Málfríður - 15.03.2011, Page 11

on the history of civil rights used the question: “What
are our civil rights and how can we best protect and
promote them?” In a German class, a teacher framed
the whole course with the question: “What do we need
to know and do to thrive in Germany?” Each unit was a
subquestion such as: “What do we need to know about
greeting and meeting people to thrive in Germany?”
With this simple move, the language, concepts and
processes taught in a unit are in clear and immediate
service of solving a problem and applying the knowl-
edge in real contexts. Though many teachers assume
that students will see the connection between what
they are learning and how it is to be used, the evidence
shows that this is not the case and that students are
usually at a loss as to how what they are learning is
important or useful (Smith and Wilhelm, 2002; 2006).
It is important to note that even in language classes
or when teaching language conventions or grammar,
it is extremely important to contextualize the learn-
ing in conceptual units that foreground application –
when we learn the HOW we need to have a meaning-
ful WHY and WHAT that help us enact what we are
learning and that co-produces the knowledge (Smith
and Wilhelm, 2007).
With this social view of learning, we ask: What work
can writing do to help students learn to participate in
communities of practice in the ways that linguists,
mathematicians, scientists, historians, artists, etc. do?
And in this context: What kind of learning can writing
promote?
Research shows that writing is a powerful means to
teach language, language use, conceptual understand-
ing, and processes such as composing and problem-
solving processes – if the composing occurs in a meaning-
ful context of actual use – and that this composing can
lead to social action and service as part of this deep
understanding and use.
Implementing Writing in Content Area and
Language Classes: General Principles
Current theories of teaching composition foreground
these additional principles which can be very helpful
to teachers striving to implement composing in their
classrooms to help students learn.
*Composing is a situated and recursive process. As
explained above, composing in all forms is best
When we think about the role writing can play in help-
ing our students learn, we often have to remind our-
selves what we believe about learning and what we
want students to learn.
For us, learning is when people engage in the mean-
ingful and meaning-making practices of the communi-
ties they participate in. This might be when they par-
ticipate in a club or a sport or a performance; it might
be when they are with their family or friends; it might
be when they participate in their religious or social
organizations. In schools, we think of learning in terms
of disciplinary communities. That is, in science class-
es, we consider the scientific community; in art and
music classes, we envision the community of artists;
in mathematics courses, we focus on mathematicians,
and so on. Of course, we are aware that these are not
the only communities students participate in, and that
many out of school communities provide social status
for them among their peers, within their towns, within
on-line communities, and more.
Making learning meaningful
The takeaway is that when we teach writing, we need
to do it in a context of use that is meaningful to our
students. In other words, students need to have some-
thing to write about and a purpose that this writing
will serve.
One elegant way to create a context of use is to
reframe what you already teach with essential ques-
tions, which highlights the topic or content under
study as a problem to be solved (Wilhelm, 2007;
Wilhelm, Wilhelm and Boas, 2009). For instance, Jeff
has recently taught an English literature unit on Romeo
and Juliet framed with the essential question, ‘What
makes and breaks relationships?’ A social studies unit
MÁLFRÍÐUR 11
Jeffrey D. WilhelmJim Fredricksen.
Tapping the Power:
Writing to Learn Language,
Content, and Process