Bridget Riggs CI 551 A11 Final Project Fall 2011 What are the best practices in teaching writing to high school students?

Stem Questions What are some ways to set up writing conferences with students? How does a teacher best manage the paper load in a writing- centered class? What is peer revision and in what ways can a teacher help students provide authentic feedback? What are valuable prompts to help students in the revision process? How can a writing lab be best structured?

Setting up writing conferences: Same time each week Mondays: mini-lesson on writing trait emphasis Tuesdays: reading and analysis of sample in genre Wednesday: writing lab Thursday: conferences Friday: conferences Every other week: final copy due (Berne 2009)

Writing Lab Schedule An intensive writing lab is structured at the end of a unit. Students participate in the lab for a set number of consecutive days Students complete a unit on Animal Farm. After the test, students begin a written assignment based on the novel. For the next 2 weeks, students travel with that assignment through the complete writing process. (Berne 2009)

How does a writing teacher best manage the paper load?

BULLETIN BOARDS OF THE 6+1 TRAITS TO KEEP THE PROCESS ORDERLY

ORGANIZING SUPPLIES FOR STUDENTS Since students need to work independently during the writing lab, it is important that everyone understand the location of supplies as well as where to submit works in progress.

Writer’s Notebook Using notebooks or portfolios helps keep papers organized neatly. They give the students a visual of where each piece of writing is in the process. Keeping teacher feedback on each individual assignment within the notebook can count as documented differentiated teaching strategies. (Peterson 2010)

What is peer revision & in what ways can a teacher help students provide authentic feedback?

Peer Revision = Evaluation of creative work or performance by other people in the same field in order to maintain or enhance the quality of the work or performance in that field Is often confusing to students because they struggle to edit their own work let alone the work of others. Don’t want to hurt people’s feelings. Don’t know what errors to look for to comment for corrections Don’t care and just want to socialize

Using Editing Checklists Checklists, like grading rubrics, are extremely helpful for both students and teachers.

Student Editing Checklist: Helps students understand the expectations Helps students recognize what items will be on the scoring rubric to see what is still needed Color-coded checklists can show students and teachers where the writing is in the process of the 6+1 traits Pink = ideas Blue = organization Purple = voice Green = word choice Yellow = sentence fluency Orange = conventions Red = final editing checklist before submission

Teacher Checklist Teachers can use checklists to: Track student’s progress along the writing process Make notes during individual student conferences Monitor student behavior during writing lab

What are valuable prompts to help students in the revision process? Never give up ownership of your paper. Never try to take over someone else’s paper. Learn how to accept and give criticism in the right way. Have a “candlelight dinner.” Make sure your comments are purposeful. Always have questions about your own piece of writing. Follow the REVISION MISSION questions in class. Give positive feedback. Be honest when you respond: point out things you don’t understand. Remember the purpose of a conference: to make someone a better writer. Don’t try to solve all the problems, just the important ones. (Kentucky 2000)

Revision mini-lesson idea: Students often think they have written details of an event in the same way that they would speak the story. This is not true. To prove it: Have students write about a funny event. Do not allow any discussion. Have one of the students tell the class about the event that he or she wrote about without reading the paper. Follow up with the student reading his or her work. Have the class note the difference in the visual painted using each for of communication (spoken/written). Remind students that word choice is important to substitute for the inflection and tone used when speaking.

How can a writing lab be best structured? Writing is best taught as a process, stressing pre-writing and revision. (Florida 2005) Provide published examples of the specific genres that students will be asked to write. (Gillespie 2010) In all aspects of the lab, use specific language. Make sure students understand all expectations Clarify any terminology that students do not understand Define the traits and provide modeling activities (Nowacek)

After writing is peer edited: Give author additional assignments based on errors found in draft. Grammar Spelling Vocabulary (Kovar 2010) Author must write a letter to the editor explaining the revisions made and then resubmit for additional editing. (Peterson 2010)

Berne, J. (2009). The writing-rich high school classroom: Engaging students in the writing workshop. New York, NY: The Guilford Press Florida Department of Education. (2005). Proven instructional practices for high-quality writing. Retrieved from s%20For%20All%20Traits/07%20Multiple%20Traits/Best%20Practices%20for%20Teaching%20Writing. df Gillespie, A., & Graham, S. (2010). Evidence based practices for teaching writing. John Hopkins University School of Education. Retrieved from Kentucky Educational Television. (2000). How to improve the quality of writing conferences. Retrieved from Kovar, V. (2010). Complete the learning cycle with peer editing. The writing teacher. Retrieved from Nowacek, R. Teaching students to make meaningful revisions. University of Wisconsin WAC. Retrieved from Peterson, S. (2010). Improving student writing: Using feedback as a teaching tool. The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat. Retrieved from nt_Writing.pdf Bibliography