1. The Levels of Writing FLASHCARDReview

2. Level 1 writing is: WTL (WRITING to LEARN) thinking through writing meant for the writer him/herself informal—like talking to close friends

3. Level 2 writing is: meant to communicate to others emphasizes content & may be scored for that, but not usually for other traits

4. Level 3 writing is: formal, academic meant to display knowledge to others scored on all the traits, depending on the assignment

5. Keep in Mind: The THREE levels need to be explained to students frequently Level 1 writing does NOT require assessment of content Level 2 focuses exclusively on content Level 3 focuses on many or all of the Six Traits, or other analytic scoring system

6. Writing & Grading…general rules LEVEL 1- no scoring of content LEVEL 2- scored for content only LEVEL 3- scored consistently and analytically by trait across faculty

7. More on Assessing Writing to Learn (WTL)or LEVEL 1 Writing Level 1 assessment is based on satisfactory completion. Use a binary system. Level 2 will typically be scored for content correctness only

8. Giving Feedback to WTL… (Level 1) Use the work in class...e.g., begin class by having students read aloud from their response journals, etc Respond in writing OCCASIONALLY, answering content with content Use binary grading

9. What about Grading & Level 3? Writing that is polished, requires revisions, and is not done ‘on demand’ is Level 3 writing and should be assessed using all or some of the 6 Traits—

10. Polished writing (Level 3) needs Six Trait (analytic) assessment! If you assign polished pieces, especially those that adhere to conventions of your subject, then we suggest putting the burden of proofreading squarely where it belongs--on the writer, then use the 6 TRAITS assessment!

11. WTL (Level 1) vs Customary School Writing Tasks: WTL Traditional Writing Tasks SPONTANEOUS vs planned SHORT vslengthy EXPLORATORY vsauthoritative EXPRESSIVE vstransactional INFORMAL vs formal PERSONAL vsaudience-centered UNEDITED vs polished UNGRADED vs graded

12. FREQUENCY OF LEVELS Level 1 – should be done in ALL classes daily. It should represent about 70% of all student writing Level 2 – may be about 20% of all writing, but no more Level 3 – should be done only about 1 time per grading period, reflecting about 10% of all writing.

13. Flash Cards Identify the following typical writing examples as Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3:

14. READY? HERE GOES:

15. Notes from a small group discussion

16. Level 1

17. A business letter

18. Level 3

19. An overnight homework assignment

20. Level 2

21. A summary of a chapter

22. Level 2 or Level 1, depending…

23. A first draft of an essay

24. Level 1

25. A Lab Report

26. Level 3

27. A journal entry

28. Level 1

29. Lab Notes

30. Level 1 or Level 2, depending…

31. The second draft of an essay

32. Level 2

33. An essay for a contest

34. Level 3

35. Congratulations!