With a Little (Writing) Help from Our Friends 1)The group focused on minimum writing requirements that could fit all disciplines. 2)The group decided that two of the three Common Core writing rubrics — Informative & Argument— were relevant to all disciplines. 3)Finding that minimum requirements depend upon length of writing assignment, the group divided requirements into shorter and longer assignments.

4)The group developed minimum requirements for shorter writing responses. 5)Beginning from those shorter paper minimums, the group identified aspects that could potentially become minimum requirements for longer writing assignments. 6) The group re-formatted the shorter writing assignment minimum requirements into a user-friendly checklist. 7) Finally, for the longer writing assignments elements, we eliminated elements that we felt are too vague or time-intensive.

During discussions we developed two school-wide writing tools: Grinnell High School Minimum Check List for Shorter Writing Assignments to be used for any assignment in which students are expected to express answers in complete sentences. Grinnell High School Suggested Minimums for Longer Writing Assignments teachers may choose to use these guidelines for assignments in which students are expected to: —construct multiple-paragraph assignments, generally longer than one page —complete an assessment that demonstrates knowledge of broad concepts

ELEMENTS OF THE “Shorter Writing Assignments” Minimum Check List Note to Students: In order for your assignment to be graded, you MUST exceed these standards. If your assignment does not exceed these standards, your work will be returned without a grade.

The FOUR CATEGORIES of Common Concern FOCUS: The response answers the question/addresses the prompt. SUPPORT: The response uses relevant content to support/elaborate on the answer. FORMAT: The response includes a heading at the top of the page with name, date, and assignment name. GRAMMAR: The response is written in standard English, without excessive proofreading errors.

FOCUS Example 1: Q: What were the causes of WWI? A: One of the causes of WWI was Archduke Ferdinand’s assassination. Example 2: Q: Provide several examples of common compounds that are formed through ionic bonding. A: Many compounds are formed through ionic bonding. For example….

SUPPORT Example of an ACCEPTABLE ANSWER: Q: It’s 10 p.m. and your parents tell you to go to bed because they saw a report on the news about a study proving that more sleep causes good grades. Using your knowledge of correlation, refute your parents’ argument. A: Although correlation describes a relationship between two variables, it does not prove causation…. (“relationship” and “causation” are vocabulary terms) Example of an UNACCEPTABLE ANSWER: A: I never go to bed before ten, and I get good grades.

FORMAT Include a heading at the top of the page with name, date, and assignment name. To be clear—for short responses, this need not be formal, MLA citation which would require (in the upper left hand corner): Jon Doughy Mr. Curmudgeon Basket Weaving August 2014 Instead, a student might simply include: Jon Doughy, pd 2, 8/18 Common Writing Minimums quiz

GRAMMAR Use proper punctuation, including periods at the end of sentences. Capitalize the first letter of the first word of sentences and proper nouns. Example of UNACCEPTABLE WORK: it says, like in the reading, i think… Spell words correctly. Example of UNACCEPTABLE WORK: There are many examples of “unaceptible” work. Write in complete sentences. Example of UNACCEPTABLE WORK: Which is the cause of World War II.

The form that the committee created includes blanks that the students can self-check as well as blanks for teachers to check: Student Teacher Check Check …additional department minimum requirements ______ ______ ?: ? …additional teacher minimum requirements ______ ______ ?: ? The form also provides space for departments to add requirements that they agree should be minimums for their discipline, as well as space for individual teachers to add requirements that they will expect before grading shorter responses.

FAQs During Our Discussions: Q: What were the problems we were trying to solve? A: Students are not spending sufficient time on their written homework assignments and teachers have asked for help with writing expectations. Q: How do the check list and other guidelines begin to solve these problems? A: Our standards require students to spend more time on their assignments because we will not accept or grade work that fails to reach the minimums.

Q: How will teachers know where to draw the line between acceptable work and unacceptable work? A: We will trust professional teachers to enforce the minimums as consistently as possible, while also using their best judgment for reasonable exceptions. Q: What do we do if these minimums increase the number of students who are not “succeeding” in our classes? A: Working together with administration, counselors, support staff, and parents—and by allowing students opportunities to meet minimums—we hope to shift expectations of “success” in writing to include basic standards of quality.

Q: How will implementing these standards affect the late homework policies of individual teachers? One teacher’s policy: “If you turn in a paper that fails to meet these requirements, your paper will be returned to you to fix. It will be counted late, with a 5 percent reduction per day, until you turn in a paper that meets or exceeds the minimum requirements.” Another teacher’s policy: “If you turn in a paper that fails to meet these requirements, your paper will be returned to you to fix. Take as long as you like to fix it, and whenever you submit it, you will still receive full credit of the grade it earns.” A: As with other late homework policies, teachers will need to establish a policy that works for them, their classes, and their students.

Q: Who should teachers ask if they have questions about these standards? A: The committee (Aaron Backlin, Dan Cavino, Sandra Faulkner, Kent Kastendick, Chris Molitor, Bill Rudolph), other English and social studies teachers, …???????? One new source of support: the English department will be staffing a Writing Lab in room 15 during periods 1 through 5. (e.g. Teachers might consider requiring students to take a certain paper to the writing lab as part of the minimum requirements for that writing assignment). Look for more information to follow from the English department.

Q: What is the plan for rolling out these minimum standards for short writings to our students? A: Mr. Seney will address this generally with students on the first day; seminar leaders will discuss it in more detail on August 27 (before goal setting); and all teachers will review the minimums when they present expectations for their first writing assignment. Q: Moving forward, how can we continue to develop common writing expectations (e.g. creating a minimums checklist for longer writing assignments)? A: THOUGHTS & SUGGESTIONS?