Málfríður - 15.03.2011, Page 12

particular genres or text types together. E.g. teach the
reading of scripts and writing of scripts at the same
time, along with the use of particular conventions like
colons and parentheses that pay off in the reading
and writing of that kind of text. Instead of focusing
on reading or writing generally, focus on teaching a
specific text type and teach reading and writing that
text type together.
Different composing situations impose different demands on
composers. Composing consists of general processes of
writing that are necessary but insufficient for specific
acts of writing. That’s because specific acts of writing
place text- and task-specific demands on writers that
go beyond the general. Students who are good at writ-
ing narratives in a literature class may suffer great dif-
ficulties in writing lab reports in science because the
demands for conceptual knowledge, genre knowledge
and conventional knowledge are so different. The
takeaway: every teacher in every subject needs to be
a teacher of reading and writing inducting students
into the conceptual and procedural demands of read-
ing and writing in the particular situations she is teach-
ing for.
In the Classroom: Writing to Learn Content
and Language: Some Social Strategies
The Writing to Learn movement (WTL) argues that
writing is not primarily a way to record what one
already knows, and is instead a powerful way dis-
cover new knowledge and construct new understand-
ings by sorting through new insights, uncovering new
ideas, seeing patterns, drawing conclusions and the
like (NWP & Nagin, 2003). WTL activities can activate
what is already known, help students see connections,
reflect on concepts, language and processes, improve
metacognitive skills and self-regulation. The Writing in
the Disciplines (WID) (see the writing situation princi-
ple above) approach layers onto WTL as it maintains
that people become better thinkers, problem-solvers,
readers and composers within a discipline by practic-
ing the kinds of informal and informal reading and
writing that are specific to that discipline. The con-
clusion is that students in all content areas, including
those learning language, should constantly be writing
in ways congruent with how disciplinary and language
experts compose.
Following are just a few examples of informal com-
posing techniques pursued at our Boise State Writing
Project site for doing just these things. In all cases,
it is very important for students to understand the
purpose of the writing, how these purposes fit larg-
er purposes for the course and for doing real world
work, and directions must be clear. The use of models
of the kind of writing that is desired is always help-
ful.
learned in a context of use. Though writing is widely
understood as a process that begins with activating
background knowledge (brainstorming) then devel-
oping new knowledge, analyzing and organizing that
knowledge (e.g. outlining), drafting, revising and peer
editing, researchers know that this process is recursive.
“Most research today supports the view that writing is
recursive, that it does not proceed linearly but instead
cycles and recycles through subprocesses” of plan-
ning, getting the stuff to write about, forming the stuff,
drafting and revising (NWP & Nagin, 2003, p. 25). The
takeaway: students should be writing every day and
in ways that support them through every aspect of
the writing process and in ways that help them solve
a problem. Give students time to respond to each oth-
ers’ writing. Give substantial time for informal writing
and practice that leads to the writing of more formal
assignments.
Composing involves multiple modalities and technologies.
Composing is widely understood to be any proc-
ess where meaning is represented in any form, be it
through visual art, music, or standard written com-
munication. Composing is also considered to be most
powerful when it uses multimodalities and digital
technologies (Bolter, 1995). The takeaway: have stu-
dents compose visual and dramatic and multimodal
texts with and without technology. Value this kind of
composing in itself, and also use it in conjunction with
more traditional writing and as a bridge to that kind
of writing.
Composing develops through repeated meaningful prac-
tice. Students need multiple daily informal low-risk
opportunities to practice putting developing skills
and evolving concepts to use (Shanahan, 2004).
Research indicates that “the development of student
writing from approximate forms to conventional
forms is best achieved through the devotion of sub-
stantial time and provision of multiple opportuni-
ties” to write (Egawa, 1998). The takeaway: provide
the opportunity to write every day for multiple pur-
poses, and various audiences in ways connected to
the overall inquiry or problem to be solved. Build on
student interests and strengths in ways that help to
address what they still need to know. Over time pro-
vide guidance that helps students to layer on more
and more formal features.
Reading and composing are symmetrical and mutually
reinforcing processes. “Numerous studies have shown
that writing led to improved reading achievement,
reading led to better writing, and combined instruc-
tion led to improvement in both reading and writing
(Tierney and Shanahan, 1991, p. 258). The takeaway:
all students will learn language and textual conven-
tions best if we teach the reading and composing of
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