Writing to Learn & Chapter 8

I found this article to be very intriguing.  Most grade levels focus in on learning to write, not writing to learn.  However, Knipper and Duggan promoted writing to learn in their article.  Basically, if a student understands a subject well enough to compose a well-written essay about it, he/she will have a better understanding of the content. Students can even begin writing before they read the material.  They can make predictions, form hypotheses, and ask questions in written form which uses strategies in beginning to write to learn.  I agree that teacher feedback is extremely imperative when students are growing in their writing skills. Students need to have an idea of what they are expected to learn from their writing.  Chapter 8 in our textbook discusses the process of writing - prewriting, drafting, peer review, revising, editing, final draft, and publication.  Sure students need to know how to get from prewriting to publication, but using all seven of those steps every time a student writes something can get a little tedious.  I did like how chapter 8 broke down the three main types of knowledge in writing; declarative, procedural, and conditional.  Students need to know what type of learning they are looking for when they begin their writing.  Are they wanting to write out directions to build something or are they explaining how something works? Writing to learn allows students to demonstrate and prove to themselves that they know what they are writing about.