Grades 11 & 12
Language Arts
Writing
Standard 1

WRITING STRATEGIES.


 
Resources
Lesson Plans
Assessments
1.  Elements of Literature series, 3rd course

 a.  Elements of Literature Annotated Teacher's Edition

 b.  Elements of Literature Student Text

 c.  Language and Writing Skills Worksheets (grammar handouts)

 d.  Vocabulary Workshop (student worksheets)

 e.  Teaching Resources for literature collections, A and B

 f.  Integrated Performance Assessment

 g.  Portfolio Management System

 h.  Test Booklet

 i.  Videodisc Program (teacher's manual with worksheets)

 j.  Writer's Workshop (writing text)

 k.  Writer's Workshop Teacher's Manual (worksheets for planning writing)

 l.  Transparencies and Transparency Directory

 m.  Integrated Performance Assessment

 n.  Audiovisual Resources

 o.  Laser discs

 p.  Holt High School Handbook and Teacher's Guide

2.  Writing Helps: Masters for the SPJUSD Teacher

3.  Supplemental literature texts, specific to local site, to include: Hamlet, Jane Eyre, Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies, Ivanhoe, Pride and Prejudice, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol, Frankenstein, The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Inferno, PilgrimÕs Progress, The War of the Worlds

1.1  Use Writing Helps: Masters for the SPJUSD Teacher when teaching
various essay forms.  Lesson ideas in notebook.

1.2  Teach fiction terms during Jane Eyre unit: point of view, characterization,
irony, plot, conflict, setting, etc.

1.3  Essay topics:
  1.  Is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight an example of classic romantic
literature?
  2.  What roles do women serve in Beowulf?
  3.  Did Macbeth have to murder for the prophecy to have been fulfilled?
  4.  Is Hamlet sane or insane?
  5.  What choices does Jane Eyre have?  Which is the best?

1.4  Senior project oral presentation, incorporating graphic aids, multimedia 
(preparation in Government/Economics classes).

1.5  Rehearsing senior project (see 1.4 above).

1.6-1.8         Senior project teaching strategies for research papers covered in 
notebook, Writing Helps: Masters for the SPJUSD Teacher.  Field trip
to University of Nevada, Reno, library--instruction from college
librarians.  Computer skills taught in Keyboarding and Computer
classes.

1.9  Individual teacher-student conferences to edit/revise writing.

Previously Published Data

1.) Have students research and write a paper using a variety of sources, including electronic sources, library resources, interviews, etc. Students need to structure ideas and arguments in a persuasive way and support them with precise and relevant examples. They should use language in a natural, fresh, and vivid way. They should use their own voice rather than mimicking the source's style.

Example: As students read The Grapes of Wrath, have them note social issues that arise in the novel. Either during or after their reading, have students research and write about an issue. Possible topics: welfare, the plight of the farm worker, unemployment, ecology, organized religion, government policies, housing, etc. 

1. Pre write:

  • cluster or map sub topics related to the issue they are investigating
  • research using the Internet as well as library resources
  • write out interview questions before conducting the required interview
  • interview and tape at least one expert, such as a social worker

    •  

     

    2. Drafting: 
    Using information from the pre-writing activities, students write the first draft.

    3. Response:
    With a partner or in a group, students share first drafts. Peers comment on thesis, support, coherence, and precise use of language, using a response sheet provided by the teacher.

    4. Revision:
    Using peer suggestions from the response sheet, students write a second draft.

    5. Peer edit: 
    Students meet again with partner/ group and share second draft. This time peers assist with grammar, spelling, punctuation, and usage by using different colored pens to mark editing suggestions on the paper.

    6. Publication: 
    Taking editing suggestions from peers, students write final draft which is turned in to the teacher for a grade. It may be displayed on the bulletin board, included in a class anthology and/ or in the student's portfolio, or otherwise made public.

    1.  Elements of Literature Test Booklet

    2.  Lanugage and Writing Skills Worksheets

    3.  Vocabulary Workshop

    4.  Elements of Literature text questions and writing assignments

    5.  Teaching Resources A and B

    6.  Writing assignments in Writing Helps notebook

    7.  SPJUSD writing rubrics

    8.  English Workshop writing assignments

    Previously Published Data

    1.) All stages should be monitored to determine that students follow the writing process. The final draft/ assessment is the "published" paper. The teacher may choose to give separate grades for the process and for the final product/ paper. The final paper should have: 

  • A clear thesis
  • Precise and natural language
  • Evidence, including quotations, drawn from close reading and/ or from research 
  • Evidence of an interview with an expert
  • Evidence of use of appropriate use of appropriate technology
  • Appropriate use of standard English
  • Logical, coherent organization

    •  

     

    A suggested scoring guide for evaluating the final paper:

        Scores
    6 Clearly Demonstrates Competence in writing on both the rhetorical and syntactic levels, though it may have very occasional errors; basically, it's ready for publication. 

    A paper in this category:

  • Is well organized and well developed
  • Effectively addresses the writing task
  • Uses appropriate details to support a thesis or illustrate ideas
  • Shows unity, coherence, and progression
  • Displays a consistent facility in the use of language
  • Demonstrates syntactic variety and appropriate word choice

    •  

     

    5 Demonstrates Competence in writing on both the rhetorical and syntactic levels, though it will have occasional errors.

    A paper in this category:

  • Is generally well organized and well developed, though it may have fewer details than does a "6" paper 
  • May address some parts of the task more effectively than others
  • Shows unity, coherence, and progression
  • Demonstrates some syntactic variety and range of vocabulary
  • Displays facility in language, though it may have more errors than does a "6" paper

    •  

     

    4 Demonstrates Average Competence in writing on both the rhetorical and syntactic levels.

    A paper in this category:

  • Is adequately organized
  • Addresses the writing topic adequately but may slight parts of the task
  • Uses some details to support a thesis or illustrate ideas
  • Demonstrates adequate but undistinguished or inconsistent facility with syntax and usage
  • May contain some serious errors that occasionally obscure meaning

    •  

     

    3 Demonstrates Some Developing Competence in writing, but it remains flawed on either the rhetorical or syntactic level, or both. 

    A paper in this category may reveal one or more of the following weaknesses.

  • Inadequate organization or development
  • Failure to support or illustrate generalizations with appropriate or sufficient detail 
  • An accumulation of errors in sentence structure and/ or usage
  • A noticeably inappropriate choice of words or word forms

    •  

     

    2 Suggests Incompetence in writing.

    A paper in this category is seriously flawed by one or more of the following weaknesses:

  • Failure to organize or develop
  • Little or no detail, or irrelevant specifics
  • Serious and frequent errors in usage or sentence structure
  • Serious problems with focus

    •  

     

    1 Demonstrates Incompetence in writing.

    A paper in this category will contain serious and persistent writing errors, may be illogical or incoherent, or may reveal the writer's inability to comprehend the question/ topic. A paper that is Severely Underdeveloped also falls into this category.

    0 No Writing