Writing and Tests

This week we read two chapters from our textbooks Content Area Writing: the first “Public Writing” and the second “Writing for Tests and Assessments.”

 

These chapters look at going more in depth with student writing. Earlier, I posted about short writing assignments called Writing to Learn. Today, I am moving away from that subject and on to the bigger writing assignments. However, not all bigger writing assignments are research papers or literary analyses. Students also need to learn how to write for the tests and assessments we give them. This means how do we teach writing for essay tests not only within our classrooms but also on Standardized Tests.

 

First we look at this idea of Public Writing. So far we have looked at the private, unedited, spontaneous Writing to Learn assignments that are not graded. What about Public Writing is different? Well, this kind of writing has the following qualities:

• Substantial – longer, more in-depth pieces
• Planned – intentional writing with a focused purpose
• Authoritative – writing that argues a point or gives information in a confident manner
• Conventional – writing that strives to reach its audience by conventional writing standards
• Composed – writing that has been drafted and revised a few times to make sure it is polished and clear
• Edited – writing that pays attention to the pesky details of grammar, punctuation, and spelling
• Graded – writing that will be evaluated

 

Now Public Writing is a great idea, but many times it can be daunting for students. How do we as teacher make Public Writing more accessible and less daunting for our students? Well, we can work on giving students choice. If students have a choice on topics about which they can write, then we are making our assignments relevant and engaging. It is often easier for students to approach an assignment they had a choice on rather than getting forced to write about one specific topic. Besides choice, we can give the students time to write in class. If we make students do all their writing outside of class, many students can fall behind or get confused, but if we allow time in class to write we can provide the support and modeling they need throughout their writing process. Furthermore, we can respond to the student’s writing. Our feedback during the writing process can greatly enhance the student’s writing and give them more confidence when writing alone for tests and assessments. Quelling students’ fears about big writing assignments can be easy if we model good writing and turn our writing assignments into processes that slowly move from step one ‘til the end with plenty of support and feedback along the way.

 

Step Two – let’s look at what kind of writing students will be doing besides the big papers. Let’s look at what writing students will be doing for tests and assessments. Now tests are supposed to assess what students learned; however, there are limitations:

1. We have taught students to write for an external reason. They write for a grade. They do not write to persuade or inspire. They write simply to regurgitate the information we fed to them.
2. Tests do not have a large audience. The student either writes for the teacher or an anonymous test grader they will never know. There is no connection or desire to want to reach people through their writing.
3. Our questions we pose for them to write about are limited themselves. We get what we ask for and nothing more. Students do not elaborate. They answer the question in as basic terms as possible and move on.
4. Students only get one chance to write their answer. They are given a fixed amount of time and no way to add in the writing process of drafting and revising.
5. Tests only look at one moment in time. They do not show how a student progressed throughout a unit. What you get in an essay could be what they learned or it could be what they already knew. Tests do not allow for overall assessment of how that student learned.

 

So now that we know how limited tests are – how do we fix it?

 

We design better essay tests. We ask better questions. We focus on the big picture and long term meaning rather than the specific, tiny details the student will forget the second the next unit is started. We use tests throughout the unit that focus on writing and create a process the student can really learn from.  We give students more time to write their essays either in class with fewer questions or use take home tests.

 

We prepare students to respond to questions in a variety of ways. We give them examples and we model for them. We teach them how to look at a question or testing situation and approach it logically. We teach them how to take essay tests and by extension standardized tests.

 

There are three strategies to do this:

1. Keep students writing year round. Give them assignments that have them explain their ideas, elaborate on them, and connect them to other ideas. The more comfortable they become with this process – the easier the tests will be.
2. Make sure the students know the expectations about what is supposed to go in their answers and how they present their answers. They need to be able to look at a question and decipher what it is asking and how to give their answer.
3. Relate test taking to what they know: video games. Teach them that test taking is all about being ready to engage, being alert, using strategies, thinking over modes of moving forward, and deciding the best route to take.

 

By preparing students for writing on tests, we can help them improve their overall learning in every area as well as improve how they approach other problems in life once out of school. We no longer need to “teach for the tests” because we can learn to use the tests to really teach for the kids.

Twofold Literacy

The two pieces we read for this week’s post were chapter ten of Content Area Reading by Vacca, Vacca, and Mraz called “Studying Text” and an article by Alan M. Frager and Elizabeth A. Frye called “Focus on the Essentials of Reading Instruction.” Both readings focused on the literacy of a student in a classroom. And both took on the two different sides to literacy: one the student’s side and one the teacher’s side.

The chapter took on how students study a text. If students do not know how to study a text, then their literacy will not be the best it can be. Students need to be equipped with the right tools to tackle a text if we teachers want them to learn from the text. This chapter argues that studying texts help students “make connections and think more deeply about ideas encountered in reading” (CAR, 317). However, students need to have reasons to study the text like acquiring knowledge, organizing/summarizing/using information and ideas, etc. And texts can offer several benefits to students like reflective thinking, self-directed study, hard work, and smart work.

A student’s work is directly related to the structure of the text. Texts include two types of features that aid this process:

1. External – format features, organizational aids
2. Internal – text patterns which revolve around:

• Description = information about topic
• Sequence = putting the information into a logical sequence
• Comparison and Contrast = point out similarities/differences about topic
• Cause and Effect = show how information originates and informs other information
• Problem and Solution – show development of problem and list solutions.

These text structures are usually recognized by signal words/phrases such as: to begin with, now, as, before, however, but, as well as, because, since, therefore, etc.

Along with linguistic pieces, students can use the visual aids within texts to help study. Graphics organizers are the best examples of these visual aids because they help learners comprehend and retain textually important information. Most often these graphic organizers reflect the text patterns and more often than not they can be used to revolve around questions students either have or should be aware of. Examples of graphic organizers include: word maps, semantic webs, flowcharts, and tree diagrams (CAR, 324).

Another tool students can use to study texts are written summaries. Writing summaries is a great activity for students because it teaches the students how to discern and analyze the text structure. A great example of a writing summary activity is GRASP or guided reading and summarizing procedure. GRASP happens as follows: teacher selects a passage, students read passage silently, students recite information they believe to be important, teacher writes information on the board, students re-read passage, class discusses list and adds/subtracts information.

The last tool is note taking. Now most people are very familiar with this tool, but unfortunately most students do not know the most effective means of note taking. Note taking is all about paraphrasing, summarizing, reacting critically, questioning, and responding personally to a text. It is not about copying down word for word a definition or other important concept. Most forms of note taking happen in reading logs, T-notes, cornell notes, and text annotations.

Text annotations address four types of notes:

1. Summary – condensing of main ideas
2. Thesis – addressing what main point of piece is
3. Critical – captures reader’s response
4. Question – looking at what the student thinks after reading

If students can learn these few tricks to studying a text then their literacy will improve.

However, it is not only up to the student. The second reading, the article “Focus on the Essentials of Reading Instruction,” addresses the teacher’s side of literacy in a classroom. Frager and Frye provide a rubric for teachers and evaluates how teachers are addressing literacy. They believe that there is a gap in between education classes where literacy is crucial to instruction and student teaching where literacy is optional. Their grades range from F to A just like any other rubric and are explained as follows:

F = Teacher reads entire text aloud or uses round robin reading techniques. Teachers focus on reading for information and ignores reading for meaning.

C = Teachers assign students to read texts silently and then immediately asks questions about what they read. This is problematic because either the books assigned are too difficult/too easy and the students do not know how to read to generate good answers to any questions the teacher might ask.

B = Teacher designs B-D-A reading activities (Before-During-After) to motivate students, activate prior knowledge, introduce new vocabulary, and develop awareness of questions/issues/debates.

B+ = Teacher is gradually releasing responsibility to the students.

A = Teacher continues to build on principles of good reading instruction, pushes personal meaning, and has high-quality discussion.

A+ = Teacher engages in critical literacy which means they are mindful of students’ lives, have a broad definition of text, ask provocative discussion questions, and encourage opportunities to reflect.

What to Consider When Planning a Lesson and Writing to Learn Activities

The two chapters we read for this week’s post dealt with planning lessons and different Writing to Learn activities. At first I did not understand why these two chapters went together, but as I read further I realized how integral Writing to Learn activities are in lesson plans. But before I get to Writing to Learn activities, it is important to go over what to consider when planning a lesson.

So with lesson plans, teachers need to look at how students are going to learn during their lessons. Teachers can use something called instructional scaffolding which helps students learn how to learn from texts. It involves the teacher modeling how to read texts, what to look for in texts – basically everything necessary to know of how to use texts to their best degree and then letting the students go for it. This type of instruction is better for the students with the use of explicit instruction which not only teaches students what strategies to use to learn the content, but also the why, how, and when to use those strategies.

The key components of explicit instruction are:

• Awareness and Explanation – tell students about the strategy and why you are using it for this particular activity
• Modeling and Demonstration – walk through the strategies step by step and model it for the students
• Guided Practice – let the students practice the strategies and assess them afterwards for what problems they ran into/what went well/etc.
• Application – let them know when to use this strategy and make sure they keep it as a useful skill

Once teachers know how their students will learn during their lessons, then they can get to planning their lessons.

Questions to consider when planning lessons are:

• Standards – What local/state/national standards are being addressed?
• Instructional Goals – What do you want the students to know by the end of the lesson?
• Eessential Questions – What are the big questions that will prompt good discussion/thought?
• Instructional Strategies and Activities – What are you going to do during the lesson, instructional?
• Materials and Resources – What do you need to gather before the lesson that your students will be using?
• New Literacies – What technology can you bring in that will help aid the lesson?
• Assessment – How will you assess what your students learned?

A great summation of a few of these questions is called B-D-A instructional framework. This B-D-A system looks at what a teacher does during, before, and after reading. A closer explanation of B-D-A:

• B – establish the purpose of reading the text, motivate the readers to read the text, build any prior knowledge needed for the text, introduce key vocabulary and concepts needed in order to understand the text, and provide direction for reading for meaning
• D – guide an active search for meaning in the text and help the students learn how to read texts in order to get the most meaning out of them
• A – extend and elaborate upon ideas found in the text and encourage students to talk about meanings they found

Now that we know a little bit more on lesson planning we can look into more instructional activities and mostly – Writing To Learn activities. Writing to Learn (WTL) are short, informal writings that are centered on exploring ideas and clarifying thoughts about certain concepts found in reading.

But in order to use WTL effectively, the students (and you) need to know why writing is so closely linked to reading. There are two main umbrella connections: composing processes – both construct meaning, both involve purpose and working with ideas, both deal with audiences, etc. , exploration/motivation/clarification – reading provides meaning while writing helps students figure out what that meaning is.

The chapter we read provided five WTL activities:

• Microthemes – mini essays that work on synthesizing, analyzing, summarizing, and taking a stand on a text
• POVGs – point of view guides that are responses to questions posed like an interview, encourages speculation, inferential thinking, and elaboration using role-play, gets students’ own experiences involved in the writing process
• Unsent Letters – uses imagination, interpretation, and evaluation of texts, connects reader’s thoughts to specific audiences
• Biopoems – synthesizing a large text into a small poetic format, a structured reflection of a text
• Admit/Exit Slips – allows teacher to check where students are before or after a lesson

Besides these five WTL activities there are also academic journals. Academic journals help students to log their ideas and feelings on certain topics in readings as well as their own personal lives. It creates a personal connection between the student and what they are reading. There are three types of academic journals: response journals – feelings/thoughts recorded as students interact with texts, double-entry journals – dual entry records that are conceptually related, learning logs – records of learning as it happens in the lesson.

I personally love the academic journal route for WTL. I remember my freshman year of high school, my English teacher gave us journal prompts every day that were either directly related to whatever we were learning that day or were just fascinating questions he wanted us to think about. When I first decided to become a teacher I knew I wanted to use these in my classrooms so I was really excited to read about them and learn that they are actually effective for the whole class and not just the one random student (me).

I think that any opportunity teachers have to get their students writing informally is one they should jump at because there are so many benefits to writing that mostly go unnoticed. I know it is a change from how we learned in “the good old days,” but I think this is one change we really need to push for.

Stuck on the Tests

Guiding Question: How can we change the way we assess students to better improve their learning?

 

True or false – students are actually learning the material teachers are feeding them at school?

 

I urge you to think on that question for a bit because the answer is not as obvious as we had previously thought (or hoped.) Are students really learning the material nowadays? Or are they just memorizing facts for the tests and then clearing their brains afterwards for the next wave of information to come their way? This entry looks at chapter four of Content Area Reading, “Assessing Students and Texts,” and what insight this chapter will bring to this question.

 

I can tell you from my own experience that there were many classes in which I memorized facts, spit them out on a test, and promptly forgot most of them. And  while I do not think students will ever be faced with a situation in which telling someone the date of when the Gettysburg Address was delivered will ever be a matter of life or death – I do believe that our students are in some ways getting gypped in terms of school.

 

There is that wonderful phrase of “teaching for the test” that haunts teachers. And the sad reality is that most teachers are teaching for the test because of the pressure put upon them to get good test scores. We are in the midst of a high stakes testing fiasco that demands every school use standardized tests to see whether or not the school is meeting the adequate yearly progress (AYP). It is a check for our schools that puts pressure on our students.

 

And these tests are only locked in the present moment. These high stakes tests have the power to impact students for the rest of their lives. SAT and ACT, anyone? Nonetheless, even though the tests look towards the future, they impact the present too. Remember the phrase “teachers teach for the test?” Teachers are given curriculum geared towards the tests, curriculums that ignore basically everything else because that information will not be on the tests.

 

So that is where most teachers are now. And it is not their fault. Teachers are not teaching for the tests because they want to. They are under pressure as well with the state standards and government legislation that demands standardized testing in order to get funding. But teachers are not stuck there! Teachers can go above and beyond what they do now and implement another form of assessment for their students that truly gets at the heart of assessment and that is are students even learning anything?

 

Teachers can do this by doing authentic assessments. These kind of assessments are structured around observation: behaviors during class, work turned in, and even test scores. However, authentic assessments require that teachers go a step further than just observation – teachers must act on their observations and make changes as deemed necessary. So you observe your student acting out during reading time – that means you act by adapting that student’s reading time so it benefits them the most.

 

Another authentic assessment is the portfolio. The portfolio is a collection of the student’s work chosen by both the teacher and the student. The teacher chooses the assignments to be collected and the student can choose the work they think best represents them. It is a team project that provides organization, good student involvement in self reflection, reflection on student’s needs and skills, and assistance in planning future assignments. This collaborative approach helps students create meaning for their work and helps teachers see where their students are and how to help them go farther.

 

Teachers need to move away from the emphasis on high stakes testing and towards the more authentic types of assessment if we want to see if students are actually learning anything because isn’t that was school is for – learning something? It will be difficult and we can’t remove high stakes testing completely, but teachers can go above and beyond their work to really make sure their teaching is for the improvement of their students.