Writing to Convey

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Writing to Convey

• (aka Public Writing)

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AIM

• To explore a variety of ways to engage students
  in authentic, meaningful content-area writing
  projects and look at a handful of accountable
  talk and writing strategies that support extended
  response work

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Agenda

• Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going
• Reflecting on Our Learning
• Assessing Student Notebooks
• The Old Way vs. the New Way
• Looking at Research that Supports Pedagogical
  Shifts
• Making It Real A Look at Meaningful Writing
  Projects
• Understanding the Process
• Creating Anticipation Guides
• Creating RAFT Project Options
• Using Mentor Texts to Learn Craft
• Assessing Student Work
• Thinking about Audience and Purpose
• Real Publishing Opportunities
• Strategies that Deepen Students Extended
  Responses
• Pair-Share or Small Group Accountable Talk
• Writing on Engaging, Everyday Topics
• Thinking Like a Test Writer
• Final Reflections and Thoughts

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Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going
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Reflecting on Our Learning

• Reflect in your notebook on what youve learned
  and come to understand through studying these
  topics
• Using Notebooks to Find Meaningful Topics
• Using Writing-to-Learn Strategies to Deepen
  Content Understanding
• Building Academic Vocabulary
• Using Multiple Texts to Explore Content and
  Promote Critical Thinking
• Using Accountable Talk to Promote Critical
  Thinking and Community

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Assessing Student Notebooks

• Volume Diversity
• How many entries are there?
• What writing-to-learn strategies do you see and
  how many of each are there?
• What other kinds of entries do you see?
• Purpose
• Do you see evidence of students writing to learn
  or understand vs.writing to convey what theyve
  learned?
• If students are writing off prompts, what do you
  think is the purpose of the prompts and do they
  seem connected to a particular content
  exploration?
• Implications
• What does what youve noticed tell you about the
  possibilities of doing this kind of work with
  students?
• How might this student and teacher go even
  further in his/her writing-to-learn work?

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Content-Area Reading and Writing
THE OLD WAY
THE NEW WAY
Assigning reading/writing?
Teaching reading/writing
No strategy instruction?
Explicit strategy instruction
Frontloading instruction Ill show you the
steps.
Backloading instruction Do this for Friday. ?
Answer the questions?
Time, support, activities and tools that help
kids BEFORE DURING
AFTER
Student choice and responsibility
Teacher-chosen topics/ assignments?
Variety of texts
Textbook-based?
Sociable
Solitary?
Lets read, write, and talk together.
Guess what I want. ?
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Looking at Research that Supports Pedagogical
Shifts

• The Consortium on Chicago School Research found
  that . . .
• In classrooms where assignments asked students to
  develop arguments, draw conclusions, elaborate
  their understanding, construct knowledge rather
  than just state information, and connect topics
  with their own lives or situations outside of
  school, Chicago students made one-year gains 20
  percent greater than the city average on the Iowa
  Test of Basic Skills (Newmann et al. 2001).

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• And in classrooms that featured high levels of
  interactive instruction, students gained 5.2
  percent more than the citys average growth on
  the ITBS in one year in contrast, students
  exposed to high levels of didactic instruction
  gained 3.4 percent less than the city average
  growth (Smith et al. 2001).
• The clear message We neednt, indeed we
  shouldnt, abandon good, thoughtful writing
  assignments in response to pressure about
  standardized tests. On the contrary, theyll not
  only help prepare students for writing on the
  tests but also help increase scores in general.

From Content-Area Writing Harvey Daniels, Steven
Zemelman, and Nancy Steineke
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Making It Real A Look at Meaningful Writing
Projects
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Setting the Stage

• Read Ch. 6, pp. 120-126 of Content Area Writing
• Note one thing you agree with or that intrigues
  you
• Note one thing you disagree with or find
  troublesome
• Share and discuss what you noted with a partner
  or small group
• Save questions until the end of the day they
  may be answered during the workshop!

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Looking at the Writing Process

• Before Writing Activities
• Gathering
• Looking at Samples
• Organizing
• Getting Ideas Down
• Letting Early Drafts Rest
• Reviewing
• Revising
• Polishing
• Publishing
• Adapted from Daniels, Zemelman Steinke in
  Content-Area Writing

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Anticipation Guides

• Kick-start conversation, reading, writing,
  thinking

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Description of Anticipation Guides

• A before reading and writing activity
• Can be used informally with questions on the
  board or overhead or more formally with a printed
  handout
• Inspire lively discussions which prepare students
  to read, think and write about the topic and
  allow them to see how their ideas and beliefs
  compare with those of their classmates, the
  author, and society at large
• Consist of a list of statements and questions
  related to the topic being studied
• Some of the statements may be clearly true or
  false
• Statements and questions encourage students to
  connect ideas and see how the topic impacts their
  own lives
• Some statements should provoke disagreement and
  challenge students beliefs

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Purposes for Using Anticipation Guides

• Activate students prior knowledge of the topic
  and build interest in the content.
• Set a purpose for reading and writing (Students
  read to gather evidence that will either confirm
  their initial beliefs and ideas or cause them to
  rethink those beliefs and ideas in a way that can
  inform their writing.)
• Provide a basis for discussion. (You can uncover
  any misconceptions or strongly held beliefs that
  might need to be examined before, during, or
  after reading and writing.)
• Provide pre-reading and writing support and
  post-reading and writing evaluations,
  demonstrating how students are changed as a
  result of the study

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How to Use Anticipation Guides

• Write several statements and questions (usually 3
  to 10) that focus on the topic of the text. Next
  to each, provide a place for students to indicate
  a response or answer.
• Tips for writing statements and questions
• Write statements and questions that students can
  react to without much prior knowledge.
• Write statements and questions for which
  information can be gathered that supports and/or
  opposes each statement or question.
• Write statements and questions that challenge
  students beliefs.
• Write statements and questions that position
  students to understand how the topic may connect
  to and impact their own lives.

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How to Use Anticipation Guides

• Write several statements and questions (usually 3
  to 10) that focus on the topic of the text.
• Have students complete the anticipation guide
  before reading or writing
• Can be completed individually, or in small groups
• Students should be prepared to discuss their
  reactions to the statements on the anticipation
  guide after they have completed it

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How to Use Anticipation Guides

• Write several statements and questions (usually 3
  to 10) that focus on the topic of the text
• Have students complete the anticipation guide
  before reading or writing
• Have a class discussion before and after the
  topic investigation
• Encourage students who have differing viewpoints
  to debate and defend their positions before
  beginning the study
• Afterwards ask students if any of them changed
  their minds about their positions on each
  statement
• Ask them to explain why, using information from
  the text to support their positions

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Sample Anticipation Guide
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Constructing an Anticipation Guide

• Gather in content-area groups and share topics
  you collected texts on for homework
• Choose one topic as a group and construct an
  Anticipation Guide for it
• Chart your Anticipation Guide and post on the wall

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Break
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Developing a Vision of a Final Product
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Quotes from Can We Teach Process Writing and
Formulaic Writing?

• The FPT (five paragraph themes)inadvertently or
  notlends itself to sketchy or skeletal detail
  and allows students to skip lightly over
  explanation and reasoning.
• Allowing students the freedom to experiment with
  other-than-formulaic expression, then, might lead
  them to write in ways that are more complex, more
  creative, more effective, and more enjoyable to
  read.
• In the interest of providing students a helpful
  scaffold to guide their writing, we can easily
  fall into the trap of actually limiting their
  writing. Worse we limit their thinking,
  discovery, and invention they might gain through
  the process of writing.
• Richard Argys. English Journal, January 2008

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Understanding the Difference between Mode and
Genre
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Understanding the Difference between Mode and
Genre

• Genre is the kind of writing it is in the world
• There is not a one-word label for every kind of
  writing in the world
• It can take several words to name a kind of
  writing
• With nonfiction genres, the topic is often
  included in the description of genre, i.e. an
  advice column on health issues in the local paper

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Issues With Using Only Mode Words to Talk About
Writing

• Mode words dont represent any vision for writing
• A writer would not say expository in response to
  the question, What are you working on now?
• Genre is what gives writers the vision toward
  which they draft and revise.
• Most pieces of writing involve writing in more
  than one mode
• Example a writer of a magazine feature article
  might use narrative, descriptive, procedural, and
  expository writing all in one articl
• When the focus of writing instruction is on mode
  rather than genre, writers dont learn to craft
  multi-modal texts in authentic ways that will
  engage the reader

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Translating Curriculum Expectations From Mode to
Genre

• Since most state assessments and curriculum
  documents are written in the language of mode,
  teachers need to think about the kinds of writing
  in the world (genre) that are well suited to
  those modes of writing
• There doesnt have to be a disconnect in the
  teaching

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Samples of Genres
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Shorter Public Writing Projects

• People Research Surveys and Interviews
• Faction Blending of factual research and
  imagination
• RAFT (see separate handout later)
• Brochure
• Newspaper Front Page
• Web Page
• (Adapted from Content-Area Writing Every
  Teachers Guide by Harvey Daniels, Steven
  Zemelman, and Nancy Steineke)

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More Ambitious Public Writing Projects

• Multi-genre Project
• Social Action Paper/Project
• Learning Fair
• I-Search Paper
• (Adapted from Content-Area Writing Every
  Teachers Guide by Harvey Daniels, Steven
  Zemelman, and Nancy Steineke)

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Creating RAFT Project Options
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RAFTFrom Planning to Sharing

• RAFT an acronym for role, audience, format,
  topic.
• Students create a faction that is built around
  the answers to four questions
• Role Who am I? What is my personality? How will
  I react to the information from my new viewpoint?
  
• Audience Who needs to read this? Whom am I
  trying to persuade? What is the goal or purpose
  of the writing? What kind of emotional reaction
  do I want from the reader?
• Format What is the format? What form will best
  suit the information I am trying to put across to
  my audience?
• Topic What is the subject I am covering? What
  information do I have to share? What is the focus
  of my chosen format?

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RAFT a Closure Activity

• A way for students to demonstrate what they have
  learned during a unit of study or during their
  own research
• Topic search is dependent on the goal of the
  assignment
• The teacher might give the students a
• list from which to choose
• broad category that limits the possible subtopics
• nonnegotiable topic
• class-brainstormed list.
• Writer specifically plays a role other than
  himself, therefore
• Writing must appeal to a specific audience that
  is not a classmate or teacher

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Steps to Writing a RAFT

• Students need to have a complete understanding of
  the assigned topic
• Students select role, audience and format
• Students brainstorm in small groups to figure out
  the lists implications
• Gathering the Information Students return to
  materialtextbook, primary sources, etc.
• Prewriting and sharing samples of formats and tip
  sheets
• Drafting of RAFT
• Revision
• Editing
• Sharing and celebrating the writing

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Sample RAFT
Topic Child Labor
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Make Your Own RAFT

• Based on the topic you chose for your
  Anticipation Guide, create your own list of RAFT
  options
• Make a chart of RAFT options and post next to the
  Anticipation Guide
• Gallery Walk

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Using Mentor Texts to Understand Genre Craft
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Looking at Mentor Texts

• After reading the packet of texts, consider the
  following
• What appears to be the purpose of each text?
• Who seems to be the targeted audience for each
  text?
• What techniques do you think the writer of each
  piece used to engage the mind and/or heart of the
  reader and keep him reading?
• How would you describe the way the piece is
  organized or structured?

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Lunch
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Assessing Student Work
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Thinking about Audience and Purpose
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Making It Real Authentic Audiences Response

• Audience
• Writers need to write for someone whom they
  desire to reach
• A real audience creates a reason for students to
  revise
• With only the teacher for an audience, revising
  is an exercise, guided by the teachers authority
  to demand particular standards

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Making It Real Authentic Audiences Response

• Audience
• Small Group Feedback
• Students take turns reading their work (or parts
  of it) in small groups
• listeners provide feedback on how the ideas were
  presented
• Students benefit with having a tip sheet or
  protocol to follow- example
• Point out the strong parts first
• Focus on the ideas, not the grammar or mechanics
• Try to help the writer explain his own point of
  view rather than change it to yours
• Identify spots where you were confused or desired
  more explanation, but leave it to the writer to
  decide how to address those needs.

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Making It Real Authentic Audiences Response

• Audience
• Small Group Feedback
• One-on-One Conferences
• Individual conferences with students as they
  draft their writing enable you to help with
  problems that vary from student to student
• Yes, it takes class time, but its an opportunity
  to do some of your most powerful teaching

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Making It Real Authentic Audiences Response

• Audience
• Small Group Feedback
• One-on-One Conferences
• Reading Aloud
• Students pair up and each takes a turn reading
  his piece to his partner
• Partner may only have to listen writers spot
  errors and self-correct when a real human being
  is listening
• Encourage students to stop as they go along to
  make quick editing marks
• Variation have partners swap papers and each
  read the piece back to its owner

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Publishing Options

• Your Own Class
• Sharing should be a teaching and learning event
  for all, rather than a situation in which kids
  sit there bored while the teacher listens and
  grades presentations
• If reports or projects are delivered aloud,
  students can take notes and pose questions
• If papers are swapped and read silently, kids can
  jot responses to each other.

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Publishing Options

• Your Own Class
• Adult Panels
• oral presentations to visiting panels at the end
  of a quarter or semester.
• Panels often include parents and community
  members who are supporters of the school along
  with other teachers and students 

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Publishing Options

• Your Own Class
• Adult Panels
• Other Students in Your School or Elsewhere
•  Classes down the hall or across the country can
  correspond with and learn from each other, and
  discover that they have a lot in common as
  learners, especially if they live in different
  kinds of neighborhoods
• The Internet makes this somewhat easy to arrange

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Publishing Options

• Your Own Class
• Adult Panels
• Other Students in Your School or Elsewhere
• Special Interest Groups Organizations
•  Most topics are a hobby, preoccupation, or focus
  of advocacy for some group out there
• Use the Web to find specialized interest groups.
  Many will be pleased and hear from you and happy
  to respond to students who have taken an interest
  in their particular obsession

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Publishing Options

• Your Own Class
• Adult Panels
• Other Students in Your School or Elsewhere
• Special Interest Groups Organizations
• Targets for Advocacy
• Government and business leaders are naturals
• Students can also create pamphlets on
  controversial issues to circulate to friends or
  the public, reporting back to the class and the
  teacher on peoples responses

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Publishing Options

• Your Own Class
• Adult Panels
• Other Students in Your School or Elsewhere
• Special Interest Groups Organizations
• Targets for Advocacy
• Experts in Particular Fields
• Chemist, musician, computer engineer, novelist,
  architect, econonomist, etc.
• Experts are more likely to respond to a whole
  class rather than to an individuals request

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Publishing Options

• Your Own Class
• Adult Panels
• Other Students in Your School or Elsewhere
• Special Interest Groups Organizations
• Targets for Advocacy
• Experts in Particular Fields
• Others??? Share out

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One Thing at a Time

• Weve thrown a lot at you. Writing is complex,
  and writing teachers can spend the whole year
  helping kids master its many steps and stages. We
  wanted to put a lot of it out on the table, to
  help you understand whats involved. We know
  content-area teachers who take students through a
  very full process, and you can read about one in
  Chapter 8. But we also know that teachers
  everywhere struggle with overstuffed curriculum
  requirements and the pressure to cover huge
  amounts of content to prepare students for the
  standardized tests. How can you find class time
  for all this?

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One Thing at a Time (cont.)

• One good approach is to start small. Begin by
  picking out one of two of the strategies weve
  described and getting yourself and your kids
  comfortable with them. Perhaps you might start
  simply with an anticipation guide before giving
  an assignment or by building in some one-on-one
  conference time after students drafts are
  completed. Once that first strategy is working
  well, and you realize it is doing a better job
  than some other method for teaching the same
  material, you can let go of that old trick and
  make a little more room in your schedule. Then go
  ahead and add another piece to your writing
  toolkit. As your students find enjoyment in the
  energizing writing activities youve introduce,
  you and they will want to do still more. Whatever
  your choice, now is a good time to begin.

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Extended Response

• CPS graphic organizer
• Maintenance protocol
• StaffNet resources
• http//staffnet.cps-k12.org/Staffnet/AcadAcc/Exten
  dedResponse.html
• Study Island and other practice tests
• All are GREAT Test Prep to help students
  understand the purpose, audience, and features of
  the extended response genre

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Additional Test-Taking Strategies

• Focusing on Big Ideas
• Using Accountable Talk
• Practicing on Engaging Daily Life Topics
• Thinking Like a Test and Rubric Writer

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Using Daily Life Topics for Extended Response

• Read the Frank McCourt Quote
• Write an Extended Response
• Which type of student were you? Support your
  claim by citing at least three examples from your
  life. (If none of these categories fit, you may
  come up with an alternative type that you think
  describes you.)
• Share your responses and reflect on how you think
  it might support students test-taking skills

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Using Accountable Talk to Promote Supporting
Ideas with Evidence

• Read the excerpt from Team Rodent
• Fishbowl Discussion
• Why did various groups in Virginia oppose the
  construction of a Disney American-history theme
  park?
• What in your experience or in your reading of the
  authors depiction of the debate might lead you
  to question the groups actions and outcome?

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Thinking Like a Test Writer

• Turn the process over to your students!
• Empower students to understand the thinking
  behind ER questions
• Ask students to design ER prompts and rubrics for
  accessible, student-friendly texts
• Model first with the whole class then students
  can work in small groups or partnerships
• Students can trade questions and assess each other

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Final Reflection

• Questions and Answers