By Joan Sedita

    Many teachers of science, social studies/history, and other disciplinary subjects have very little background knowledge or experience with teaching writing. Professional development in writing instruction is at least as complex as training in how to teach all five components of reading.

    Some aspects of writing instruction fall primarily under the category of “learning to write” (e.g., writing conventions, the writing process, revising strategies) while others, especially those related to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), fall under the category of using “writing to learn” (e.g., gathering information and taking notes to write from content sources, using argument and informational writing to learn content).

    The CCSS related to grades 4–12 writing skills place a significant emphasis on writing in all content areas. The first three writing standards identify student expectations for the three major types of writing (CCSS #1 Argument, CCSS #2 Informational, CCSS #3 Narrative), and it is recommended that teachers of all subjects play a role in making sure students know how to write all three types.

    CCSS writing standard #4 emphasizes development of ideas and attention to subject-area task, purpose, and audience when students write. Writing standard #5 emphasizes application of the writing process when writing in any subject. Writing standards #7–9 are devoted to writing from sources that are related to all subject areas. And writing standard #10 suggests that students need to write routinely, both short and longer writing, in “a range of discipline-specific tasks” (Common Core, 2010).

There are also several CCSS reading standards that are related to content writing (Common Core, 2010):

• Reading standard #1: “Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing …”
• Reading standard #2: “Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.”

    My work this past year has focused on developing and delivering writing professional development to content teachers. There are a few important lessons I have learned about content teachers from this experience: (1) they are understandably anxious about teaching writing because some do not consider themselves good writers; (2) they are not convinced that writing is something they should be expected to do; (3) we need to be careful not to overwhelm them with too many skills related to teaching students how to write; and (4) they want to learn a foundational set of basic writing instruction principles.

    In response to these lessons learned, I have identified a set of six instructional components that incorporate effective writing instruction practices. When I present these components to content teachers, I encourage them to incorporate as many of them as possible when they assign formal content writing tasks to their students. I also emphasize that it will require a fair amount of planning, but the time spent in planning ensures that students know exactly what is required for a content writing task and that they will have appropriate scaffolds to successfully complete the assignment. 

Here are the six components:

1. Set clear, explicit goals for a writing assignment.

    Set product goals that address the characteristics of the final product, including identifying audience and purpose, guidelines about length and format, the type of writing to be used (argument, informational, narrative, or combination), and content as well as text structure (i.e., introduction, body, conclusion) requirements for the writing piece. 

2. Show models.

    Provide students with opportunities to read, analyze, and emulate models of good writing. Show sample models of each stage in the writing process (e.g., notes, first drafts), as well as what the completed assignment should look like. 

3. Provide scaffolds.

    Provide supports for completing a writing assignment, including assignment guides, steps to follow, graphic organizers, two-column notes for gathering information from sources, and writing templates. 

4. Provide opportunities for collaboration.

    When students have opportunities to collaborate with peers (and the teacher) during the thinking, planning, writing, or revising stages of writing, the quality of their writing improves, and they are more likely to be motivated to write.

5. Provide feedback.

    The feedback you give students matters as much as the writing instruction you provide. Without feedback, students won’t learn how to improve their writing. They need to know if their writing is accurate and conveying the message. Feedback can be from the teacher or peers, and should consist of more than simply marking mechanical errors on final drafts.

6. Provide opportunities for revision.

    Students need time to reflect on feedback from others, and then improve their writing assignments through revision. Students need explicit instruction on how to incorporate feedback to revise their writing. Not every writing task has to be revised to the point of “publication ready,” but students will not improve their writing if they do not have some opportunities to revise.

    This set of instruction components gives teachers a “routine” for planning formal content writing assignments. Along with increasing how much students write, carefully planned writing assignments will go a long way toward embedding writing instruction in the content classroom.