Reinforcing Language Arts Across All Subjects

Students across the country are somehow brought to believe that the ability to read, write and spell have nothing to do with Math, Science, or History. Teachers have reinforced this belief by allowing spelling and grammar mistakes on work for classes other than Language Arts. People think that writing has nothing to do with math or science, that those subjects require critical thinking. How better to get across an idea using critical thinking than using creative writing as an outlet.

In my school, as in many, I was required to assign homework Monday through Thursday. So the question was, "what do I assign the night after a test?" I didn't want my students to read ahead, we saved that for in class. I couldn't simply say that they had a test, so they should have a night off from homework. Then it came to me. After a math or science test I would assign my students to write a story, one page long, using vocabulary words we had just learned in this section. Sometimes I would direct my students to pick a certain number they had to use, but most of the time I would indicate which words my students were to use. Now, most students have already had experience with this type of assignment, although they used it with spelling words and using them correctly in a sentence. I would grade my students based on 1. Writing the required length 2. Using all of the required words 3. Correct usage of the words. And I would always remind my students that they were not to use the words as a name or to simply list the words (i.e. Cindy learned about the dark zone, the abyss, waves, currents, and sponges in science class today).

A story using vocabulary words is an excellent way for a student to demonstrate their understanding of a subject. Even if they are not very good at memorizing the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates, they could write a very interesting story about how the two become friends and come to like the differences between them. And as a fun conclusion to this assignment you can invite students to read their stories to the class, or if they are shy, you can read it for them. When finished their stories can go into their portfolios so that they can see their progress throughout the year as a writer as well as their development as a scientist or mathematician.