WRITING INSTRUCTION
Alternative Persuasive Essay
Rather than allow students to choose their own topic and position to argue in an essay, I created this assignment to require them to work on communication skills other than writing as they prepare to write this. Students begin by taking a survey of twenty questions asking for their positions on some of the most current controversial issues. Upon completion of the survey, students are then required to interview students who disagreed with them and take notes from the other person regarding that individual’s position. They are not allowed to give their own position during the interviews. After speaking to several individuals with whom they disagree, students then write the persuasive essay taking the position of those they’ve interviewed. In this way students work not only on the mechanics of their writing, they also improve their listening and thinking skills in the class and diversify the conversations and beliefs they hold.
Artifact: Alternative Persuasive Essay
Artifact: Alternative Persuasive Essay
Problem-Solution Essay
Given towards the end of a one semester Composition course, this assignment asks students to think about a real problem in our district, investigate the issue, and propose solutions based on their findings. In this case I offer the problem of assignment completion to students and ask them what steps the district should take in improving it. They are required to find, read, and summarize articles they find about the topic; interview a variety of sources; and collect surveys of their own creation from multiple freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. All proposed solutions must be evidence-based rather than mere opinion. This assignment provides real relevance to their research and writing while also creating improved ownership of the school environment in which they participate. I have often taken the best of these and offered them to administration to provide them a voice from the ground level.
Artifact: Problem Solution Essay
Artifact: Problem Solution Essay
Response to America Essay
Also from my Composition course, this artifact displays my efforts to incorporate more reading into the writing curriculum. Several of the texts I read during my graduate work indicate a need for students to improve their nonfiction reading skills, their knowledge of current events, and their cultural literacy. In my effort to provide those skills to students without abandoning the objectives of the Composition curriculum, I bring in articles from Time magazine and other sources for students to read and comment on through informal writing and in-class discussions. This assignment then asks them to take what they’ve read and written in response, organize it, and construct a formal essay using direct evidence from what they’ve read. The artifact I’ve included contains the paper’s requirements and an outline for their ideas.
This activity has opened my eyes; I was shocked by how little experience students have in reading periodicals and how little knowledge they have of the world around them. I came to realize that I am doing much more for them with this assignment than improving their writing - I am empowering them to be informed citizens who are better able to evaluate what they see and read.
Artifact: Response to America Essay
This activity has opened my eyes; I was shocked by how little experience students have in reading periodicals and how little knowledge they have of the world around them. I came to realize that I am doing much more for them with this assignment than improving their writing - I am empowering them to be informed citizens who are better able to evaluate what they see and read.
Artifact: Response to America Essay
Student Blog
I began writing my own blog three years ago, and I immediately began to embrace the idea of instant publication for a wide audience. Instead of writing only for myself, I found myself accountable to an audience. I wanted the same for my student writers; therefore, I required each of them to begin a blog and post a certain amount every week. I created a link to each of the students’ blogs on my classroom website and also required each student to read and comment on a certain number of posts from their classmates. I also publicized the existence of these blogs throughout our school and to their parents. All of a sudden students had a real voice and a real audience. Instead of writing for a grade from me, they knew their ideas and their writing quality would be seen by peers. Additionally, they came to understand a new purpose for writing and a new style that is less formal than an academic essay yet more formal than journaling.
The artifact I’ve included is a link to the blog of a student who continues to write well after her enrollment in this course. In fact, this year she received a scholarship from the University of Northern Iowa because of the blog. (Included with permission).
Artifact: Student blog
The artifact I’ve included is a link to the blog of a student who continues to write well after her enrollment in this course. In fact, this year she received a scholarship from the University of Northern Iowa because of the blog. (Included with permission).
Artifact: Student blog