DESIGNING EFFECTIVE ASSIGNMENTS FOUR ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS

OFFER A VARIETY OF TYPES OF ASSIGNMENTS THAT : Practice and promote different skills Offer various levels of feedback Rotate between high and low stakes writing

Use smaller, more frequent assignments to build up to larger ones. USE SCAFFOLDING IN YOUR SYLLABUS

BE CLEAR AND PRECISE Write prompts with action verbs that accurately describe the task you want the student to accomplish Avoid asking questions in your prompts. Often, students feel as though they have to answer questions and not respond to the task

ALLOW A LITTLE ROOM FOR CREATIVITY Prompts should be specific, but not so specific they do the student’s thinking. Avoid long, rambling prompts that offer a ton of context or historical information.

WAC PRINCIPLES AND YOUR ASSIGNMENTS We believe that writing facilitates thinking. Using short, frequent writing assignments allows students to internalize the content of their writing and encourages them to make the class material their own.

OFFER A VARIETY OF ASSIGNMENTS Freewrites Personal experience/journal entriesAbstract of paper, proposals In-Class PresentationsThought responses

Scaffolding Assignments Assign Reading 1 Journal entry/blog 2 Freewrite 3

SCAFFOLDING ASSIGNMENTS Collect thesis statement 4 First draft 5 Final draft 6

BE CLEAR AND PRECISE Do not assume your students know the format of the paper you are asking for. Provide handouts, instructions, and the mechanics of how to write and organize their assignment. For example, if you are asking for a critical analysis, provide a handout as to what that mean. (See your packet for possible handouts.)

BE CLEAR AND PRECISE Action verbs Little context Advise section Logistics

LEAVE A LITTLE FREEDOM FOR CREATIVITY Give several options to which students can respond Let them choose to write about a theme they are interested in – contingent upon pre-approval Ask them to come up with their own thesis Avoid over-contextualizing the assignment prompts