ABSTRACT

Writing matters in and of itself for various reasons—like fiction reading, writing expressively has emotional benefits (Baikie & Wilhelm, 2005); writing persuasively changes laws, changes minds, and changes the world; writing informatively helps people learn about topics as large as space or justice, and as tiny (but powerful) as atoms or microaggressions. But writing has a strong role to play in reading as well. There is considerable evidence that writing about content in science, social studies, and other content areas enhances how much students learn (Bangert-Drowns, Hurley, & Wilkinson, 2004; Graham & Perin, 2007; as cited in Graham, 2008).