Children’s Views of Writing to Learn

Abstract

From the earliest beginnings of the writing to learn movement, the case has been made that because writing is a verbal, visual, and kinesthetic activity, it involves the learner in self-discovery of knowledge. As Britton (1970) originally suggested, writing allows us to “explain the matter to oneself.” This unique learning feature has the potential to he very powerful in generating new understandings. Many studies of writing to learn have included testimonials of students, expressing their positive views of the process (Conally & Villardi, 1989).