Cadre B Writing to Learn Refining Writing Through Thinking Refining Thinking Through Writing

List three things you know about yourself as a writer. List three things you know about yourself as a thinker.

How are writing and thinking similar? How are they different? What is the connection between writing and thinking?

 What would a set of teaching strategies that help students become better writers and thinkers look like in the classroom?

Introduction to “Write to Learn” Strategy  A strategy for getting students to think more deeply about learning through the use of writing.

What are the four types of writing that can be done? 1. Provisional Writing 2. Readable Writing 3. Polished Writing 4. Published Writing

Provisional Writing - Spontaneous - Generate Ideas - Think Time - Can be a hook question, a question to access prior knowledge, or a check for understanding.

S hould be spontaneous, students jot down, draw, scribble or write. P rovides all students with time to think. A ccesses and assesses students’ prior knowledge. R equires little class time. K eeps students focused and engaged in the content.

Readable Writing - Shaping and integration of ideas. -Demonstrates knowledge and thinking processes. - Purpose & Audience - Used to quiz and evaluate understanding. - Clear Criteria

F ocuses on specific criteria for assessment. I ntegrates thinking and content knowledge. R equires students to self correct through oral reading of their responses. E xemplifies open-ended questions used on state assessment tests.

Provisional and Readable Writing How are they similar and how are they different? How would you use each in your teaching?

Polished Writing -Requires a draft and feedback to see if it meets the criteria. - Involves rewriting to look good and sound smart. - Requires generating of ideas, drafting, shaping the piece, and a second draft writing. - Specific criteria identified. - Involves peer review and reflection.

L ets students know the criteria for success. I ntegrates content and thinking. G ets students to work cooperatively. H as four phases: Generating Ideas, Forming, Shaping, and Polishing. T ime is given for reflection on the writing process.

Polished Writing  Requires multiple edits and drafts.  Example of students’ best work.  Requires significant class time and effort.  Has great content and free of errors.  Real World writing.  Self and peer review and conferences.  Goes through the writing process.  Has critical readers beyond the classroom.  Writing Portfolio

F or students to experience what professional writers need to do to be published. L ooks at the Six Traits of Writing: content, organization, voice, sentence variety, word choice, spelling and mechanics. A udience is the world outside the classroom. M ay not be for all students. E valuation requires peer review, teacher feedback, critical readers outside the classroom and represents the students’ best work.

RAFT R eview your content. Identify the important ideas or information that you want students to acquire from the selected text. A ssign students a role and an audience, or allow them time to choose their role and audience. F igure out the topic you want students to write to. T hen provide students with a framework for brainstorming ideas about the personality of the role they are adopting, the attitudes and feelings of the role, and the information they want to communicate.

RAFT PersonalityAttitudeInformation Who am I and what are some aspects of my character? What are my feelings, beliefs, ideas, concerns? What do I know that I need to share in my writing?

Looking Good and Sounding Smart Creating Quality Constructed Responses What are the keys to successful answers to open-ended questions.

Writing is a reflection of who you are and how you think.  What are some problems your students are confronted with when writing a response to an open-ended question?  What can we do to address those challenges?

8 challenges to open-ended questions  Can students read and understand the question?  Can students identify the kind of thinking required of them?  Do students have techniques for collecting and organizing their ideas?  Can students identify the big idea or concept?  Can students use details and give supporting evidence to back up their statement?  How do students sequence their argument?  Do students have an ending or closing to the piece?  Is the answer legible, has correct spelling, and uses proper writing mechanics?

Look Good…… Sound Smart….. Look Good  Is the spelling correct?  Did I use good mechanics?  Is my paper neat?  Is it well organized? Sound Smart  Did I restate the question?  Is my answer organized around a big idea?  Did I use evidence to prove my point?  Does it have an interesting opening and strong conclusion?

Review the question, identify the type of thinking you are being asked to do. Establish an organizer that reflects the thinking process to help you plan. Write down what you know about the content using the organizer. Restate the question as a statement. Identify the “gist” or “big idea” you want to prove. Then prove your gist using evidence and sequence your argument. End with a strong conclusion to let your reader know you are finished. Stop! Reread and revise your response so that it Looks Good and Sounds Smart!