Authored by one of the most respected writing professors in America, this resource combines the affective (the insight) for writing with writing as a learning tool in all content areas to debunk commonly believed practices about writing in middle schools and high schools–particularly the claim that writing is “boring” and “pointless.”

Prompted by the “near-total neglect of writing” in content areas outside English, Bill Strong explores and answers the question ‘why writing matters.’ At a time when more emphasis is being placed on middle and secondary students and when writing tests have been added to the new ACT and SAT assessments, Write for Insight is ideal for teachers seeking a flexible and inspiring text to increase students’ motivation and to enhance long-term learning across the middle and high school grades. Arguing that writing is a powerful learning tool in all content areas, Strong utilizes note-taking, drawing, summarizing, brainstorming, and metaphor-building to help students collect notes, plan future action, frame questions, monitor their own learning, and engage in a rich array of imaginative and cognitive tasks.

Written by a masterful teacher for teachers, the friendly, thought-provoking style is appropriate for both in-service and pre-service teachers in diverse disciplines.

• Early chapters the of book show how expressive writing can motivate active learning and later ones emphasize how process writing can develop and extend student knowledge.
• Includes prompts for activities to help teachers develop imaginative tasks and rubrics tied to each content area.
• Provides strategies for struggling readers and writers
• Outlines writing fluency and strategic content-based activities that teach skills
• Introduces personal connections to curriculum content as useful tools for learning
• Includes activities like note-taking, drawing, summarizing, brainstorming, metaphor-building--in addition to creating thoughtful sentences that cluster into coherent paragraphs.
• Includes strategies that support schooling’s most basic aims--emotional and intellectual engagement
• Packed with practical, classroom-tested strategies for all content areas
• Contributions by dynamic teachers offer useful ideas for motivating middle school and high school learners--showcased mainly as process writing tasks, complete with grading rubrics.
• Foreword by Richard Sterling, National Writing Project.

Foreword by Richard Sterling,

Executive Director, National Writing Project.

An Introduction to Insight.

First Impressions.

Work and Play.

Learning Together.

Why Writing Matters.

What Assessments Reveal.

Writing on the Home Front.

Mapping the Terrain.

Listening to Students.

Acknowledgments.

Write for Insight Activity.

1. Writing from the Inside Out.

Remembered Writing.

Narration as Knowledge.

Sharing Our Stories.

Prompting Narrative.

Literacy Autobiographies.

Reflecting on Narrative.

Content Area Examples.

Narrative Insights.

Write for Insight Activity.

2. Challenging the Hidden Curriculum.

Teacher as Writer.

Resistance to Writing.

The Hidden Curriculum of Writing.

Roots of the Hidden Curriculum.

Writing Without Grades.

Note-Taking and Note-Making.

Resisting the Hidden Curriculum.

Writing-to-Learn Samples.

Thinking Outside the Box.

Write for Insight Activity.

3. Exploring Expressive Writing.

A Mostly True Story.

The Importance of Play.

Opening Expressive Windows.

Guided Imagery.

Dramatic Scenarios (Cases).

Role-Playing.

Dialogue Writing.

A Reader/Writer Dialogue.

Write for Insight Activity.

4. Helping Basic Writers Succeed.

A Bridge to Literacy.

Back to Human Basics.

Basics of Good Teaching.

Teaching Basics Strategically.

Developing Transcribing Skill.

Using Content-Based Dictation.

Summarizing and Paraphrasing.

Sentence Combining Basics.

Workshop-Style Teaching.

Write for Insight Activity.

5. Tapping the Power of Metaphor.

Coaching Writing.

Visualizing Writing Process.

Understanding the Model.

Training Response Groups.

Guiding Response Groups.

Prompting Self-Assessment.

Bumps in Process Teaching.

Managing Collaborative Writing.

Write for Insight Activity.

8. Coaching and Judging Writing.

Responding to Writing.

Thinking about Assessment.

Coaching Versus Judging.

Getting Ready to Coach.

Up-Front Coaching.

Coaching as Response.

Audiotape Coaching.

Getting Ready to Judge.

Judging Portfolios.

Coaching as a Lifetime Sport.

Write for Insight Activity.

9. Researching Outside the Box.

A Research Story.

Personalized Research.

The Saturation Report.

A Student Saturation Report.

The I-Search Paper.

Multigenre Research Project.

Challenging Advanced Students.

Traditional Guided Research.

The Problem of Fakery.

Write for Insight Activity.

10. Writing as a Means to Meaning.

Visible Despair.

Talk Versus Writing.

Inside Writing Process.

Reflecting on Writing.

Understanding Composing.

Writing Self, Reading Self.

Teaching with Insight.

The Flow of Insight.

Write for Insight Activity

Appendix A:  Literacy Autobiography Case Study.

Appendix B:  Nine Graphic Organizers.

Appendix C:  Bob Tierney’s Trigger Words for Concept Teaching.

Appendix D:  Content Area Writing Assignments.

References.

Reading Methods (Supplementary)  [WRITING METHODS]   (Reading & Literacy)
Content Area Reading (Middle/Secondary)  [SUPPLEMENTS]   (Reading & Literacy)
Reading/Writing Methods in the Middle School  [WRITING METHODS]   (Reading & Literacy)
Writing in Secondary School  (Reading & Literacy)

Download the Review from the September 2007 issue of the Writing Across the Curriculum Journal.

Writing Across the Curriculum Journal, Vol. 18, September 2007, Pgs. 73-77.

Reprinted with permission from the Writing Across the Curriculum Journal.

William Strong has worked in middle school and high school literacy instruction for four decades. Besides presenting hundreds of workshops and many conference talks, he has authored a dozen books and teacher resources, including Coaching Writing: The Power of Guided Practice (Heinemann, 2001). Bill was the consulting author in composition for the Writer's Choice textbooks (Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2001) and the series consultant for English Matters! (Grolier, 2000), and he served for ten years on the National Writing Project Advisory Board. In addition, Bill founded the Utah Writing Project at Utah State University and directed it for twenty-five years while also teaching courses in content area literacy, English education, and writing. Both his teaching and research have received college-level awards, and he has been honored by professional groups for his statewide leadership in pre-service and in-service teacher education. He enjoys downhill skiing, motorcycle touring, and working with school districts and National Writing Project sites. Readers can contact the author at Bill.Strong@usu.edu.

“Bill Strong presents a clear and compelling case for using writing to learn as a tool across the curriculum. The author’s anecdotes and his rich, descriptive writing draw the reader into this thought-provoking text and the wealth of practical strategies and activities presented give content area teachers concrete ideas to implement in their classrooms.”
—Carol Booth Olson, UCI Writing Project, University of California, Irvine

Prompted by the “near-total neglect of writing” in content areas outside English, Bill Strong explores and answers the question: “Why does writing matter?”

• In a knowledge-based society—one with new high-stakes writing tests on its SAT and ACT assessments—students need far more than “basic” literacy skills. Write for Insight is an ideal resource for new and veteran teachers seeking practical, flexible, and motivating strategies for enhancing long-term learning across the middle and high school grades.

• Arguing for insightful teaching and learning—balancing more emphasis on writing-to-learn (ungraded) assignments with a rich array of process writing (graded) tasks—Strong draws upon the work of National Writing Project colleagues to show how writing becomes a powerful learning tool across diverse content areas, engaging both imagination and intellect. (See inside front cover for features of the book.)

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