10-14-14

•Review: Theories of Composition

•Ch 5 & 6, TAW

•Responding to Writing

Agenda:

Subject

Text

Writer

CONTEXT

Reader

Expressiv

is

t Formalist

Constructivist

Writing and Choice: from TAW, chapter 5

Many of our students have lost sight of the real value that comes from writing well. Like reading, students often see writing as just another painful obstacle they must overcome to earn a diploma. (90)

One reason students don’t write well is that they do not care what they are writing about. (90)

A student who cares about her paper is much more likely to closely revise; a student who does not care about her paper will treat the revision process lightly, if at all. (91)

Generally speaking, … people do not work hard on tasks they hate doing. (93)

Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gokm9RUr4ME

Breaking Down the Aversion to Writing

What they know:

*Find the Fib (to elicit narratives)

*Writing Territories (for description or “how to” papers)

*Funneling a Territory (“seeing the subject through a 1” frame”)

*Topic Blast (again, to focus on something small)

*The Myth of the Boring Topic (to sell kids on writing)

*What Bugs Me (to help find a personal voice)

*Good Ideas/Bad Ideas (another invention technique)

*Explorations (to learn how to ask useful questions)

*I Remember (to engage personal expertise)

*Pass the Portrait (using images to elicit writing)

Gallagher’s “Limited Choice” Assignments

“Introduce Yourself” Notebook – various kinds of personal writing

“Capture Your Community” – using images to elicit writing

“Writing Fountain” – generating stories related to a topic

“Words of Wisdom” – response to a novel

“Half-and-Half Paper” – includes student-generated question

“Four-Sided Argument” – to understand different perspectives

These assignments give students a degree of competence and confidence to help them move on to traditional academic kinds of writing…

Purpose & Audience: Why Writers Write

Getting “a Range of Purposes” into the Classroom

Writer’s Notebook: rehearse the “purpose of the month”

“Article of the Week”: identify the purpose (& audience)

Revise the Purpose: rewrite a piece with a different purpose

Purpose Packet: identify the purpose of each article

Purpose Hunt: find an article with each assigned purpose

Identify the Purpose in Core Works: make it a habit

“Exploration Cubes”: explore first, then identify purpose

And since purpose generally implies an audience…

Getting Real Audiences (inside & outside the classroom)

Author’s Chair: author reads aloud to the whole class

RAGtime: read-around groups

Golden Lines: particularly strong lines from student drafts

Targeted Bulletin Board: samples of specific kinds of writing

Classroom Anthologies: student work

Write Outside: to public figures & public forums

Other Eyes: swap papers with other teachers

Campus Displays: bulletin boards, display cases

Writing Contests: NCTE, TeenInk, Scholastic, etc

Public Readings: invite family and friends

Writing an assignment is a writing task.

You are the writer.

Your students are readers.

What do you want them to do?

What might interfere with their understanding of what you want?

How might you reduce the interference?

Teacher Comments on Successful and Unsuccessful Assignments…

Traits of Successful Assignments Students have a degree of choiceStudents are interested in the workStudents have a personal connection Work is relevant to student goalsAssignment is concrete & specific:

*clear instructions*clear expectations

Teacher provides tools (scaffolding)and feedback along the way

Models of successful & unsuccessfulwork are provided

Includes low stakes elements beforehigh stakes performance

Is appropriate for students’ ability leveland confidence level

Traits of Unsuccessful Assignments High stakes without adequate practiceTask is artificial (i.e., meaningless) Format is unclearSome terms are undefinedWork has no clear value to students Work is beyond students’ capabilitiesWork is outside students’ comfort zoneWork is outside students’ trust zoneWork is overwhelming

Task:What do I want students to do?What will students learn from completing this task?If I am trying to assess something, what am I trying to assess?What will I learn from reading the student work? (What will the work show me?) Sequencing:Can the task be broken into sub-tasks, or steps?Must students complete the steps in a specific order? Have I taught the skills and content necessary for each step?Might it be helpful to break the assignment into smaller, one-step assignments? Writing Processes:How do I want students to complete the work – alone/pairs/groups? home/school?Will they practice any parts of the assignment in class?Have I provided information about length, format, use of sources, and other key elements?Have I provided written instructions, along with grading criteria?

Heuristic for Creating Effective Writing Assignments(adapted from Edward White, Assigning, Responding, Evaluating, 4th ed.)

Audience:Who is the intended audience – me (as teacher) or an imagined audience?Could I expand the audience beyond only the teacher?Has the class adequately discussed how to write for this particular audience? Schedule:When will students work on the assignment?How much time will they need inside and outside class?Do I need to build in deadlines for stages of the project?How does this assignment fit with what comes before and after it in the course? Assessment:How will I evaluate the work?What constitutes a successful response to the assignment?Have I discussed the criteria with the students?Have I completed the assignment myself? If so, what problems did I encounter?How can the assignment be clarified or otherwise improved?

Heuristic for Creating Effective Writing Assignments(adapted from Edward White, Assigning, Responding, Evaluating, 4th ed.)

Explain key terms:List – name one by one, with comments as appropriate

Enumerate – list in a meaningful sequence

Outline – give a plan for proceeding in a logical order

Design – create a more elaborate plan than an outline, with drawings, charts, sketches, or other visuals

Summarize – state the main points in a concise way

Review – give a quick survey of several positions

Interpret – Explain in detail what something means

Define – Present in detail the essential traits of something, and show how if differs from similar things

Prove – Provide evidence to show that something is true

Demonstrate – Add to proof examples of applications of whatever has been shown to be true

(from Edward White, Assigning, Responding, Evaluating, 4th ed.)

Activities that happen before you put something

on page or screen

Act of putting something on page

or screen

Activities that happen after you put something

on page or screen

PREWRITE DRAFTREWRITE

&PUBLISH

observing,collecting,listening,thinking,reading,talking,

researching,doodling, drawing,

freewriting,etc.

writing,typing,texting,drawing,speaking,

etc

adding, deleting,reading, listening, moving, fixing,

tweaking,changing,

conforming,organizing, polishing, letting go

Have you taught all the parts?Do students know all the parts?Can students do all the parts?

Putting Theory into Practice

Select a “hot topic” in education – an issue about which there is currently discussion and disagreement – and write a paper of 800-1200 words in which you explain the topic and the different views, cite at least four published articles (or editorials or book chapters) relevant to the discussion, and state and support your position on the issue. Use MLA format for citations, and include a Works Cited page.

This is an actual assignment given to high school seniors in a dual-credit Education 100 class. How would you help them read and understand the assignment?

Select a “hot topic” in education – an issue about which there is currently discussion and disagreement – and write a paper of 800-1200 words in which you explain the topic and the different views, cite at least four published articles (or editorials or book chapters) relevant to the discussion, and state and support your position on the issue. Use MLA format for citations, and include a Works Cited page. What do students need to be able to do to complete this assignment successfully?

What constitutes a “hot topic”?Is it OK to have 795 words? Do the words in the Works Cited count toward the total?What does it mean to “explain the topic”? (Is that the thesis?)How many “different views” must be included?Does an website count as a “published article”?Must I “state [my] position” in the opening paragraph?How much support is required?How do I cite a website? an interview?Must the paper have a running header?Are footnotes OK?

Once students write, they expect you to respond…

ProofreaderFixes errors (and assumes responsibility for finding errors)

EditorPolishes the text; tells writers what to do to improve (and assumes some responsibility for the quality of the revised draft)

CriticEvaluates quality; points out positives and negatives (and assumes responsibility for “correctness” of evaluations)

Roles Readers Can Play When Responding

CheerleaderPraises the “good stuff” (and, like the critic, assumes responsibility for “correctness” of evaluations)

FacilitatorHelps writers make their own decisions; points out potential problem areas and suggests options (and makes the writer responsible for his or her decisions)

Roles Readers Can Play When Responding

AllyTries to help authors get by the gatekeeper (and shares some responsibility with the writer, at least for offering good advice)

GatekeeperStops sub-standard material from passing (and is responsible to the institution for “quality control”)

Roles Readers Can Play When Responding

Quality of ideas

Appropriateness of the material

Accuracy of content presented

Organization of ideas

Depth/development of ideas

Likely audience reactions

Stylistic issues

Grammar/mechanics issues

Aspects on Which to Comment:

From Straub & Lunsford, 12 Readers Reading

Ways to Respond:

From Straub & Lunsford, 12 Readers Reading

More Options for Responding

No Responding: Sharing

Sometimes it’s enough simply to let the writer read aloud

Descriptive Responding

•Sayback – Tell the reader what the text says to you

•Pointing – Point to, or identify, key words or phrases

•What’s Almost Said – Identify what the writing implies

•Structure / Voice / Point of View / Level of Abstraction / Attitude toward Reader / Language / Diction / Syntax – Identify these aspects for the writer

•Metaphorical Description – Describe the shape or some other feature of the text

From Elbow & Belanoff, Sharing & Responding

More Options for Responding

Analytical Responding

•Skeleton feedback – Identify reasons & support, assumptions, and the implied audience

•Believing – Accept everything & offer additional ideas to help build the case

•Doubting – Challenge everything & offer counter arguments that are not addressed

•Descriptive outline – Explain what the text says and does

Reader-Based Responding: Movies of the Reader’s Mind

Criteria-Based Responding: Compare Text to a Rubric

From Elbow & Belanoff, Sharing & Responding

Putting Theory into Practice

Read the student paper written in response to the prompt discussed earlier. Spending about 10-15 minutes on the paper, respond to the student and assign a grade to the paper.

Which aspects of the textdid you respond to?

Quality of ideas

Appropriateness of the material

Accuracy of content presented

Organization of ideas

Depth/development of ideas

Likely audience reactions

Stylistic issues

Grammar/mechanics issues

How did you phrase your comments?

Make a correction Give a command Make a judgment Offer a suggestion Request a change Request additional informationAsk a questionReact subjectively Give a related assignment Acknowledge effortOffer encouragement

Now imagine that you are the student. Write your reaction/response to the teacher’s comments on your paper.

Teacher Comments on Effective and Ineffective Responses…

Traits of Effective Responses Specific goals/questions/tasksFocused/targetedPositive (i.e., praise)Evaluations included suggestionsNot too numerous: just a few comments per paperMaybe combine with a short conference to be sure students understand commentsTrain students how to read our particular comments

Traits of Ineffective Responses Generic (“nice,””good,””awk”)Not fully explainedToo many comments per paperIncomplete thoughtsIllegible

For next week, read and respond to TAW, Ch. 7-end.