Writing to Learn

                                                                              
     After reviewing the Knipper and Duggan article as well as Chapter Eight of the text, I agree with the authors' well-supported statements that reading should be accompanied by writing in order to deepen student understanding of content subject area.  Throughout my personal learning experience, I have found that a writing exercise can greatly enhance my reading comprehension.  If a teacher follows a mandatory reading assignment with a writing assignment, then I am more likely to remember and understand the information.  I am given time to process and articulate my thoughts in response to the reading.  Particularly, content subject areas require time to process the material.  Therefore writing exercises coupled with reading are especially useful in regard to subjects such as math, science, and social studies.
     Consequently, Knipper and Duggan offer instructional strategies for teachers to implement in order to deepen students' understanding in these content subject areas.  Of the strategies presented, one I will use in my own classroom is the quick write exercise.  This exercise gives students a purpose to read and activates their prior knowledge, therefore deepening comprehension.  In addition, creative thinking and writing will be a prominent component in my classroom because I believe in the benefits it produces for students.  Writing exercises such as poems or an ABC list are useful strategies that help deepen student understanding while allowing self expression and ingenuity.  I agree that more writing to learn exercises can be beneficial in the classroom.  Moreover, I recognize the difference between writing to learn and learning to write.  Unfortunately, many of my learning experiences have focused on learning to write and I believe I could have befitted from more writing to learn exposures especially in my content subject courses.  Therefore,  I hope to supplement my students' learning with many writing to learn opportunities.  These opportunities can certainly help a student who is struggling with reading comprehension in content areas.  I also look forward to implementing small group peer review sessions as Knipper and Duggan suggest.  However, one question I may offer is can peer reviews cause more harm than good?  Often, students are required to give feedback but lack the insight to offer useful advice.  Misinformed but outspoken students can give incorrect advice and cause confusion among students.



           
   
     Lastly, of the three types of knowledge presented in the text, I find procedural knowledge to be the most important for students to be able to articulate.  If students are able to describe their thought process, then teachers can help detect misunderstandings and correct errors.  If students are accurately reasoning to reach a solution, then they can further enhance and apply their knowledge through procedural thinking by being able to describe how they reached their conclusion.  This type of thinking promotes self reflective learning and helps students become more proficient writers, speakers, and communicators.  Various writing prompts can activate student knowledge, get their minds ready to read, and help them articulate what they learned.  While many strategies such as issuing admit slips, exit slips, and RAFT prompts seem to be useful to promote writing to learn, I question whether or not introducing too many strategies can confuse or overwhelm a student.  As a teacher, I wonder if I should present several different strategies to appeal to all my students and expose them to as many tools as possible or if I should dedicate time to focus on a few, successful strategies to help deepen their writing to learn skills as well as enhance comprehension in content areas.