Title: Teaching Literacy Skills
1Teaching Literacy Skills
- Writing Across the Curriculum (K-8)
2The Writing Problem
- Whats expected by colleges and employers and how
do we fit in?
3What the Universities Tell Us
- The Chronicle of Higher Education found that 44
of college faculty members said their students
are NOT prepared for college-level writing. - Only 6 of professors surveyed responded that
their students are very well prepared for
college-level writing.
4Universities are hard to please. Theyll be fine
once theyre working, right?
- After surveying 120 corporations, the College
Board discovered that 1/3 of all workers fall
short of employers expectations in written
communication skills.
5Employers say . . .
- All employees must have writing ability . . .
Manufacturing documentation, operating
procedures, reporting problems, lab safety,
waste-disposal operationsall have to be crystal
clear, - Company director.
- Even among hourly workers, between one-fifth and
one-third of employees in fast-growing service
sectors have some writing responsibility, - National Commission on Writing.
6The National Commission on Writing says
- Good writing skills are a marker attribute of a
high-wage worker - Writing is a gatekeeper that will limit
English-language learners and the disadvantaged
to low-wage, dead-end work - Writing skills cannot be developed quickly or
easily and should be the focus of school and
college attention across the curriculum, from
kindergarten through college.
7How does North Santiam School District do with
writing?
- State writing assessment average for 08-09 55
of students meet or exceed the standard at grade
10 (no state average for 4th and 7th) - North Santiam writing assessment average
- 49.1 at grade 10
- 49 at grade 7
- 38.4 at grade 4
8How does North Santiam School District do with
writing?
- Last year (08-09) in the Capital Conference we
had the 3rd highest number of 10th grade students
meet standard on the state writing assessment. - Our 10th grade averages were about 5 higher than
Cascade!
9How does North Santiam School District do with
writing?
- At grade 4, 61.6 of our students did not meet
standard - At grade 7, 51 of our students did not meet
standard - At grade 10, 40.2 of our students did not meet
standard - Our average number of students meeting is up from
40.2 in 06-07 to 49.1 in 08-09.
10Clearly we have a national, state, and local
problem with writing.
- What are we doing to fix it?
11North Santiam School Districts Expectations for
All Teachers
- All teachers teach literacy skills within their
content areas (this includes writing). - All teachers collect and score at least 4 work
samples per year (in either writing, speaking,
math, or science)
12Writing Across the CurriculumBest Practiceit
works!
- The National Commission on Writing confirms an
impressive positive correlation between the
frequency of informative writing assessments and
academic achievement in every subject area. - Further, writing is not simply a way for
students to demonstrate what they know. It is a
way to help them understand what they know. At
its best, writing is learning.
13Dont lose content timemake the most of it!
- Math teachers tell us that when students explain
in writing what they did when they worked on
equations, they began to understand mathematics .
. . Students who write regularly in the math
class develop their mathematical language . . .
The teacher no longer hears To do this, you put
this here, carry this here, cross out this, draw
this,. . . The thiss become the language of
the discipline. (Tama and McClain)
14Look at this
- 7/12
- 9/12 12/16
- In working with a child who made this error where
would you assume he had gone wrong?
15When asked to write an explanation of his
solution the boy wrote
- first I took twelv then took seven out of it
then nine I took seven away from nine - In reality the boy was very unclear about the
process of adding fractions (let alone struggling
with some basic addition!). A mini-lesson on
placement of numerators and denominators would
have confused him further.
16Its Best Practice and the District Expects It
- How to Make Writing Across the Curriculum
Effective
177 General Principles of Teaching Writing
Effectively
- Students learn to write by writing.
- Teachers need to write with their students.
- Students need to have opportunities to share
their writing. - Writers need feedback.
- Writing activities ought to be integrated with
curriculum. - Students learn to write by reading excellent and
varied writing. - Repeated successful encounters with writing help
unmotivated learners.
18The State Scoring Guide
- Providing a Common Language for Teaching Writing
Skills
19Ideas and ContentRefers To
- The purpose and focus of the writing
- The main idea
- The supporting details
20A Standard or Higher paper will
- Be easy to understand
- Be clear and focused
- Have relevant details
- Possibly have details that are inconsistent or
out of balance with the main ideas
21Organization Refers to
- The order and structure of the writing
- The sequencing of main ideas and details
- The beginning and ending of the piece of writing
- The transitions between ideas and details
22A Standard or Higher Paper Will
- Be clear and coherent
- Have a structure and use paragraph breaks
- Have a recognizable and developed beginning and
conclusion - Use transitions
- Possibly use techniques that are formulaic or
predictable
23Sentence Fluency Refers to
- The variety of sentences and their patterns in a
piece of writing - The ease of readability in a piece of writing
- The flow of the writing
- It DOES NOT refer to the punctuation marks that
might help the sentences be easy to read.
24A Standard or Higher Paper Will
- Have a flow and be relatively easy to read orally
- Have a natural sound
- Have some variety in sentence patterns
- Demonstrate a strong control of simple sentence
structures - Possibly lack rhythm and grace
- Possibly have repetitions in patterns that
detract from the overall impact
25Conventions Refers to
- Use of standard writing conventions (punctuation,
spelling, capitalization, paragraph breaks,
grammar and usage) - Types of errors rather than number of errors
26A Standard or Higher Paper Will
- Have noticeable, minor errors that will not
interfere with readability - Demonstrate control of conventions
- Have a moderate (or less) need for editing
- Contain errors (even a 6!)
27Word Choice Refers to . . .
- The clarity and effectiveness of words chosen in
a piece of writing - The variety of words used
- The use of colorful or figurative language in a
piece of writing - The appropriate use of jargon and technical
language
28A Standard or Higher Paper Will
- Use words that convey the intended message
- Use words that are appropriate for the intended
audience - Possibly experiment with language
- Possibly overuse slang, jargon, and/or cliches
29Voice Refers to . . .
- The sense that a paper is written to be read
- The commitment of a writer to a topic
- The sense of a person being behind the words on a
page
30A Standard of Higher Paper Will
- Have a discernable voice
- Have an appropriate level of closeness to the
audience - Have some liveliness, sincerity, or humor when
appropriate - Possibly be inconsistent
- Possibly be too casual or personal or too stiff
and formal
31What can you do now?
- Simple, effective methods for including writing
in your content
32Strategies for Getting Started
- Schedule a time every day to just write
- journals, reflections, pictures, one sentence
summaries - Model writing
- I write, we write I write, we write etc.
- Partner writing
- Focus on ONE thing ideas content sentence
fluency voice word choice tie to vocabulary in
math, SS, science, etc, organization outlines - Avoid conventions!!!!
33Sample One-Sentence Summary
Question Response
Who? The point guard
Does what? Calls the plays
To whom? For the team
Why? To score points
Where? On the court
When? During offense
How? By giving signals
With a goal of scoring points during offense, the
point guard calls out plays on the court by
giving signals.
34The Grading Nightmare!
35Top 9 Tips to Cut Grading Time(Adapted from
Melissa Kelly)
- Use peer evaluation
- Grade holistically
- Use portfolios
- Grade only a few from a class setroll the die!
- Grade only a few from a class setkeep them
guessing! - Grade only part of the assignment
- Grade only one or two elements
- Use non-graded journals
- Use two highlighters
36Well be coming back to this!
- January 25, 2009 Inservice
- K-2 will develop NSSD scoring guides based on
standards - 3-8 will learn and practice scoring guides
- In the mean time learn, know, explore, share,
incorporate writing standards into everything we
do! - Not settle for being average, or slightly above
the state average be the leader!