General Principles for Creating Good Writing.pdf

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Writing‐to‐Learn Basic Principles. • Writing‐to‐learn activities are different from writing activities designed to teach students “professional” writing styles and ...
Writing‐to‐Learn
Basic
Principles
 


• •

• •



Writing‐to‐learn
activities
are
different
from
writing
activities
designed
to
teach
students
“professional”
writing
styles
and
genres.

 Consequently,
writing‐to‐learn
activities
ought
to
be
assigned
differently,
written
differently,
and
read
and
evaluated
differently.


 “Risk‐free”
is
the
hallmark
of
good
writing‐to‐learning
activities.

Students
need
to
feel
free
to
make
a
mess—but
to
make
it
as
 thoroughly,
faithfully,
and
energetically
as
they
can.

 Corollary:
“correctness”
is
no
more
important
to
students
in
writing‐to‐learn
than
it
was
for
Thomas
Edison
in
the
3.5
million
 notebook
pages
the
produced
during
this
career
(during
which
he
was
awarded
1,093
patents—despite
the
fact
that
his
 notebooks
are
anything
but
“correct”)
 Writing‐to‐learn
activities
need
not
be
read
and
evaluated
obsessively.

 Writing‐to‐learn
activities
can
be
used
for
a
variety
of
purposes.

  To
help
students
teach
themselves—to
enable
them
to
assimilate
knowledge
  To
facilitate
informal
communication
among
the
class
community—to
enable
“check‐ins”
on
how
learning
is
going
in
the
 course
  To
provide
opportunities
for
students
to
help
one
another
 Writing
to
learn
activities
should
be
integrated
into
important
coursework—not
“add
on”
or
“busywork”.



General
Principles
for
Creating
Good
Writing‐to‐Learn
Assignments
 




• • • • • • •

Articulate
the
desired
learning
and
thinking
precisely:

“The
purpose
of
this
assignments
is
for
your
to
apply
spectrum
analysis
 techniques
to
a
specific
star
you
chose
to
study”
(astronomy);
“Describe
a
Jungian
archetype
present
in
your
favorite
TV
show”
 (psychology);
“Paraphrase
the
key
assertion
in
Chapter
3”.
 Provide
genre
and
format
constraints:

“Write
one
coherent
paragraph”;
“In
one
page,
do
two
things,
find
the
earliest
definition
 of
a
key
word
in
the
poem
and
assess
that
meaning’s
relevant
to
the
poem
as
a
whole”
(English).
 Consider
grading
writing
assignments
using
a
portfolio
system,
point
system,
or
“check
+,
check‐“
system.

You
could
also
use
 “primary
trait”
scoring,
grading
the
paper
only
how
successfully
the
student
accomplished
the
learning
asked
for
in
the
prompt.

 Make
assignments
short
and
able
to
be
completed
and
graded
quickly.

 Place
assignments
strategically
in
the
curriculum
to
accomplish
a
specific
goal.

 Collect
the
assignments
but
don’t
grade
them
formally;
if
you
comment,
comment
on
content
rather
than
sentence
errors.

 Where
appropriate,
have
students
collaborate
on
assignments
or
share
work
they’ve
completed.
 Don’t
read
and
comment
on
everything.


From “Writing for learning and growth,” by S.L. Miller., 2006, Sonoma State University Writing Center. Retrieved February 7, 2007, from http://sonoma.edu/programs/writingcenter/pdf_files/assignmentsforlearning.pdf