The covid-19 pandemic may have upended traditional teaching, but we remain committed to pushing forward as writers and educators. No matter where you are, you are welcome to join us in one or more of our online summer workshops.
Click on the flyer for more information on sessions and how to register.
Writing to learn removes barriers that formal assessment might place in the way of creative thought and exploration. Writing to learn activities are spontaneous, short, exploratory, expressive, informal, personal, unedited, and ungraded. This is much like what we expect brainstorming or pre-writing to be. We can use writing to explore and muddle through complicated new ideas at both pre-writing and writing beyond the content.
Two tools discussed here are clustering and concept mapping.
Clustering is a form of writing-to-learn using a kind of right-brained outlining first described by Gabrielle Rico in her book Writing The Natural Way (Tarcher, 1985).
For Pre-Writing. For creative writing, this topic might be a self-selected, perhaps one from a previous writing. As an entry point into a lesson, it might be a concept suggested by the instructor. Writers can then use this diagram as an outline or list of subtopics they wish to cover. Then, they can use scaffolding that leads to the issue that they really want to focus on. It can be a guide to a group of issues related to one another in one region of the diagram.
For Writing Beyond the Content. Clustering helps writers see how all the main ideas and details in a unit of study are connected together. In addition, clustering often reveals unrecognized connections and relationships. 
Concept mapping, originating with Joseph Novak and Alberto J. Cañas, depends on relevant relationships among the ideas on the page. This method is especially helpful for writers who are trying to learn and write about larger subject areas.
For Pre-Writing. The relationships identified among the topics generated in a concept mapping session can springboard a writer into inquiry (What other connections might there be? Why are these two items connected?) or creative writing (What do I have to say about these connections?)
For Writing Beyond the Content. Identifying relationships among concepts moves writers beyond the day’s lesson or week’s mini-unit. Encouraging writers to think about the crossovers in their lives (other content areas, extra-curricular, family, community, and world) enhances understanding of the concept. Fire up those synapses!
Going Digital A Google search for digital brainstorming or mind mapping tools will populate your screen with countless options. I have had success with digital tools Padlet or Popplet because they are so easy to use.
Resources provided by the Illinois Writing Project Basic 30 Team. Don’t forget to check out the IWP on Twitter!
Writing is more than just a language art. It is a means of engaging and exploring subject matter more effectively. Over the next weeks, we will share writing-to-learn activities that reach across many subject fields and teaching styles. As a result, we are helping students move into, through, and beyond the content of the curriculum. However, we must first lay some groundwork.
Writing to learn activities differ from formal expository or creative writing assignments in important ways. They are…
Writing as a tool for learning gives extra leverage to thinking. Consequently, it works best when we personalize the language. We invite writers to be informal, colloquial, and personal — as close as possible to everyday speech. We should invite experimentation and risk-taking. Never mind proofreading and grading. These results are used in class for ongoing exploration of content.
This week, here is a nugget for writing through the content to try in either face-to-face or online virtual class meetings.
Take a writing break. Too often in presentations, teachers feel a need to plunge on and “cover the material.” (My online video lectures – guilty!) In fact, students would benefit greatly from an occasional pause for them to write and reflect on what is being taught. Some possible focusing questions might be these:
This break provides students a chance to consolidate what has been learned and prepare to go on.
Resources provided by the Illinois Writing Project Basic 30 Team. Don’t forget to check out the IWP on Twitter!
So how might the writing marathon be modified for the classroom or home when mobility is limited? When conducting a writing marathon in a limited space such as around the classroom or home, consider guiding participants to find inspiring spaces or objects. Lately, scavenger hunts have become popular activities. Similarly, writing can be inspired by reflections about the simplest objects in our local spaces – birds in flight, spring awakening, cracks in sidewalks (where did old wives’ tales come from, anyway?).
Classroom writing after any departure from routine is certainly challenging, particularly following winter and summer breaks. Tapping into personal experiences may be the way to re-engage students (and teachers) in the return to routine writing.
This four-square activity can be used for brainstorming details about an event in one’s life. Structuring the paper into four quadrants chunks the writing into manageable quantities. This activity enables writers to recall details to help paint a vivid word-picture of an event that the person has experienced. It is not necessarily intended for an external political or social event (unless that event itself had an immediate effect on the person). 
Give the activity a try and post a comment or tweet a link to your draft! Better yet, come show it to us in person at our mini-conference on March 14th! You are welcome to share this post. Consider including hashtags such as #ilwrites, #teachwriting, #writing, as well as your own chat groups.
Register here to join the Illinois Writing Project for a mini-conference on literacy education, with Keynote from Dr. Adelfio Garcia.
