Chapter+2

[[image:butterfly%20d.gif]] Knowing the Writer
//" A butterfly evolves through developmental stages to become a beautiful, winged creature. A student evolves through stages to become an effective writer and author."//


 * **Overview:** //In the differentiated writing classroom, students learn the value of writing to inform and to express important ideas in the real world. Teachers work with student writers in all learning styles and multiple intelligences, recognizing the many developmental stages of each writer, which may include Scribbling, Picture Making, Storytelling, Letter Shaking, Copying, Sound Making, Sentence Making, and Story Making. Invented spelling is an important component of writing in the content areas during many of these developmental stages of writing.//


 * **Writing and the Brain**
 * Chapman and King take the opportunity in this chapter to discuss that “[w]hen writing skills and strategies are presented in ways that link prior information to new information and the student’s practical world, he is more likely to remember and use it” (Chapman and King, 24). They also discuss how students’ best writing is produced when he/she is given the chance to write about something they are familiar with and have prior knowledge to. I think this is a great point they are making in addition to being a main strength of this chapter because it is a theory that has proven true in numerous studies. I drew comparisons between this and Peter Elbow’s beliefs of letting students take charge of their own writing, including the topics they wish to write about.


 * **Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences**
 * To help students reach their full writing potential, teachers need to make sure to assign writing prompts that fit different learner’s schema and learning styles. These could range from categories such as auditory, visual, kinesthetic, tactile, and hands-on learning styles, to Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences. Being aware that your students all carry different learning and writing styles in key in helping them reach success. When assigning writing assignments, keep in mind that your students may belong to diverse and varied discourse communities. Be sure to assign topics that challenge them, as well as those in which they can thrive. Joseph Harris explains that exposing our students to all writing discourses, will broaden horizons and produce more intellectual and ethical writing that sees all points of view. However, as Kinneavy explains, teachers must be able to make distinctions between different discourses as to not confuse them with one another, while still making sure to include as many as possible.
 * Gardner's Multiple Intelligences


 * **Writers Writing in the Content Areas**
 * The conclusion of this chapter discusses the factors of what writers write to accomplish. Writers can write to demonstrate understanding, enhance learning and memory, and to inform and to express.


 * Some examples include writing to:
 * Analyze and solve problems
 * Express feelings including anger, joy, laughter, or sadness
 * Share secrets, personal ideas, and interests
 * Share experiences, wildest ideas, and discoveries
 * Record information
 * Share thoughts with other individuals
 * Appreciate the beauty and magic of language
 * Remember information for later use or study
 * Relax and enjoy self-expression
 * Become a published author
 * Play with words, thoughts, and ideas
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Brainstorm and journal