Putting words on paper teaches children to think

Sometimes you only discover what you think when you try to write it down. An idea that seemed clear in your head becomes rather less convincing halfway through a sentence. You have to stop, work out what you mean, and try again.

Children need opportunities to experience that process. We often ask them to write once they have learned something, as a way of showing us what they know. Writing can also help them work towards an understanding they haven't reached yet.

Writing as part of learning

Explaining a mathematical answer is a good example. A student may be able to carry out a procedure without being able to explain why it works. Asking for a short written explanation can make that gap visible. It can also prompt the student to reconsider the steps and make a connection they hadn't noticed. The same is true when children explain a scientific result or respond to a question from an inquiry.

There is evidence for using writing in this way. A 2020 meta-analysis by Graham, Kiuhara, and MacKay examined 56 experiments involving students in Grades 1 to 12. Writing about content in science, social studies, and mathematics improved learning on average. That doesn't mean any written task will be useful. It does give us a reason to consider writing as part of learning across subjects.[1]

A task worth thinking about

The task we set makes a difference. Asking children to copy an explanation mainly tells us that they can copy it. Asking them to explain a decision, consider an alternative, or describe why their first answer changed gives them more thinking to do. Often a short paragraph is enough. Length can become a distraction if students are trying to fill a page after they have made their point.

We also need to be clear about what we are responding to. If the purpose is to explore an idea and every response is covered in corrections, students may become more concerned with avoiding errors than with saying something worth examining. Accuracy still matters. So does choosing the right moment to teach it. A rough explanation can deserve a thoughtful response before it deserves a spelling correction.

Supporting the thinking and the writing

For some children, getting words onto the page takes so much effort that it limits what they can express. Talking through an idea, using a diagram, or rehearsing a sentence can help. Those supports allow us to work on the thinking while continuing to teach the writing skills the child needs.

I want writing to have a regular place in the classroom beyond the writing lesson. Students should be able to use it to puzzle something out, disagree with an idea, or notice where their explanation breaks down. They also need chances to return to an earlier response and change their minds.

A page doesn't have to look finished to be useful. Sometimes the crossed-out sentence is the part that tells us the most.