“Teachers
and researchers understand that fluency is an important consideration in
reading development but sometimes neglect writing fluency. If students do not
write enough, they do not have anything to edit. Because writing is thinking,
if students are not writing fluently, they probably are not thinking fluently”
(Fisher & Frey, 2013, page 97).
Writing is the best way to get our thoughts down on
paper. It is an expression of our feelings that we cannot find the right words to speak, but the right words to write on paper. Just as the above quote mentions from the article, A Range of Writing Across the Content Areas, if we are not writing
fluently then we are not thinking fluently. In most English classes, teachers
assign their students to do some light writing usually at the beginning of
class, during homeroom, or at the end of class. Writing, like this, should not
only be included in English classes, but in the content areas as well. I really
like the idea of power writing. “Power writing is a method for building writing
fluency through brief, timed writing events. The purpose is to get students to
put ideas down on paper quickly and accurately” (Fisher & Frey, 2013, page
97). Power writing could be done in any content area class such as social studies,
science, or even math. As the man in the video mentions, teachers have to take
some responsibility for integrating writing into their content area. Content
area teachers can assign their students a journal writing activity in the first
few minutes of class asking about a certain topic they had discussed in a
previous class or jot down a few ideas about a certain issue within the
subject. Timed writing events can have its positive effects and its negative effects.
The positive side is that being timed will prepare students for timed SAT essay
writing. The negative side is that students may feel overwhelmed with timed
writing and may make them unable to write anything because nothing comes to
mind, but writing in the content areas cannot only be done through journal
writing. It can even include an essay writing assignment.
Writing could often times be very difficult for students.
They may find it boring or they may have a writer’s block. So it is a teacher’s
job to make writing fun and creative. Content area teachers have to make writing
motivating and engaging. I think for teachers to be successful in writing they
must always provide examples for their students and model for them. Students will
not learn unless they learn from something first. Teachers should also provide
one word on the board daily and students try to include that word in their journal
writing. This will build their vocabulary and prepare them for SATs. I think to
make writing engaging, students need to use their imagination and in order for
students to use their imagination, teachers should assign creative writing
projects. They should also write essays or journals that they have some
connection with or which they can share their personal experiences within.
In a content area class, a great strategy to use is the “language
toolbox” from the detailed reading stage. “The language toolbox visually
represented the way an author could choose and use language resources to write
an academic-persuasive essay” (Ramos, 2014, page 660). In a social studies
class, a history teacher can assign the class to write a persuasive essay that
persuades the reader, for example, why the writer would make a good president.
The writer could use the “language toolbox” as a great tool and resource for
adding in adverbs, synonyms, and other language resources to prove the argument
to be believable.
There really is no wrong or right with writing. Writing
can be done in two ways. You are either writing something based on personal experience
and in your own opinion or you are writing something that is based on research.
Writing should not be judged because it is spoken words written on paper. It is
a stress-relief for the mind and I think all content area teachers should
integrate writing into their lessons. Writing will always be seen in a content
area class someway or somehow, whether it is through journal writing, essays,
tests, or answering short answer questions. Writing is also an assessment for teachers
to use on students to see if they comprehend what they are reading and to see
if they grammatically speaking well because as mentioned before, “Writing is
thinking and if students are not writing fluently, they are probably not
thinking fluently” (Fisher & Frey, 2013, page 97). 
References
Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2013). A
Range of Writing Across the Content Areas.
Reading
Teacher, 67(2), 96-101.
Ramos, K. (2014). Teaching Adolescent
ELs to Write Academic-Style Persuasive
Essays.
Journal Of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 57(8), 655-665.
