Developing Multimedia Prompts USER GUIDE

Purpose of this GuideThis guide is meant to assist you in developing new writing prompts incorporating a variety of media for your class or school. The PEG Writing program will score student essays from any prompt, regardless of whether it’s a prepackaged prompt or one that you’ve created.

The guide accompanies the web tutorial Creating Writing Prompts in the Helpful Documents section of PEG Writing. Please review this guide before uploading new prompts in your PEG Writing account.

Effective Writing Prompts• Pose a question, problem or comparison• Test for comprehension• Set the stage for using the stimulus

material in the response• Can address one of the three response

types:– Argumentative– Informative/Explanatory– Narrative

Why Include Media in Writing Prompts?

• Common Core standards require it as early as 4th grade – “Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text…”CCSSELA-Lit.RL5.7

“Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources…” CCSS.ELA-Lit.W.4.8

• New assessments (SBAC and PARRC) will use them beginning in 2015

SBAC PERFORMANCE TASK: STIMULI & RESEARCH QUESTIONS (Grade 4)• Students have 35 minutes to:

– read an article and watch a video about how animals protect themselves from danger (stimuli)

– take notes (note-taking “grid” provided)– answer 3 questions about the sources

• What does the article “Animal Roll-Ups” tell you about why some animals curl up? Use details from article to support your answer.

• Think about the armadillo and the hedgehog described in the article. In what way are their defenses similar or different? Explain your answer using details from the article.

• In the video “Animal Defenses” the puffer fish and the crab were both successful in protecting themselves from sea otters. Do they have the same type of defense? Explain your answer using details from the video.

Why Include Media in Writing Prompts?

• Best practices suggest it…definitive research on learning shows that people learn better from words and pictures than from words alone. (Mayer 2009)

• Scaffold struggling writers/readers to engage with text and increase understanding of meaning and interpretation of text-based prompts

Multimedia Principle

Adding graphics helps students learn and retain information according to Mayer’s (2009) research.

Prompts for Writing Types

• Argumentative –the writer constructs an argument for or against an issue with supporting information

• Informative/Explanatory – the writer offers an explanation with supporting information

• Narrative – the writer tells a story from a point of view, first person or third person

Developing Media-Based Writing Prompts

If using a text-heavy prompt or a text-based resource, find media that supports comprehension. Difficult concepts, dense information, or new vocabulary that make engaging with the text challenging can be overcome with the addition of illustrations and audiovisual explanations.

Remember – the goal is to encourage writing practice! Writing is challenging in itself without struggling to understand the prompt. And students must also learn to write from a variety of sources.

Stimulus Material

• In PEG Writing prompts for all three writing genres can use attached multimedia to encourage engagement, analysis, compare/contrast, or help create a narrative

• Stimulus material should support the writing prompt rather than bring in extraneous details

• Make sure your resource material is grade-appropriate

Selecting Multimedia Support

1. Select stimulus material that is relevant and supports the prompt.

2. Make sure the material includes images or video in addition to textual evidence. Remember the multimedia principle -- Images and text work best together for comprehension of material.

3. Material should be appropriate for the grade level. Avoid irrelevant or distracting information, including web sites that have inappropriate advertising

4. If the response is to be timed, test how long it takes to read or review the material to ensure time for pre-writing and writing

Prompt with Good Multimedia Support

Title* Help from the Clouds (Science Tie-In)

Description* Write an essay explaining how clouds can help us to predict weather. Read the article and view the video before you write your graphic organizer. Be sure to include these words: Stratus Cirrus Low Pressure

Essay Category* Informative/Explanatory  •Cloud Formation video

•Article: Cloud Formation

Attached stimulus material

Prompt with Good Multimedia Support

• Detail of linked cloud video on YouTube

Prompt with Good Multimedia Support

• Detail of web page with cloud text

Narrative Prompt ExampleAttached are two articles, a video and some photos having to do with Mongolia. After reading the articles and viewing the videos and photos, write a narrative about a young person living in Mongolia. You may choose to write it in first person or third person. You should include facts and details from the stimulus material to make your story authentic. Take care to describe characters and setting authentically.

Building a PromptLog in to your PEG Writing account and choose your class, then choose Add under the Prompt tab. Enter your Title, Prompt and EssayCategory (Argumentative,Informative, or Narrative).

Choose whether to shareyour prompt with other teachers. Remember –once your prompt is sharedit cannot be “unshared.”

View video tutorial here:http://youtu.be/oom7knAzsd8

Uploading Stimulus Materials• To add a document or an image, enter a label for the

document, select the document file and click Choose File button to upload the document. To add a website URL, enter a label, select URL, and paste in the website address.

• You must read and agree to the acceptable use terms for uploading stimulus material before clicking Save.

Testing Prompts

• It’s a good idea to test your prompts by writing from them before assigning them to students.

• Make sure the multimedia material works on the electronic devices that will be used by your students.

• Once students have used prompts you may use the Prompt Report in the Reports section of PEG Writing to see how well students performed on their essays using different prompts. This can identify prompts that are confusing or that need refining.

Bibliography

Common Core State Standards. http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/4/. Accessed: 12/2/14, 2:41 p.m.

Mayer, R. (2009). Multimedia Learning. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Questions? Email support@pegwriting.com