Share field exp. comments Assessment “The” Writing Process The Rhetorical Situation Tools to help writers Agenda: Starter Question: Describe a really effective lesson you’ve observed during a field experience.

Last time, we talked about “benchmarks” and “indicators.” CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W : Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W : Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products. BENCHMARK: In collaborative groups, students will use technology to produce and publish a book trailer designed to entice a target audience to read the book. INDICATOR: Each group will successfully create and post to the class wiki a book trailer that uses text, images, and sounds to target a specific audience. Benchmark: Concrete version of standard(s). Indicator: A specific student performance that demonstrates successful application of the standard(s).

How do you determine the extent to which a performance is “successful”? Feedback – Says something about the performance. Could be descriptive or evaluative, formative or summative. Assessment – Measures the performance against some standard. May or may not include a score. Grading – Assigns a number, letter, or some other signifier to rate the performance against a standard. GRADING ASSESSMENT FEEDBACK

Triangulate! Make assessment authentic. *To asses a skill: have them demonstrate the skill. (have them write to assess their writing skill) *To assess knowledge: have them show the knowledge. (multiple choice/fill in the blank/short answer) *To assess understanding: have them use the knowledge. (put knowledge to work, as in an essay) Connect it to other coursework. Assess what you’ve taught. Use multiple measures.

Let students know what you are assessing. For example, if you are assessing fluency by measuring the word count of an essay, students don’t need to spend too much time on crafting the prose; they simply need to generate lots of words. If, however, you are assessing understanding by checking for the accuracy of their claims, word count is less important, and they might want to “play it safe” with their claims. If you are assessing depth of thinking, they might be more willing to take some risks to show that they have thought deeply about the topic. If your main focus is correctness, then content is less important.

As far as possible, provide examples: Samples of “successful” work. Samples of “inadequate,” “adequate,” and “superior” work. Samples of work for the students to assess, using whatever rubric the teacher will use. Note: Some students will “copy” the model as much as they can, so if you have only one or two samples, be prepared for lots of work that has the same structures and the same format as the model(s).

The Assessment Loop: Goals TeachInterpret Results Assess Plan (to achieve goals)

Burke on “classroom culture”: Provide support to create a culture of success. Physical – be aware of physical limitations Material – have extra materials available if possible Cognitive – explain the thinking processes clearly Emotional – be aware of pressures on your students Procedural – provide explicit written instructions Cultural – be sensitive to your assumptions Social – teach necessary social skills Academic – teach academic skills, too Linguistic – check to be sure all students understand Background knowledge – again, don’t assume they all know

Burke on “classroom culture”: Make multiple strategies the norm. Combine visual, aural, and kinesthetic activities: Have students read, write, and speak (They read the board, write notes, answer questions orally) Use different groupings; allow collaboration Alone – pair – square – share (full class) Include movement Students write answers on board; give presentations; move into/out of groups; get up to turn in work Allow multiple ways to show learning, too Focus on the goal of learning, not how it is shown

Burke on “classroom culture”: Create a culture of encouragement. Show what they know, not what they don’t Show what they can do, not what they can’t Make risk-taking acceptable; take risks yourself Use encouraging language Celebrate successes – in and out of the classroom Talk with students regularly, not just when they’re “in trouble” Make it easy for students to talk with you Remember, “rigorous” is not the opposite of “fun” or “friendly”

Burke on “classroom culture”: “Teach like a doctor, not a judge.”

Teaching writing: models of what writers (supposedly) do Think >>> Write Prewrite >>> Write >>> Revise Prewrite >>> Draft >>> Revise >>> Edit >>> Publish Following are some visual representations of writing processes…

Activities that happen before you put something on page or screen Act of putting something on page or screen Activities that happen after you put something on page or screen PREWRITEDRAFT REWRITE & PUBLISH living, observing, collecting, listening, thinking, reading, talking, researching, doodling, drawing, freewriting, etc. writing, typing, texting, drawing, speaking, etc adding, deleting, reading, listening, moving, fixing, tweaking, changing, conforming, organizing, polishing, letting go

My Advice: Help students understand the “big picture” of writing “Demystify” the processes involved in writing Provide lots of tools for various writing activities Provide lots of opportunities to practice Provide supportive feedback

My Advice: Help students understand the “big picture” of writing The “rhetorical situation”: Relationships between writer, reader, subject, text, and context

Subject Text Writer CONTEXT Reader

Writer Relationship to the subject: EXPERTISE Relationship to the audience: TRUSTWORTHINESS The writer might already have a relationship with the audience, but can also create a relationship in the text.

The writer creates a persona in the text: Diction (word choice) Syntax (word order) Sentence structure Sentence length Grammar Spelling Content and more Whether it’s intentional or accidental, you create a persona with the words you put on the page.

What persona does each line create? Shakespeare was defiantly a great author. There was some weird stuff going down in Elsinore Castle when Hamlet got back from school. Film director Franco Zeffirelli’s interpretation of Romeo and Juliet might be the standard film version for ninth grade English classes, but his treatment of Hamlet takes so many liberties with the text that most teachers ignore it. Halmet’s so-called “suicide solliquy” is not so much about Hamlet killing hisself at it is about him being sure that he will die if he takes revenge on The King.

Reader Could have a variety of purposes for reading: *get information about the subject *get information about the writer (or context…) *learn conventions about genre or format Creates an image of the writer based on the text Might extract information from the text or create meaning by interacting with the text

Subject May have greater or lesser degree of stability (What was the score of the ball game? What really happened at the embassy? How does a writer write?) May be known (or knowable) or not to writer & reader May be of greater or lesser interest to writer & reader

Text The text itself says something about the writer, the reader, the subject, & the context. How neat (or messy) is it? How visually pleasing is it? To what extent does it conform to conventions? Does it use graphics? (If so, do they help, or are they merely distractions?) Can you tell at a glance whether it is scholarly, popular, or maybe personal? Does it look professional? What does the forum of publication tell you? Does it attract (or even entice) readers, or does it perhaps scare them away?

CONTEXT Why is the writer writing? Why is the reader reading? Under what conditions or constraints do the writing and reading occur? Is the writer learning or performing? Basically, what’s going on here?

Reader uses text to find out how much the writer knows about the subject. Reader uses text to learn about subject. Reader uses text to find out what writer know about conventions of the genre..

“Demystify” the processes involved in writing. Provide lots of tools for various writing activities. Create a common vocabulary so you can talk about writing. Acknowledge the absence of a single “right” way to write. Provide tools and instruction in how to use them. Let’s look at a few of the tools Burke provides...

Brief video of Jim Burke explaining graphic organizers Tools to help students write: Charts Graphic Organizers Lists Models/Samples Rubrics List of Questions to Help Generate Ideas Subject: Write your subject at the top of the list. Analogy – What is it like? Cause/Effect – What caused it? What will it lead to? Classification – What parts could you break it into? Comparison – What is it similar to? Contrast – What is it different from? Definition – What is it? How would you define it? Example – List examples of it. Illustration – What does it look like? Narration – What stories can you tell about it? Pro & Con – Argue for it, then argue against it. Process – How does it work?

Help students understand the “big picture” of writing “Demystify” the processes involved in writing Provide lots of tools for various writing activities Provide lots of opportunities to practice Provide supportive feedback Using “write-to-learn” activities can provide lots more opportunities to write than using writing only to assess skills/knowledge

Text CONTEXT Writer Reader Subject

Writer Subject What does the writer know about the subject? Reader What does the writer think the reader expects him/her to say or do? How anxious is the writer about writing? CONTEXT What factors (time constraints, distractions, fatigue, health) might affect the writer? How skilled is the writer? How anxious is the writer about writing for this reader?

Writer Subject What does the writer know about the subject? Writing to show learning. Using writing to demonstrate what the writer has learned. Moderate to high stakes. Teacher is the primary audience.

Writer Subject What does the writer know about the subject? Writing to learn. Writing to show learning. Using writing to discover, clarify, or make sense of new information or ideas. Low stakes or ungraded. Writer is his or her own audience. Using writing to demonstrate what the writer has learned. Moderate to high stakes. Teacher is the primary audience.

High Stakes & Low Stakes Writing “The goal of low stakes assignments is not so much to produce excellent pieces of writing as to get students to think, learn, and understand more of the course material.” Peter Elbow To LearnTo Show Learning Exit Slip: Write two or three main points from today’s class, plus any questions you still have. Exam Question: Write and answer two items for an exam based on information from today’s class. Micro-essay: On one side of an index card, summarize the key points from today’s class. Poem: Express key ideas as a poem (haiku, limerick, etc)

Consider writing in response to images as well as to texts: Describe this image, engraved by Paul Revere, in as much detail as possible. How historically accurate do you think it is? What effect do you think it had on colonists?

What do you do with the writing your students produce? If the point of the writing is to help students learn, then... …you don’t need to read everything your students write, and …you don’t need to grade everything you read. The coach doesn’t watch every swing or taste every dish. Practice can be intrinsically valuable.

Writer Subject What does the writer know about the subject? “Writing to learn” lets the writer focus on the subject… …without worrying about writing skills …without worrying about conventions …without worrying about grades Low Stakes: Write to LEARN High Stakes: Write to SHOW LEARNING

Once the writer knows the subject… Writer Text …the focus can shift to the text. What rules must I follow? What should the final product look like? Low Stakes: Write to LEARN High Stakes: Write to SHOW LEARNING

Share field exp. comments Assessment “The” Writing Process The Rhetorical Situation Tools to help writers As you can probably tell, we have LOTS more to discuss with respect to teaching writing. We have the next several weeks devoted exclusively to this topic, but we can revisit it throughout the rest of the course…

For next week, turn in Response Journal #2*; read TAW chs 1-2. *ETC ch 3, ETC ch 4, & TAW chs 1-2 We’ll spend several weeks on teaching writing…