helping your students increase their writing...

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Activities to grab students’ interest and get them writing:

quick writes collaborative paragraphs bio-poems frames

Writing skills required for postsecondary success

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AGENDA

Mary Ann Corley

By the end of this session, participants will be able to

Describe and use activities to reduce students’ reluctance to write and increase their writing practice

Identify various writing frames and their use

Identify writing skills required for postsecondary success

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OBJECTIVES

Mary Ann Corley

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Writing Next http://www.all4ed.org/files/WritingNext.pdf Meta-analysis of research—produced 11 recommendations for effective instruction Writing to Readhttp://carnegie.org/fileadmin/Media/Publications/WritingToRead_01.pdf

Have students write in response to reading—encourages deeper thinking; summarize; take notesInforming Writing: The Benefits of Formative Assessmenthttp://carnegie.org/fileadmin/Media/Publications/InformingWriting.pdf

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RELEVANT RESEARCH

Mary Ann Corley

From Writing Next• Use collaborative writing• Teach prewriting, which helps students

generate or organize ideas for writing From Writing to Read

• Increase How Much Students Write

RESEARCH-BASEDRECOMMENDATIONS

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BASIC ELEMENTS OFTHE WRITING PROCESS

Mary Ann Corley

A Simultaneous and Recursive Process

Planning(Pre-writing)

Drafting Revising

Written Product

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YOU SHOULD WRITE A “PAGE

TURNER.”

WRITE A BOOK THAT WILL SWEEP

BOOK-SELLERS OFF THEIR FEET.

WRITE A BOOK THAT IS

“POWERFUL YET HEARTWARMING”!

I’M HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE

FIRST SENTENCE.

SOUND FAMILIAR?

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SOME WHYS TO PONDER

Why are many of our adult literacy students intimidated by writing?

Is it only our students who feel this way?

Why does writing seem so hard?


Involves multiple brain functions and abilities. Requires the writer to

formulate ideas, organize and sequence points in logical order, select vocabulary, check for grammatical correctness, spell words correctly, punctuate, and write legibly.

Requires simultaneous and sequential integration of attention, language, long-term memory and working memory, motor skills, higher-order thinking, and metacognition.

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WRITING:A HIGHLY COMPLEX PROCESS

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STRATEGIES TO INCREASE THEAMOUNT OF STUDENT WRITING1. QUICK WRITES2. COLLABORATIVE PARAGRAPHS3. BIO-POEMS4. WRITING FRAMES

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1. USE QUICK WRITES

A versatile strategy used to develop writing fluency, to build the habit of reflection into a learning experience, and to informally assess student thinking.

The strategy asks learners to respond in 2–10 minutes to an open-ended question or prompt posed by the teacher before, during, or after reading.

The teacher ALWAYS writes, too!

Can be used to ask students what they learned in class today/tonight and what questions they still have.

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DIRECTIONS FOR AQUICK WRITE

Mary Ann Corley

1. Explain that a Quick Write helps students to think about a topic before, during, and after reading. Stress that students respond to a question or prompt related to the text by writing down whatever comes to their minds without organizing it too much or worrying about grammar.

2. Select a topic related to the text being studied and define the purpose for the quick write, for example: – Summarize what was learned – Connect to background information or students’ lives – Explain concepts or vocabulary – Make predictions, inferences, and hypotheses

3. Tell students how long they will have to do the writing, typically 2–10 minutes. Be sure that the teacher writes, too.

4. Use the Quick Write as part of instruction, assessment, discussion.

RemembranceFor my grandmother, Clarice Smith Chapman, 1914-1989I remember…we collected wild strawberriesAnd made mud pies and builtBlock houses and guidedOur cart down the supermarket aisleAnd picked carrots and washedDishes and baked cookies and cutPaper dolls and watched chickadeesAnd played checkers and ate scrambled eggs andTook our time on the stairsAnd you never told me you were dying.

I wanted the chance to say goodbye.

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USE QUICK WRITESIN RESPONSE TO A POEM

Mary Ann Corley

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TRY IT! –PPT # 14 Do a 2-minute Quick Write in Response to the Poem Remembrance __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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1. Bring out the writer. Give students ideas and frames for their writing and provide the

seeds for more expanded pieces.

2. Build students’ confidence. Students often don’t realize how much they know until they began

writing—and see the quality of their writing.

3. Develop writing fluency, especially if used frequently.4. Bring out the reader.

Students to become better readers as they hear, see, and craft language.

5. Help teachers grow as writers. Allow time for teachers to write for 2 to 3 minutes each class period.

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BENEFITS OF QUICK WRITES

Mary Ann Corley

1. What is the most important idea that I learned in class today? ___________________________________________________________________________.

2. What question remains in my mind at the end of today’s lesson? _________________________________________________________________________.

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ONE-MINUTE ESSAY: A GOODFORMATIVE ASSESSMENT TOOL

Mary Ann Corley

(HARVARD UNIVERSITY)

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Today’s lesson ________________________________.One key idea was ____________________________________________________________________________.This is important because _______________________.Another key idea _____________________________________________________________________________.This matters because _________________________________________________. In summary, today’s lesson____________________________________________________________________________________________.

7/28/2012 1717Mary Ann Corley(HARVARD UNIVERSITY)

ONE-MINUTE ESSAY: A GOODFORMATIVE ASSESSMENT TOOL

Write a sentence on a piece of paper.

Pass it along to one student, who reads what’s there and then adds a sentence—one that follows logically from the first sentence.

Each student passes the paper along to the next student, and each student in turn writes a new sentence.

Continue until the paper gets back to the originator.

Read the collaborative paragraph aloud so everyone can enjoy it!


2. USE A COLLABORATIVE PARAGRAPH

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Try It!—PPTs #19 1. Form groups of 5 people. 2. First person reads first sentence, which is given. 3. Then, each person in group adds a sentence—Don’t discuss your sentences until last

person writes his/her sentence. 4. Now share the collaborative paragraph with the group.

Sentence #1. It was a dark and stormy night. Sentence #2. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Sentence #3. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Sentence #4. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Sentence #5. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Sentence #6. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

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3. USE A BIO-POEM TEMPLATE—PPT # 20

FIRST NAME___________________________________________________ Four adjectives that describe you/another Son or daughter of… or wife or husband of… mother or father of …. Lover of (list 3 things you/other love) Who feels (list 3 things you/other feel) Who gives (list 3 things you/other give) Who fears (list 3 fears you/other have) Who would like to see (list 3 things) Who lives (brief description of where you/other live) LAST NAME____________________________________________________

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SAMPLE BIO-POEMS—PPT # 21—23

Scout

Tomboy, brave, intelligent, loving Sister of Jem

Lover of justice, chewing gum, reading, and Alabama summers Who feels outraged when her dad is maligned, happiness when school is over, and fright on a

dark Halloween night Who needs her dad’s acceptance, Jem’s loyalty, and Dill’s admiration

Who gives friendship easily, black eyes to cousins, and sassy words to Calpurnia Who fears Boo’s dark house, owls in the night, and giving her open palms to the teacher

Who would like to see all mockingbirds sing freely whether they are creatures of flight, shy neighbors, or kind handymen

Resident of Maycomb, Alabama Finch

__________________________________________________________________________ Frog

webbed feet, bulging eyes, smooth skin, long sticky tongue relative of toads

lover of bugs, water, and cool mud who feels cold when it’s cold and hot when it’s hot

who needs prey, water, and land who fears owls, blue herons, and snakes who would like to see lots of juicy bugs

resident of the pond Frog

__________________________________________________________________________ Texas

large, diverse, friendly, southwestern state relative of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Mexico lover of the Texas Rangers, Dallas Cowboys, and the Houston Astros

who feels proud of its Spanish heritage, grateful for its livestock, grain, and cotton resources, pleased by its oil and space industries,

who needs to feel the Gulfstream breezes, enjoy the its rolling plains and rugged hills, welcome its tourists warmly

who fears a rising crime rate, the housing bust, rising unemployment who gives state aid to the needy, support to its governor, education to its students

who would like to see state test scores increase, homelessness disappear, the economy improve

The United States The Lone Star State

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TRY IT!—WRITE YOUR OWN BIO-POEM—PPT #24

FIRST NAME _________________________________________________________________ Four adjectives that describe you Son or daughter of… or wife or husband of… mother or father of …. Lover of (list 3 things you love) Who feels (list 3 things you feel) Who gives (list 3 things you give) Who fears (list 3 fears you have) Who would like to see (list 3 things) Who lives (brief description of where you live) LAST NAME ______________________________________________________________________

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LET’S HEAR FROM YOU!

Mary Ann Corley

What strategies have you tried to get your students to write more?

Have the strategies been successful?

Did your student enjoy them?

An outline consisting of words or key phrases plus lots of blanks (similar to a cloze but with lots more blanks for the writer to complete)

Provides a structure that helps learners concentrate on what they want to say, rather than getting lost in the form

Designed to help students think before they write in ways that will help them compose factual texts

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WHAT IS A WRITING FRAME?

Mary Ann Corley7/28/2012

4. USE FRAMES

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I found ______________ interesting for several reasons...

I discovered that...

I also learned that...

It was interesting that...

Finally...

As you can see ...

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SAMPLE WRITING FRAMEFOR SUMMARIZING


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TWO TYPES OF FRAMES

1. Those that help pre-writing2. Those that help draft writingPre-writing frames help students process information and think criticallyDraft writing frames help students gain confidence in writing

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I want to explain why...

There are several reasons for this. The chief is...

Another reason is...

A further reason is...

So now you can see why...

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SAMPLE WRITING FRAMEFOR PROBLEM/SOLUTION


There are differing explanations why (how, what, when)...

One explanation is that...

The evidence for this is...

An alternative explanation is...

The explanation is based on...

Of the alternative explanations, I think the most likely is...

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SAMPLE WRITING FRAMEFOR CAUSE/EFFECT


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I want to explain how...To begin with/It starts by...and this makes/means/changes...After that...and as a result...Next...Then...The final result is that the...

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SAMPLE WRITING FRAMEFOR PROCEDURE/SEQUENCE


Nichols (1980): Help struggling writers use appropriate text organization for summarizing content area information that adheres to a basic structure (e.g., compare-contrast; cause-effect).

Prompt coherent organization by providing partially completed sentences or transition words that, over time, can be faded as students become familiar with each frame.

The sample frames provided can easily be adjusted to fit any content area.

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RESEARCH ONWRITING FRAMES


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PRE-WRITING FRAME: TIMELINE (RECOUNTING)


Time/Date What happened?

At the end of _____________________________________________, what

happened was that _____________________________________________.

Prior to this, ______________________________. Before that, however,

_____________________________________________________. This whole

sequence of events began when_________________________________.

The most important event to occur was__________________________,

because_______________________________________________________ .

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SAMPLE (RECOUNTING)CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER FRAME


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WHAT is the topic of the news you will tell?________________________________________________WHEN did it happen?________________________________________________WHO created the news?________________________________________________WHERE did the news happen?________________________________________________WHAT happened?________________________________________________WHY did it happen?________________________________________________

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TELLING THE NEWS FRAME(RECOUNTING)


WHAT do you intend to describe?_______________________DESCRIBE: HOW does it look, smell, feel, taste, and sound?____________________________________________________ANALYZE: What is it made of? What are its parts?____________________________________________________ASSOCIATE: What does it make you think of? ____________________________________________________COMPARE: What is it similar to? What is it different from?____________________________________________________APPLY: What can you do with it?____________________________________________________ARGUE: Why is this a good thing? Why is this a bad thing?____________________________________________________36

PRE-WRITING FRAME: DESCRIPTOR


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PRE-WRITING FRAME: PROBLEM SOLVING


Problem: ___________________________________________

Ideas 1. 2. 3. 4. Evaluation of Ideas1.2.3.4.Best Solution(s) Rating Code

A = Excellent ideaB = Very good ideaC = Average ideaD = Below average idea 37

Evolved from algae in the ocean

417 million years agoReproduce asexually or by using sporesProduce seeds in

conesNo internal means of carrying water and

nutrients throughout their tissues

Developed on land135 million years agoReproduce sexually, need pollination and

fertilization to produce seeds

Produce seeds in fruitHave intricate

vascular systems that nourish the entire

organism

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Non-flowering Plants Flowering Plants

Living thingswith

roots, stems, leaves;

Produce seeds

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PREWRITING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERFOR COMPARE/CONTRAST

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_________________ are different from _______________ in

several ways. First,_________________________________,

while_____________________________________________.

Additionally_______________________________, whereas

_________________________________________________.

They are alike in that____________________________ and

_____________________________________. So, it is

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SAMPLECOMPARE/CONTRAST FRAME


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SUMMARY:TYPES OF FRAMES

Definition/DescriptionA ______ is a kind of _______ that _______.

SequenceFirst, ______, then ______, continues on by ______, and finally ________.

Cause/Effect________ happens because ________.

Problem/Solution_______needs _______, but _______ so _______.

Compare /Contrast(a) _______ and (b) ________ are alike in that they both______; however, (a) ______, while (b) ______.

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The story takes place _______________________________________ ________________________________________________________________._______________________________ is a character in the story who________________________________________________________________.A problem occurs when ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________.After that, _________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________and ____________________________________________________________. The problem is solved when _________________________________ ______________________________________________________________. The story ends with ________________________________________ _________________________________________________________.

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SWBS STORY FRAME[SOMEBODY-WANTED-BUT-SO]


SKILLS REQUIRED FOR POSTSECONDARY SUCCESS--PPT #42

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COMMONLY USED FORMS OF WRITINGIN POSTSECONDARY CLASSROOMS

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• Summaries of material being learned

• Reviews of books and articles

• Descriptions of new information

• Analysis of historical documents

• Research, technical, and progress reports

• Exams with an essay (persuasive or descriptive)

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WRITING AT THEPOSTSECONDARY LEVEL

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Writing as a tool for thinking

– Better understanding and more critical thinking about subject matter

– Contrast between knowledge-transformation and knowledge-telling (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1987)

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KNOWLEDGE TELLING

Writing what one already knew prior to the act of writing

Basic skill – link from oral to written language

However, knowledge telling does not change the quality of thought, i.e., it does not capitalize on the potential of the writing process

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KNOWLEDGETRANSFORMATION

Using writing to deepen knowledge and extend thinking (cf. Bereiter’s epistemic phase)

Act of writing promotes critical thinking, deepens knowledge, extends boundaries of thought

Important at the college level - writing-to-learn, writing-across-the curriculum, writing intensive

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7/28/2012

COMMONLY USED WRITINGTASKS AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL

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Argumentative (persuasive) writing Written summarization Descriptive writing Narrative (relatively little)

Most writing in college classrooms is – About subject matter– Based on prior or concurrent reading – Assigned, but not taught

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7/28/2012

COGNITIVE PROCESSESIN WRITING

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Problem-solving

Critical thinking

Memory

Attention

How are these processes used in a writing task such as writing summary of something the student has read?

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Postsecondary Writing Activity = A Vehicle for Learning and Transforming Knowledge

Writing at postsecondary level is rarely done without some form of reading

Relation of writing to reading (Fitzgerald & Shanahan, 2000)

WRITING AT THEPOSTSECONDARY LEVEL

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SETTING A GOAL FOR YOUR OWN PROFESSIONAL GROWTH PLAN ONE CHANGE IN YOUR TEACHING—PPTS #50-51

1. What strategy do you want to try?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. How will you do it? How often will you use it? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. How will you monitor your progress and your students’ progress—i.e., how will you know whether your new strategy is having an effect on student learning? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

helping your students increase their writing...

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