This document discusses using writing as a learning strategy, called "writing to learn", in content areas like science. It provides examples of writing prompts teachers can use, such as exit slips, learning logs, and quick writes. These brief writing assignments help teachers understand what students are learning and thinking. The document also addresses teaching students to write high-quality nonfiction by using mentor texts, modeling the writing process, and incorporating technology. Overall, it promotes using writing as a way to both teach content and assess student understanding across subjects.

1. Writing To Learn
Created and compiled by Alyson Mitchell
Texas Tech University
July 2009

2. A Look at a 1st
graders nonfiction writing
Information about Birds
Guess what? When baby
chicks hatch, they peck the
air sack then they peck…
the shell. Then they peck
the top off. They are out
now and they are peeping
now.
“Peep peep!” They are fluffy and hungry and going to get some food. And
after…

3. a while the chick can feed it
self. But it will stay by it’s
mother
And that it all I can tell you
now!
This was the summary written on the back of the book. It states,
“Do you want to learn about birds and chicks and penguins? Well
come and lets take an adventure. Come lets get ready.”

4. As you can see from this first grader’s writing,
writing expository pieces or nonfiction writing is
possible in any grade and should be implemented
into the content areas. This first grade classroom
was studying oviparous animals (egg laying
animals) in science and had been observing eggs
hatching prior to this child writing this piece.
Not only is this child experiencing the writing
process but she is also showing her teacher what
she has learned from this recent science unit.

5. There are two aspects to consider
when teaching nonfiction writing:
1. Using the writing process to teach
students how to create quality nonfiction.
2. Using writing as a strategy to increase
learning and understanding in the
content areas. This is called “Writing to
learn”.

6. Using the writing process to teach students
how to create quality nonfiction
In previous literacy classes, you have heard and even been a part of the writing
process. This is the process that teachers take when teaching children to write.
This type of writing is very different than writing to learn which will be discussed
later.
Prewriting
Composing
Revising
Editing
Notice these stages are recursive. For example, a writer might prewrite,
compose, edit, compose again and then revise.

7. PREWRITING: This is the time that writers decide on their
audience, what to write, and how the writing will look. It is a
time to jot down ideas, gather thoughts and brainstorm.
Questions that a writer might ask:
What should I write about?
Why am I writing?
What do I want my reader to know?
COMPOSING: Now that the type of writing has been decided,
this is when the writer begins their draft. Questions that a
writer might ask:
How should I organize my writing?
What words should I use?

8. REVISING: These are changes made to the way the writing
sounds. As the author writes or rereads the writing, changes
are made to the content. This might include changes to word
choice or rewriting sentences. Questions the author might
ask:
How can I make my writing more clearer?
Should I add to, delete, or reorder my writing?
Will my readers understand?
EDITING: These are changes made to the way the writing looks.
As the author writes and/or rereads the writing, changes are
made to the conventions of the piece. This might include
punctuation, capitalization, grammatical mistakes. Questions
the author might ask:
How can I get my writing ready for my reader?
What spelling or punctuation errors do I need to correct?

9. What about the 6 Traits?
The 6 traits that you learned in EDLL 3351/3352 can definitely be
implemented when teaching children how to write quality
nonfiction writing. Look back at the first graders story at the
beginning of this presentation. What traits do you see this
child using?
VOICE: This child does a great job of letting us hear her personality in her writing.
Phrases like, “Guess what?” and “that is all I can tell you now” show us that she
knows she has an audience.
ORGANIZATION: We see organization when we hear the lead (opening
sentence), “Guess what?” and when we see that the child has organized the writing
around the sequence of what she observed with the birds. This is a sequential story
because it follows a first, second, next pattern.

10. WORD CHOICE: We see that the child has a sense of this when she uses words like,
“peep”, “pecking” “fluffy” and “air sack”.
FLUENCY: Notice that this writer’s sentences do not all start the same way. She even
includes dialogue in her nonfiction story when she mentions the noise the chicks make.
Because of these two factors, we can sense that she understands the process of fluency.
Her story flows and is easy to read.
IDEAS: It is evident that this child has an idea or a message that she wants to get across
and she does this clearly. From knowing this child and observing in her classroom, I know
that this was an idea that she came up with on her own. In other words, this was not an
assigned topic given to her by her teacher.
CONVENTIONS: This child has many conventions under control. She has many known
words such as: watch, when, hatch, peck and they on the first page. She experiments with
capitals and lower case letters, although she doesn’t always get this correct. She also
experiments with punctuation using periods, quotation marks and exclamation marks.

11. Earlier (on Slide 5) it was shared that when teaching nonfiction writing one aspect to
consider is teaching children how to write quality nonfiction pieces. Pinnell and Fountas (pg
102) share that they are different genres that encompass nonfiction writing. Some of
these that can be taught to children are biographies, literary nonfiction and expository.
Biographies are usually presented as a narrative. With this genre we want our
students to learn that this is a true story about a person. The author selects a
subject and selects events and tells their story. There are many great examples of
biographies that are appropriate to share with children. Begin a unit over biographies
by reading many of these examples.
Literary nonfiction are books that focus on a topic and are highly engaging. A
great example of this type of writing is Pumpkin Circle. When teaching this genre to
children, this book would serve as a great mentor text!
Expository nonfiction is a report or an article. This is something we all remember
doing in school. As writing teachers we teach children how to make statements
and back these statements up with facts and examples. We also want to show
them that these reports can be fun. Books like Rainforest are a great example to
share with students.

12. REMEMBER!
Children learn to write quality from getting lots of
experience writing. Use books that they know to serve
as mentor texts or a model. Talk about what the
author includes in the tradebook. Write frequently in
front of children. Show them what you expect them to
do. Write daily with children, either in interactive
writing (they share the pen with you) or in shared
writing (they give you the ideas and you write).
Whether teaching biographies or another genre,
children need to see an expert writer…YOU in action!
If we expect them to know how to use the writing
process (prewriting, drafting, revising and editing)
effectively and we want them to use the 6 Traits well
we have to show them what to do and how to do it!

13. Brandi Blankenship’s kindergarten class was creating a guessing book about
ocean animals during interactive writing. This child was called to assist with a
word as his classmates watch and listen for sounds.

14. There are two aspects to consider
when teaching nonfiction writing:
1. Using the writing process to teach
students how to create quality nonfiction.
2. Using writing as a strategy to increase
learning and understanding in the
content areas. This is called “Writing to
learn”.
We have discussed teaching children how to create quality
nonfiction writing. Now let’s think about aspect #2…

15. Using writing as a strategy to increase learning and
understanding in the content areas. This is called
“Writing to learn”.
Carol Avery explains writing to
learn as experiencing writing as a
tool for raising questions and
seeking answers.
Avery, pg 442

16. What can Writing to Learn look
like?
Learning logs
Admit slips
Exit slips
Crystal balls
Poetry
Yesterday’s news
Take a stand
What if?
Quick Writes

17. At different times during the school day, children can be asked to write to show
their teacher what they are learning in their content areas. These examples
portray some of what was listed on the last slide. Other writing to learn examples
can be seen in your textbook on pages 121 through 133.
Before you leave today, write 3 things that you learned about _________________.
1.
2.
3.
EXIT SLIP
This could easily be changed into an admit slip. Students could write about what they
know about a topic before they begin the study showing the teacher their schema.
CRYSTAL BALL EXAMPLE
We have been reading about ______________. What do you think the author will
say next?

18. This third grader was answering the prompt, “What if no one recycled…” in her journal. Her sample
shows her teacher about her as a writer while also showing what she has learned about the topic.
This first grader was asked to define
addition in her learning log. Her answer
shows her teacher she clearly understands
what it means to add.
(C. Avery, 1993)

19. Benefits of Writing to Learn
•Catalyst for further learning
•Opportunity for students to recall, clarify and question
what they know and what they still wonder about
•Provides opportunity to find out what students have
learned
•Applies 3 kinds of knowledge
Declarative (answering what questions)
Procedural (answering how questions)
Conditional (answering when/why questions)
•Brief teaching events (less than 10 minutes)
(Frey and Fisher, pg 220)

20. What about technology?
With all of the technology available to classrooms, technology needs to
be a part of any content writing classroom. Moore and Cunningham
(pg 188) state, “Those who have regular access to computers for
word processing are more willing to write, write more, revise more,
and feel more confident in their writing.”
Teachers can model quality writing on SmartBoards showing their
students the process they go through as they draft, revise and edit.
They can also model their writing to learn process as they jot down
notes, create a graphic organizer or journal a process.
Children should also be given time to use technology during their
writing process. Children as young as kindergarten are able to use
Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. As the quote above states,
allowing children to publish their work will encourage more writing
and incorporates an area of growing need.

21. Writing to learn, “is a tool we can use
to see how students are thinking
about and understanding what they
are doing and learning in the
classroom.”
Frey and Fisher, 2007

22. REFERENCES
Avery, Carole (1993). And With a Light Touch: Reading, Writing and Teaching with
First Graders. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Frey, Nancy and Fisher, Douglas (2007). Reading for Information in Elementary School:
Content Literacy Strategies to Build Comprehension. Columbus, OH: Pearson.
McCarrier, I. Pinnell, G and Fountas, I. (2000) Interactive Writing: How Language and
Literacy Come Together, K-2. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Moore D., Moore S., Cunningham P., Cunningham J., (2006) Developing Readers and
Writers in the Content Areas K-12. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Pike, Kathy and Mumper, Jean (2004). Making Nonfiction and Other Informational
Texts Come Alive. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Pinnell, G. and Fountas, I. (2007) The Continuum of Literacy Learning Grades K-8.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.