WRITING AND EDUCATION

TheImportanceofHigherLevelOrderThinkingWritingintheEnglishLanguageArts
Classroom
CassidyDunsmore
CarlowUniversity

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WRITING AND EDUCATION

Writingisnearlyeverywhere.TheNationalWritingProjectstatesthatwritinginits

manyformsisthesignaturemeansofcommunicationinthe21stcentury,andsupportsthe

notionthatwritingisanimportant,instrumentalskillforlearnerstoacquireandmastertohelp

themsucceedineducation,theworkforce,ormanyotherfacetsoflife(2017).Educators,

however,cannotsimplyroutinelydrillwritingintothemindsofstudents.Instead,teachersneed

tofocusonauthenticlearningandfosterhighqualityintellectualwork(Preus,2012),which

alignsdirectlywithCharlotteDanielsonsframeworkforteachingbyengagingstudentsand

communicatingwithstudentsthroughouttheirwork(2017).Overall,thereisanoverarching

consensusamongsttheeducationcommunitythatteachingwritingisanimportantelementinthe

learningexperience(Anae,2014),andthusthereexistsanimperativeresponsibilityforeducators

toincorporatelearnercentricwritingcurriculumintoourpublicschoolsforourstudents.

MuchofwhatweteachinourEnglishLanguageArtsclassestodayhastodowith

structurelikethefiveparagraphessay(Rowlands,2016).Thingslikeform,structure,and

punctuationarepreached,whiletraitsofgoodwriting,likethecreationofrelevantcontentare

ignored(Kist,2003).Studentsneedtorememberandunderstandsurethosearebothsignificant

foundationsandimportantpartsofBloomseducationaltaxonomy.Butlearnersalsoneedto

evaluate,justify,appraise,design,assemble,investigate,andsynthesize(Bloom/Vanderbilt

1956/2001).Thenewcollaborativelearningforwritinginourclassrooms,asBevilacqua

mentions,appealstostudentsofeveryabilitylevelwhileallowingteacherstobecome

facilitatorsratherthaninstructors(2000).Thisisthekindofmoveeducatorsneedtotakea

steptowardslearnercentralitywithregardstowriting.

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Anae(2014)beginstotacklethisquestwhendiscussingthevalueofcreativewritingin

theclassroom.Creativewritingcan,forinstance,addressthesamestandardsandbeutilizedas

anotheroutlettoreachasmanylearnersaspossible.Acreativewritingassignmentmaycallfora

shortstoryonewherethestudentcreatesanimaginative,informativetextthatshows

emerginguseofappropriatetextstructure,sentencelevelgrammar,wordchoice,spelling,

punctuation,andappropriatemultimodalelements,forexampleillustrationsanddiagrams

(Anae,2014).

Meanwhile,giantmonsterslikethefiveparagraphessaylurkaboutourstandard

curriculum.Fourunholywords.KathleenDuddenRowlands(2016)tacklesthisbeastand

suggestsweslaythemonsterthatisthefiveparagraphessayinherarticle,SlaytheMonster!

ReplacingFormFirstPedagogywithEffectiveWritingInstruction.Rowlandsprovidesan

illustrationbySandraBoyntonwithherarticlethatperfectcapturesandparodiesthefive

paragraphtheme,characterizingitspartshavinglotsofteethbutnobiteorbeingsomewhat

limpanddrawnout(Rowlands,2016).

Thatfiveparagraphthemelacksthekindofcriticalthinkingnecessaryforinnovative,

effectivewriting.However,forsomereason,creativityandcriticalthinkingaretreatedas

separatedraftgeneralcapabilities(Anae,2014).ThisleadsAnaeto(2014)attempttofind

wherecreativewritingfitsintoschoolsandteachereducationcurricula,focusingontheheart

ofvaluingordevaluingcreativitysusefulnessinsocietywhetherthatbeeconomical,cultural,

societal,orinpedagogy.Kist(2003)putsitintomorefiniteterms:teachershavedifficulty

graspingthebalancebetweencontentandmechanics.Educatorswanttoteachgrammarand

mechanicsbecauseitisanecessityandprerequisiteofeffective,propercommunication.And

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withthatinmind,expertsarentpushingforthedisappearanceofgrammarandmechanics.

Instead,Weaver(etal.,2001)saysthequestioniswhataspectsofgrammarweteachtoenhance

andimprovestudentswritingandwhenandhowcanwebestteachthem?Teacherscanteach

thegrammar,punctuation,sentencestructure,andformwithinthewritingprocessitself(Kist,

2003),wherecreativityandgrammarcancoexist.

Sowheredoescreativityfit?Lockmansharesherexperiencesonhomeschoolingherson,

Connor,anddiscoveringwithConnorhisvoiceasawriter(2010).Connorscreativityshinedin

thisenvironment.Lockman(2010)noticedthatthisvoiceConnorhadinhiswritingstrikingly

resemblednotableauthorssuchasJ.R.R.Tolkien,C.S.Lewis,andBrianJacques.Whats

interestingaboutthisgroupofauthorsisthattheywerealsoConnorsfavoriteauthors.The

NationalEducationAssociationbelievesthatthiskindofrelevancyisnotonlybeneficial,but

integralinthemotivationofstudents(2015).Ineffect,Connorhadimitatedhisfavoriteauthors

inhisownwriting.Heinternalizedandabsorbedthegrammarandtheinherentliterary

elementsfromtheliteraturehewasreading,whichisverysimilartowhatKist(2003)believes

isthebestmethodtoteachingwriting:learningaboutthemechanicsthroughrealworlduseof

writing.Lockman(2010)goesontostatethatitishumannaturetohaveidolsweaspiretobe

like,anditisnodifferentinwriting.Effective,successfuleducatorscanshowcasetheirwriting

tostudentstodemonstratetheimpactandimportanceofcreativity.

Studentswhodiscoverrelevancyintheircontent,justasConnor,haveawonderful

opportunitytothrive.Learnersmaynotthinkthattheyliketowrite,andoftenlearnersmayeven

thinkthattheycantwrite(Lockman,2010),butthisinternalizedproblemmayalsostemfroma

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lackofinterest.Learnerssimplymustfindsomeinterestorrelevancyintheexperienceforthem

tocommitandfindmeaningfromtheirlearningandprogression(Welch2003).

Byutilizingformasasupportsystem,creativityandauthenticlearningcanthrive.For

instance,Lockmanstillemphasizestheimportanceofaformulawhiledevelopingtheperfect

paragraph.Sheprovideswhatshefindstobeabasic,yetfundamental,formulaforwritinga

sentence,ofwhichseveralwouldcombinetocreatetheperfectparagraph.Thatsentence

contains:

1.Onethought

2.Visualstructure(expositoryv.creative)

3.Varietyofsentences(2010)

Thisformulaprovidesabasicgroundworkforthestudenttobuildoffof.Thereare,

however,somequestionsleftunansweredbecauseLockmansformulasimplyhelpstoguide

studentsintheirwriting.IntandemwithLockmansformula,criticalthinkingskillsand

creativityarenecessary.Hasani(2016)studiedthecorrelationbetweenwriting(specifically

argumentativewriting)andcriticalthinkingandconcludedthroughherresearchthattherewasa

positiverelationshipbetweenthetwo.Hasaniobserved147studentsanddiscoveredthatthe

highertheargumentativewritingskillsamongstlearners,thehighertheircriticalthinkingability

was.Writing,thusnotonlyisastapleasameansofeffectivecommunication,butalsobolsters

otherimportantfacetsofthestudentsrepertoire.

Asaformofcommunication,writing,andonabroaderlevel,languageisthemain

instrumenthumansuseinordertoshareandpresentourfeelings,ideas,inspirations,and

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imaginations.Languageisalsoameasureandarepresentationofintelligenceandanindicatorof

intelligence(Hasani,2016).Butitisnteasyoftentimesthethingswetrytocommunicateare

vagueorevenmisinterpreted.ThisispartofthereasonwhyWormeli(2011)statesitis

importanttoemphasizetherevisionprocessandallowredosandretakes.

Evenstill,itisimportanttoaddressthatnowriterwillbethesame,justaswehave

acceptedthattherearenotwostudentswhoareidentical.Therefore,wecannotexpectthataone

speedforallcurriculumtofiteverylearnerandthisremainstrueinwriting.Wormeli(2011)

stressesthatthegoalisthatallstudentslearnthecontent,notjusttheoneswhocanlearnonthe

uniformtimeline.Curriculumgoalsdontrequirethateveryindividualreachesthesamelevelof

proficiencyonthesameday,onlythateverystudentachievesthegoal.Thisproblemthat

WormelifacesisverysimilartotheissueRowlands(2016)broughtupearlierwiththedreaded

fiveparagraphessay.

Whilethefiveparagraphessayoffersastructuredformatforstudentsandincorporates

importantcomponentsofwritingsuchasthethesisstatementandtopicsentences(Rowlands,

2016),itdoesnotpresentachanceforstudentstoparticipateinacultureofthinking(Ritchart,

2015).Thestructureonlyoffersaskeletonforstudentstoduplicate.Itcanbehelpful,but

learnersneedmore.Theyneedengagementasafespacewherethinkingisbothvisibleand

valued,andactivelypromoted.Educatorsbecomefacilitators,supporters,andengagestudentsin

higherlevelthinkingbyparticipatinginastudentcenteredenvironment.Educatorscontributeto

ametacognitiveexperienceforalllearners(Ritchart,2015).

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Jehlen(2015)offerswaystomakewritingexercisesfunandrelevant.Forinstance,one

EnglishteacherinPennsylvania,JimMcNeil,hadhisstudentswritetheirownobituaries.

Studentshadtheoptionandchoicetomarryanyonetheychosemanypickedcelebritiesbut

theexercisealsogotthemthinkingaboutwheretheyhadbeenandwheretheyplannedtogo

(Jehlen,2015).Page(2012)discussesawritingmethodthatutilizeswritinggroupswhoconverse

abouttheirgoalsweekly.Theymarktheprogressofeachlearnerwithinthegroupandreflect

andcollaboratetofindeffectiveswaystomoveforward,whilealsokeepingthestudentsabreast

oftheresearchandwritingthattheyaredoing(Page,2012).Thisisthekindofculturethat

Ritchart(2015)promotesandthattheEnglishclassroomandpedagogyofwritingneeds.Writing

providescreativityoutlets,whichinturnofferhigherlevelorderthinkingskills,animportant

hallmarkforstudentstodayandisanessentialpartofstudentcentralityandlearnercentric

pedagogy(Ritchart,2015).

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WorksCited
ANAE,N.(2014).CreativeWritingasFreedom,EducationasExploration:creativewritingas
literaryandvisualartspedagogyinthefirstyearteachereducationexperience.Australian
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Bevilacqua,M.(2000).CollaborativeLearningintheSecondaryEnglishClass.ClearingHouse,
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DanielsonGroupTheFramework.(n.d.).RetrievedApril13,2017,from
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Didion,Joan.OnKeepingaNotebook.50Essays:APortableAnthology.St.MartinsPress
2007,pg7986.
Hasani,A.(2016).EnhancingArgumentativeWritingSkillthroughContextualTeachingand
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Jehlen,Alain.(2015).HowToMotivateYourKidsToLearn.NEA,
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Lockman,Diane."Writingtheperfectparagraph."PracticalHomeschooling,Sept.Oct.2010.
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NationalWritingProject.(n.d.).RetrievedApril13,2017,from

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https://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/doc/about.csp
Painter,D.D.(2016).TheComputerBasedWritingProgram:AClinicalTeachingExperience
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Page,C.S.,Edwards,S.,&Wilson,J.H.(2012).WritingGroupsinTeacherEducation:A
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OurSchools.SanFrancisco,JosseyBass&Amp;PfeifferImprints,Wiley,2015.
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