Writing to Learn

I found the article and chapter to be very interesting and filled with lots of important information. "Integrating writing with reading enhances comprehension because the two are reciprocal processes." This was a sentence from the article that really stood out to me and made me think about situations I have had in different classroom settings. I have been in classrooms where the only type of writing that the children ever do is copying words from the board or completing worksheets. I believe that it is very important for the children to learn spelling words and practice material, but these type of activities are not engaging and turn some children off to writing all together. I remember having to write spelling words 20 times each and never remembering anything I wrote because all I could think about was how bored I was and when would we get to go to recess. However, I have also been in classrooms where teachers used writing in a way that helps the children learn and also engages their interests. One class that stands out to me was a  2nd grade class. The children were read a story and then the teacher discussed a related topic and then allowed the children to do a free write using some of the content that she just discussed. They took ideas from the story and some of the material that they had learned, and used this to create their own story with their own ideas. This showed what the children had learned, but also let them use their own ideas and imagination. This is a fun and creative way that this teacher chose to use writing to learn content material.
I really enjoyed how the chapter and the article discussed different writing strategies to use in the classroom that would help engage the children and adolescents and give them the chance to use writing. One of my favorite strategies that I can remember from school was quick writes. Teachers use to put a word, topic, or question on the board and we were to write about whatever we wanted to on that topic or whatever we knew about a certain thing. This got our minds going and really made us think about what we knew. This was more during the jr. high years, but I can remember a few times during elementary. Something else that the book mentioned was an "I AM" poem. We had to create these in 8th grade english class and they got posted in the hallway for everyone to see. I remember working so hard and trying to find just the right words to express myself and be appealing to someone in the hallway stopping to read it. That was a creative way for the teacher to get us involved in writing and for us to have something to be proud of. I agree that teachers should support students' ideas and encourage them to express themselves in their writing.
The article was much easier to read and much more interesting. I hate reading out of a textbook so if there is a choice between the two I will almost always choose the other. The article broke down the strategies and explained them and really got me thinking about my own experiences with each of the different types. I also like how it gave the structure of some of the poems and writing ideas.

Questions from the article and chapter:

How can I be sure that I am introducing the writing in way that won't turn off the students who are less interested in writing than the others?

Why isn't writing in content area classrooms encouraged more than it is? I remember doing it in some classes, but not as much as I feel we should have now that I know the things I do.