Writing Workshop Literary Criticism: Curriculum Constructs And Assessment: English/language Arts

WRITING WORKSHOP LITERARY CRITICISM Curriculum Constructs and Assessment: English/Language Arts Cynthia Gallagher

Introduct ion

Consider your journal, group discussions, and the two basic genres of literature as you select a topic and structure a thesis, supportive thesis, and conclusion: 

Nonfiction 

Prose       

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Essays Journalism (Informational) Historic books Research papers Textbooks Other Instructional books Letters

Nonfictional genre are based on:  Length and purpose  Basic persuasion  Dialectic persuasion  Analytical qualities  Narrative qualities  Degree of Improvisation

Fiction (Creative Forms) 

Prose     

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Short story The Novel The Play The Screenplay Experimental Forms

Poetry   

Free-form Metrical Form Figurative Qualities

Method for Selection of a Topic 

Student Determination (Smagorinsky, 2003)--Refer to current interests noted in ongoing journals 

Consider the subject matter 

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Is it fiction or nonfiction?

Brainstorm in respect to ongoing decisions shaped by notes, discussions, reviews

Consider your subject matter Consider the topic, thesis, conclusion, figurative speech, and analogies (Crews, 1987) that you would like to develop Consider all hypotheses and conclusions that your thesis will support; develop an outline

Structure of the Two Weeks (10 days) devoted to the Writing Workshop Workshop Plan Proper as identified by the references and accumulative elaborations of the Milners Day #

Writing Structural Strategy

Purpose

1

Teacher/Student Conferences

Expand, elucidate upon original premise; decide on general, specific genres to develop; brainstorm

2

Teacher/Student Conferences

Relay and substantiate topic to fellow students; each student has an opportunity to reflect upon specific concerns of the main subject, writing process

3

Status of the Class Conference

Reveal structural disorders, awkward coordination

4

Mini Lesson

Share and develop the writing process, confer programs, share potential new topics, subtopics, theses, transitions

5

Mini Lesson

Share further concerns about rhetorical and figurative functions, thesis, style, voice, conclusion, writing process

6

Teacher/Student

Report on development, revisions, transformations,

Instructional Strategy for Writing Skill Development 

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Because “writing is an extended process that includes prewriting, writing, and rewriting (revising and editing),” “all modes of written discourse take only one shape” --both fiction and nonfiction are developed through prewriting, free-writing, organization tools, and mind-mapping (Milner, 2002, p. 299) The Writing-Process Instructional Strategy is a holistic process—from the focus or topic, the thesis or substance branches into a transition and conclusion or climax and denouement or resolution.

Instructional Strategy for Writing Skill Development—Extended Writing Process 

Prewriting Journal Entries  Generated Ideas  Brainstorm  Discussion  Structuring Ideas  Outline thesis to conclusion  Mind-mapping  Free-writing 

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First Draft Question Responses  Structural Tasks  Complete original content  Discussion 

Instructional Strategy for Writing Skill Development—Extended Writing Process 

Revise and Edit Proofread  Polish syntactic, paragraph, sequential construction  Revise syntax, grammar, punctuation  Reconsider and revise logical rationale  Revise introduction, body, conclusion, analogies to align with coherent rationale, cogency 

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Publish, Group Share Read aloud  Post for viewing  Compile into a bound volume and accumulative portfolio  Share by web page  Share at local bookstore and library author reviews 

Purpose of the Writing Task

Component of Collaboration or Sharing of Student Work 

Post to online sources such as:  http://www.pdfcoke.com  Acquire

a class web or individual webs through internet providers or through a independent server  Submit to the school newspaper (most include hardcopy and softcopy editions)  Submit to community and academic news, both online and brick-and-mortar editions  Note the teacher’s online web for potential submission

Method for Tracking and Evaluating Student Work 

The student workshop enables students and teachers to refer regularly to the student’s writing portfolio, thus, the method for tracking and evaluating student work:  This method permits evaluation and writing by osmosis, allowing students to develop writing through a gradual process.  Teacher guidance augments the overall process, as the mentor or teacher evaluating student work regularly.  The method of tracking and evaluating student work enables permits learning and evaluating a language by osmosis--regular exposure and application of that language leads the language learner and writer to fluency.  The student requires the attention that the teacher conveys through the process of absorption or diffusion.  The portfolio model is beneficial to the mentor or teacher who seeks to effectively track and evaluate student work toward the student’s grasp of effective writing skills, a process that reaches a state of effortlessness as the communicative or writing processes are assimilated by the student writer.

Performance-Standards Based

Two-Tiered Rubric 

The two-tiered portfolio rubric of C.B. Burch developed by students divided the rubric into two sections (Burch, 1997): (1) The quantity of the contents of the portfolio, which comprises 60 percent of the awarded credit— writing, meta-writing/reflection, peer writing, and writer’s choice;  (2) The quality of the portfolio which comprises 40 points for voice, organization, reflection, development, mechanics/usage. 

Rubric Name Volume of Content Added to Portfolio Quality Added to Portfolio through

through workshop (60% of grade)

Conclusio Revisio Evaluations n n

Topic Thesis Peer-

workshop (40% of grade) Voice

Structur MetaDevelop- Mechanics e cognitive ment style

Referenc es 

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Brainerd, L., Lee, R. and Roebuck Reed, C. (2006). California subject matter for teachers, 2nd Edition. New York: Kaplan Publishing Company. Burch, C.B. (1997). Creating a two-tiered portfolio rubric. English Journal, 86(1), 55-58. California State Board of Education (2008, August). Language arts content standards for public schools. Retrieved December 3, 2008, from http://www.cde.gov/be/st/ss/ Crews, Frederick, University of California, Berkeley (1987). The Random House handbook, 5th Edition. New York: Random House. Milner, Joseph and Lucy (2003). Bridging English, 3rd Edition. New Jersey and Ohio: Merrill Prentice-Hall and Pearson Education. Smagorinsky, Peter (2002). Teaching English through principled practice. New York: Merrill Prentice-Hall and Pearson Education, Inc.