work smarter (not harder)

Work Smarter (not Harder)

Sarah CrainK-12 Literacy Coordinator

Gifted Education Resource Teacher 8th Annual Symposium

WRITE

Collaborative Opportunities

5th Grade Writing 6 &7 English “Enrichment”

O 3 On-Demand PromptsO Project Based Learning

(SS)O Research, plan,

compose, and revise for a variety of purposes

O Edit for correct use of language, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling

O Content-area writingO Progression charts

developed by the AP/IB Vertical Team (see handout)

O Enrichment resources for teachers

Why Write?O Writing helps students get more

actively engaged in subject matter.

O Writing helps students perform well on high stakes tests.

O Writing prepares students for involved active citizenship.

Daniels, H., Zemelman, S., & Steineke, N. (2007). Content-area writing: Every teachers' guide. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

Yes, but…

Why does writing take SO MUCH time to grade?

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.

The Question of Rigor

SKILL

Complexity

TASK

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

O Practice writing skills on a smaller scale firstO Literary analysis

paragraph BEFORE a full paper

O Use these small assignments to make detailed comments

O 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

___ Few 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.

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

O Teach mini-lessons on specific features to help students improve

Common CategoriesC. Appreciation of

Literary Features D. Presentation E. Formal Use of

Language

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

Teacher DirectedO Assign a specific

focus for a paperO Grade only for

this element

Student DirectedO Student self-

assesses his/her opportunities for improvement

O Writes with selected element as primary focus

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

O Highlight sentences that you want students to revise

O Limit the number of revision sentences

O Encourage 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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What can I do for you?Sarah Crain

crainse@staffordschools.net