Writing for Understanding

Danielle Reese, Heather Cereda, & Emma MarquezWriting for UnderstandingStep 1: Use writing to help your students learn key social studies concepts.Writing during social studies activities supports students writing fluency.Writing challenges students to clarify, organize, and express what they have learned.Writing enables students to reach a deeper understanding as they draw on previous learning for supporting details.Ownership of written products motivates students to excel.The writing process compels Upper Elementary students to refine their ideas.Step 2: Give students rich experiences to write about.Provide students with a variety of memorable interactive and interesting experiences to which they can base their writing on.Experiences must tap into multiple intelligences.Examples of real-life experiences that give all students something to write aboutDifferent types of writing Different experiences

Step 3: Have students record their ideas, thoughts, and feelings in prewriting activities.Prewriting allows students to record their reactions, feelings, reflections, and ideas immediately after an interactive experience. Allows lower-elementary students to experience early success with writingMy Family Is SpecialLower ElementaryPrewriting/Beginning-show family images and discuss differencesStructured MatricesUpper ElementaryAnnotated Maps:Upper ElementaryTake notes and use notes to write a letterTalking Buildings:Upper ElementaryBrainstorm as a class

Step 4: Provide students with authentic writing assignments.Authentic writing assignments motivate students to write with style and meaning.Promotes experimentation and makes writing more exiting and novel. Challenges students to be creative and detailed in their writing on key social studies concepts.Examples from Social Studies Alive:Civic LetterScript ReviewsJournal EntriesHistorical PlaquesMetaphorical Stories

Step 5: Guide students through the writing process.Give clear expectation and precise guidelines for writing assignments.Have students write a first draft.Use peer-feedback groups.Mixed ability groupsRequire students to make revisions using the feedback they received.Have students edit their final drafts before turning in a final product.Lesson Outline:This will be one lesson in the middle of our community learning unit.After focusing on members of the community (policemen, firefighters, etc.) we will be writing a letter to them.Letter will include what we have been learning and one question the student has for the community member.This will be a quick version of how the lesson would run because in a real classroom we would give the students more time to develop their ideas.

Activity:Civic LettersODE Social Sciences StandardSS.05.CG.05.01 Identify and give examples of resources that provide information about public issues.

Objective:Students will be able to complete the pre-writing and brainstorming activities and then begin to write a rough draft of their letter to a community member.

_____________

Dear_____________,Our class has been studying the people and departments of our community. Two things I have learned about what you do are________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I have one question for you. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sincerely,

_________________________DebriefWhat went well?

What did not go well?

How might it have been improved, adapted, or modified for next time?