Middle grades students write—daily. They text, pass
notes, send e-mails, blog, and post updates on Facebook.
At the center of students' non-academic writing are their
day-to-day thoughts, stories, and encounters that define
them as individuals finding their way in the world. The
writing students are assigned in school, however, often
overlooks their natural inclination to share about their
lives. Writing is an activity in which students frequently
show little engagement and motivation. But this need
not be the case. It is possible to empower students to
learn about writing while writing about topics of
personal importance.
This article focuses on the unit of study as an inquiry-based
instructional framework supporting students’
development as writers in single-subject areas or across
disciplines. As teacher educators, we collaborate with
teachers and students in a variety of middle grades
settings, and we have found this framework works well for
a diverse range of learners, enhancing their motivation,
engagement, and growth as writers. In addition, a unit
of study approach to teaching writing can help students
meet the new Common Core State Standards for writing.
Specifically, the framework stresses the reading-writing
connection as students read and write a wide range of
text types, compare and contrast the structure of texts,
and analyze how an author’s writing decisions contribute
to the text’s structure and meaning (National Governors
Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief
State School Officers, 2010).
In this article, we provide an overview of the unit of
study framework for teaching writing and explain how
it sets the stage for developing “academic momentum”
in students (Strahan, 2008, p. 4). To help readers
understand the unit of study framework in action, we
describe how a unit unfolds in one subject area, language
arts. We then highlight its natural application in
disciplinary and interdisciplinary work.
A framework for teaching writing
A unit of study approach to teaching writing offers
students an inquiry-oriented experience for learning
how to grow and develop as writers in a predictable
format (Ray, 2006). The main premise behind a unit
of study approach is that students benefit from closely
studying the kinds of writing they will eventually be
writing themselves. While this makes sense in theory, it is
seldom employed in practice. Often writing activities are
assigned, not taught. A unit of study framework provides
the opportunity for students to actively study and inquire
about writing that can be found in the real world within
genres people read and write regularly.
Another important premise within this approach
is that students are allowed to select the topics for their
writing, honoring their voices and the ideas that matter
to them. In this way, writing builds bridges between
students’ out-of-school lives and interests and their
in-school learning experiences. Figure 1 provides a rationale for each aspect of the framework and outlines
teacher and student roles.
The elegance behind the unit of study framework
is that it offers students immediate support in how to
write well in the particular genre under study while
teaching how to study writing in the future as well. This
approach closely mirrors what professional authors do in
the real world. Numerous young adult authors speak to
the importance of reading in inspiring and influencing
their writing. Young adult author Chris Crutcher advised
students to “read a lot, especially in the area in which
you want to write” (The New York Public Library, 2002,
n.p.), and Julie Anne Peters (2011) stated, “You have
to love to read. You have to familiarize yourself with
the genre of literature you want to write” (n.p.). Even
though professional writers repeatedly offer this advice,
rarely does this practice occur in school-based writing
instruction. Studying writing is the underlying principle
for instruction within the unit of study. This framework
embodies practices found in highly successful middle
level schools, in that it (a) ensures learning is meaningful
and purposeful, as students learn to write in real-world
genres; (b) involves adolescents in learning, as students
select their own topics and make intentional decisions
of how to craft their piece; and (c) offers an inquiry approach to learning, as students take the lead in what
they notice as they read and study a genre together
(McEwin & Greene, 2010).
Supporting academic momentum
Academic momentum, according to Strahan (2008), is
the “strength of a student’s engagement with learning
activities” allowing them to approach “new assignments
with confidence” and recognize that they have a
“repertoire of skills and strategies they can employ”
when faced with a difficult task (p. 4). For students who
do not display academic momentum, or for reluctant
learners, the unit of study framework fosters the
necessary integration of “will” and “skill.” The unit of
study approach supports the development of will, in that
students select topics of importance to them. Writing is
hard work, so it becomes imperative that students care
about the topics about which they write. Through this
inquiry-based unit of study students learn skills such as
“reading like a writer,” and they study how authors have
written their piece, knowing that they can “borrow” from
these authors when crafting their own writing. They
begin to study writing in a way that shows them what they
can do as writers.
Students who demonstrate academic momentum
also have self-efficacy (knowledge that they can perform
the task at hand)and self-regulation (knowledge and
awareness of how to help themselves while working).
Students’ self-efficacy develops as they immerse
themselves in and analyze text and as they write in a
supportive environment. There is an active teaching
element to this process; writing is not just assigned.
Studying writing in this way also fosters self-regulation.
Students learn how to study other writers’ work, and
they come to understand that when they are faced with
difficulty, they can look to an author who does that kind
of writing well, study how the author did something, and
determine if it will work in their writing.
A unit of study framework in action
Students are offered a wealth of possibilities within a unit
of study framework. To best understand the nuances of
a unit of study, we provide a closer look at how a unit on
memoir unfolds in two language arts classrooms. Even
though our respective schools—a rural alternative
school and a suburban middle school—have different
student populations, we have found the unit of study
approach engages students and contributes to their
growth as writers.
Why memoir?
A memoir is a focused memory about a particular time
in one’s life. It is a reflective piece, in that the author is
older, more mature, and writing about the event with
more understanding. Authors of memoirs share not only
their experience but also their feelings and perspectives
on the particular event (Kittle, 2008; Lattimer, 2003).
Because “the most successful learning strategies are
ones that involve each student personally” (National
Middle School Association, 2010, p. 16), memoir is a
natural fit for middle grades students. Writing memoirs
is one way for students to “make sense of their lives and
the world around them” (NMSA, 2010, p. 21). As writers
of memoirs, students reflect on life experiences and
their significance. Lattimer (2003) explains, “teaching
students to write memoirs builds on their natural
self-interest while simultaneously nurturing habits of
disciplined introspection and purposeful writing” (p. 25).
Memoir writing can be engaging and motivating because
students write about an important moment in their lives.
Memoirs also allow teachers a glimpse into their students’
lives, learning about their meaningful relationships
and experiences.
Gathering texts
For our unit of memoirs, we searched for texts that
students would find interesting and relevant to their
lives. We wanted students to see their experiences in
the texts we selected and also show them that memoirs
are not about flashy experiences or expensive vacations;
they are about everyday experiences or even quiet
moments in life. We found examples in which the
authors remembered a special pen, a football game,
taking a lifeguard test, and an important conversation
with a friend.
We also wanted to include a mix of lighthearted
and more serious texts. Scieszka (2008) offered readers
a humorous glimpse into his life growing up with five
brothers, while Abeel (2003) recounted her struggles
as she learned to accept her learning disability and
recognize her talents as a poet. In addition to the work
of published authors, we include examples from past
students. Students appreciate and seem to gravitate
toward past examples from peers. Teachers who do
not have previous examples can often find samples in
professional books on writing or at The National Gallery
of Writing website (http://www.galleryofwriting.org/
galleries/gallery_of_ncte).
Length is also an important consideration. Examples
that are too long often intimidate students; students may
feel defeated before beginning. This is especially true
for reluctant writers. From the outset, they need to see
examples that help them feel this writing experience is
“doable.” Having examples of appropriate length allow
students to see how authors tell their story within the
allotted space. Students can study where authors slowed
down or sped up time, elaborated or skipped description,
and included certain events while omitting others. These
conversations provide students with the necessary skill to
make informed writing choices.
Above all, these examples have to be of high-quality,
able to withstand close scrutiny, and offer numerous
possibilities and crafting techniques for students. In
a survey of students’ experiences about writing their
memoirs, many identified specific texts that guided their
pieces. Kate (all student names are pseudonyms) selected
one text to guide her work because she felt the story was
similar to her own, while Sam selected one because he
felt it helped him use figurative language well. Some
students shared they used two or more texts to guide
their writing. Because these texts became students’
“co-teachers,” it was critical for us to provide them
with the best examples we could find.
Setting the stage
On the first day, we defined memoir and shared
characteristics of this genre so that students would
develop some foundational understandings to build upon
throughout the study. From the beginning, students were
aware they would be writing their own memoirs. They
would have to comb through their life experiences to
select meaningful topics. We helped students overcome
the dreaded “I don’t know what to write about” scenario
by providing them with numerous opportunities to
uncover possible topics. We asked students to respond to
following questions to prompt their thinking.
-
What story repeatedly gets told about you at family
gatherings or holidays?
-
What is your earliest memory?
-
What is the most important thing that has ever
happened to you?
-
What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you?
-
What is something you’ll never forget?
Students also thought about and made lists of
memories surrounding people, places, and certain
objects. Students considered defining moments such as
births of siblings, getting a new pet, winning or losing a
contest, the loss of something special, or a courageous
moment. This work helped students find a memory
worth capturing and polishing on paper. Because writing
is challenging, it was important to help students find
meaningful topics that would allow them to persevere
through the tough work of writing. One student, Joe,
offered this advice for finding the right topic: “Choose a
topic that truly means something to you, because if you
don’t, it will be very hard to write it with emotion and
deep thought.”
Once students found a possible memory, they needed
to determine if they had enough to say about it. For
students who were reluctant writers or who tended to
think more visually, a tellingboard was helpful. To create
a tellingboard, students drew images and key words on
sticky notes and arranged them on a piece of paper (Rief,
2007). This allowed students to think about their story
visually. Kristine (the author) created a tellingboard as
a model to share with the class; guided by this example,
Courtney created a tellingboard for her memoir about
tearing her ACL while sled riding (see Figure 2). Renee
found tellingboards to be helpful: “It gives you a visual.
You can see your story being told.” Students easily saw
how their stories could unfold, and the teacher and other
students asked questions about the tellingboards, helping
the writers know where to provide additional details or
clarify a confusing point.
Immersion
To learn about memoirs, students need to read many
memoirs, looking for common characteristics across
texts. The goal for this reading is to inform their
writing. The teacher should read key pieces aloud so that
students can hear how the writing sounds. The teacher
should be thinking aloud as well. Teacher think-alouds
help students realize features they can notice in other
texts, such as dialogue, point of view, and descriptive
language. This is often necessary because asking
students, especially reluctant learners, to do this on their
own limits the instructional potential of each carefully
gathered piece, as they might not notice multiple
aspects. For example, in Bauer’s (2008) “My Entire
Football Career” the teacher might note the use of first person, limited dialogue in important places to indicate
exasperation or despair, playful language, the inclusion
of the author’s inner feelings, and the humorous title.
After an initial teacher think-aloud, students could share
their “noticings” from another example. If students
read a section from Abeel’s (2003) My 13th Winter, they
could note repetition of the word “can’t” and rhetorical
questions used to emphasize feelings of isolation and
loneliness. This helps students begin to develop a sense
of language and knowledge of what to look for when
reading the other texts. In addition, as Ally stated, this
“reading helps because, as you’re reading someone else’s
ideas, you’re coming up with ideas of your own. The
reading will inspire you.”
Close study and mini lessons
In the unit of study framework, teachers have students
read texts with the expectation that their writing will be
similar to the texts they study. Students engage in close
study, a term used to describe the process of naming what
authors do in their writing. Close study of texts helps
students make explicit what they have already begun to
notice from their reading. During this stage, teachers
and students read and discuss the memoirs with the
guiding question: “What do you notice the writer doing
in this text that you think is interesting and makes this
good writing?” (Ray, 2006, p. 134).
One way to help students study a piece of writing is
to teach them how and why to annotate text. Annotating
text helps readers see how a piece of writing works as a
whole. Marking and coding text helps students visually see how authors craft their memoirs. In addition,
students can return to the text when facing writing
difficulties. This provides students with ideas and options
to try in their own writing.
During close study, teachers and students continue
to have conversations about their “noticings.” Class charts
serve as reminders of key features students noticed in
texts. The teacher and students discuss each of these
“noticings” and ponder why the author made certain
decisions. For example, in one classroom the teacher
and students charted the use of intentional fragments
and repetition as a way to control the pace of the reading
and noticed repetition could also draw the reader’s
attention to an important point in the story. Such
dialogue provides students with a language to talk about
writing. The charts also serve as reminders, as students
can return to the charts or to the actual texts to aid in
their decision making. One student, Allyson, found this
useful in her own writing: “When I see a good example of
something, I try to follow it.”
Mini lessons can be used to teach specific aspects of
the genre under study (Atwell, 1998), such as beginnings
and endings, which can often be difficult for writers.
The beginning sets the tone for the piece, while the
ending lingers in the reader’s mind. Students need
to carefully craft these aspects of their memoirs and
doing so requires knowing options so that students
do not rely upon “one day” beginnings and “the end”
endings. Together, the opening and ending paragraphs
or sentences can be analyzed for possible options. From
Arnold’s (2008) Reading Can be Dangerous, students
noted his use of the words “dangerous” and “true” in
the opening and ending sentences. This guided Ryan’s
decision for the opening and ending of his memoir.
He began his memoir about his first touchdown with
“Would you ever think a sprained ankle could be a
good thing?” and ended with “Now you can see why
a sprained ankle was a good thing for me,” similar to
what Arnold had done. Other students also commented
on the helpfulness of looking closely at texts. Natalie
reflected, “I learned how to make a dramatic and original
lead and conclusion, and those things are usually the
hardest things for me to write.” Melissa was proud of her
introduction because of her intentional decision to start
her memoir in the middle of a problem that occurs in
the story so that the reader would be “hooked.” Justin
specifically credited studying conclusions as having
given him “good ideas of ways to leave the reader with
something to think about.”
Writing under the influence
Through immersion and close study of texts, students
are ready to “write under the influence” of the strong
examples of writing they have read and the authors’
crafting moves they have noticed (Ray, 2006). Although
students are encouraged not to begin writing their drafts
immediately, writing does not occur solely at the end of
the unit. Many times when students complete a quick
first draft, they are reluctance to revise it. Beginning too
quickly can lead to students writing under an “awareness”
rather than an “influence.”
Conferences. Throughout the unit, we held smallgroup
and individual conferences to address students’
specific writing needs. We avoided vague good/
bad conversations by asking students to pose specific
questions about their drafts. We also worked with
students to see how they incorporated specific techniques
in their drafts and discussed their rationales for doing
so. This teacher-student collaboration helped students
learn to pose questions and articulate their intentional
decisions about their writing while providing an
opportunity for students to receive feedback about
their writing.
Celebration of writing. At the end of the unit, students
shared their writing publicly. Through sharing their
experiences and having an audience respond to their
work, students experienced satisfaction and witnessed
the power of writing. While some students may have been
hesitant to share at first, students became excited once
peers responded positively to their writing, and soon
others became eager to share.
There are many ways for students to share their
writing. They can participate in author’s chair, in which
students can read either a section or their entire memoir
to their classmates. Students can also read their pieces
in small groups. Publishing students’ writing (e.g.,
posting on a class website or binding into a class book)
is another way to make their work public. In Kristine’s
school, the students each received a printed copy of the class memoirs. She noticed that Jeremy, a student at the
alternative school, was exceptionally proud of his work.
The day after receiving his memoir book, Jeremy brought
it to community service so that he could read his memoir
to his supervisors. Jeremy said it was the first time he
had felt proud of the work he had done in school. This
highlights how publishing student work helps students
feel like their writing is important and valued.
Disciplinary and interdisciplinary
possibilities
The unit of study framework offers ways to help students
grow as writers in single- or multiple-subject areas. It is
an intentional way to support students as writers and to
help them learn the written “norms and conventions of
each discipline” as recommended in the common core
standards (National Governors Association Center for
Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers,
2010, p. 60).
The unit of study framework provides students
with a wide array of learning experiences. When they
are immersed in reading, students learn why particular
genres are relevant to each discipline. When they
engage in close study of texts, students examine not
only what experts write but also how they use language
and important vocabulary to convey meaning. When
they write an original piece about a scientific happening
or historical event, students demonstrate their content
knowledge, and, because students are fully involved in
the writing process, they take on the roles of scientists,
mathematicians, historians, artists, and musicians. The
unit of study approach is designed to help students see
the value of writing in the disciplines and to learn how to
communicate within the typical discourses of each field.
For example, the art teacher could have students
write artist’s statements to correspond with their artwork.
Students would examine several artists’ statements
to study how they describe their process and reflect
on their artwork. A social studies teacher could have
students study and write political commentaries to
think analytically about a historical or current event. A
science teacher could have students study and write an
op-ed piece about a recent controversial topic. Through
each of these units of study, students would become
knowledgeable about the writing done by professionals
in the fields of art, political science, and science. Such
activities could help students understand how writing helps professionals create and disseminate knowledge in
their fields (See Figure 3 for a listing of possible genres in
each discipline.).
The unit of study framework offers interdisciplinary
appeal as well. When curriculum is integrated and
relevant, students can see “the many connections that
link various topics and subjects,” helping students
“recognize the holistic nature of all knowledge” (NMSA,
2010, p. 22). For example, for an interdisciplinary
unit on water conservation, students in science could
study water as a non-renewable resource, which could
include learning about the water cycle, properties of
water, and problems of water. In social studies, students
could explore how government, industry, and nonprofit
organizations influence water conservation. In
ELA, students could study editorial or feature article
writing and use their content knowledge from science
and social studies to write an original piece about water
conservation.
Conclusion
Writing is never easy work, but our experiences with
students in a variety of middle grades settings have
taught us what is possible when students learn to write
in authentic, engaging ways. The unit of study is a
predictable framework that guides students through
a process of learning how to study writing to inform
their own writing. This framework supports students
in building and sustaining the academic momentum needed to tackle future writing challenges, and, in the
words of one reluctant writer, it makes learning writing
“easier than I thought.”
This We Believe characteristics: Meaningful Learning, Challenging Curriculum, Multiple Learning Approaches |
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Previously published in Middle School Journal, January 2013
Kristine E. Pytash is an assistant professor at Kent State University in Ohio. E-mail: kpytash@kent.edu
Denise N. Morgan is an associate professor at Kent State University in Ohio. E-mail: dmorgan2@kent.edu