Strategies for Assigning Composition
- 1. Writing in the Perspectives:Strategies for Assigning CompositionA Presentation by the CCNY Writing Fellows
- 2. OverviewStrategies for Assigning Composition:Low-Stakes Writing
- 3. Revision-Oriented Feedback
- 4. Handouts
- 5. Scaffolding
- 6. Real RevisionLow-Stakes WritingA short, informal writing responses that help students develop critical thinking skills. A forum for exploring ideas, not “right answers”. Benefits: Stimulates thinking. Encourages discussion. Enforces completion of readings. Urges students to ask questions. Helps reduce plagiarism. Encourages thesis-driven writing.
- 7. Examples & Methods: In-class student writing. Homework. Exam preparation. Thesis writing.
- 8. Grading: For content & analysis, not structure or mechanics. Grading value should be small. May be turned in with the final paper as a portfolio of the student’s progress, research, and revision on a topic. This may help reduce plagiarism.Revision-Oriented Feedback Understand that your feedback is a response within a greater conversation that you’re having with your student, the end goal being to produce a satisfying final draft.
- 9. Making effective comments requires a plan and consistent philosophy.
- 10. We propose the following hierarchy for feedback:
- 11. Higher-Order Concerns: the quality of ideas, organization, development, and clarity of the paper.
- 12. Lower-Order Concerns: grammatical errors, misspellings, punctuation mistakes, and awkwardness in style.
- 13. Final Comments: to encourage improvement by summing up strengths, identifying the problems that require attention, and making a few specific suggestions.Handouts Determine the learning outcomes of assignments, and state them within the course objectives on your syllabus
- 14. Type all handouts
- 15. Explicate tasks
- 16. Is academic jargon clear to students?
- 17. Do students know the essay format?
- 18. Define the role and audience for the assignment
- 19. Specify other business: deadlines; length of paper, font, margins, reference-style; acceptable & minimum numbers of source
- 20. State criteria for evaluation: ideas, structure, thesis statement, quality of writingScaffolding: Breaking Assignments Down Into PartsHelp students discover that: 1) writing causes further discovery, development & modification of ideas; 2) in early drafts, expert writers struggle to clarify meanings for themselves; & 3) in later drafts, expert writers reshape ideas in order to meet the readers’ needs for effective organization, adequate development & clarification.
- 21. Promote a “problem-driven” model, not a “think, then write” model of writing.
- 22. Scaffolding steps: 1) begin by asking students to turn in something early in the writing process to “check in” on how they are doing; 2) then ask for a draft; and 3) finish with a re-write or a final draft.
- 23. Scaffolding encourages students to take the steps which will lead to a well-written papers & allows student to construct them in stages.
- 24. Goal: get students personally engaged with the kinds of questions that propel expert writers through the writing process, so that writing becomes a powerful means of active learning in the discipline.Real Revision Develop a formal process of encouraging students to reflect critically on “finished” work and to re-engage with their written work. Practical Tips: Ask students to approach papers as thesis-driven attempts to address specific problems that are outlined in a thesis, rather than assigning topic-based papers.