Introducing OER

(first… a word on note-taking)  Use loose-leaf  Do not copy every word – just the big ideas  Be organized!  For today, copy only the important titles and the parts that are underlined

OER

OER Practice Schedule  OER Test is Tuesday, October 15 th  Today’s classwork: Write OER as a class  Wednesday: Half of class to practice OER  Friday: OER Quiz  Monday: OER feedback, more practice

What is OER?  OER stands for Open Ended Response  This is basically a short, timed essay assessment as a part of a test  Interims are going to start including OER writing tests  This has many benefits…

Benefits of OER: 1. We will assess your writing 2. You see be able to see growth in writing ability 3. You will be more prepared for AP 4. You will be more prepared for college classes 5. Your critical thinking will be pushed and developed.

Format  20 minutes to read a passage  40 minutes to write an essay

20 minutes to read??? Isn’t that excessive?  Passages will only be 1 page or less.  During the 20 minutes, you may not begin the essay.  Why do you think we might give you this length of time?

20 minute read Why 20 minutes? Train yourself to organize your thoughts:  Answer factual questions  Determine main point  Find evidence  Outline your essay

40 minute write  2 pages  NOT MLA format  Single spaced  No header  One draft  Only working on your essay (no SSR when finished)

So what should I do if I finish early?  Improve your essay!  Proofread  Check citations  Add detail  Show what an awesome writer you really are

Citation? Uh… What’s that?  Citation = quoting your evidence (see parts in red below)  Ex 1: According to the article “Pronoun Confusion,” your pronouns can be “potentially fatal to your work” (par. 3).  Ex 2: Dowdy expressed that using proper English has special “burdens and responsibilities” (par. 2).  What do you notice about citing?

Citation  Use the author or title of the article  Quotes are short  Use quotation marks  Include (Par. #) – the paragraph number in parenthesis (after quotation marks but before the period)

So… what do I need to write about?  A common question will ask you to (1) find the main idea & (2) find evidence from the passage to support what you think is the author’s main idea

Main Idea  What else might they call the main idea?  (thesis, point, author’s purpose, main point, central idea, writer’s message, etc.)  Don’t worry about the word… think about what are they asking?

Our 1 st OER:“Volar” 1. Read the passage 2. Answer the comprehension question at the bottom 3. Develop thesis (Argument + 3 examples) 4. Underline quotes you could use 5. Make an outline of what you want to write

1 st OER: Classwork