

Writing to Read

Assigning Grades

• Not graded for grammar or spelling• Writing to Learn instead of Learning

to Write• Participation

Content-Area Writing, Harvey Daniels et al

Slips• Can use index cards• Spend 1-5 minutes at the end of class• Offer students 1 prompt or several options• Diagnostic• Categorize/Deal the cards out in stacks to

address the next day

Content-Area Writing, Harvey Daniels, et al

Writing to Learn Strategies

SOAPWriting BreakMinute Paper Exit Slip

1. As a result of this training, what do you plan to do differently in your classroom?

2. Which elements of this training were most effective for you?

3. What do you still hope to learn about scientific literacy?

4. If you are interested in a classroom visit next year, please provide your contact information.

Reflection