How to Effectively Improve Writing in High

School

Select 2 reasons WHY students struggle with literacy skills.

*Low skills *Well-being

*Nutrition *Limited English

*Low motivation *Teacher expertise

*Technology *Poverty

Will cause 3,000 students to drop out of high school

each day

Without sophisticated reading and writing skills,

students often fail to achieve in ALL content areas –

including math, science, and social studies

Teachers need on-going support to stay current on

trends and share findings from their classrooms with

other teacher-learners

http://www.ncte.org/profdev/online/adlit

What percentage of 9th and 10th Palmer students test below proficient on CSAP?:10 % 25 % 40%

15% 35 % 50%

60% score proficient or advanced 9% scored Advanced on 08-09 CSAP 36% take Higher Level English

Courses Grades 9 (36%), Grade 10 (35%), Grades11 (38%)

40% of PHS are Below Proficiency in Writing Portions of CSAP . . .

Providing concrete “thinking models” Using research-based strategies Allowing for differentiation Using common language across content areas Using predictable routines Assessing with student-generated/modeled rubrics

Give examples of how you currently use these WAC (Writing Across the Curriculum) strategies with students?

Helps students by providing concrete models for “what has to happen in the mind”

Provides writers with specific, concrete strategies (combats blank page/blank mind syndrome)

Allows for differentiation of instruction depending on student need or ability (this could look like . . .)

PLAN Pay attention to your

ideas List main ideas Add supporting details Number your ideas

WRITE Work from your plan to develop thesis (main idea)

Remember your goals

Include transition words or phrase for each paragraph or new idea

Try to use different kinds of sentences

Exciting, interesting words used to describe

Pick • Pick a topic • Pick your audience • Pick the appropriate textual format given the topic, purpose and audience List • List ideas about the topic • This is to be used for sentence generation Evaluate • Evaluate your list of ideas • Determine if it is complete • Plan the best way of organizing/sequencing the ideas that will be used to generate

supporting sentences Activate • Activate with a topic sentence to introduce the paragraph • Students are instructed how to write short and simple topic sentences that will “activate”

the written idea for the reader. Supply • Supply supporting sentences • Use the list generated for supporting sentence ideas • Gradually enhance the idea by generating clarifying or “expansion” sentences. End • End with a concluding sentence to summarize the paragraph and hold the ideas together.

Your participation & candid comments are valuable!

Prompts + classroom practices in basket Please JOT the following PLUS/DELTAS from today’s

PD Please DOT the following Continuums

Where you are currently in terms of classroom writing Where your comfort level with writing strategies currently

falls

**Thanks for RETURNING PENCILS TO BASKET**