Writing Across the Curriculum

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Writing Across the Curriculum

• Ideas for Engaging Students in Writing and
  Learning

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• There is unique power to be found in good
  nonfiction the power to illuminate facts and
  make learning about the world delicious. Thats
  what draws me to it as both a reader and a
  writer. However, it is a challenge to write a
  nonfiction account in a manner that truly
  breathes life into the subject.
• Michael O. Tunnell

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Nonfiction

• Nonfiction structures challenge students to
  connect concepts, to organize, and to discover
  what they understand about a topic or idea.
• Writing nonfiction helps children hone their
  thinking and cement their understandings in
  unique ways.

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Scavenger Hunt

• List all the nonfiction structures and features
  you can find in the texts your group has.

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Nonfiction Structures

• Question/answer
• Cause/effect
• Compare/contrast
• Problem/Solution

• Lists
• How-to
• Directions
• Chronological order
• Description

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Nonfiction Features

• Photographs with captions
• Sidebars with facts related to the text
• Headings in different sizes from the text
• Excerpts
• Quotes by prominent people in the field
• Names, dates, facts, figures, statistics,
  technical terms

• Table of contents
• Glossary
• Index
• Introduction
• Graphs
• Maps
• Boldface words
• Diagrams with labels
• Bubbles with words or thoughts

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Nonfiction Features

• What did you learn from the feature?
• How does it help you as a reader?
• How does it help you as a learner?
• What do you notice about the frequency of the
  feature?

What methods do you use for teaching students to
read and write those structures and features in
your content area?
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Planning for Writing that Relies on the
Acquisition of Knowledge

• Expect transfer of skills learned in writing
  workshop
• Common language
• Expect students to use mentors
• Study content writing

Qualities of good writing your students acquire
through writing curriculum will impact their
writing work in all content areas. For this to
happen every teacher must see themselves as a
teacher of writing.
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Reading with Writers EyesSearching for Patterns

• Classification The Nervous System
• Comparisons Confucianism/Daoism
• Characteristics Binoculars

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Paragraph Patterns for Classification

• State the main category in one sentence
• Use a colon to present the subcategories as a
  series.
• Subcategory 1 function and characteristics
• Subcategory 2 function and characteristics
• Subcategory 3 function and characteristics

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Paragraph Patterns for Comparisons

• Use a semicolon to compare
• ___ ___.
• Use a comma conjunction to compare
• ___, but (however, on the other hand) ___.
• Use the both/and structure
• Both ___ and___ (have something, do something,
  are something) ___.

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Paragraph Patterns for Characteristics

• A (whole) ___ consists of (a) ___ which serves to
  ___.
• The purpose of the (part) ___ is to ___.
• (Part) ___ and (part) ___ work together to ___.

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Vocabulary Hats

• Students need to be guided through vocabulary
  that can wear more than one hat have more than
  one meaning.

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Vocabulary Hats

• Some words have a different meaning depending on
  the subject area.

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Making it Successful

• Develop a bank of strategies used in all classes.
• Develop a common language used in all classes.
• Use strategies on a daily basis.
• Model for students using teacher and student
  samples
• Bring student samples to the table for discussions

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Bibliography

• Robb, L. (2004). Nonfiction Writing From the
  Inside Out. New York Scholastic.
• Benjamin, A. (1999). Writing in the Content
  Areas. New York Eye on Education.
• Daniels, H. (2004). Subjects Matter Every
  Teachers Guide to Content-Area Reading. New
  Hampshire Heinemann.
• Fletcher, R. Portalupi, J. (2001). Nonfiction
  Craft Lessons. Maine Stenhouse.
• Caulkins, L. (1991). Living Between the Lines.
  New Hampshire Heinemann.
• Burkhardt, R. (2003). Writing for Real
  Strategies for Engaging Adolescent Writers.
  Maine Stenhouse.
• Davis, J. Hill, S. (2003). The No-Nonsense
  Guide to Teaching Writing. New Hampshire
  Heinemann.
• Daniels, H Semelman, S. ( 1998). A Community of
  Writers. New Hampshire Heinemann.
• Harvey, S. (1998). Nonfiction Matters Reading,
  Writing, and Research in Grades 3-8. Maine
  Stenhouse.
• Allen, J. (1998). Theres Room for Me Here
  Literacy Workshop in the Middle School. Maine
  Stenhouse.
• http//owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/WAC/
• http//www.sfasu.edu/lalac/bibliog.html
• www.ncte.org
• Sorenson, S. Encouraging Writing Achievement
  Writing across the Curriculum.
• ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and
  Communication Digest 62
• http//www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/weeklytip
  s.phtml/54