Writing+Strategies+and+Assignments

==== Writing is thinking on paper, in text form. Writing enables us to find out what we know and what we don't know about whatever it is we are learning. When we help students to write and revise, we are helping them to create and refine meaning for themselves, to make connections and to see patterns that are at the heart of sophistocated thought. ====
 * ** Writing is the litmus paper of thought...the very center of schooling. ** --Ted Sizer
 * ** Writing aids in cognitive development to such an extent that the upper reachers of [|Bloom's Taxonomy] could not be reached without the use of some form of writing. ** --Bonnie Kuhrt and Pamela Farris
 * ** If students are to make knowledge of their own, they must struggle with the details, wrestle with the facts, and rework raw information and dimly understood concepts into language they can communicate to someone else. In short, if students are to learn, they must write. ** -- National Commission on Writing, 2003
 * ** American education will never realize its potential as an engine of opportunity and economic growth until a writing revolution puts the power of language and communication in their proper place in the classroom. Writing is how students connect the dots in their knowlege. ** --National Commission on Writing, 2003

But enough with the rhetoric, already! Here are **some great resources and links** for writing instruction and assessment to use in your classroom :
[|Writing Ideas] [|Writing Pdfs] [|Writing Instruction] [|Integrated Writing Instruction] [|2 Writing Teachers]

General Secondary Writing Strategies
based on the work of [|Mary Ellen Ledbetter]

High School Writing Assignments
(developed by me and used in my own classroom experience)

for The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare for "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson for Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose a parallel Task III (controlling idea) Regents Essay scaffolded assignment

Grades 7/8 Writing Assignments
(developed by me and used in my own classroom experience)

Drop Everything and Read Essays based on student selected novels for Call of the Wild by Jack London Call of the Wild Project Call of the Wild Project Rubric Holocaust Persuasavie Essay using The Diary of Anne Frank for The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton What is A Friend? 3-5 page paper citing The Outsiders for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain from The Winter of Red Snow a revolutionary war diary

Portfolio Writing and Step Up to Writing Resources (Middle School)
(developed/adapted by me and used in my own classroom experience)



In regards to portfolio assessement, in my practice, I required that students maintain a two-pocket folder with a three-ring tab. In the three-ring tab, students kept the strategies and handouts regarding introductions, conclusions, transitions, etc. and in the left side kept drafts, while on the right kept final copies for assessment.

Please feel free to use and share any assignments and strategies that are attached to this page. I hope they help you in your classroom practice.