Checking In: What do students know about "Writing to Learn" strategies?
When introducing or reviewing any strategy, it is a good idea to check-in with the students. We want to assess how much they know about the strategy so that we can build on their prior knowledge. Here are a few ways to assess students' prior knowledge of "Writing to Learn" strategies.
Teachers could...
- ask students, "How have you used writing to help you process and understand new information?" Or, "Why is it important to write about what we know or what we are learning?"
- list different types of "Writing to Learn" strategies on the board; then, ask students to talk about their experiences with each strategy. Students should think about how the individual strategies shaped their understanding of new concepts.
- ask students to engage in a quickwrite (a type of "Writing to Learn" strategy) where they respond to the following prompt.
To what extent do you agree or disagree: We don't know what we know until we write it down. Once our ideas are written down, we can revist them, question them, study them, evaluate their accuracy, and finally apply them to other discussions.
Assessing the Skill
When assessing "Writing to Learn" strategies, teachers could...
- evaluate the level of engagement and sincerity students bring to each "Writing to Learn" strategy.
- evaluate students' metacognitive skills at the beginning of the year and monitor their growth as they are exposed to "Writing to Learn" strategies.
- use the assessment tool below to monitor and evaluate students' use of "Writing to Learn" strategies.
- ask students to reflect on how "Writing to Learn" strategies help them learn new concepts, which, as it turns out, would be another metacognitive exercise.
Assessing Content Knowledge
If we are going to invest class time teaching students how to think metacognitively, we should have some idea of how this skill (or competency) is improving students' ability to learn and retain course concepts. When assessing students' knowledge of the content, teachers could...
- craft short answer prompts that ask students to articulate complex ideas that require analytical thinking, application, and evaluation.
- ask students to respond to and process ideas that are essential to the content area.
- ask students to write informal responses to questions that promote metacognition and reflection.
- engage students in formal writing tasks that assess students' knowledge through written performance.
Developing a Writing Purpose
Each "Writing to Learn" activity or exercise should begin with a purpose. Obviously, when we ask our students to engage in a Quickwrite or Learning Log, we want them to sharpen their metacognitive thinking skills, but we must also have in mind our skill-based and content-based objectives. What we want our students to do and how we want them to think will determine the activity or exercise we assign.
For example, if we want our students to reflect on what they know (or have recently learned) about a particular topic, we might assign a Quickwrite. This activity will allow students to process information while making connections to prior knowledge. If we want students to review a process or account for a number of ideas, we might ask them to complete a mind map. "Writing to Learn" strategies are always effective when a clear purpose is given.
Pacing and Supporting the Lesson
When introducing "Writing to Learn" strategies, talk about the importance of processing and connecting new knowledge. Although this metacognitive work can be done verbally, it is important to use writing as a way to think through ideas. After all, much of what we know and understand comes from ideas we write down. Once an idea is on the page, we can reread it, evaluate its accuracy, judge its value, and apply it to other ideas. "Writing to Learn" strategies, then, are more than metacognitive tools; they are ways for us to create meaning.
Each "Writing to Learn" strategy should be explained and modeled for students. We should also state our expectations for task completion. Should students write a half page? How many entries? Will they have to reflect everyday or once a week? Students need to know what they are doing and how they will be assessed.
The "Writing to Learn" strategies are most effective when students are given multiple opportunities each week to think about and process new knowledge.
Learning the Skill
When introducing "Writing to Learn" strategies, consider the following approaches.
- Teach one strategy at a time and model the expectation for task completion.
- Use the "Writing to Learn" student handouts when asking students to engage in this metacognitive work.
- Make copies of the student handouts as needed. Project the handouts and strategy slides as often as possible.
- Use a document camera or overhead projector to model how to complete a "Writing to Learn" activity.
- Many of the "Writing to Learn" activities can be made from lined paper. Have students fold paper into tables and columns.
- Help students understand the thinking behind the "Writing to Learn" activites we assign.
- Explain the importance of metacognitive thinking skills. Students need to know how writing about their learning helps them process, connect, and retain ideas presented verbally or visually.
Developing the Skill
When deepening students' understanding of "Writing to Learn" strategies, consider the following approaches.
- Ask students to select metacognitive exercises or "Writing to Learn" strategies that would best fit their learning needs for a particular lesson.
- Ask students to complete various "Writing to Learn" strategies in groups so that they can model from each other how to think about their own learning.
- Have students share their quickwrites, learning logs, or dialectical journals with others in the room.
- Have students post their ideas online so that students in the class can read them.
Mastering the Skill
Mastery of any skill takes time, lots of practice, and a solid understanding of the strategy. Consider applying some of the following approaches when developing students' mastery of "Writing to Learn" strategies.
- Ask students to independently use the strategy with little to no support.
- Ask students how they would use the skill in their other classes.
- Have students read a text independently. Then, have them explain which "Writing to Learn" strategy would help them understand the material.
- Teach students that "Writing to Learn" strategies can be used to reflect on ideas as well as produce new ones.
Strategy Slides
