WRITING TO LEARN Across Content Areas

Now that more schools are considering ways to teach and utilize literacy tools to enhance instruction and increase learning across the content areas, many English Language Arts educators are being viewed as the repository for such strategies.  Remember, while schools are implementing the Common Core Standards, all educators are responsible for helping students to meeting the literacy standards. Rather than assume an extra load, invite your math colleagues to download this booklet,

Writing and Learning Groups in Math .

A few decades ago, when I completed a summer at the San Diego Writing Project (NWP) and learned about writing to learn and the impressive research showing science teachers using writing to help ensure long term retention of science concepts, I wondered if this teaching strategy would work in Math. Pursuit of answers became the focus on my Master’s research and the attached booklet is a product designed based on that research.  “Writing and Learning Groups in Math“.

 I’ve seen them  used effectively in my own middle and high school ELA classes, in the classes of my colleagues in the Math Department and by summer school teachers in the SummerBridge program that works with elementary school students.  Math teachers whom I met during presentations at the California Council of Teachers of Math found the ideas useful and many chose to implement them in their own classes, including my son’s high school math teacher!  See ways current teachers are using these approaches to teaching and assessing math. There work is included in my newest textbooks: GETTING STARTED: A Path to Teaching English to Middle School Students and Beyond (Nov 2018) and MORE ABOUT WRITING: Designing Student Assignments with Specific Steps (Jan 2019)

Please feel free to download and share or simply forward to link to those you think will be interested or benefit from knowing more ways to implement writing in the content areas.