Write to Learn

This is a quick referece for bloomstaxonomy questions over a book. I love to have these references to use when planning. The reference sheet is broken down by the levels of questioning, such as knowledge, comprehension, etc. levels with about 10 examples of questions you could use with any book. This can benefit the W2L group by providing teachers with a handy reference for questioning and using with various strategies that we have learned so far, such as exit slips, admit slips, and writing breaks.

Good use for any type of persuasion activity - speech, paper, or discussion.

This site covers assumptions about academic writing, writing myths, examples of write to learn activities, why it is effective, etc. I would use this site to present at a faculty meeting to help other teachers realize that writing across the curriculum is NOT research papers, it is learning about students and their knowledge by having them write short things such as an exit slip to check for understanding. WTL personalizes instruction.

We looked at this website during our inservice. Lots of information about formative assessments and rubric. Good information!!

This is like either an exit or admit slip. Perhaps this would be a good title to use in a composition class.

It defines W2L in detail. This site is aimed to college professors, but I found some interesting troubleshooting advice on it for when W2L isn't working the best for you in your classroom.

At the top of the page it has a variety of questions people may have about W2L. I clicked on them and read some interesting answers. One question is had that spiked my interest was "How can I avoid getting lousy student writing?" If you have any confusion about W2L, I would suggest consulting this site to help you.

I am an avid Wordle user. This site lists a variety of ways to use word clouds to enhance learning in any subject area.

A neat site that sends you a daily email reminding you to write about your life that day.

It explains what W2L strategies are about and that research has shown that they are a great thing for students.

This site is from a communication institute. It gives some examples of strategies that go with W2L, but they seem as though they would be longer writing assignments. Check it out and let me know what you think. I am wondering if it is geared more towards using W2L strategies with college students.

This website has many different current event articles that are short and on a wide variety of topics.  We are using this with our students and having them add comments.  

I used this site over three years ago with my 5th grade social studies students. I like the enhancements they have made by have a section for teens now. In addition, since the articles are shorter that a typical news article I feel like students are more likely to stay engaged. When looking through the comments made by other students, it is easy for students to see examples of strong and weak writing. A plethora of great learning experiences!

I started using this site by posting a class discussion question and then having students reflect on the page using their IPads. What a great way to see their thinking instantaneously.

This is a great website for students to catch up on current events. Students find the articles interesting, and they are not very lengthy. I especially like the writing prompts at the bottom of the page. What a great way for students to learn about, analyze and reflect upon current events.

I thought of Lori for this one, but others might fine uses as well.

I've had great success with the KU writing system. Therefore, I thought I'd see if it included any strategies that we could incorporate into our W2L methods. This page of the KU site suggests various pre-writing strategies, which may modified to fit the intentions and methods of W2L.

I went back today to the Colorado State web site on W2L. The more I look at this site the more I like it. If you want a quick list of strategies to use - its there. If you want to have additional ideas when/where/how to use W2L - its there. It like a second reference to our textbook.

I totally agree with the above comment. This site would be another good one to share with colleagues that are looking for a way to work writing into what they do with students as they explore more strategies that are useful in the classroom. Too many of the content area teachers do not see the possibilities of writing as a vehicle for students to get more out of the learning and curriculum.

This 2007 report highlights 11 effective, research-based elements of current writing instruction. Writing to Learn made the list!

This is an interesting article about an educational program in California using Write To Learn in a very different way, to immerse ESL students in language learning from a very early age.

I love this activity when starting Shakespeare with new students, or one like it. It combines lots of opportunities for W2L strategies, specifically admit and exit slips. It's a great way to get students thinking and writing about Shakespeare's language.