Meaningful Writing

Communication Triangle Text/Format: essay, news article, letter Writer/Perspective: Who is speaking? Reader/Audience: Who are you speaking to?

Anticipatory Set Encourage students to take a stance by creating an anticipatory set to introduce a new area of study Compose five to ten statements about the concept Ask students to indicate whether they agree or disagree with each statement Tabulate class results with a show of hands Return to results and ask if anyone wants to revise their thinking after the students complete the lesson

Attributes of Effective Writing Prompts Active vs. Passive States Position/Takes Stance vs. Narrative Critical Thinking vs. Reiteration Supported with Evidence vs. Opinion Specific vs. General Personal/Relevant vs. Who Cares?

Proof Paragraph 1.Topic Sentence: Assertion a. Evidence #1: statement of evidence, explanation of why it supports assertion. b. Evidence #2: statement of evidence, explanation of why it supports assertion. c. Evidence #3: statement of evidence, explanation of why it supports assertion. 2. Concluding/Transition sentence: refers to assertion and evidence.

Proof Essay 1. Thesis Paragraph a. Topic sentence: thesis of essay. b. Explanation of thesis. c. Preview of evidence. d. Transition sentence. 2. Proof Paragraph #1 a. Topic Sentence: Assertion b. Evidence #1: statement of evidence, explanation of why it supports assertion. c. Evidence #2: statement of evidence, explanation of why it supports assertion. d. Evidence #3: statement of evidence, explanation of why it supports assertion. e. Concluding/Transition sentence: refers to assertion and evidence. 3. Proof Paragraph #2 a. Topic Sentence: Assertion b. Evidence #1: statement of evidence, explanation of why it supports assertion. c. Evidence #2: statement of evidence, explanation of why it supports assertion. d. Evidence #3: statement of evidence, explanation of why it supports assertion. e. Concluding/Transition sentence: refers to assertion and evidence. 4. Concluding Paragraph a. Restatement of thesis. b. Summary of evidence. c. Why it matters.

Graphic Organizers Using graphic organizers, students can categorize and organize information, making text more accessible. Use of these visual tools aids in explanation and review. Graphic organizers can be used to show cause-effect, compare-contrast, sequencing, whole-part, and other concepts or relationships.

Rubrics Can be used as a tool for giving expectations, evaluating and reporting student achievement Provide rubrics to students when assigning work Guide instruction by clarifying individual students’ strengths and weaknesses and provide opportunity for authentic evaluation Communicate the expectations of the assignment to students and parents Involve students in the assessment process Create tasks and rubrics to assess student understanding of standards and performance of skills

Cornell Notes Key Points Detailed Notes 1. Record: During the lecture, use the note-taking column to record the lecture. 2. Questions: As soon after class as possible, formulate questions based on the notes in the right-hand column. 3. Recite: Cover the note-taking column with a sheet of paper. Then, looking at the questions or cue-words in the question and cue column only, say aloud, in your own words, the answers to the questions, facts, or ideas indicated by the cue-words. 4. Reflect: Reflect on the material by asking yourself questions, for example: “What’s the significance of these facts? What principle are they based on? How can I apply them? How do they fit in with what I already know? What’s beyond them? 5. Review: Spend at least ten minutes every week reviewing all your previous notes. Summary: After class use this space at the bottom of the page to summarize the notes on that page

K-W-L What I KnowWhat I Want to KnowWhat I Learned

Challenge Statements Challenge Statements are carefully crafted prompts that employ an appropriate amount of ambiguity. They are a statement, not a question. Challenge statements encourage students to take a stance when writing and require more explanatory demand than typical text writing tasks. Responses to challenge statements can include drawings.

Text Mining 1. Text Mining provides students with a more targeted reading of text. There is a written product that will be used for a defined purpose. 2. Select the reading and provide a guide to relevant information through questions, graphic organizers, etc. 3. Students will read the selection and respond to the guide in whatever form dictated. These may include: Filling in a data table Completing a graphic organizer. Writing a sentence on the context (big idea or conceptual relationship) of the writing. Writing a description of the structure of the information. Writing interpretations of pictures, data, or graphs included in the reading selection.

Sources Communication Triangle: Kinneavy, James. A theory of discourse: The aims of discourse. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Anticipatory Set: Sean Leddy, Attributes of Effective Writing Prompts: Sacramento Area Science Project Proof Paragraph: Gibson, Anna Lee. Advanced Placement English Writing Manual and Literary Guide. Wise, VA: Wise County Vocational-Technical Center, Proof Essay: Gibson, Anna Lee. Advanced Placement English Writing Manual and Literary Guide. Wise, VA: Wise County Vocational-Technical Center, Graphic Organizers: Forte, Imogene and Sandra Schurr. Standards-Based Science: Graphic Organizers, Rubrics, and Writing Prompts for Middle Grade Students. Incentive Publications, Rubrics: Glickman-Bond, Jane and Kelly Rose. Creating and Using Rubrics in Today’s Classrooms. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Cornell Notes: Walter Pauk, Cornell University K-W-L: K-W-L: Carr, E., and Ogle, D., K-W-L Plus: A strategy for comprehension and summarization. Journal of Reading, Volume 30, Number 7, pages , Challenge Statements: Sacramento Area Science Project Text Mining: Greene, Stuart. Mining Texts in Reading to Write. Occasional Paper 29, National Writing Project Publications, October, 1991.