Effective Writing Strategies and Resources Training Dr. Vaughn G. Rhudy, Coordinator West Virginia Department of Education Office of Assessment and Accountability

Writing today is not a frill for the few, but an essential skill for the many. National Commission on Writing

Writing -- Vital Component of Literacy Helps students organize Extends and deepens information, ideas and insight gained from reading Vehicle for informing, persuading, and inspiring others

Writing -- Vital Component of Employment Survey of 120 Major Corporations 80%+ assess writing during hiring Writing – threshold skill Can make or break chances for employment and promotion

Writing -- Vital Component of Employment Writing Remediation Employers spend billions of dollars each year on remedial writing training Writing remediation wide spread on college campuses Half of high school graduates are not prepared for college-level writing

Effective Writing Instruction 1. Writing strategies – Teach students how to plan, revise, and edit their work 2. Summarization – Provide explicit and systematic instruction in how to summarize texts 3. Collaborative writing – Develop ways for students to work together to plan, draft, revise and edit their compositions

Effective Writing Instruction 4. Specific product goals – Give students writing goals that include a clear purpose for the assignment and specific characteristics of the finished piece 5. Word processing – Use computers and word processors as instructional supports for writing assignments

Effective Writing Instruction 6. Sentence combining – Teach students to craft more complex, sophisticated sentences by linking basic sentences 7. Prewriting – Provide activities that help students plan, gather information, and organize ideas

Effective Writing Instruction 8. Inquiry activities – engage students in analyzing immediate, concrete data to help them develop ideas and content for a particular writing assignment 9. Process writing approach – Interweave a number of writing instruction activities in a workshop environment

Effective Writing Instruction 10. Study of models – Give students opportunities to read, analyze and emulate models of good writing 11. Writing for content learning – Use writing as a tool for learning content material Taken from Writing Next, a 2007 by Graham and Perin

Ineffective Writing Strategy Traditional grammar instruction did not help improve students writing. In fact, it produced a small, but statistically significant, negative effect. Graham & Perin, 2007

Writing Roadmap 2.0

Provided by WVDE at no cost to counties Available to all students Grades 3 – 12 Available to all counties, schools, teachers Unlimited practice Sept. – June Writing Roadmap 2.0

Rationale Improve student writing Emphasize writing on all grade levels Writing Assessment -- grades 4, 7 and 10 Prepare for 2009 WESTEST 2 Grades 3 – 11 RLA Standard 2 : Writing (30 pts.) Participation Rate and AYP Practice for national assessments 2011 NAEP

Product Features Shelf prompts calibrated prompts practice prompts Instructor-created prompts Unlimited Customize interface Iterative writing mode Single or multiple sections Enable or disable instructional hints

Access to Writing Roadmap 2.0 Website address: Site code Username Password

2009 WESTEST 2 ONLINE WRITING

WV Writing Rubric ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT SENTENCE STRUCTURE WORD CHOICE/GRAMMAR USAGE MECHANICS

GENRES NARRATIVE DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATIVE PERSUASIVE

Support/Contact Information West Virginia Department of Education Office of Assessment and Accountability Vaughn Rhudy, Coordinator

Support/Contact Information CTB/McGraw-Hill Technical Support:

KEY WEB ADDRESSES West Virginia Department of Education Office of Assessment and Accountability CTB/McGraw-Hill Writing Roadmap 2.0

THANKS!