Get A Clue

Get a Clue: Thinking Through Analytical Writing Amanda Goss Guyer High School North Star Writing Project Summer 2008

Analytical Writing Academic Writing, Expository Writing… “ When you analyze something, you take it apart and find out what’s inside, how it works, what its purpose and meaning are. Your writing is analytical when you analyze the subject matter for your reader – pre-digesting it, if you will.” “ What Exactly is Analytical Writing” T.M Georges, 1996 Reading/Understanding/Critical Thinking Supporting Your Ideas and Explaining Your Thinking in Writing

In Response To… TAKS Open-Ended Questions Poor Research Papers 5 – Paragraph Essays Persuasive Papers with No Argument Reviews with No Opinions Inability to Incorporate Textual Evidence Lack of College Readiness

On Writing… “ A great deal of the bad writing we see is the product of bad assignments.” “ Writing is not thinking written down after the thinking is completed. Writing is thinking.” “ Teach Writing Your Way” Donald M. Murray

On Academic Literacy… “ Learning to read at early grade levels will not automatically translate into higher level academic literacy” “… make explicit the tacit reasoning processes, strategies, and discourse rules that shape successful readers’ and writers’ work.” “ Apprenticing Adolescent Readers to Academic Literacy”

Reading Strategy X-Marks the Spot What does the story make you think of? Have you had any similar experiences? What do you think is going to happen next? FIGURE IT OUT WITH: Dictionary Context Clues Parts of the Word Plot Events Info about Characters Info about Setting Key Words Theme Statements ! Something Interesting ? Something You Don’t Understand X Important Information

TAKS Open-Ended Question The TAKS open-ended items are three questions that require the student to write a brief response to the literary and expository selections as well as a cross-over response that shows the relationship between the two. Students need to know that the validity of their answers , together with the applicability of their chosen support , must be their focus when responding to an open-ended item. Any prescribed formula or pattern of sentences just obscures the true intent of these open-ended items . 10B: “Reading/literary response. The student expresses and supports responses to various types of texts. The student is expected to use elements of text to defend, clarify, and negotiate responses and interpretations”

TEKS 1 Writing/purposes. Student writes for a variety of purposes (B) write in a voice and style appropriate to audience and purpose ; (C) organize ideas in writing to ensure coherence , logical progression , and support for ideas . 4 Writing/inquiry/research. Students uses writing as a tool for learning (A) use writing to formulate questions, refine topics, and clarify ideas ; (B) use writing to discover, organize, and support what is known and what needs to be learned about a topic; (C) compile information from primary and secondary sources in systematic ways using available technology; (F) compile written ideas and representations into reports, summaries, or other formats and draw conclusions;

TEKS 9 th Grade 1 (A) write in a variety of forms using effective word choice, structure, and sentence forms with emphasis on organizing logical arguments with clearly related definitions, theses, and evidence ; write persuasively; write to report and describe; and write poems, plays, and stories; 10 th Grade 1 (A) write in a variety of forms with an emphasis on persuasive forms such as logical argument and expression of opinion , personal forms such as response to literature, reflective essay, and autobiographical narrative, and literary forms such as poems, plays, and stories; 11 th Grade 4 (E) use a manual of style such as Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), and The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) 12 th Grade 1 (E) employ precise language to communicate ideas clearly and concisely ; 4 (F) link related information and ideas from a variety of sources ;

Open-Ended Question… Answer in your writer’s notebook in no more than six lines… What has Mitch learned from Morrie Schwartz? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

On Analytical Writing… “If the curriculum and the test are virtually the same, teaching to the test is inevitable and desired…The classic problem in teaching to the test is that students are learning only the test item and not the concept, process, or idea that lies behind it.” Deciding What to Teach and Test Fenwick English, 2000

Writing Strategies APE = A nswer, P roof, E xplain ABC = Answer, Back up your answer, Connect the quote to the answer PLEASE = Pick a Topic, List Ideas, Evaluate Ideas, Activate with a Topic Sentence, Support Sentences, Ending Sentence/Evaluate Jane Shaffer = Topic Sentence, Concrete Detail, Commentary, Concluding Sentence

On Discussion-Based Approaches… “ A variety of investigators have argued that high-quality discussion and exploration of ideas – not just the presentation of high-quality content by the teacher or text – are central to the developing understandings of readers and writers” Arthur N. Applebee and Judith A. Langer

Clues to Remember the Thinking Process Write in Complete Sentences Explain Your Quote and Answer Incorporate the Quote Use a Quote From the Story Write a Topic Sentence Writing Know how to edit and revise S entences Know how the evidence connects to the answer E xplain Know why Evidence is important U nderstanding Why Know where to pull textual evidence L ook for Evidence Know your opinion, Know the Answer C laim Thinking

Claim Claim, Thesis, Topic Sentence, Main Idea What do I think about a given topic? What do I have to say about a topic? What do I believe or know to be true?

Open-Ended Response As Mitch listens to Morrie , he realizes how unsatisfied he is with the choices he has made in his life. Morrie explains, “I may be dying, but I am surrounded by loving, caring souls. How many people can say that?” Mitch has a career and a big paycheck, but it seems he has lost sight of what matters most.

Look for Evidence Evidence, Support, Proof, Quotes, What is evidence? Where do I find it? How do I quote? How do I paraphrase? I can use sentences for my quotes other than the ones in quotation marks in the text?

Open-Ended Response As Mitch listens to Morrie , he realizes that he is unsatisfied with his life. Morrie explains, “I may be dying, but I am surrounded by loving, caring souls. How many people can say that?” Mitch has a career and a big paycheck, but it seems he has lost sight of what matters most.

Understand Why? Why Use THIS Textual Evidence? Does the evidence prove your claim? How does it fit with your response? If the evidence doesn’t help your claim… Go Back and Change Your Claim Keep Looking for Different Evidence

Open-Ended Response As Mitch listens to Morrie , he realizes that he is unsatisfied with his life. Mitch keeps repeating, “what happened to me?” which shows how unsettled he is about the way his life has turned out. Mitch has a career and a big paycheck, but it seems he has lost sight of what matters most.

Explain Explain, Commentary, Analysis What do I understand better as a result of looking at this evidence? What does my reader need to know to understand why I used this evidence? What can I say to explain how my evidence supports my claim?

Sentences Topic Sentence Evidence Sentence Explanation Sentence “ Recently sentence combining was listed as one of the ten strategies that make a difference in student writing (Graham and Perin 2006). Without explicit teaching of the possibilities, there is only correction and frustration, for both the student and teacher. With focused teaching on sentence work, students improve.” Write Beside Them Penny Kittle

Open-Ended Response As Mitch listens to Morrie, he realizes that he is unsatisfied with his life. Morrie explains , “ I may be dying, but I am surrounded by loving, caring souls. How many people can say that?” Mitch has a career and a big paycheck , but it seems he has lost sight of what matters most.

On Analytical Writing… “ Children are frequently asked to take a position on some topic and defend it in writing. The power of this defense depends in large part on the quality of evidence they offer to support their premise. They often fail to let the reader know their position, refute evidence for the other side, or provide a concluding statement.” Writing Better Steve Graham and Karen R. Harris

On Analytical Writing “ For English teachers who have been well trained in the practice of writing the five-paragraph theme essay it can be very difficult to let students choose their own texts , find their own thesis , develop their own arguments , and explain their own evidence .” Thinking Through Genre Heather Lattimer

On Analytical Writing… The survey reveals that good writing is taken as a given in today’s professional work. Writing is a “threshold skill” for salaried employment and promotion. It is particularly important in services and in finance, insurance, and real estate (FIRE), growing employment sectors that are likely to generate the most new jobs in the coming decade. In a nutshell, the survey confirms our conviction that individual opportunity in the United States depends critically on the ability to present one’s thoughts coherently, cogently, and persuasively on paper. Bob Kerrey National Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools, and Colleges.

Thinking Through Analytical Writing in All Grades… Pictures with Quotes Using Textual Evidence in all Content Areas Building Choice into Assignments – Multigenre Research

References Albom, Mitch. Tuesday's with Morrie . New York: Broadway Books, 1997. Graham, Steve, and Karen R. Harris. Writing Better: Effective Strategies for Teaching Students with Learning Difficulties . Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes, 2005. Greenleaf, Cynthia L., Ruth Schoenbach, Christine Cziko, and Faye L. Mueller. "Apprenticing Adolescent Readers to Academic Literacy." Harvard Educational Review 71 (2001): 79+. ProQuest . Denton. 13 Dec. 2006. Kittle, Penny. Write Beside Them: Risk, Voice, and Clarity in High School Writing . Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2008. Lattimer, Heather. Thinking Through Genre: Units of Study in Reading and Writing Workshop 4-12 . Portland: Stenhouse, 2003.

References Murray, Donald M. "Teach Writing Your Way." Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise Into Practice . Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2007. 179-187. Stephens, Elaine C., and Jean E. Brown. A Handbook of Content Literacy Strategies . 2nd ed. Norwood: Christopher-Gordon, 2005. TAKS Open-Ended Response Guide Grades 9-12 . Region 4 Educated Solutions. 20 June 2008 <http://www.esc4.net/docs/119-rlapsample_taksoer9-11.pdf>. Tovani, Cris. I Read It, But I Don't Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers . Portland: Stenhouse, 2000.

Get A Clue

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked (6)

Similar to Get A Clue (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Get A Clue