SARAH CRAINK-12 LITERACY COORDINATOR

STAFFORD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLSCRAINSE@STAFFORDSCHOOLS.NET

DR. NANCY GUTHFORMER SUPERVISOR OF LITERACY AND HUMANITIES

STAFFORD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLSPROFESSOR, GMU & UMW

EXECUTIVE CONSULTANT, RENAISSANCE LEARNINGNANCYGUTH2@GMAIL .COM

Writing in the Secondary Classroom

Objectives

Participants will be able to:Distinguish between formative and

summative uses for writing in the content area

Apply “writing to learn” strategies to a content area

Compare and contrast “on-demand writing” with other summative writing assignments

Examine strategies and discuss best practices for grading writing

Enjoy and be comfortable approaching writing….

Getting to know you…

Please take a moment to consider the following:

What would you like to learn about writing in the content area in today’s session?

Why Write?

1. Writing helps students actively engage in subject matter.

2. Writing helps students gain access to further education.

3. Writing leads to fulfilling employment.

4. Writing prepares you for active citizenship (Daniels et al., 2007, pp. 5 -6).

Formative Assessment Summative Assessment

“Writing to learn”Primarily for the

students’ benefitShort, first drafts

onlyCan be used to

inform instruction but are not “graded”

Notes, lists, journals

“Public writing”Primarily for an

outside audienceSeveral drafts and

revisions, usually extended length

For a gradeEssays, editorials,

reviews

Different Types of Writing/Assessment

Why Write?

Why Write? Think about your five most important reasons for

writing

JOT DOWN YOUR MAIN FIVE REASONS….

SHARE WITH YOUR NEIGHBOR

SAME? DIFFERENT?

Why do we write?

To Remember (lists)To Learn

To Go SomewhereTo communicate feelings (cards)

To communicate –tell a story

Writing: To Learn

“In order for learners to understand and remember ideas, they must act upon them” (Daniels et al., 2007, p. 25).

“To get learning power, kids need to grapple with ideas, transform them, and put them in their own words” (Daniels et al., 2007, p. 26).

Writing to Learn

So what about:Taking notes during a presentation/lecture?Answering the questions at the end of a

chapter?Copying information from the board?

Consider: Are these good examples of writing to learn? Why or why not?

Write your thoughts on a piece of paper.

Writing to Learn

A Few of our Favorite Things:Writing BreakExit/Admit SlipsDrawing or IllustratingDouble - Entry JournalWritten ConversationsCarousel BrainstormPhotograph writing

Take a minute and reflect in writing on how you might incorporate one or more of these strategies into a content lesson.

Favorite Things

Turn and talk: Share how you would/could utilize one or more of the

strategies … NOT

On Demand Writing Other Public Writing

Writing to demonstrate knowledge

Limited audienceLimited responseLimited time

Writing to persuade or entertain

Authentic audience possible

Invites student to discuss topic in depth

Student can draft, revise, edit, and polish

Public Writing

On Demand Writing (you know, “tests”)

Best practices:Focus on “big ideas”Build in more timeAsk questions that require students to

demonstrate higher level thinking rather than recall

Use engaging, relevant topics

TEACH THEM HOW TO RESPOND

Easy as ABC…

Kelly Gallagher (2006, pp. 40-46)

A. Attack the promptB. Brainstorm ideasC. Choose how to organize your responseD. Detect mistakes

Ideas: But When Do I Do This?

RAFTWeb pageBrochurePortfoliosMulti-Genre ProjectI-Search ProjectSocial Action

Project

In place of a traditional multiple choice/short answer assessment

Small parts assembled throughout the course

Culminating project post SOL’s

Other Public Writing

Why does writing take SO MUCH time to grade?

Rubrics – the Key to Grading

When grading an essay:as a content expert, what do you think is

important?as a writer, what do you think is important?

How do you balance these two roles as a content teacher?

Take a moment to record your responses.

Myths About Grading Essays

1. Only full length essays should be graded and given feedback.

2. My rubric has to be specific to the exact essay I assign.

3. I have to grade for all elements on the rubric in each essay.

4. I have to correct all of my students’ grammatical and mechanical errors.

#1: Only full length essays should be graded and given feedback.

Practice writing skills on a smaller scale first Literary analysis

paragraph BEFORE a full paper

Use these small assignments to make detailed comments

Quality over quantity

Poetry Paragraph Journal*An “A” response consists of the following:

___ Clear topic sentence stating the main point of the paragraph

___ Several specific and persuasive examples from the poem to support the main point

___ A comprehensive understanding of the literary element discussed

___ A comprehensive understanding and explanation of the thought and feeling expressed in the poem including subtleties of meaning

___ Correctly formatted quotations and in-text citations

___ Little to no grammatical errors; those present are not distracting

___ Language that is clear, varied, and concise___ Varied style and effective tone

#2: My rubric has to be specific to the exact essay I assign.

Design a rubric with common categories that will work for multiple assignments

Teach mini-lessons on specific features to help students improve

Common CategoriesContentFormat requirementsMechanics

#3: I have to grade for all elementson the rubric in each essay.

Teacher DirectedAssign a specific

focus for a paperGrade only for this

element

Student DirectedStudent self- assesses

his/her opportunities for improvement

Writes with selected element as primary focus

#4: I have to correct all of my students’ grammatical and mechanical errors.

Highlight sentences that you want students to revise

Limit the number of revision sentences

Ask students to use resources to figure out mistakes

Write the sentence where the problem occurs here.

Write the corrected sentence here.

Circle the problem(s) here.

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In Closing…

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is quoted, saying:

“Learning requires the student’s engagement in four activities, all intended to result in thinking: reading, listening, doing, and writing” (Daniels et al., 2007, p. 8).

Notice it isn’t literature, math, science, and history…

References

Daniels, H., Zemelman, S., Steineke, N. (2007). Content-area writing: Every teacher’s

guide. Portsmouth, NH: HeinemannGallagher, K. (2006). Teaching adolescent writers. Portland, ME: Stenhouse

Disclaimer

Reference within this presentation to any specific commercial or non-commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer or otherwise does not constitute or imply an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Virginia Department of Education.

Contact Us

Sarah Craincrainse@staffordschools.net

Dr. Nancy Guthnancyguth2@gmail.com

www.slideshare.net/sarahcrain