Introduction
Writing in an educational setting is essential. Writing in a real world setting is also essential. So why is the emphasis of teaching basic writing skills going away. As a teacher in a sixth grade classroom in Utah, I see students who cannot form a complete sentence let alone a solid paragraph. Many students do not capitalize the beginnings of their sentences or end them with proper punctuation marks. Forming a complete thought seems to be a skill beyond many of these students grasp. The instructional unit written for this project goes back to the basics of teaching writing in an effort to improve the ability of sixth grade students.
What I did
It all began with simple observations and then complex frustration when sixth grade students entered the classroom and were unable to write complete sentences or paragraphs. The mechanics of writing had either slipped through the cracks or the students were unable to learn it. It was doubtful the second was the true statement. Beginning in sixth grade and continuing through high school graduation, the emphasis on writing in the Utah State Core Curriculum increases. In grades prior to sixth, students learned basics, but often were not given many opportunities to practice what they had learned. I began formulating plans to improve the review unit in writing to help foster students' abilities in writing. The formulation of these plans led to simple and concise lessons that focus on the basics of writing. Not the basics of writing in the sense of forming letters on the paper, but the basics of good writing in relation to grammar, punctuation, capitalization, complete and complex sentences, and the formatting of paragraphs and sentences to meet to expectation of ...
... middle of paper ...
...rner?
8. What assessment pieces were not effective?
9. How could the assessment evaluations be more effective?
10. How could the assessment evaluations be more learner-friendly?
Goal Statement
When given an assignment to write a 5 paragraph narrative essay, students will be able to write at a sixth grade level including correct use of indentation and formatting of paragraphs, writing complete sentences, correct use of punctuation at the end of each sentence and with the text of each sentence, and correct use of introductory sentences, supporting detail sentences and concluding sentences.
References
Manzo, K. (2008). More students master "basics” on writing NAEP. (Cover Story). Education Week, 27(32) 1-16
Edutopia (n.d.) Does Text Messaging Harm Students' Writing Skills. Retrieved July 28, 2011, from http://www.edutopia.org/node/5369/results
(intro) Writing is the skill that should be taught to students from (k-12). Writing is the root to get education for students, because without writing no one can able to succeed in education. Writing teach students to communicate better, using correct grammar, punctuation, and improve spelling mistakes in writing. Writing is an important part of communication for students to talk with other peoples. Writing helps to understand of English language and reflect people as a person. Student can improve his writing skill as much as he want to during school and college career, for example, a student is taking test or doing homework for his writing class. Writing play an important role in our life because everybody use writing in their daily life. For example, a businessman use his writing skill for write down his daily profit and loss. (Thesis): Writing help students to prepare for their future education and job.
In Downs and Wardle’s article, they argue and identify the flaws in teaching writing in college. Demonstrating the misconceptions that academic writing is universal, but rather specialized in each case. Citing studies and opinions from esteemed professionals, Downs & Wardle state their points and illuminate the problem in today’s many colleges.
Learning to read and write are both considered to be fundamental human skills, that we begin to learn from the day we start school. As time advances, as do our minds, and we are expected to evolve in our reading and writing skills. Finishing high school is a large milestone for the lives of young adults; however, there is so much to learn in order to reach the next big milestone. To be a writer in college can challenge our preconceived thoughts on how we write. Although some skills remain unchanged, high school graduates are faced with overcoming new ways of doing a skill that seems so simple that it is practically innate. The definition of writing skills for college students is much different than high school. However, considering we have come so far it is time to go over the information we already know and challenge ourselves with ideas that we are yet to learn more about.
In his essay, "Teach Writing as a Process not a Product," Donald Murray outlines the major difference between the traditional pedagogy that directed the teaching of writing in the past and his newly hailed model. Traditionally, Murray explains, English teachers were taught to teach and evaluate students' writing as if it was a finished product of literature when, as he has discovered, students learn better if they're taught that writing is a process. For Murray, once teachers regard writing as a process, a student-centered, or writer-centered, curriculum falls into place. Rules for writing fall by the way side as writers work at their own pace to see what works best for them.
A Critical Review of "Helping Students Meet the Challenges of Academic Writing", by Fernsten, Linda A.; Reda, Mary
NCTE Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing." NCTE Comprehensive News. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014
Bizzell, Patricia. “What Happens When Basic Writers Come to College?” Landmark Essays on Basic Writing. Eds. Kay Halasek and Nels P. Highberg. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2001. Print.
Elementary and high schools are not preparing their students well enough to understand the writing process, which mostly affect them during the transition from high school to college. It is clear that elementary and high school students don’t fully understand the five steps of writing the limitation of sentences per a paragraph and how to gather information from different sources and give credit to the source or cited.
The art of writing is a complex and difficult process. Proper writing requires careful planning, revision, and proofreading. Throughout the past semester, the quality of my writing has evolved significantly. At first, I struggled with the separation of different types of paragraphs, and I found writing them laborious. Constant practice, however, has eliminated many of my original difficulties, and helped to inspire confidence in my skills. As a collegiate writer, my strength lies in my clear understanding of the fundamentals of writing, while my primary weakness is proofreading my own work.
All through our academic years we were taught how to write. Starting with elementary, when the form of writing was first introduced, it consisted of compositions with simple prompts about our weekends. Now, that there was an idea of how to write, middle school English teachers began teaching students a writing format. This format is commonly known as the five-paragraph essay, which entailed an introduction, three supporting body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The five-paragraph essay began being strongly implemented in high school and it leads to many debates whether or not it benefited students proceeding into college. I believe the five-paragraph format was helpful for high school students starting out, but is not as beneficial to freshman
Writing is an important part of everyone’s life, whether we use it in school, in the workplace, as a hobby or in personal communication. It is important to have this skill because it helps us as writers to express feelings and thoughts to other people in a reasonably permanent form. Formal writing forms like essays, research papers, and articles stimulates critically thinking. This helps the writer to learn how to interpret the world around him/her in a meaningful way. In college, professors motivate students to write in a formal, coherent manner, without losing their own voice in the process. Improving your writing skills is important, in every English class that’s the main teaching point; to help students improve their writing skills. Throughout my college experience I have acknowledge that
During my student teaching experience, I had the opportunity to teach a 3 week long narrative writing unit. The students were to write about an important event or incident that happened in their life. Over the course of the 3 weeks, the students worked through the writing process as well as learned skills that would help them with their writing in the future. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and reflect on teaching the narrative unit, what went well about the unit, what did not go as well, and how the course has impacted by development and growth as a student and teacher of writing.
Throughout their public schooling experience, students have been improperly taught how to write. Instead of focusing on the ideas behind their writing, students are taught to intently analyze their paper to make sure they did not miss a period or spell a word wrong. Creativity was replaced with nitpicking. Students are taught to convey the teacher’s beliefs to get a good grade, instead of their own. This whole process results in a very bland and meaningless, yet grammatically correct essay. Students hate writing because they are being forced to do something that is not natural. However, Aldrich explains that this problem is not the teacher’s fault. The teachers are just doing what they were taught, and therefore, struggle with writing just as much as the students they are trying to teach do. Aldrich also believes that students do not write enough. Writing is like any other skill, and takes practice to get better. Aldrich thinks teachers are not making students write more because, “they cannot write either, nor do they know how to teach other’s to do so” (184). This all leads to a very toxic cycle where a teacher who can not write teaches a student how to “write”, and that student becomes a teacher and teaches more students how to “write”, ultimately leading
Although adequate writing skills are indispensable for life, leisure, and employment, quite a few students do not learn how to write effectively. Since writing is an exercise in thinking, it is important to balance the process of writing with the mechanics of writing. The areas of the brain involved in the writing task are varied yet interrelated; therefore, a student’s individual needs will determine the method of instruction they receive. Many students who have low expectations for their own academic success will not make even minimal efforts to complete a...
Crank, V. (2012). From high school to college: Developing writing skills in the disciplines. WAC