7:1 Writing-to-Learn Activities

When and Where Did I Find It: 

I was re-reading our Teaching Reading in the Content

Areas:  If Not Me, Then Who? textbook (Billmeyer & Barton, 1998) last week as I was revising our PART II and PART III sections of the Strategic Content Area Teaching Project and I came across a very concise, yet descriptive explication of what a writing-to-learn activity is on page 48 (as part of a larger discussion of reflective writing, pp. 47-49).

What it means:   According to the authors, "writing-to-learn activities differ from essays, reports and themes in that they are short, exploratory, and often written for an audience other than the teacher...the purpose of writing-to-learn activities is to reflect on what one has learned, to develop some parameters around it, and to make meaningful, personal connections between it and the writer's life experience."   (Billmeyer & Barton, p. 48). 

Level of Familiarity:   I am very familiar with what this particular type of writing activity is and how it aids the learning process.   

Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why?   Yes. I can't imagine being a teacher of literacy (or a teacher of teachers teaching literacy) and not having a deep and principled understanding of writing-to-learn activities.  In fact, I think these last two prompts in this VSS activity are designed to "engage the learner in reflecting on what has been learned" and to provide the writer with an opportunity to make "meaningful, personal connections between in and the writer's life experience." 

Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well...if so WHO and WHY?:   Just as I state above, I believe all teachers -- not just NYS Literacy Specialists -- need to understand what writing-to-learn activities are and they should have a Level 6 (Mehigan, 2005) ability to utilize these "tools" as a part of their teaching practices.