Session 6: Intentionally Teaching Writing in Content Area Instruction

LA 6.1—Teachers will be using a Key Ideas sheet (the first link) to record the key ideas they noticed/ learned during each activity. These will be turned in at the end of the session for you to grade. They will be able to use the key ideas they identified to apply to their writing assignments in their unit. First, they review their 5.3 homework and discuss the first group of questions. Then they use their notes from homework and discuss the next 3 questions. Finally, they discuss non-linear writing development and fill in the first box on the Key Ideas Sheet. Teachers then look at Information Writing and they should be able to find something they could apply to their two students. The answers to the second and third questions follow: this tells you the answers you should see in numbers 2 and 3 from the assignment: 

Facilitator Notes LA 6.1 

Answers to #2 

    1. Build in time for writing—plan time for writing, don’t make it an afterthought  
    2. Provide Explicit Instruction—more models, practice 
    3. Allow choice—meaningful and relevant, choose purpose, content and audience, allow flexibility, cultivate sense as authors, build confidence 
    4. Encourage Authentic Writing—writing with a purpose and audience, 
    5. Study the craft of writing— be good writers by experiencing good writing 
    6. Notice what good writers do—Instead of telling rules, explain this is what good writers do—take time to gather information, strategies to narrow topic 
    7. Write to learn language—structure and functions of texts, taught writing processes and strategies 
    8. Promote-self assessment—students need to know that they are learning, students at every point in the semester can see they are learning. Here is what you are doing better in this paper. 

Answers to #3 

LA 6.2This activity asks them to review and discuss the reading from the Wright book in the homework. They need to discuss the three bullet points. Then they again consider what they could use from this reading and discussion to add to their unit plans to support the two students. They also need to fill in the second box on the Key Ideas sheet. 

LA 6.3—Teachers will consider another part of the Wright book to create authentic writing assignments. Remind them to make notes on the third part of the Key Ideas sheet. They discuss the first 3 bullets below the instructions and then they consider how they can make the writing assignments in their unit more authentic.  

LA 6.4—This activity asks teachers to discuss their learning from HW 5.4 and the reading from the Wright book. Probably they each watched different teachers so they can compare and contrast what the teachers did by discussion the bullets listed in the activity. Number 3 asks them to make word art, graphic organizer, or list of definitions and examples of what the writing process looks in subjects that are found in parentheses. Then they look at their units again to determine if they could add a writing process to their unit. They also need to fill in box 4 of the organizer.  

LA 6.5—Teachers will meet in pairs to discuss their units and then write in the bottom section of the Key Ideas sheet what they plan to do with their writing instruction within their unit plan.  

HW 6.1—The reflection piece. 

HW 6.2—Teachers work on revising their unit plan, attending to the writing component of their unit. There is a list of resources they can utilize as they do this work. They will need to develop the documents and activities that will support the needs of their ELs. They need to track what they have done in this area and why they did it so they can include that in their final document. 

HW 6.3—This last homework for this week concerns equity. Teachers will read the two linked articles and also pull up the link to the note-taking sheet to show their understanding of the issues. They should have that available for the next session. 

This content is provided to you freely by Equity Press.

Access it online or download it at https://equitypress.org/tell_facilitator_guide/session_6k.