Writing to Learn

One of the best ways for a student to understand a topic is to write about it.

Students must comprehend the material, restructure the new information, and then share their new understanding. Writing to learn is much more than an accumulation of report writing; it helps students think and learn carefully and completely.

Writing assignments are about creating both ideas and learning. During writing assignments, students learn how to assess information and determine its appropriateness, to evaluate and compare, analyze and discern, add their own feelings, organize information, and communicate conclusions.

Through these processes, students learn to manage and use information to solve problems, interrelate knowledge, and effectively communicate learning outcomes. Students develop excellence in achievement by producing the required quality assignments; they develop diligence by continually practicing clarity, accuracy, relevance, prioritizing, consistency, depth, and breadth through writing activities.

Charlotte Mason’s narration methods for younger children involve telling back favorite stories read by parents. In later years, students progress to reading passages and telling back in verbal or written form what they have learned. Talking it out, whether aloud or on paper, helps students think.

Often teachers use writing as a way of testing. They use it to find out what students already know, rather than as a way of encouraging them to learn.

But the active processes of seeking information, compiling notes, and evaluating, analyzing, and organizing content, as well as the processes of personal reflection, choosing and constructing words, and expressing ideas in writing, are valuable learning tools which students will use the rest of their lives. Catherine Copley explains in The Writer’s Complex:

Writing provides food for thought—it enables you to knead small, half-baked words and sentences into great big loaves of satisfying thought that then lead to more thoughts. Developing ideas involves getting some ideas—in whatever form—onto paper or screen so you can see them, return to them, explore them, question them, share them, clarify them, change them, and grow them. It really is almost like growing plants or kneading bread and waiting for the results: plant the seed, start the process, and then let your mind, including your unconscious, take over. Go to sleep and let your dreaming continue to develop your ideas. Humans were born to think; it’s almost impossible to stop us. Writing helps us to bring all that activity into consciousness, helps to clarify and direct our thinking, and generate more thinking. Writing, thinking, and learning are part of the same process.2

Writing Actives

Journals

Assignments can be gathered together in a “learning log” or other type of journal. A more powerful type of journal is the “double-entry” or “dialogic” journal in which students copy down quotes, facts, or concepts from a unit study in one column, and write responses, questions, and insights in the next column or on the facing page. In this way the writer engages in an ongoing dialogue with the material—an ancient but still essential activity of serious intellectual life in any academic field or profession.

Blogging

Blogging is an excellent way to “write to learn.” Consider starting a blog for your child. They can record school work, Bible studies, family outings, copy work, writing assignments, etc. You can make it private by adding password protection.

Writing Summaries—A Narration Method

Several activities in Heart of Wisdom unit studies recommend the student to read passages (particularly Bible passages) and write a summary. This is an excellent way to tell how well people understand something they have read. This method is almost always required preparation for deeper thinking, and is an important tool for research writing. Adding summary writing to a study routine will increase the student’s ability to understand and remember what has been read.

Knowing how to write a summary is an essential skill for studying and writing in college. A good summary captures the essence of a piece of writing in your own words and indicates the degree to which you understand what you have read. Writing summaries helps you understand your sources, reduces your reliance on the words of others, and helps integrate the ideas and information of others into your own thinking. As with most writing, the length of your summary is determined by its purpose and audience.

To write a concise, accurate summary means you first achieve basic understanding of the material you have read and then carefully paraphrase the selection.

One reading will not, in all likelihood, enable you to write a good summary. Using reading strategies including previewing, skimming, and scanning, read your material several times, locating the main idea in each paragraph. Highlight and then write down the main ideas, in order, on a separate piece of paper.

Always plan on writing and rewriting this information so that you can condense, arrange, and write the summary in the best fashion. Rewrite and reread, and then select, eliminate, and add information. Remember, the summary is conveying in your own words (paraphrasing) the meaning of what you have read, using the fewest number of words and sentences, and without your subjective opinion. Be objective, as you are writing a summary of what the author stated, not your feelings or evaluation of the material. (Linares)

Informal or Free Writing

Informal or free writing is probably the easiest to implement of all writing-to-learn activities. In its basic form free writing is simply writing down everything that comes to mind, usually for five or ten minutes without stopping. Focused free writing, which uses some kind of prompt—a term, an issue, a question, or a problem—is useful for the thematic units in Heart of Wisdom curriculum.

This type of writing is unconstrained by any need to appear correct in public. It is not yet arranging, asserting, and arguing. It is still reflecting and questioning. This is probative, speculative, generative thinking that is written in class or at home to develop the language of learning. It may not always be read by a teacher. Specifically, informal written language will help your student to:

Develop abilities to define, classify, summarize, question, generate criteria, establish inferences, imagine hypotheses, analyze problems, and identify procedures.

Improve methods of recording and reporting data (observing), of organizing and structuring data into generalizations, of formulating theories, and of recognizing and applying the methodsthemselves.

Learn about central concepts, problem-solving, thinking, learning, language, and about knowledge itself, while developing the ability to question, to create problems and solutions, to wonder, and to think for oneself.

Understand one’s own beliefs and attitudes toward learning, toward knowing oneself, toward one’s work, toward mistakes and errors, toward the knowledge and opinions of others, and toward the attitudes that affect behaviors.

Examples of Writing Assignments

• Write a letter to a person studied in the unit
• Keep a diary or journal as if written by someone in the unit
• Write a news article about an event in the unit
• Create a web site about the unit
• Make a mind map about the unit theme
• Write a summary about a concept learned during the unit study

Nuturing the Write Relationship
by Mary Ann Froehlich, Foreword by Robin Sampson

“The home is the ideal haven for creating an environment where young writers can flourish.”—Mary Ann Froehlich

If you’re looking for a book that will help you celebrate and inspire writing at home, then NURTURING THE WRITE RELATIONSHIP is a must have! In this creative piece, you won’t find formal instructions on the nuts and bolts of teaching writing, but instead you’ll find valuable insight on the hows and whys of writing!

Wonderfully written by Mary Ann Froehlich, NURTURING THE WRITE RELATIONSHIP will draw you into the magical world of writing from the heart in the safe place we call home. From the very beginning, Froehlich gives the reader insight into her own personal world of writing and encourages readers to stop reading at any given point so that they can start writing. She also inspires writers to keep trying, as she cites examples of famous authors who didn’t experience instant success.

The book is based on a homophone (words that sound the same but are spelled in various ways):

• WRITE—Understand the importance and develop the use of the written word
• RITE—Understand the importance of cultivating rituals in family life
• RIGHT— Understand the importance of communication in developing right relationships

Froehlich believes that the adventure of writing is lost when writing assignments are viewed as academic exercises. Instead, she introduces exercises for writers, such as journaling, letters, memoirs and more. Her “10 Principles for Effective Writing,” similar to the Suzuki method of teaching music skills, is concise and intuitive.

“If you only remember one statement from this book, let this be it: As a parent, you are your child’s most influential writing mentor. You are the example.” Froehlich expresses this concept about mentors throughout the book. With an approach that refuses to stereotype individuals’ methods of writing, Froehlich encourages writers to express their God-given ability to use the power of words to deal with everything in life, from grief to celebration!

In addition to giving creative advice on how to nurture writing within the home, Froehlich provides valuable resources for writing groups and teachers, including an excellent exercise for teachers to use in their classes with young writers that takes them through the entire publishing process from query letters to sales and marketing.

Interspersed with quotes about writing, NURTURING THE WRITE RELATIONSHIP is a treasure for anyone who longs to write.

Foreword by Robin Sampson As an author, publisher, homeschool mother, and educator, I am thrilled to see the completion of this book. I was excited as soon as I saw the words “A Family Writing Lifestyle.” Mary Ann shares valuable insights not only about writing itself, but about passing on the gift of written expression as a family tradition . What a gift to pass on to your children —the ability to capture insights, record memories, and relate perceptions and feelings. We have eleven children ages 5 to 34. I have always encouraged my children to write. Almost twenty years ago, when we began our homeschool journey teaching my children to write well was one of my main goals. The years of writing encouragement have paid off. All my grown children write regularly. Even my very busy 32-year old daughter (a mother of five) finds time to relate touching thoughts and memories through her family scrapbook journaling. Now I take pleasure in priceless annotated scrapbook pages of my grandchildren. I continue to encourage my youngest children to write daily. My five-year old loves to dictate his fascinating stories as I record them. My seven-year old son enjoys copywork and writing and illustrating letters to servicemen. He has written or dictated stories about horses, baseball, and knights (the same type of writing his 28-year old brother wrote when he was seven). The importance of teaching your children to write cannot be overstated. Skillful writers influence society. Christian writers have the privilege of encouraging, teaching, and strengthening others to have a closer relationship with God. The late Dr. Paul Bubna, former President of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, wrote, “It may be true that a picture is worth a thousand words, but we must not miss the fact that writing words has a unique power all its own. Something powerful happens to the person who writes the words. It is one thing to think the thought, it is quite another to put it into words and see it on paper, or even a computer screen. That process opens a door of intimacy with one’s self that may be unmatched any other way.” Our spiritual lives, our success in the work world, and our social networks all require the skill of writing. Writing skills are vital in today’s changing culture. Written communication declined during the age of the telephone but with the development of the computer people are writing again in the form of emails and blogging (on line journaling). In my book, The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach, I encourage parents to teach their children to write to learn, also known as writing across the curriculum. Mary Ann embraces the same concept because she understands how writing helps to generate thoughts and to organize them logically and concisely. Writing can bring experiences, thoughts and opinions together. We write to express ideas, share stories, document history, imagine the future, express love, and dispense humor. When students tackle a subject, they can experiment with different techniques and strategies for writing. They discover new ideas, new ways of thinking and new methods of expressing themselves. When you teach your children to document their thoughts, feelings, and ideas on paper, you are equipping them with a gift they will use for a lifetime. Mary Ann demonstrates the practical steps to develop this type of writing into a family lifestyle. This book will be a useful guide for any teacher and especially beneficial to homeschoolers. Most homeschoolers are fond of Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophies which emphasize real-life activities over academic exercises. Mary Ann agrees with Mason explaining how writing assignments that are viewed as academic exercises cause the child to lose the adventure of writing. Mason’s admirers will appreciate how Mary Ann’s unique approach is in agreement with Mason’s philosophy “… we believe that children’s’ minds are capable of digesting real knowledge, so we provide a rich, generous curriculum that exposes children to many interesting, living ideas and concept.” Mary Ann will show you how families working on individual and joint writing projects can motivate children to catch the excitement of relevant writing and come to understand that the art of writing is a powerful life tool. I became eager to try out Mary Ann’s methods when I read how she taught her children to write using a real-life approach following the rules of an adult writing group. She posed as a mock publisher to lead her children through the writing process from query letters to contracts and finished publications, complete with book signings, and marketing techniques. What a great idea! About a dozen years ago when my grown children were young and learning to write they each created a book using Creating Books with Children by Valerie Bendt as a guide. Through the creation of their books they learned the writing, illustrating, editing processes but they never learned the query and submission processes . Here we are over a decade later writing again, with my youngest children, using Mary Ann’s ideas. I look forward to adding more finished writing products to my somewhat yellowed and faded but treasured papers of childhood thoughts, stories, inspiration, opinions, and beliefs to our family files. Although Mary Ann emphasizes forming a writing group, this is only one segment of her collection of ideas. This book contains much more. You will also learn how writing activities and rituals can be woven through the day, year, and even throughout life. Activities include ideas for family journaling, letter writing, Bible journaling, goal journaling, celebration journaling, apology letters, thank-you notes, and even writing to deal with loss and grief. This book is not about the educational nuts and bolts of writing, but is intended to celebrate and inspire writing in the home. Nurturing a Write Relationship will help you develop a family writing lifestyle and tradition. • Section I teaches you the importance of creating a safe place to write, allowing children to experiment with language. Children will become confident writers when they receive support and encouragement as they move through the writing process. • Section II details writing education principles. Mary Ann explains how to learn from great writers and how to be a writing mentor to your children. She also dispels several writing myths. • Section III explains the publishing process for a writing group from vision to revision to the completed process. • Section IV encourages you to develop a family writing lifestyle with family rituals, traditions, and celebrations and investigates a Biblical view of writing. • Section V includes many ideas for integrating writing into daily life and closes with the twelve writing principles of a family writing lifestyle. Mary Ann’s book is full of several first-rate unique ideas to teach children to write that make writing a fun family experience. She provides an attractive combination of solid advice and clever insights on how to motivate and cultivate your children’s writing. I’m giving this book to each of my grown children to support them in their efforts to teach their children to write. I hope your family will spend time developing a family writing lifestyle. I promise it will be time well spent and the benefits are many.

Table of Contents Foreword by Robin Sampson Ch. 1 Introduction: Why Did I Write This Book? Section I: Finding a Safe Place to Write Ch. 2 No Safe Place to Write Ch. 3 A Safe Place to Write: Introduction to the Writing Group Section II: Writing Education Principles Ch. 4 Learning from Great Writing Teachers: Research as Our Foundation Ch. 5 How Writers Write: Creating the Writer’s Environment Ch. 6 The Parent’s Role as Writing Mentor Ch. 7 Parent to Parent: Three Major Myths About the Writing Life Section III: Publishing Process for the Writing Group Ch. 8 Beginning the Publishing Process Ch. 9 Rejection Day Ch. 10 Completing the Publishing Process Ch. 11 More Ideas to Encourage Writing Section IV: Writing Through Life Ch. 12 Writing as a Life Tool Ch. 13 Writing Through Grief and Loss Section V: The Importance of the Family Writing Lifestyle Ch. 14 Nurturing the Family Writing Lifestyle and Rituals: Why Bother? Ch. 15 What Does God Say? A Biblical View of Writing and Family Traditions Ch. 16 A Wake-up Call for Parents About Literacy 175 Section VI: Celebrating With Writing Ch. 17 Weaving Writing and Arts Traditions into Daily Life Ch. 18 Weaving Literacy into Annual Celebrations Ch. 19 In Closing: The Figurative Hope Chest Section VII: Resources and Bibliography

Add helpful writing links in the comments below

Helpful External Links on Writing to Learn

• Writing to Learn (9pg PDF)
• Writing to Learn Science Notebooks (8 pg PDF)
• Using Writing-to-Learn Assignments to Actively Engage Students in the Learning Process
• Examples of Writing to Learn Activities

WRITING WORKSHEETS

• Preparation for a Writing Assessment Work (19 pg PDF) -Drafting, paragraph structure, persuasive writing, topic sentences, essay planning, and revising, are topics covered in the worksheet. (high school)
• Interview a Woman in Your Life - students interview a woman in their life.  Students think of 2 questions to ask on their own and are given 4 on the worksheet. (4th to 6th grades)
• It Has Been Reported - students analyze a sample report on Newfoundland dogs as they learn how to write a non-chronological report. (5th – 6th grade)
• Note This - students learn to take notes by underlining important parts, writing down only key points and using bullets, numbers or headings to organize notes (4th-6th grades)
• A HoneyBees Job – science worksheet, students describe the process of pollination. (3-4 grades)

Footnotes

1. For more on this subject see the “Writing to Learn” chapter in Writers Inc or Writing to Learn by William Zinsser, Harper Collins; ISBN: 0062720406.
2. Copley, Catherine. (1995) The Writer’s Complex, Empire State College

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