Writing Across the Curriculum Brought to you by: Shaggy and Wonder Woman

Essential Questions Why is writing a critical component to student achievement? How can a K-12 educator integrate writing into his or her subject? In what ways can a K-12 educator assess writing across the curriculum?

Traditional Hurdles to WAC Fear of grading Limited assignments/tasks Time constraints “It’s not my job.”

Keys to Success Shared responsibility: not just the English teacher’s job Shared decision making  create accessibility, limit reaction Embed writing into every subject every day throughout the year; avoid artificial “writing days”

Research Says… WAC movement started in the 1980’s Students demonstrate higher levels of critical thinking when they make associations, comparisons, and connections Writing activities commonly used across the curriculum give students the opportunity to make those connections. (Walker, 1988; Self, 1989; Barr and Healy, 1988; Kurfiss, 1985; Steffens, 1988)

Research says… Students need time to reflect in order to fully assimilate and comprehend information. Reflection writing across the curriculum is essential to retention and application This kind of writing is a way into understanding through articulating. (Hamilton-Wieler, 1988)

Data says… Studies attest to the fact that writing improves higher-order reasoning abilities. Barr and Healy (1988) Pebblebrook improved eleven points in three years on the GHSWT as a result of a WAC initiative. (Penick, 2006)

Bottom Line: "Schools succeed when the emphasis, by both teachers and students, is on writing and thinking about relevant and significant ideas within the subject areas.” (Barr and Healy, 1988) Writing across the curriculum accepts writing, the need to develop it, and its role in learning as a function essential to thinking and communicating. Teachers at every level and in every subject must make writing a daily practice!

WAC-versus-WAD Writing across the Curriculum –Writing in all content areas in a given school using similar methods, assignments, and forms of assessment Writing across Discipline –Writing specifically for a given content area –Unique form, vocabulary, style, citations

Types of Writing Expressive Writing: learning logs, journals, exit summaries and peer dialogues allow the student to write in his/her own vocabulary without fear of being "corrected." Product Writing: more formal products-- essays, test question responses, and lab reports--most like what students have been taught to create in English class Both used across the curriculum !

Products advice columndialogueillustration autobiographydiaryinterview advertisementencyclopedia entryjob application announcementeulogyletter book jacketinformative essaymandala campaign speechnarrative essaymap w/ legend cartooncartoon or comic stripcomic strip persuasive essaymemory CD covereyewitness account menu character sketchgraph/chartmonologue collagegreeting cardmovie review descriptive paragraph grocery listnewspaper article

Easy Paths to Integration Assignments/Activities Methods of Assessment

RAFT R ole of the Writer - Who are you as the writer? Are you a Trojan warrior? A proton? An integer? The endangered bald eagle? A udience - To whom are you writing? Is your audience the American people? A friend? The nucleus? An equation? Readers of a newspaper? A local bank? F ormat - What form will the writing take? Is it a letter? An advertisement? A speech? A poem? A song? T opic + strong Verb - What's the subject or the point of this piece? Is it to persuade the jury to spare your life? To describe your relationship to electrons? To call for stricter logging laws?

Sample RAFTs Science Role: a planet Audience: readers of advertisements Format: personal ad Topic: describe self Geography Role: a canyon Audience: a plateau Format: a letter Topic: explain how you are formed PE Role: basketball Audience: an alien from Mars Format: instructions Topic: list the rules of the game Math Role: a ruler Audience: an ant Format: a poem Topic: explain purpose of measurement using millimeters WritingFix's R.A.F.T. Writing Assignment Builders: Create your Own RAFTS Prompts for Math Class.

Why RAFT Works Integrates reading and writing in a non-traditional way Asks that students take what they have read and create a new product that illustrates their depth of understanding Incredibly flexible and offers limitless opportunities for creativity for both you and your students Easy differentiation; teachers can develop any number of possible RAFTs based on the same text that can be adjusted for skill level and rigor.

More Strategies Composition Cubing : have students consider a subject from six different angles. Students describe, compare, associate, analyze, apply and argue for or against a topic of your choosing. Students learn to examine a topic from a variety of perspectives.

Example of Compo-Cube The Character of Achilles from The Iliad Describe him Compare Achilles to Trojan heroes Associate him to Greek values Analyze his motivations for war Apply our contemporary definition of hero Argue for or against his decision to leave

More Strategies Visualization: provide students with a visual prompt--an illustration, a slide, transparency, snapshot, etc. Students compose narrative, descriptive, persuasive, or expository responses to the visual text. Great exercises across the curriculum to reinforce voice, form, vocabulary, and style.

Sample Activity Write a diary entry for this girl’s life today.

Open Prompts and Timed Writing Standardized Writing Assessments: –Third Grade –Fifth Grade –Eighth Grade –GHSWT –SAT Essay In order to scaffold successfully, we MUST incorporate timed prompts at every level!

Format of Prompts Sentence 1: generalization about a particular subject Sentence 2: a question that leads students to have a response to the topic mentioned in the first sentence Sentence 3: the directive with specific instructions for the task

Sample Prompt Think about a club, sport, or activity you’ve enjoyed at school. What would you say to other students to persuade them to join? Write a speech to deliver to incoming freshmen urging them to participate in one or more extra-curricular activities.

Make Assessment EASY Checklists and Rubrics Begin with a checklist for students. The checklist then becomes the rubric. No surprises for anyone involved! Teacher provides clear expectations, and a grade is based on how well product meets those expectations

This is an example of a First Grade WAC checklist. ***H Dental Care The learner will be able to recognize practices for proper dental hygiene. Application level It can be used as a formative grade if point value is given to the yes and no. Work smarter, not harder!

The checklist for students becomes the basis of the grading rubric. No surprises and better quality of writing within the end product. This would be considered a summative grade.

More with Assessment Easy/Fast Methods for All Content Areas Door passes Journals Student logs Examples would include: How can I apply what I learned to another subject? I used to think…but now I know… What might happen differently if… (The High Performance Toolbox, Appendix 1 (pp ) 2003 Peak Learning Systems)

Other Quick and Easy Methods of Assessment Don’t grade every single assignment Grade part of an assignment Grade only one or two elements Use Highlighters to identify areas of strength and growth

Connections 6+1 – Standardized Writing Assessments – – LFS Writing Components

Wrap Up Why is writing valuable for every content area and every level? How can a K-12 educator integrate writing and assessment into his or her classroom? How well can you recreate the magic that Shaggy and Wonder Woman displayed today?

Writing Assignment When did you have the most fun in your life?