Teaching the Writing Process

All writing is done IN CLASS, BY HAND (no devices in sight), and under TIMED conditions after having taught the basics of TDEC. 

All initial writings are regarded as DRAFTS; and therefore, 

Drafts are recorded as daily/quiz grades in on-level (at most), but can be recorded as major grade in AP (as an honest measure of where a student’s skills are (major grade ONLY if being offset major grades of Mechanics corrections and Process Revisions are recorded so that they average each other out to produce an overall test average that is fair and comprehensive).

Students giving feedback is definitely a case of the blind leading the blind. That being said, it is still a valuable practice, but only if there is time. The best reasons for students to give feedback is to 1) exercise evaluative skills, and 2) to see how others handle arguments and language.
 

1. For peer feedback, use a STAAR or AP rubric (or other rubric provided by the district).
2. Students revise based on peer feedback before turning in their revised draft (not final draft).

The student writer fills out a Learning Path Writing Rubric using a yellow highlighter. This is then the rubric the teacher will use to score the draft.

In instituting this practice, the teacher can see the student’s thinking about their own skills, and the student - throughout the year - will gradually calibrate their evaluation with their teacher’s evaluation, meaning they better understand what the language of the rubric means in conjunction with their current abilities.

Instituting this practice also leads to fewer student/parent complaints because the student understands the scoring and can better explain it to the parent, whereas, normally, the student feels as in the dark about the reasons behind the scoring as the parent does, leading to dissonance and potential conflict.

Teacher feedback is the most important feedback a student can receive. Without it, students will dangle in a limbo of uncertainty. Students need clear direction, not guesswork.
 

For this reason, the teacher uses rubrics from the collection of writing rubrics in the Writing: Learning Pathway 2.0 consistently, requiring the student to use rubrics and get to know them well throughout the year. In this workbook of rubrics, there are many full rubrics, ranging from providing language and guidance about individual elements within writing to a variety of full writing rubrics.
 

Students need to learn the rubric inside and out, and they will if they use it all year long. Once they know the rubric well, they can easily begin to set learning targets for themselves to achieve through their revisions.
 

Help students to see the learning path rubric as that: a pathway to learning.
 

Teacher feedback should be targeted, based on where a student currently is in their skills-set acquisition. See Progression in Writing with Student Sample.
 

The broad categories of writing student are:
 

Working on motivation (Learning path 0 → 1 range)

Working on critical thinking (and, most likely, close reading) skills (2 → 3 range)

Working on writing structure (TDEC) (4 → 6- range)

Working on writing organization (writing flow / formatting) (6 → 7 range)

Working on style (the art of writing) (7+ → 9 range)

The teacher uses the Learning Path Writing Rubric to determine what range a student falls within. Based on the range, students are directed to revise for skills that specifically work to correct for that range’s focus and weakness tendencies.
 

When a student receives a draft and its rubric back, they understand, depending on their abilities, that
 

Struggling learners will raise the rating for each writing parameter listed on the rubric by 1 column for all parameters.

On-level and advanced learners will raise the rating for each writing parameter listed on the rubric by 2 column ratings for all parameters.

If a student does this successfully, they receive a high major grade for meeting the criteria of correction and learning. If they do not, then the teacher (team) issues a grade commiserate with the level of improvement achieved. Key: this is a measurable goal, therefore harder to argue because it is less subjective.

As a result of the practice of requiring revision gains based on the rubric, students start setting their own learning goals. What we are talking about here is motivation. Nothing promotes growth and learning more than motivation.

Until a student overcomes their weaknesses within a given range, they are not going to be able to grow (substantial gains) in the other areas. Letting a student focus on the weaknesses at hand allows them to cut out the distraction and crushing weight of overwhelm caused by trying to “fix it all,” which has been the prevailing practice in classrooms since the advent of systematized writing instruction. In my experience, this one item has been the reason for so many students shutting down, in conjunction with receiving a paper back that is “bleeding” with comments.
 

The teacher grades with a purple highlighter, marking shorthand for comments (ask for training on this) and,
 

At the end of the draft, the teacher lists 2-3 positive, “keep doing that” comments and 1-2 targeted, constructive feedback comments (what the student needs to be working on based on the zone s/he falls within on the rubric.

1. When students receive their essays back, the first thing we ask them to do is to highlight their writing do that they can visibly see what is present in their writing and what is not. In order for them to be able to see this, students analyze (critically think through) the purpose of every sentence in their writing, highlighting each a specific color, depending on its specific categorical purpose.
    
2. In order to systematize what becomes a powerful protocol over time, highlighter colors are very specific for 4 categorical sentence purposes (thought elements):
   PINK              Thesis
   GREEN          Detail
   BLUE             Elaboration
   ORGANGE    Commentary
    
3. These colors were chosen by students for specific reasons. Pink and Orange are “opinion” that show up in writing as claims and insights - they communicate and elicit feelings (heart), so they are “warm” colors. Green and blue are “facts” and “cool feeling,” being from the mind, and therefore cool colors.

This section is the longest because 1) it is where students’ writing actually changes, making it 2) the MOST important piece (and yet the piece teachers tend to skip).
 

1. When a teacher feedback draft and its rubric are returned to the student, the student goes to work on revising the draft. Before they can do that, they must critically read and think through what they wrote next to the rubric feedback and comments written by the teacher.
    
2. Charts:
   HOW/WHY Chart (suggested)
   How Why Chart Alternative 1
   How/Why Chart Alternative 2
    
3. Using the Writing: Learning Pathway 2.0 to Guide Revisions. If the teacher has provided targeted feedback for the student, the student understands what it is that they are meant to be working on.
    

Rubric - Student Ranges
 

Depending on the rubric range that the student falls within, they are working to correct some aspect of their writing. For this, we need to differentiate:

0-1 range: Finish writing

2-3 range: Critical thinking (& close reading): Where is “big picture” thinking breaking down? Require revision of a solid Thesis. Perhaps think about assigning Relevant Details work. Materials that could help these students:

•  Theme & Thesis Idea funneling 
•  Theme and Thesis, a Powerpoint
•  Idea funneling 1
•  Idea Funneling 2
•  TDEC - Theme & Thesis - Idea Funneling
•  Thesis + Details Illustrated
•  Thesis + Detail rubric
•  T&D Revision
•  T & TS & D Alignment
  

4-5 range: Critical thinking (& close reading): Where is thinking related to making connection and drawing conclusions breaking down? Require revision for solid paragraph structure (TDEC). Check for relevancy of word choices as they pertain to creating a coherent strand of thought.

•  STUDENT Writing Development - TDEC Paragraph Structure
•  Elaboration graphic
•  Elaboration Levels of Development with sentence stems
•  E for beginners graphic organizer (target chart)
•  Commentary development visual graphic organizer
•  Commentary Levels of Development with sentence stems
  

6-7 range: Writing organization. Paragraph structures are solid but the ease of reading is low, resulting in choppy, disconnected flow between ideas and paragraphs. Work to create coherent, cohesive, cogent flow with an eye toward reader empathy - make it is easy for them to follow thinking. Consider how poetic elements might be employed to improve cogency.

8-9 range: Style. Reaching this level of writing feels elusive to students who must work their way into thinking like an artist. It’s like fine brush work - it’s in the nuance at this point. This range of writing marks an “arrival” wherein the writer no longer struggles with organization and so can turn their attention to the artistic elements of writing, such as word economy, intentional diction, creative comparisons, anecdotes and imagery, and more. This level of writing is moving for the reader, resulting in “wow” moments.
 

Targeted Feedback for Those Who Have Hit the “7” Wall, or Getting to a “9” (through Style)

When I was teaching AP, I found it was enough to feed ego (and build confidence) by helping students achieve high orders in their revisions. Being able to tell them, after seeing their revisions, that they "nailed it" made students glow with a pride I miss seeing. So, what were the high orders?

The things that I would have my students target, once they had the paragraph structure and writing organization/formatting down, to graduate into the artist's eschalon of writing, would be elicited through feedback like, 

"There are # words that can be changed to up the scale to a 9." 

• I used to have students circle the high-impact words they think I was talking about and draw arrows from them back to circled words that they correspond with in the Thesis (to test against relevance).
• Diction is one of the hardest skills to master. My advice to my students was that the high-impact words that they choose need to be in alignment with the author's tone. Would the author have used the word? If not, toss it.
• This is a connotation game - perfect connotation is the goal. If a student can choose a word with perfect connotation that the author would have used and also creates poetic impact, they have nailed the diction.
• In rhetorical writing, the goal is to keep as much as the audience listening as possible. We need to develop audience empathy. Carefully chosen words are essential here as well.

"Make this sentence # words max." This targets word economy. 

• For a Thesis, the more concise, the better. This can be done in 10-15 words.
• For the sake of concision in sentences, I would generally ask students to limit longer sentences to 15-20 words (if at all possible - sometimes it is not - the goal is for them to get in the habit of trying).

"Here you are lecturing. Prove the same point using a _____." (comparison, strong imagery, hyperbole, other figurative language, or rhetorical nuance). 

• Again, if it can be poetic language used in the same vein as the author, which they choose to move their audience), then it is more than likely going to move your audience. 

"Wow your audience - capture them through your persuasion, both with mentality (mind - ideas) and sensibility (heart - feelings)." 

• Track your mentality; track your sensibility. Is there a place where you might want to switch the gears from one to the other, or make an addition of one with the other?

"Make your audience forget they are reading - in other words, turn the reading experience into an enjoyable one." 

• Go through the organization - the flow - with a fine tooth comb. 
• Topic Sentences should be on par with and directly support the Thesis while also serving as a bridge into the next discussion.
• Check all transitions - do they clearly create an obvious and "wanted" relationship between ideas?

About grading:

When the original draft is taken as a major grade, combine with Track Changes for a major grade based on improvement (recommended for AP)

When the original is taken as a minor grade, count as major grade (recommended for on-level)

Suggestions for help with developing style:

Ink Imitation (Author Aping)
 

Revisions in Game and Group Contexts

• Gamifying revision through having small groups rewrite and compete in their rewriting is a great way to get students exposed to the concepts under your watchful eye as you coach and give advice.
  

Gallery Walk Revising: There is also another strategy wherein

• Students pick a sentence/paragraph that needs revision
• They write it on an index card in a writing color (black or blue)
• They tape it to the wall
• Using a Gallery Walk type structure, students offer feedback on sticky notes through offering 1) a suggestion that would improve the sentence/paragraph, and 2) a "This might look like _____" with an example (rewrite offered).
• It is possible to "pocket" the readiness levels by organizing 4 groups of gallery walks and have students who belong to those "pocket" groups give feedback on only those "pocket" group writings (not having to give feedback on all of the writings that are posed). There are other ways to organize as well.

 All writing should be done by hand until it is time for track changes (explained below).

1. After a student has completed their How/Why Charts, they are ready to officially revise their work by typing their ORIGINAL writing up, exactly as it was in first draft form, in Word or Docs. 
2. Next, they make their revisions by turning on "Track Changes" or "Suggesting" and making their changes. 
3. When it is time to turn the full writing process in for a final grade, students print the track changes version (without changes “accepted”) for the teacher so that the teacher can see the revisions plainly on the page and at a glance. 

This makes grading exponentially easier.

1. When the original draft is taken as a major grade, combine with How/Why Charts for a major grade based on improvement (recommended for AP)
2. When the original is taken as a minor grade, count as final draft for a major grade (recommended for on-level)

In my 14 years of teaching English, the ONLY method I used that truly fixed the mechanical and usage errors in their writing was Mechanics Corrections. How do I know?

Students would start out with pages of mechanics corrections at the beginning of the year, but after correcting the same errors (in their own writing, which is a point of motivation because it is theirs, and they care about it) over and again, they would stop making them in their drafts.

This meant that successive writings had fewer errors and, therefore, fewer pages of corrections to make. By the end of the year, most students would have maybe a half page of corrections to make. Some students would achieve NO ERRORS, and for their Mechanics Corrections, they would proudly turn in a blank page with “NO ERRORS” written across the top to receive a 100 major grade.

When I would grade an essay, I would mark a small “X” in the margin for any line that had a mechanical error in it. When students received their drafts back from me, “graded” and with feedback, they knew they not only were doing Process Revisions, but they were also responsible for Mechanics Corrections. See instructions below.

Mechanics Corrections Guide

Mechanics Corrections Instructions 

Mechanics Correction Practical Guide for Teacher

Grade: major grade

When it is time for students to submit their work, have them turn it all in. I recommend setting an order for the items to be stapled together to make it easier on the teacher during the grading process. Be sure the rubric is resubmitted so that growth can be measured.