Writing

How do you teach and grade student writing in your class?

Do you find that students often struggle to find their own voice and develop confidence in their writing?

For many students, learning the writing process can be intimidating. This may be especially true for EL students, since they may also be learning unfamiliar vocabulary, correct grammar, and new writing strategies. This feeling of intimidation can often result in cookie cutter essays, where students are so concerned with producing “correct” work that they might not engage with the critical thinking processes or showcase their own voice and opinions. 

One easy way to re-engage learners with the writing process is to actually reduce the pressure and weight these assignments carry in the classroom. Creating space for low-stakes writing can encourage student creativity and critical thinking, while empowering students to explore their thoughts and find ways to express their beliefs. Moreover, low-stakes writing activities can be easily adapted to fit many subject areas and levels for differentiation.  

The good news is that many of the assignments and work students are already doing can be turned into activities for low-stakes writing; there are usually just minor adjustments which may need to be incorporated in the instructional approaches to help students engage with and develop their writing skills.

For a look at some examples of how you can use low-risk writing activities in your classroom, check out this article. 

While the Common Core State Standards do not directly emphasize collaborative processes navigate the writing process, research has shown that student collaboration can be a great tool for helping students further develop ideas and refine skills; moreover, collaboration promotes improvement in writing quality.  It is important to note that collaborative writing does not mean that students are working on a shared written piece; rather, students work actively on their own piece, but also participate in activities for review and collaboration processes through explicit paired or group sharing.

English learners can benefit greatly from collaborative writing processes, which provide the opportunity to ask questions, refine work, and further develop language directly through low-pressure peer-to-peer interactions. The collaborative writing exchange process also gives students a chance to build their oral communication and academic language skills through thoughtful and explicit exchange with fellow class members.

For a closer look at what collaborative writing is, an example of a lesson, and some useful questions and prompts to get you started, take a look at this blog post. 

What activities, tools, and resources do you use to help all students (including English learners) develop strong writing skills? How do you scaffold activities to better meet the needs of all students in your classroom?

The 10-minute paragraph is a wonderful activity to familiarize students with the writing process, deepen their understanding of its organizational components, and help them build stronger vocabulary skills. In this scaffolded activity, students follow the “I Do, We Do, You Do” strategy: first they gain familiarity with the assigned task, then they work together and brainstorm, and finally they set off on their own to accomplish the task at hand. There are opportunities throughout for educators to check in and offer additional supports (e.g., vocabulary banks, deconstruction of the writing prompt, inclusion of outside resources), ensuring that all students can access the material and complete the exercise successfully.

To see how one instructor incorporated the 10-minute paragraph activity into his classroom, including details on how he structured the lesson, check out Ten Minute Paragraphs: Making Writing Accessible from Scholastic.

While often recognizing genre is thought of as primarily a literary skill, it can also be an important part of students’ development of writing skills. Genre, in the context of written language, is seen as the abstract, socially conventionalized, ways of using language to communicate a goal or convey a message. Theorists often critique genre education in the classroom because it is heavily reliant upon students’ self-discovery through reading and writing without explicit instruction on conventions and their elicitation of meaning. Scholars addressing genre have argued that this traditional approach to its teaching is particularly difficult for students who come from cultural or linguistic minority backgrounds, because they may not share the same values and culturally-constructed reference points as others in the class, and therefore might miss the codified patterns of variation between text types.

It is critical to present students with opportunities to explore a range of text types and genres. In addition, teachers, and particularly those with English learners in their classrooms, should also explicitly highlight the ways in which text types vary, including their use of conventionalized patterns, purpose, audience connections, and means of conveying messages.

Resources

Christie, F. (1996). The role of a functional grammar in development of a critical literacy. In G. Bull & M. Anstey (Eds.), The literacy lexicon (pp. 46–57). Sydney: Prentice-Hall.

Hyland, K. (2002). Genre-based pedagogies: A social response to process. Journal of Second Language Writing, 12(2003), 17-29.

Macken-Horarik, M. (2002). ‘Something to shoot for’: A systemic functional approach to teaching genre in secondary school science. In A. M. Johns (Ed.), Genre in the classroom (pp. 21–46). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

How do you help your EL students engage with the writing process? Have you tried the RAFT strategy?

In this strategy, students clarify the “big picture” of the writing assignment before embarking on the writing itself. This is accomplished by responding to four prompts that ask students to consider the Role of the Writer, the Audience, the Format, as well as the Topic and a strong verb.

RAFT can be used across different content areas, and instruction can be differentiated in various ways. For example, educators could allow students to pick their own topic, or scaffold the activity for less advanced language learners by assigning a topic in advance. Another modification would be to pose only one of the four questions, using a prompt such as, “Write a letter to the President of the United States as yourself. What do you want to write about? You choose the topic.”

For more information, check out the full strategy on the Reading Rockets website.

Although math knowledge relies in part on students’ ability to use logic, numbers, and symbolic systems, recent research has stressed that success in the math classroom draws on more than just learning math vocabulary. To promote success in math, students must be continually challenged to develop daily language skills; to engage with texts and activities that highlight how language is used; and to master new writing techniques, strategies, and structures within the field of mathematics.

Resources

Barwell, R., Leung, C., Morgan, C., & Street, B. (2005). Applied linguistics and mathematics education: More than words and numbers. Language and Education, 19(2), 141-146.

Lee, C. (2006). Language for learning mathematics: Assessment for learning in practice. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press.

Moschkovich, J. N. (2002). A situated and sociocultural perspective on bilingual mathematical learners. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 4, 189-212.

Moschkovich, J. N. (2010). Language(s) and learning mathematics: Resources, challenges, and issues for research. In J. N. Moschkovich (Ed.), Language and mathematics education: Multiple perspectives and directions for research (pp. 1-28). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.

Van Eerde, H. A. A., & Hajer, M. (2009). The integration of mathematics and language learning in multiethnic schools. In M. César & K. Kumpulainen (Eds.), Social interactions in multicultural settings (pp. 269-296). Rotterdam/Taipei: Sense.

For some students, academic writing and classroom written work seems to come easily; for many others, academic writing requires more time and interaction to understand the process, strategies, and techniques involved. The latter group may include some English learners who are not only working to understand written structure and form, but also the English vocabulary and other language components that make academic writing possible. Both mainstream and content-area instructors face the challenge of helping students make progress and stay engaged throughout a potentially slow and grueling process. Thus, strategies that encourage writing persistence are essential to help students expand their writing knowledge.

For a look at some of these strategies, check out this article from KQED News Mind/Shift.

Do you have writers at many different levels in your classroom? How are you working to make sure your instruction allows everyone to access the material and content? For more tips, check out this resource from Reading Rockets.

For many states, districts, and schools, the promise of spring also brings with it the return of end-of-year formal assessments and standardized testing to track student progress. While many students have made great leaps throughout the year, formal assessments, which sometimes serve as high-stakes graduation requirements, can bring heightened anxiety and stress to many students, including ELs. To help students prepare for these end-of-year assessments, it is crucial to incorporate opportunities throughout the year for students to develop their academic skills, while also learning strategies to cope and interact with these assessment formats.

For EL students, one of the most challenging end-of-year assessments can often be the writing test, or essay test. Even though students might have made large gains in oral language development, vocabulary skills, and academic English skills, formal assessments that require an essay can often be very challenging for EL students, especially under time constraints and high-pressure situations. Essay questions require even the strongest writer to understand the prompt, organize their thoughts, plan their strategy for approaching the written portion, then write, re-read, and edit their response, all within a certain time frame. For students who struggle in writing or are still working to develop their written skills and academic English skills, essay formats can often seem like monumental tasks. Making sure that you are providing students with skill sets and strategies to tackle essay questions can be a great way to help them feel prepared for end-of-year assessments.

For one strategy you can use to prepare students for a formal written assessment, take a look at this article from Colorín Colorado. 

While you are working to make sure your classroom and broader physical environment are prepared to welcome students, it is also critical to reflect on how you can incorporate activities and exercises that will both prepare students for the work to come and provide you with more information about students’ abilities and what supports they might require.

One reliable first assignment is the “Welcome Back” writing assignment, where students are given a prompt asking them what they did over the summer. While the topic might seem trivial, there are many ways to modify such an assignment so that the writing is aligned with Common Core Standards (e.g., incorporate narrative techniques, show logical sequential time organization, and provide a conclusion).

This “Welcome Back” writing assignment can also help you assess the levels and skill areas of your students. By assessing early, you can ensure that students needing extra supports are identified quickly, and that later assignments are adequately scaffolded to support each learner.

For a closer look at the Welcome Back writing assignment, with a focus on aligning to standards, check out this resource from Colorín Colorado: Using Writing Prompts with ELLs. 

In what ways, both formal and informal, do you check on your students' writing progression? 

A meaningful activity for assessing writing, especially for English learners, that can be integrated into any grade level or subject area, is the dialogue journal. A dialogue journal is a designated notebook where students can write on a subject of their choice (these might be suggested from a list of prompts or topics, as well). When using dialogue journals, allow students to genuinely respond to topics, subjects, and texts. Make sure to stress that students should write openly about the subjects and that their opinions, thoughts, and concerns are welcome and valid. For English learners, teachers might suggest that students could write entries in their home languages, as well as use illustrations if they help to convey meaning. Periodically, teachers collect the journals and respond to entries, avoiding critique or commenting on grammatical errors or form.

Dialogue journals can be a powerful tool for differentiated instruction because they are responsive to any level of writing or English proficiency. Even more importantly, they also empower learners to stay motivated and engaged in the classroom, because it sends the message that students’ ideas, questions, and interests are valued and valid. If you are looking for a way to increase motivation, while also promoting literacy development, dialogue journals might be the perfect fit!  

Some have criticized dialogue journaling because it does not stress error correction. Instead, teachers using dialogue journals would model correct sentence forms, vocabulary, or spelling in their responses, therefore allowing students individualized learning opportunities. As you respond to journal entries, make sure to take note of mistakes, which you might choose to address in future lessons or reviews. Also, particularly for older students or upper grade levels, try creating targeted prompts to focus on current readings or topics. 

For a great overview and discussion of dialogue journals, how you can use them in your classroom, and how to get started, check out this article.  

Another idea for older students is to have other students respond to journal entries. This can be a way of creating bonds and shared learning experiences among peers from homogenous or heterogeneous backgrounds. However, before allowing other students to read and comment on classmates work, it is essential to set rules, establish trust between students, and model what appropriate feedback looks like. For how a partner dialogue journal might work, check out his short blog post!

See what you can learn through integrating dialogue journals in your classroom!

When reviewing lessons, or helping students prepare for writing projects and tests, what activities do you use to review and re-engage with covered material?

While planning for review and brainstorming activities can be complex, it doesn’t have to be: the alphabet brainstorming activity can make this process much more manageable. It helps students consolidate material after a lesson, review for a test, or develop their ideas for a written assignment. Students are asked to focus their brainstorming into a structured activity where they provide a piece of information, generated idea, or question for each letter of the alphabet. Since this activity is not highly dependent on words, sentence development, and complex structures, it can be quite approachable for most students—especially those working to develop academic English skills. Alphabet brainstorming is easily adaptable by group size, topic, and post-brainstorming activities. To use alphabet brainstorming in your classroom, start with this activity outline from Facing History.