Kali Oldacre

Dr. Hartman
Teaching of Writing
26 April 2015
WAD Revise/Reflect
Critical Reflection/Ideas about the Assignment:
I thoroughly enjoyed this assignment. Although I have created numerous writing
assignments, it required me to really think about the process of creating a writing
assignment, how to assess it, and the experience overall on my students. After
learning about the different pedagogies this semester and ideas such as process,
new media, multimodality, assessment etc. it was really helpful to begin putting
some of these new concepts into practice in a really tangible way. While there
were frustrating elements in having to rethink what I have done so far in teaching,
there are tools and strategies that I have learned that will influence the way that I
think about writing for the rest of my educational career (and hopefully beyond
that). I cant go back to the way that I did things before, and this is a really good
outcome, both for my students and me. The WAD really helped to remind me of
the importance of writing and the value of teaching writing well. I listed below
some specific reflections that I had about the assignment and ways I would like
to attempt to change aspects for the future.
My students seemed to really struggle to focus during the W2L (Writing-toLearn) activities. They really wanted lots of specific direction. Next time I
do this assignment I plan to type up some specific activities with
instructions and just hand them out. Maybe I will play some music while
they work to help with the chill factor .
I noted that the extra time spent on developing ideas was really good.
Students really started thinking about their ideas in ways that they hadnt
before. They tested out ideas and their final ideas were much more
developed.
Next time I do this I might spread out my W2L activities during the process
work and give less class time to work on the product. Instead of giving
them two full days on product, I might give another day on drafting and
only one day on the final product.
I noticed that students still want to stick with a 5PE (Five-Paragraph
Essay) model when given an option. I encouraged students to expand on
this, but some of them just want to stick with what is comfortable or they
like to do the most limited amount of work possible. Next year, I am
hoping to give students the options of very specific formats to try and not
give them the option of the 5PE for this assignment. I also plan to take
time to model some of these possibilities. I found that those that stuck
with the 5PE tended to limit themselves for the most part.
I decided to add a reflection letter the day that the students submitted their
final project as a separate class work grade. Next time, I think I will
include this as a specific part of the actual project grade, included on the
rubric, etc.

Next year when I assess this project, I really would like to give verbal,
audio feedback on each project. I think this would be really helpful for
students, and they would enjoy it. With this, I could comment on all of the
aspects that make up a multimodal type project. If they do voiceovers, I
will have to think carefully about how to add my commentary though.
I really loved the reflection letters. They were so much fun to read, and I
learned so much about my students and gained some great perspective
on some of their enigmatic 7th grade behaviors.

Rationale/Overview (Also given on student handout):

One goal of this class is to become more comfortable with writing, through
continued practice, while using a variety of formats and styles. Throughout the
year we have focused on different elements of the writing process, particularly as
it relates to formal or academic writing. These types of writing help us begin to
organize our thoughts about particular topics, as well as learn to communicate
those ideas thoughtfully and clearly. We often spend time writing about literature
to help illuminate our own responses to the works we cover and thus to
appreciate them more fully.
This culminating assignment for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde will be used to
help us focus on the process of writing, particularly as we think about the variety
of themes applicable to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This assignment will highlight
the skills in writing that you have already developed, as well as show the
importance of the progression of writing and writing-to-learn in different ways
than some of the more formal types of assignments that we have already done.
The hope is that you will begin to be more confident as writers as you view the
efforts of the process to identify and explore thematic content, and how that helps
you to express those ideas clearly in your final product.
Context:
The initial exploratory writing workshops will take place over the course of
a week, meeting four times a week for 50-minute time periods on a rotating
schedule. Students will have an additional two days in the following week of
class of work time to write their finalized pieces, as well as receive valuable
feedback on their process from both myself and peers.
7th grade students will be composing their work after having just completed
their reading of the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Students have
written many structured assignments and already have a good working
knowledge of how to organize and compose an essay. This will be an
introduction into different types of writing, giving the students the option to move
from a typical five-paragraph essay into other forms of composition.

Goals/Objectives/Standards:
State Standards (North Carolina Department of Education):
Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over
the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how
setting shapes the characters or plot).
Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using
accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic
or text.
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas,
concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of
relevant content.
Personal Goals:
Use the text to support ideas about theme.
State claims about the theme clearly in writing
Use writing-to-learn activities to explore the development of thematic content
in the novel.
Participate fully in process work and thus explore its role in developing writing
skills.
Create a polished piece that shows the evidence of process explorations.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Writing Assignment (Handout)

Purpose:
One goal of this class is to become more comfortable with writing, through
continued practice, while using a variety of formats and styles. Throughout the
year we have focused on different elements of the writing process, particularly as
it relates to formal or academic writing. These types of writing help us begin to
organize our thoughts about particular topics, as well as learn to communicate
those ideas thoughtfully and clearly. We often spend time writing about literature
to help illuminate our own responses to the works we cover and thus to
appreciate them more fully.
This culminating assignment for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde will be used to
help us focus on the process of writing, particularly as we think about the variety
of themes applicable to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This assignment will highlight
the skills in writing that you have already developed, as well as show the
importance of the progression of writing and writing-to-learn in different ways
than some of the more formal types of assignments that we have already done.
The hope is that you will begin to be more confident as writers as you view the
efforts of the process to identify and explore thematic content, and how that helps
you to express those ideas clearly in your final product.
We will spend just over a week, looking at the different themes,
brainstorming about their validity, exploring our own opinions about them, and
organizing our thoughts in reference to the development of the theme over the
course of the novel. This will not be a summary, but rather a discussion of
how a particular theme progresses throughout the novel using key
examples from the text.
Goals/Objectives for Lesson:
Use the text (novel) to support your ideas about theme.
State your claims about the theme clearly in writing.
Use writing to learn activities to explore the development of thematic content
in the novel.
Participate fully in process work and thus explore its role in developing writing
skills.
Create a polished piece that shows the evidence of process explorations
revisions.
Expectations/Guidelines:
Please follow the Basic Writing Rules that we have worked on throughout the
year, particularly as you revise your final product. The final piece will not be
presented in the typical report/essay structure but should include a cohesive
organization with a beginning, middle, and end. Your thesis/argument, related to
one particular theme, should be either stated or implied clearly throughout. All
parts of your process work will be turned in and assessed, and this work
combined with your final project is worth a test grade for this unit.

Theme Options:
Consideration of human nature
The effects of addiction
Reason/Science v. the Supernatural
Dual Nature or Split Personality
Limits of Scientific Experimentation
The Effects of Society on the Individual
Timeline:
WEEK ONE:
Days One & Two: Theme Introduction Workshop
Each theme possibility will be introduced one at a time. After each
introduction, you will break up into groups and discuss whether or not you
think that this is a suitable theme for the novel, and reasons why/why not?
Each student should be writing during these times of discussion. All notes
will be turned in at the completion of the project.
The last ten-fifteen minutes of each class will be used in personal
reflection for students to begin to think about their possible themes using
free writing.
Homework: Continue reflection/brainstorming. Both evenings you will
choose one theme that you are most interested in.
Day Three: Choosing a Theme
You will spend the beginning of class discussing your notes so far with a
partner.
You must then choose one theme to focus your efforts on, and begin
exploring the text on your own.
Choose five or six good examples from the text that show the
development of that theme and record them.
Homework: Using the double-column strategy students will write about
each text example.
Day Four: Exploring the Theme
Using various writing to learn strategies (mapping, drawing, timelines, etc.)
students will explore the development of the theme and make any
changes to text examples chosen. This is where I plan to give very
specific, written instruction in how to focus their efforts.
We will discuss the possible ways to report your findings (Essay/Report;
Screencast/PowerPoint). This is where I would spend time modeling
different ways to present their findings.
Homework: Decide how you are going to write your final piece. Begin
working on a skeleton outline (or other model) of your final piece.

WEEK TWO:
Days One and Two:
You will have class time to work on your final writing.
This will be individual work time, but there will be opportunities to receive
feedback from both your peers and myself in editing/revising your work.
On one of these days I plan to give more tools to help students think about
their process from new and different angles. Students seemed to need
some inspiration when we arrived at this point in their work.
Homework: Final piece will be due when you come to class on Day Three.
You will submit the final draft online in class. All hand written work should
be neatly compiled and handed in.
You will also submit a Reflection Letter as a separate class work grade to
reflect on the writing process.

Assigning Phase: Notes in green are additional comments I made about the
actual assigning phase.
WEEK ONE:
Days One & Two: Theme Introduction Workshop
Each theme possibility will be introduced one at a time. After each
introduction, you will break up into groups and discuss whether or not you
think that this is a suitable theme for the novel, and reasons why/why not?
When I assigned this part of the lesson, I encouraged students to express
their opinions clearly with good support to back up their opinions. (More
than a simple yes or no/ good or bad). Students were also instructed to
take notes while other group members were speaking.
Each student should be writing during these times of discussion. All notes
will be turned in at the completion of the project.
The last ten-fifteen minutes of each class will be used in personal
reflection for students to begin to think about their possible themes using
free writing. This really ended up being more like five minutes because the
other discussions were so valuable, but I asked students to use another
colored pen to annotate the notes that they had taken, signally important
concepts or ideas that they would like to take further.
Homework: Continue reflection/brainstorming. Both evenings you will
choose one theme that you are most interested in. Students continued
this note annotation process for homework both nights to narrow their
ideas.
Day Three: Choosing a Theme
You will spend the beginning of class discussing your notes so far with a
partner. I told students that this would allow them one last moment to
receive the thoughts and feedback of others, but in a more one-on-one
setting.
You must then choose one theme to focus your efforts on, and begin
exploring the text on your own.
Choose five or six good examples from the text that show the
development of that theme and record them. I instructed students to look
for quotations that might help them to support their ideas about the
development of their particular theme and to record them. They were
encouraged to look back at their chapter notes to find particular chapters,
etc.
Homework: Using the double-column strategy students will write about
each text example. I modeled this on the board for a particular quote from
the novel and had them practice before leaving class to do this on their
own.
Day Four: Exploring the Theme

Using various writing to learn strategies (mapping, drawing, timelines, etc.)

students will explore the development of the theme and make any
changes to text examples chosen. We did two writing-to-learn activities:
freewriting and a timeline. The students were given a solid ten minutes to
write about anything related to their topic. They were not allowed to stop
writing. Then they were asked to create a timeline of the events that they
chose as their text examples, plus any other important events. I allowed
students to use markers, crayons, colored pencils to create their timeline.
We will discuss the possible ways to report your findings (Essay/Report;
Screencast/PowerPoint).
Homework: Decide how you are going to write your final piece. Begin
working on a skeleton outline (or other model) of your final piece.

WEEK TWO:
Days One and Two:
You will have class time to work on your final writing.
This will be individual work time, but there will be opportunities to receive
feedback from both your peers and myself in editing/revising your work.
Students were told to work independently on the first day. I was available
to help students work through their ideas. On day two, students
participated in peer feedback, by swapping papers and providing
commentary.
Homework: Final piece will be due when you come to class on Day Three.
You will submit the final draft online in class. All hand written work should
be neatly compiled and handed in.
You will also submit a Reflection Letter as a separate class work grade to
reflect on the writing process. The students did a great job with this, and it
was really helpful for me to hear their thoughts about the assignment
accurately.

Rubric for Assessment:

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Writing Assignment Rubric

Rubric Criteria
Use of textual
examples to
support ideas is
both thorough and
effective. (Goal
One)

The argument/
chosen theme is
evident throughout
the work. (Goal
Two)

Process work
evidences
following
directions and
thoughtful
exploration of
ideas in theme.
(Goal Three)

Cohesive writing
shows an
identifiable
beginning, middle,
and end resulting
from process
work. (Goal Four)

Exceeds
Expectations

Meets
Expectations

Below
Expectations

Content Missing

The Basic Writing

Rules have been
followed and there
are no glaring
spelling or typing
errors. Careful
revision is evident.
**(Goal Five)
**Next year, if I go to a less traditional route for everyone, I would edit the
final category to include more elements of design choices, etc. If not, I will
edit it to include both possibilities or add an additional category.
Assessment Notes:
Students had a variety of options in submitting their final writing
assignments; therefore, assessing them equitably was a little bit more
difficult than I anticipated.
I used the rubric above to assess each students work, making comments
on each goal/criteria on the rubric. Students who exceeded expectations
in all five goals/categories received an A grade, students who met
expectations in each category received a B grade, students who were
below expectations in each category received a C grade. Any mixture
in categories resulted in a grade somewhere in between. Note: At my
school anything below a 70 is an F.
Students who submitted a traditional essay did receive more feedback on
their writing itself, as it was easier to comment on the essay. I used
Notability (an iPad app) to write comments with a stylus on students
papers. I have used this in the past, and it works pretty well when my
comments are somewhat limited. This App also has the capability of voice
comments, and I wanted to try that out. However, as I could not do that
with the less traditional projects, I did not want to just do this with some of
them. I hope to try this on the next traditional writing assignment.
Students who submitted other types of writing assignments (PowerPoints,
iMovies, Shadow Puppets, etc.) were not able to have commentary
directly on the work itself, but I offered feedback about their writing on their
rubric.

Student Samples:

See my professional website at this link

http://ohfortheloveofwords.weebly.com/ for students process work,
writing assignments, reflection letters, and assessment.