Teaching Writing in Middle and High Schools

Even with a handful of strategies like the ones described in the previous section, classroom teachers who have received little training in writing may feel they are grasping for straws when asked to incorporate more writing into their teaching. High-quality professional development that addresses writing issues in the context of teachers' content areas is indispensable. In an effort to provide readers with at least a general framework for getting started, we offer a brief introduction to current theories of writing instruction below.

1. Writing develops through meaningful practice: In order to improve, students need meaningful opportunities to put developing skills to use (Shanahan, 2004). Research indicates that the "development of student writing from approximate forms to conventional forms is best achieved through substantial time devoted to writing, multiple opportunities to write across the school day and focused instruction that builds from the writers' efforts" (Egawa, 1998). Assignments should allow students to write for real audiences and purposes, and to make connections between home, community, and school.
2. Writing is a situated and recursive process: "Most research today supports the view that writing is recursive, that it does not proceed linearly but instead cycles and recycles through subprocesses" that include planning, drafting, evaluating, and revising (NWP & Nagin, 2003, p. 25). Though many textbooks present students with a prescribed version of "the writing process"—first brainstorm, then outline, then draft, and so on—compositionists stress that there are in fact many writing processes that vary from student to student and task to task.
3. Writing and reading are interrelated: According to Tierney and Shanahan (1991), "numerous studies have shown that writing led to improved reading achievement, reading led to better writing, and combined instruction led to improvement in both reading and writing" (p. 258). Because reading and writing skills support each other, struggling students in particular should be encouraged to focus on both simultaneously, not wait for one to improve before working on the other.
4. Different writing situations impose different demands: Writing is not an isolated skill that, once mastered, can simply be called up and put into the service of new writing tasks. Students who write effectively in genres and subject areas they know well may encounter enormous difficulty with others. Strong writing programs provide students practice in many genres and emphasize strategies for identifying different conventions and constraints.

Implications for practice

• Create assignments that allow students to build on their strengths and experiences at the same time they are working to develop proficiency in school-based literacies (NWP & Nagin, 2003). Take the time to learn more about students whose home literacies differ significantly from those traditionally prized by schools: talk with parents, visit with families at home or at community events, and invite them to participate in your classroom. All students should see that their home cultures, including their language practices, are valued in school.
• Be aware of the cultural values and assumptions reflected in different kinds of writing activities. Personal narratives that require students to divulge a great deal of information about themselves and their families, for example, assume a level of trust between student and public institution that may be unwarranted. The privileging of individual authorship itself reflects a cultural value. Depending on how the activities are orchestrated, opportunities for collaborative writing, peer review, and publication may better reflect some students' home cultures and experiences than others.
• Be sure that the directions and purposes of writing assignments are clear, both to you and your students (Shanahan, 2004). As Morgan (1987) notes, the effectiveness of writing-to-learn activities for students with certain types of learning disabilities may lie in how well assignments are presented: "Since [some] learning disabled students have difficulties with sequencing, organization, and task completion, it is doubly important that instructions be well-designed" (p. 62). Using similar types of activities repeatedly may also help. With too much variation, students may have a hard time mastering specific strategies or using them effectively on their own (Bangert-Drowns, personal communication, 2004).
• Give students multiple opportunities to revise, receive feedback, and continue to work on both content and style (Yore, Hand, & Prain, 1999). "Because revision is about refining one's thinking, it has a role to play in any disciplinary learning. Here, revision may include both highly formal and elaborate approaches to making changes in a manuscript, or it can involve much less formal discussions of the ideas that were included in the students' papers without actual rewriting" (Shanahan, 2004, p. 68).
• As much as possible, provide students authentic contexts for writing that go beyond simply writing to the teacher for a grade. Design assignments in which students can write for a wider audience who will "value, question, and provide supportive criticism" (Yore, Hand, & Prain, 1999, p. 9). For example, a class at Ronan High School researched contemporary cultural life on the Flathead Reservation for a project with the Montana Heritage Project, and presented their research to a professional audience at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
• Leave ample time for all students to meet the objectives of the assignment. English language learners and students with language-related learning disabilities need not lose out on the benefit of the assignment because other students can compose more quickly. If possible, provide students who write more slowly access to a computer, or plan lessons to allow for varying response times.
• Finally, pursue opportunities to network with other teachers, collaborate on cross-curricular projects, and engage in professional development. The National Writing Project, based on a teachers-training-teachers development model, offers summer institutes for K–college teachers at multiple sites in all five Northwest states. Other opportunities for networking and professional development can be found by visiting professional educational organizations' Web sites, such as the National Council of Teachers of English, www.ncte.org.