Writing in the Content Areas

                                                   

“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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n69aZg36mxE