DESIGNING A COLLEGE PREPARATORY WRITING PROGRAM

Professional Development Module 1

Michigan Future Schools Matrix

Agenda

① Check-in (10)② The WHY of College Prep Writing (CPW) (5) ③ The WHAT of CPW (25)

① Paper types and sample prompts ② The Performance Map Overview

④ The HOW of CPW (30)① Key mindset shifts ② Teacher Feedback

⑤ The Performance Map and College Writing Book (45)

Writing PD Series

October: Writing is Thinking November: Teacher Feedback January: Types of Writing

February: Process Oriented Writing

March: Content Dictates Form May: Peer Editing

June: Wrap-up and Reflection

Check-in / Do Now

Respond to the first two questions in your packet. Be prepared to share out some of your reflections.

①Describe your vision of a college-preparatory writing program. Where are you in executing this vision? Where do you need the most support?

②Why do high schools need truly college preparatory writing programs?

Agenda① Check-in (10)

② The WHY of College Prep Writing (CPW) (20)③ The WHAT of CPW (25)

① Sample prompts ② The Performance Map Overview

④ The HOW of CPW (30)① Key mindset shifts ② Teacher Feedback

⑤ The Performance Map and College Writing Book (45)

Why focus on college writing?

• Anecdotally, students struggle with writing. • If our students can write at the college-level, which is really a

measure of critically thinking, they are more likely to be persist through college.

• Students will be expected to write extensively (100 pages/year) in college. If every paper is a struggle, they will not persist.

• We do not want students enrolling in remedial course work: – Only one-third of students originally enrolled in remedial course-

work graduate in six years from a four – year college (1 in 10 graduate in three years at CC).

– It is projected that graduation rates will rise to over 50% at four-year colleges (over six years) for students who are able to enroll in credit bearing courses immediately.

Agenda① Check-in (10)② The WHY of College Prep Writing (CPW) (5)

③ The WHAT of CPW (25)① Paper types and sample prompts ② The Performance Map Overview

④ The HOW of CPW (35)① Key mindset shifts ② Teacher Feedback

⑤ The Performance Map and College Writing Book (45)

Writing at the College Level

• Position Papers (p. 32)– Students determine their position, rationalize their position by

supporting it with evidence, and refute why the other stance is less logical. Students are arguing one of two possibilities – but their reasoning must be logical and nuanced.

• Argumentative Essays (p. 34)– Students create an original argument out of infinite possibilities

generally in response to a text or several texts that students have read in class. Writer must review the text(s), collect evidence, and make a not-obvious claim within the guidelines of the prompt.

• Research Papers (p. 39)– Students are still responding to prompts and forming a major

argument, only now the prompts are potentially even broader, as are the potential source materials.

Writing at the College LevelContinued • Close Readings (p.37)– Students closely read a portion of text, focusing on

language, claims, and the structure of arguments, and then interpret observations into a coherent argument.

• Descriptive Essays or Personal Narratives (p. 40)– Student describe something, be it an object, a person, a

place, an emotion, etc. Creativity is essential and the reader (and writer) should still learn something interesting by reading the essay.

• Evaluative Essays (p. 33)– Students take a position on whether the author’s

argument was persuasive.

What patterns do you notice in the types of writing that students are asked to do at the college level?

Core Components of College Writing

• Students are constructing an argument. • Argument must be original. • Argument must be supported by textual

evidence.

Sample Performance Map

Agenda① Check-in (10)② The WHY of College Prep Writing (CPW) (5) ③ The WHAT of CPW (25)

① Paper types and sample prompts ② The Performance Map Overview

④ The HOW of CPW (30)① Key mindset shifts ② Teacher Feedback

⑤ The Performance Map and College Writing Book (45)

The Key Shifts

In College

Writing to Learn (analysis) (p. 4)

In High School

Writing to Demonstrate Learning

(summarization)

Shift 1: Writing to Demonstrate Learning Writing to Learn (p. 4)

9th Grade Social Studies Example

Helping Students “Write to Learn”

At your tables, discuss the following:1. How could a close reading have been

incorporated here? What would you have students’ annotations focus on?

2. Instead of recall questions, what would you have students do after they finished reading that would help push their ability to analyze, evaluate, or synthesize their learning?

“Writing to Learn”

Some Ideas • Have students brainstorm, based on their

experiences, or the experiences of their friends and family, how Johnson’s War on Poverty was a success and how it failed.

• Have them look for patterns in the areas of success and failures. Have them speculate why it succeeded, why it failed.

• Have students find articles that show it is a success and failure.

• Have them share articles and discuss why it failed, succeeded, what could be done differently.

The Key Shifts

In College

Writing to Learn (analysis) (p. 4)

Writing is process oriented (p. 5)

In High School

Writing to Demonstrate Learning

(summarization)

Writing is product oriented

Shift 2: Product-Oriented Process- Oriented (p. 5)

① What do you think product-oriented writing looks like? What types of questions are students asking?

②What would process oriented-writing look like?

③What are the benefits of process-oriented writing? What are your concerns around process-oriented writing?

A Word on Peer Editing

• Peer editing is part of a process-oriented approach. See chapter 4 in the MFS book on college writing for resources. This will also be covered at one of the future PD sessions.

The Key Shifts

In College

Writing to Learn (analysis) (p. 4)

Writing is process oriented (p. 5)

Content Dictates Form (p. 20)

In High School

Writing to Demonstrate Learning

(summarization)

Writing is product oriented

Form dictates content

Shift 3: Form Dictates Content Content Dictates Form (p. 20)

Complete the quote below:

“Writing a five – paragraph essay is like riding a bike with training wheels. It’s a device that…” (UNC)

From the University of North Carolina’s Writing Center

“The five-paragraph theme [essay] is a good way to learn how to write an academic essay. That doesn’t mean you should use it forever. Once you can write well without it, you can cast it off and never look back.”1

1The Writing Center, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Removing the Training Wheels

How do we move students away from a five-paragraph essay?

How do you move students away from a five-paragraph essay?

Some Ideas• Address all of students’ “product-oriented” concerns up-front. • During the writing process, forbid questions about the product – length,

paragraphs, words, etc. Emphasize ideas. • Show students essays that are longer than five-paragraphs. Have them

discuss how the strength of the argument would change if paragraphs 6 – 10 were deleted.

• Have students complete rough outlines for topics that would require way more than five-paragraphs to address.

• Beginning in tenth grade, at the absolute latest, provide page length requirements, not paragraph requirements. Tell students they need to determine the best structure for their ideas – part of the challenge.

• Discuss why being able to write in more than five paragraphs is a good thing (frees the writer, gives less structure to your thesis, etc.).

The Key Shifts

In College

Writing to Learn (analysis) (p. 4)

Writing is process oriented (p. 5)

Content Dictates Form (p. 20)

Extensive Writing in English and Social

Studies Classes (p. 26)

In High School

Writing to Demonstrate Learning

(summarization)

Writing is product oriented

Form dictates content

Little in English class

Take your best guess…How many polished pages will a college freshmen, at a selective college, write in his or her freshmen year?

Shift 4: More writing! (p. 26)

• College freshmen will write approximately 100 polished pages in their first year of college.

How do we prepare them for the sheer amount of writing they will have to do?Embed the thinking required by college writing

in daily classroom activities.

The Key Shifts In College

Writing to Learn (analysis) (p. 4)

Writing is process oriented (p. 5)

Content Dictates Form (p. 20)

Extensive Writing in English and Social

Studies Classes (p. 26)

In High School

Writing to Demonstrate Learning

(summarization)

Writing is product oriented

Form dictates content

Little in English class

Teacher Feedback

1. Read the first paragraph of the essay and provide feedback as you would to one of your students.

2. Share out: What did you notice? Mark? Write? Correct?

Two Approaches

• Look at the same paragraph marked by Teacher A and Teacher B. – What do you notice are the differences in their

approaches to providing feedback? – If you were a student in each of their classes, what

would you learn as a result of their feedback?

Teacher Feedback (p. 42)

Novice Teachers of Writing Experienced Teachers of Writing

Read to find errors, mistakes, or other faults. They focus on the paper as a product.

Read to understand the student’s argument, their approach to the assignment, their way of thinking.

Frequently stop reading, even mid-sentence.

Tend to read large units of text without stopping.

Comment on all levels of the paper without first prioritizing what issues are most important for improving the paper.

Focus comments on identifying major strengths and weaknesses.

Tend to focus and comment on surface details.

Tend to emphasize meaning and organization. Make suggestions for major reorganizations of ideas, expansions, etc.

Edit sentences. Identify patterns.

Providing Feedback to Students

Type of Comment Purpose of Comment

Marginal Notes Focus the writer’s attention to specific parts of the paper – specific grammatical errors or certain parts of an argument.

End Comments Help the writer view the paper as a whole. Focus on two or three major priorities.

Rubrics Provide very clear expectations for writing assignments, and what composes a student’s grade. Rubric only points out the problems, but not necessarily next steps.

Exploring The MFS College Writing Reference Book

• Take ten minutes and find a resource or idea in the book that you think will help in preparing your students to write at the college level.

• Feel free to reference the page numbers embedded in the power point for guidance.

• Be ready to share out what you found.

Sample Performance Map

Links to Performance Maps

ConsortiumJRLAWAYEquity Schools (DLA, Deltas, SFF)UYABCHSDEPSAXPA

Writing PD Series

October: Writing is Thinking November: Teacher Feedback January: Types of Writing

February: Process Oriented Writing

March: Content Dictates Form May: Peer Editing

June: Wrap-up and Reflection

Next Steps

① Provide feedback to us. ② Continue familiarizing yourself with the MFS College Writing

Book. ③ Discuss and adjust the performance map.④ Scope and sequence work

– Design or revise your writing tasks for quarter one to align with the key shifts

– When writing objectives, consider how to set time aside for writing and to ensure that the objectives are helping students practice the thinking required by the final task

⑤ Attend Monthly PD sessions on CPW beginning in October 2014.