When reading through chapter 11, there were several headings that caught my attention. The heading “Writing to Learn” was an interesting section. This section discusses high school students who are not well prepared for the writing expectations in college or in the workplace. The book asks the question “How can it be that so many students are so ill prepared to use writing effectively?” In the section, the book mentions that students are given various writing assignments at different schools. I think that high school is when students should learn and be exposed to the several types of writing. The main thing that students should realize is that there is a purpose for writing, and the students should recognize their purpose for the writing assignments.
When I was in high school, I was required to complete several writing assignments. Most of these writing assignments consisted of research papers that had to be five paragraphs. I thought these assignments were hard until I took English Composition in college. I realized the assignments in high school were not anything compared to the college assignments. I noticed that several people mention that students should be prepared in high school for these lengthy papers in college. I believe that high school teachers should incorporate more time for effective writing assignments in high school. I think most teachers assign writing assignments for homework, but they do not allow students to practice writing during the class time. For example, my high school teachers did not model or teach me how to be an effective writer.
Another heading that caught my eye was titled “Guiding Students’ Writing to Learn.” I believe that educators should encourage and teach students to use graphic organizers to plan and organize their writing. I do not remember using graphic organizers when I was in high school. We had to brainstorm ideas and list the ideas on paper. I think it is important and valuable for high school students to create journals, learning logs, and stories to improve their writing ability. In connection with the journals, learning logs, and stories, I believe students should be required to write reflections and other argumentative papers which will help train them for college writing.
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Karey, I believe that guiding students is one of the most important parts of writing. In the book, on page 320 there was a very good strategy named LIST which stands for list ideas and sequence them. You should check it out because it helps students organize their writing. When I was in high school we did the same thing you guys did. I think that graphic organizers would be awesome tools to use with LIST.
ReplyDeleteKarey, I wrote about the writing to learn section also. I agree with you on the part where you said that you thought five paragraph essays were hard until you got into college. I know. We had a rude awakening didn't we? I felt like I was thrown into college with hardly any preparation for these writing intensive courses. The book also discusses how students graduating are not prepared for the kinds of writing they will have to do in the workforce like tables, graphs, and memos. Teachers need to step up!
ReplyDeleteI agree that teachers who do not allow class time for modeling and practice cannot possibly expect their student s to be great writers. If it is important to the teacher it will show through the students work.
ReplyDeleteI would say that not only high school kids should have multiple writings styles but this should start even before the children can read. The more they see, hear and have time with the material the better they will be able to work with it later in life.
I hear there is something you want to ask me???
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