Debra Gillis Interdisciplinary Writing Unit READ 7140 Maymester 2008

Grade: 3 rd Genre: Expository Content area: Science

Georgia Grade 3 Writing Assessment Covers four genres of writing – Narrative – Informational – Persuasive – Response to literature Teaching the four genres – No correct order – Can be taught after different times throughout the semester – School systems should develop a plan for teaching the genres and writing process

Georgia Grade 3 Writing Assessment Teaching the writing process – Needs to be taught to 3 rd graders throughout the year – For each genre, the teacher should model the steps of the writing process Teacher provides assistance and conferences at each step – Writing samples produced with teacher assistance are appropriate for instruction but cannot be use for assessment samples.

Georgia Grade 3 Writing Assessment Assessment Sample – Piece of writing the teacher selects for the Grade 3 writing assessment One assessment sample per genre for each student – demonstrates what students have learned to apply, independently, about the writing process – Assessments will be passed on to the grade 4 teacher for instructional planning.

Georgia Grade 3 Writing Assessment Scoring – Analytic scoring guide More than one feature or domain of a paper is evaluated 4 domains being assessed: ideas, organization, style, and conventions – Holistic scoring guide Each domain is scored holistically. – Accurate scoring requires balancing a writer’s strengths and areas of challenge.

Content Area GPS S3L1 Students will investigate the habitats of different organisms and the dependence of organisms on their habitat. b. Identify features of green plants that allow them to live and thrive in different regions of Georgia. c. Identify features of animals that allow them to live and thrive in different regions of Georgia. d. Explain what will happen to an organism if the habitat is changed.

Expository Writing “informational writing” Factual writing to… explain describe inform define instruct Commonly used patterns: description, sequence, comparison, cause and effect, and problem/solution USES: brochures, reports, newspaper articles, ABC books, etc.

Prewriting “planning stage” Think and plan before writing Topic: Animals/plants of the Okefenokee Swamp Audience: peers/teacher Form: ABC book: each child will complete one page on a specific letter. Purpose: to inform Gather information about topic

Grouping Arrangements Whole group: – new content – instructions – modeling/practice Scaffolding, zone of proximal development, time-on-task, save time Individually: – assessment activity See/assess each individuals abilities/needs

Prewriting Instructional Procedures Practice Activity: – Shared writing to fill out graphic organizer. – View to gather additional information as a classwww.nationalgeographic.com Assessment Activity: – Students will view website above to gather information on their topic – Students will fill out graphic organizer on their topic

Accommodations/ Modifications Developmental: – Students with IEP Additional time Modified graphic organizer/rubric with fewer requirements – Gifted students Complete assignment on two topics Cultural: – View websites about Okefenokee swamp and its animals/plants – Extra modeling Linguistic: – Extra modeling – Word processor

Prewriting Graphic Organizer

Modified Prewriting Graphic Organizer

Prewriting Rubric

Modified Prewriting Rubric

Drafting Main focus: getting ideas down on paper Do not worry about – Spelling – Capitalization – Other mechanical errors Use sentence format Label paper as “rough draft” Skip lines

Drafting Instructional Procedures Practice Activity: – Interactive writing Decide, as a class, what information needs to be in on page use the shared pen to turn ideas into sentences Assessment Activity: – Write rough draft Take information from graphic organizer and put it into sentence structure.

Accommodations/Modifications Cultural/linguistic: – If the student is having a hard time understanding my speaking, a translator can come in to help. – Can use dictionaries if their peers cannot help them better understand how to spell and enunciate a word. – An online English-Spanish translator can also be used when needed.

Drafting Checklist

Modified Drafting Checklist

Drafting Rubric

Modified Drafting Rubric

Revising Students… – reread their own writing – share their writing in writing groups – make changes in their compositions to reflect the reactions and comments of both teacher and classmates As they revise, students may add words, substitute sentences, delete paragraphs, and move phrases

Grouping Arrangements Writing groups – groups of three – Read/listen to each other’s compositions – Make suggestions/give comments *Writing groups provide a scaffold in which teachers and classmates talk about plans and strategies for writing and revising (Tompkins, 2005, page 136).” “Writers groups offer the writers choices, provide the writer with group members responses, feelings, and thoughts, show different possibilities in revising, and speed up revising (Tompkins, 2005, page 136).”

Revising Instructional Procedures Practice Activity: – Interactive writing Using shared pen: add, remove, rearrange, and replace words/sentences in group rough draft Assessment Activity: – Writing groups Read/listen to each other’s compositions Offer suggestions and give comments Writer will ask peer questions. – Make changes to rough draft based on writing group feedback

Accommodations/Modifications Cultural: – Students will have proofreader’s marks sheet – Additional modeling/practice

Editing Students proofread their own compositions looking for and changing mechanical errors Students pair up to peer edit – proofread classmates’ compositions Students increasingly identify and correct their own mechanical errors

Grouping Arrangements Peer editing groups – assigned peer editing groups and read/listen to each other’s compositions. – make suggestions as the writer notes the suggestions. – make additional changes to their own composition based on the feedback of their peers. – Use checklist *provides a scaffold in which classmates talk about plans and changes for writing and editing *helps students get advice from peers

Editing Instructional Procedures Practice Activity: – Interactive Writing Students will come to the board and correct mechanical errors, using the shared pen. Assessment Activity: – proofread own compositions finding and changing errors using the proofreaders’ marks – get into their assigned peer editing groups and read/listen to each other’s compositions. – make additional changes to their own composition based on the feedback of their peers

Publishing Students make the final copy of their writing – often using word processing Students publish their writing in an appropriate form Students share their finished writing with an appropriate audience – Read from author’s chair Make books

Publishing Instructional Procedures Practice Activity: – Shared writing Students will tell me what to write to create the final copy of the page over the bobcat. I will practice reading from the author’s chair Assessment Activity: – Write final copy Correcting errors found during revising/editing stages find and attach picture of animal/plant – read from author’s chair – We will later combine everyone's pages to create one book

Accommodations/Modifications Cultural/linguistic: – student can tape record themselves reading their composition and let the class listen to it during time to read from the Author’s Chair