Marking Period 1 Final Assessment: Persuasive Writing Project
On Task II of the NYS ELA Regents exam, your task is to persuade your audience with an organized argument so as to convince a skeptic. Your goal as a persuasive writer is to convince your reader with a logical, well organized essay that clearly argues your point to a specific audience. Please be sure to use all of your pre-writing/ planning activities like ARGUMENT TREES, IDEA WEBS & OUTLINES, Extended Anticipatory Guides & Chart Analyses.
Your Task:
Write a five (5) paragraph persuasive letter (business format) to you Congressman Jose E. Serrano (District 16 Representative) urging him to support or vote against legislation proposed by the Bush Administration. Cite evidence from your texts and charts to support your argument.
Project Requirements: Ø All assignments must be submitted on time for full credit! Ø Participation in Writer’s Workshops are not only essential to improve your
understanding of the writing tasks and English mechanics, it is also mandatory! Ø Submit ALL prewriting materials and drafts with your final draft. Ø Your final draft must be typed in 12 point TIMES NEW ROMAN font. Double
Spaced!
Project Due Dates: Ø Draft 1 o Due Monday, November
5th Ø Draft 2 o Due Wednesday,
November 7th Ø Final Draft o Due Friday, November 9th
Ø Reflection o Due with Final Draft
Personal Reflection: Ø Write a 1 page reflection (mandatory) in which you discuss the process you
underwent to complete your writing task. What did you learn from this experience? What parts did you like/dislike? How will this experience serve you on the Regents exam?
Apply: 9th – 12 th Grade Sample Task and Student Work Sample
J. G.
J. G.
J. G.
D.G.
Task Analysis Tool Understanding Language Initiative, Stanford University
Name of Task: Persuasive Writing Task: “A Long Way Gone” Grade Level: 11th-‐12th Subject: ELA/Social Studies
Task Analysis Step
Guiding Questions and Resources Analysis
Step 1: Examine and
Identify Appropriate
Instructional Task
Guiding Questions: Is/does this task: o Clear in its expectations? o Grade-‐level appropriate? o Aligned to the standards? o Require students to use language
and analytical skills to demonstrate their content knowledge?
Is this an appropriate task for analysis? Why? Yes. The expectations are clear; the cognitive and content demands of this task are on grade level. It is aligned to standards. It requires students use language and analytical skills, and the task is appropriately complex.
Step 2: Identify Task Dem
ands
Guiding Questions: • Write down everything that students
need to demonstrate, know, or do in order to successfully complete this task.
• To do this, read (or watch) the task instructions.
Resources: • For Content Knowledge: Common
Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, or other relevant standards (e.g., district, state, etc.)
• For Analytical Skills: Depth of Knowledge (DOK) Levels (Find in Resources)
• For Language: Language Functions and Forms PDF (Find in Resources)
What do students need to do and know in terms of…? Content Knowledge Analytical Skills Language Anchor Standard 1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence 11-‐12.WHST.1 Write arguments focused on discipline-‐specific content. Anchor Standard 9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. 11-‐12.WHST.9 Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
• Analyze and interpret graphical information
• Cause and effect • Construct an
argument • Critique the
arguments of others
• Cite evidence • Reflect on a process
• Analyze and interpret: “This demonstrates_________”, “The source tells us ________
• Construct an argument: “It is important _______ because ______”
• Critique an argument: “This argument is valid/invalid because _________”
• Cite evidence: “According to ____” , “This demonstrates _____”, “______ proves that ______”, “The source tells us __________”
Standards-‐related task vocabulary: Argument, proves, justifies, demonstrates, persuade, perspective, point of view, convince, valid/invalid
Step 3: Identify Disciplinary Practice(s)
Guiding Question: What disciplinary practice(s) are most relevant to this task? Resources: • Core Disciplinary Practices PDF
(Find in Resources) • Interactive Correspondence between
Practices, Tasks, and Functions PDF (Find in Resources)
What are the relevant disciplinary analytical practices for this task: EP1. Support analyses of a range of grade-‐level complex texts with evidence. EP3. Construct valid arguments from evidence and critique the reasoning of others. EP4. Build and present knowledge from research by integrating, comparing, and synthesizing ideas from texts. EP5. Build upon the ideas of others and articulate his or her own ideas when working collaboratively. EP6. Use English structures to communicate context-‐specific messages.
Step 4: Identify ELP Standard(s)
Guiding Questions: What English Language Proficiency Standards are reflected in this task? Which of these ELP standards do you feel comfortable measuring or intend to assess? Resources: • The ELP Standards • Alternative Organization of
Standards • The K-‐12 Practices Matrix (Find in
Resources)
What are the relevant ELP standards for this task? Please include your reasoning behind selecting these standards. ELP Standard Your Reasoning ELP 1 Students must be able to construct meaning from
several grade appropriate informational texts in order to provide reasons and cite specific textual evidence that supports their reasons for their persuasive letter to a senator.
ELP 4 Students must make and support claims about ending U.S. weapon supply to countries that recruit child soldiers via a clear and coherent letter to a senator.
ELP 5 Students must conduct research on the issue of child soldiers and synthesize evidence from various types of texts to communicate why the U.S. should stop providing weapons to certain countries that recruit child soldiers.
ELP 7 Students must create a letter to a U.S. senator with a specific persuasive purpose and include a formal writing structure.
ELP 8 Students must be able to comprehend the vocabulary related to the issue of child soldiers to develop understanding of the content.
ELP 9 Students must be able to produce a letter to the editor around this issue that is clear and coherent.
ELP 10 Students should be able to write a letter to the editor using accurate standard English.
We would address and measure the following standards: ELP 4 – Construct grade-‐appropriate oral and written claims and support them with reasoning and evidence: The students have been working on persuasive language through various activities (e.g. propaganda posters), which have prepared them to make claims in their summative unit assessment. In order to effectively complete the unit assessment students must be able to effectively make claims about why the U.S. should stop providing weapons to certain countries, and support them with reasoning and evidence from the various texts they’ve seen.
ELP 5 – Conduct research and evaluate and communicate findings to answer questions or solve problems: In order to effectively understand the issue and provide a solution, students have to conduct research on child soldiers and synthesize those findings to provide a solution in the letter. ELP 7 – Adapt language choices to purpose, task, and audience when speaking and writing: Students must understand task, genre and purpose in order to make choices about language that will be effective in writing to a politician.
Understanding Language/SCALE, Stanford University
Using ELP Standards Level Descriptors (PLDs) to Interpret Student Work
Understanding Language/SCALE, Stanford University
October 2016
Task: Persuasive Letter to Congressman Grade Level: 9-12
Step 1 Examine the Identified ELP Standard(s) and Corresponding Level Descriptors
Consulting ELP Standards and Level Descriptors
Examine the identified ELP Standard(s) and corresponding level descriptors for the task
If there are many applicable standards, choose one or two that relate to your students’ areas of growth.
Notes: ELP Standards 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, & 10 were identified. Standards 4, 5, & 7 were deemed most relevant to the student’s writing. Standard 4 - Students must make and support claims about immigration legislation in a clear and coherent letter to a congressman. Standard 5 - Students must synthesize evidence from in-class readings to use in communicating their position on the legislation. Standard 7 - Students must write to a U.S. Congressman with a specific persuasive purpose using the formal writing structure of a business letter.
Step 2 Interpret Student Work Using the Standards Level Descriptors Using ELP Standards Level Descriptors as rubrics to interpret student work
Do the same standards apply when you examine your students’ output?
What level(s) most accurately describe your students’ work?
Remember that the interpretation only tells you the level of this specific piece of student work; your students’ levels might shift based on different tasks or learning objectives.
Identify patterns (similarities or differences) in your students’ work if you are interpreting multiple pieces.
Notes: Although some “research” is cited, it seems the focus of the teacher’s feedback is primarily on the persuasion and reasons behind the claim which is Standard 4. JG introduces the claim and provides logically ordered reasons and a conclusion, so the performance level is at least a 4. I don’t feel his writing is a 5, though, because he doesn’t address and refute a counter-claim. DG’s draft introduces the topic with (too much) information from the article rather than making a claim and supporting it. Finally, he states an opinion in the final
Understanding Language/SCALE, Stanford University
paragraph. Based on the information he has given previously, the opinion is somewhat surprising. While you could make a case for scoring this draft as a 2, I would give it a 1 primarily due to the lack of a clear claim, supporting reasons, and a conclusion.
Step 3 Identify strategies to support student needs Identifying instructional supports to improve student learning
Use the identified level (and perhaps the next level) to provide student with formative feedback.
Use the identified patterns in student work to plan for instructional adjustments.
Consult relevant state/district resources for suggested strategies.
Notes: JG is ready to work on counter-claims. Zwiers’ Pro-Con Improv or Argument & Evidence Scale might help him consider the counter-claim and how to address it. DG needs more support around the structure of a written argument including the introduction, clear statement of the claim, and then supporting reasons and a conclusion. An expanded outline (along the lines of the feedback provided by the teacher but with the help of some sentence frames) might be a good next step.
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